Happy Halloween xxx
This is my own personal 'How To Guide' on the things I make and bake. It is also, inadvertently, a blog about me.
Monday 31 October 2011
Sunday 30 October 2011
Monday 24 October 2011
Becoming a Foxy Lady
As you know, I have just hosted a Zoo themed fancy dress party.
For this, I made a fox costume... and now I'm going to show you how.
First off, I bought a brown top & orangey-brown skirt from some charity shops (always great for a bargain!)
Then I bought some white fur (70cm) & some brown fur (1 metre)... and I bought way too much... I probably only used half of it! Anyway....
The belly:
Simply cut out an oval from some newspaper (I'm such a fan of using newspaper to make my patterns) and pin to the white fur. Then cut out the oval shape on the white fur, pin & hand sew onto the top (I didn't dare use my machine with fur fabric!)
The Tail:
A big ol' fluffy fox tail :)
For this I made a pattern out of newspaper. I'm not sure how to word the pattern, so hopefully the pictures will explain it.
This is how to make the pattern for the orange/brown part of the tail. Sew together by hand, make sure its inside-out so you cannot see the seems.
For the white part (again I cannot verbally describe the shape of it so please use the pictures), make sure the width is half the width of the end of the brown tail piece pattern. Also, you will need to cut out 4 of these, this will make your tail 3D. Sew together by hand & make sure you sew it inside-out!
Lastly, sew the tail onto your skirt.
The Ears:
This is probably my favourite part :)
Unfortunately, I got a little too into making them & therefore didn't take enough photos of how to make them.
I will try my best to explain how.
First cut out a large & long fox ear shape out of some newspaper. Then use this to cut out 4 pieces of orange/brown fur. Then cut out another pieces of newspaper which is the same shape as the last, but smaller. This will be the 'inside' of the ear and your'll need to cut out 2 pieces of white fur with it.
Sew 1 white piece onto 1 orange piece, it should look like this:
Then repeat with another piece of white fur & another piece of orange fur.
Next you need to sew the backs of the ears on. To do this, sew one piece of orange fur to one orange & white piece. If you sew it inside-out, you will not see the seems. Also, try to leave the bottom of the front & back pieces unattached. Then you can wrap them around a hair band & sew them into place.
If you managed to understand all that, your finished ears should look like this:
AND, if you've done all this... your'll have a costume that looks like this:
:) I'm a very happy fox indeed xxx
For this, I made a fox costume... and now I'm going to show you how.
First off, I bought a brown top & orangey-brown skirt from some charity shops (always great for a bargain!)
Then I bought some white fur (70cm) & some brown fur (1 metre)... and I bought way too much... I probably only used half of it! Anyway....
The belly:
Simply cut out an oval from some newspaper (I'm such a fan of using newspaper to make my patterns) and pin to the white fur. Then cut out the oval shape on the white fur, pin & hand sew onto the top (I didn't dare use my machine with fur fabric!)
The Tail:
A big ol' fluffy fox tail :)
For this I made a pattern out of newspaper. I'm not sure how to word the pattern, so hopefully the pictures will explain it.
This is how to make the pattern for the orange/brown part of the tail. Sew together by hand, make sure its inside-out so you cannot see the seems.
For the white part (again I cannot verbally describe the shape of it so please use the pictures), make sure the width is half the width of the end of the brown tail piece pattern. Also, you will need to cut out 4 of these, this will make your tail 3D. Sew together by hand & make sure you sew it inside-out!
Lastly, sew the tail onto your skirt.
The Ears:
This is probably my favourite part :)
Unfortunately, I got a little too into making them & therefore didn't take enough photos of how to make them.
I will try my best to explain how.
First cut out a large & long fox ear shape out of some newspaper. Then use this to cut out 4 pieces of orange/brown fur. Then cut out another pieces of newspaper which is the same shape as the last, but smaller. This will be the 'inside' of the ear and your'll need to cut out 2 pieces of white fur with it.
Sew 1 white piece onto 1 orange piece, it should look like this:
Then repeat with another piece of white fur & another piece of orange fur.
Next you need to sew the backs of the ears on. To do this, sew one piece of orange fur to one orange & white piece. If you sew it inside-out, you will not see the seems. Also, try to leave the bottom of the front & back pieces unattached. Then you can wrap them around a hair band & sew them into place.
If you managed to understand all that, your finished ears should look like this:
AND, if you've done all this... your'll have a costume that looks like this:
:) I'm a very happy fox indeed xxx
Sunday 23 October 2011
My Durham Zoo Party
Last night I celebrated my 21st (and 1 month) in Durham!!
It was our first house party so we made lots of vodka jelly shots & vodka melon (with food colouring):
And we all dressed up as animals:
And my boyfriend destroyed Derek in one go...!!!
...So everyone got lots of sweeties (and had a little to drink)... and I took too many photos...
All in all, it was a great night :)
Tomorrow I will blog about my foxy costume xxx
It was our first house party so we made lots of vodka jelly shots & vodka melon (with food colouring):
And we all dressed up as animals:
And my boyfriend destroyed Derek in one go...!!!
...So everyone got lots of sweeties (and had a little to drink)... and I took too many photos...
All in all, it was a great night :)
Tomorrow I will blog about my foxy costume xxx
Friday 21 October 2011
The Diaries of Derek the Donkey: The End
Derek took a few days to dry again... but today he was ready for some fur...
Starting with the feet...
... and now he is complete! :) I think he looks pretty awesome...
...also, for all of you excited guests: Jenni has just informed me we can use her old hockey stick!!
I cannot wait for tomorrow xxx
Tuesday 18 October 2011
The Diaries of Derek the Donkey: Day 3 & 4
So Derek needed a little time to prepare for this....
...and now he is SO FULL! :D
In fact he is having a little break to digest! :) Soon he'll be back on form and ready for my paaarrrty!!!
xxx
...and now he is SO FULL! :D
In fact he is having a little break to digest! :) Soon he'll be back on form and ready for my paaarrrty!!!
xxx
Sunday 16 October 2011
The Diaries of Derek the Donkey: Day 2
Derek is taking a little longer than I expected to dry (it's just so cold!)
But, I have managed to add a new layer which has given him a longer nose, a tail & some happier looking ears :)
But, I have managed to add a new layer which has given him a longer nose, a tail & some happier looking ears :)
I hope everyone is looking forward to beating the shh...ugar out of him ;) xxx
Saturday 15 October 2011
The Diaries of Derek the Donkey: Day 1
I'm making my guests a present for my Durham birthday party (which is a week today!!!) So, in the lead up to my party I will show you the progress of Derek the pinata donkey!
First of all, I made the all important life juice (Also known as glue, 1 part flour, 2 parts water)
Lastly I cut up lots of strips of newspaper & began to give Derek his first coat (after all, it's getting a bit cold up north).
Now it's time to let Derek dry overnight. :)
xxx
First of all, I made the all important life juice (Also known as glue, 1 part flour, 2 parts water)
Then it was time to make Derek's internal organs. For this I used two balloons (the pink balloon is much smaller than the blue one) and 5 toilet rolls. 4 toilet rolls were used for the legs (I made the front legs slightly smaller). Then I cut one third off the last toilet roll for the neck (the cut was made at a slight angle so the back of the neck is a little longer than the front). The rest of the toilet roll was used for the ears.
Now it's time to let Derek dry overnight. :)
xxx
Thursday 13 October 2011
I'm a busy bee in a beautiful city
So, university has finally kicked in and I've been having to spend my 'making things' time working...stupid 3rd year...
Don't worry, I've got some brilliant plans for the weekend (which your'll have to wait for). So for the time being I'll post these lovely two photos taken in the beautiful Durham.
Don't worry, I've got some brilliant plans for the weekend (which your'll have to wait for). So for the time being I'll post these lovely two photos taken in the beautiful Durham.
xxx
Monday 10 October 2011
Mama's Good Ol' Chicken Stew
So us girlies are taking turns on cooking this year. Last night, it was my turn!!!
I thought I'd make a Chicken Stew.. nom nom nom. So I got all my lovely ingredients, had a quick 'mum-help-me' style phone call & I was ready. Here is my finished strew:
And here is my mother's delicious and simple (but time consuming) recipe:
Ingredients (serves 4 very hungry people):
4 Chicken Legs
2 Onions
2 Potatoes
2 Carrots
1/2 Suede
4 of so leaves of Cabbage
1/2 Cup (I used 1/3 mug) of broth mix
1 pint of water
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Pepper
Flour
Olive Oil
1 Pint of Water
1/2 Chicken Stock Cube (optional)
Recipe:
Preheat the oven at 2140 degrees.
Pour some flour, salt & pepper into a mixing bowl. Put the chicken legs in & cover them with the flour mix. (This will help keep the yummy chicken juices in later)
Chop up your onions & fry until lightly brown. Whilst they are frying dice your carrots and suede into bite-able chunks. Add these into frying pan with the browning onions until all the veg is turning golden. Then remove from heat & pour into a casserole dish.
Using the same frying pan, fry your floured chicken legs until golden brown (make sure they are sealed all over). Then add into the casserole dish. Do not clean the frying pan yet! Let it cool a little & then add 1 pint of water into the pan to soak up all the chickeny juices. Add this water into the casserole dish.
Chop up the cabbage & potato into bite-able chunks, add to casserole dish. Season the strew with salt, pepper & mixed herbs. Put into the oven.
After 1 hour add the broth mix to the stew. Check the water level is still slightly higher than the veg, if not add more water. Also, taste the stew. If it is not chickeny enough, add 1/2 a chicken stock cube. Cook for another hour.
Serve hot.
xxx
I thought I'd make a Chicken Stew.. nom nom nom. So I got all my lovely ingredients, had a quick 'mum-help-me' style phone call & I was ready. Here is my finished strew:
And here is my mother's delicious and simple (but time consuming) recipe:
Ingredients (serves 4 very hungry people):
4 Chicken Legs
2 Onions
2 Potatoes
2 Carrots
1/2 Suede
4 of so leaves of Cabbage
1/2 Cup (I used 1/3 mug) of broth mix
1 pint of water
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Pepper
Flour
Olive Oil
1 Pint of Water
1/2 Chicken Stock Cube (optional)
Recipe:
Preheat the oven at 2140 degrees.
Pour some flour, salt & pepper into a mixing bowl. Put the chicken legs in & cover them with the flour mix. (This will help keep the yummy chicken juices in later)
Chop up your onions & fry until lightly brown. Whilst they are frying dice your carrots and suede into bite-able chunks. Add these into frying pan with the browning onions until all the veg is turning golden. Then remove from heat & pour into a casserole dish.
Using the same frying pan, fry your floured chicken legs until golden brown (make sure they are sealed all over). Then add into the casserole dish. Do not clean the frying pan yet! Let it cool a little & then add 1 pint of water into the pan to soak up all the chickeny juices. Add this water into the casserole dish.
Chop up the cabbage & potato into bite-able chunks, add to casserole dish. Season the strew with salt, pepper & mixed herbs. Put into the oven.
After 1 hour add the broth mix to the stew. Check the water level is still slightly higher than the veg, if not add more water. Also, taste the stew. If it is not chickeny enough, add 1/2 a chicken stock cube. Cook for another hour.
Serve hot.
xxx
Friday 7 October 2011
My first handmade top!
As promised, I had a go at making my own top (using my lovely new sewing machine)! But because it was my first attempt I won't try to show you 'how to make it yourself'... because you wouldn't want too.... I made a fair few mistakes, but I'll call them my learning curve.
:) Overall though, I'm smitten!
A little 'how to' I will say is: I copied the dress pattern from a top I already owned & drew it onto some newspaper. Then used these as the pattern for my fabric.
Then I 'simply' sewed it all together!
Well, I do love a good happy ending :)
Now it's time to read up on my stitches & hopefully I'll be able to teach you some cool crafty designs soon xxx
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Wizard Sticks!
I have recently gone to a Wizard Sticks party (a.k.a. you make a staff as tall as yourself out of your empty beer cans and thus becoming a wizard)
For such a delightful occasion my friend and I baked a cake....
... I believe it was a pretty darn good effort (with some additional supporting glow sticks added to the original design....and possibly some slightly sloppy icing)
The cake is a banana & chocolate sponge :) so yummy!
To make the sponge you need:
225g Butter
225g Self-Raising Flour
225g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
1 pince of salt
Filling: 3 tbsps of Coco Powder or 2 mashed up bananas
For the rest of the cake you need:
Butter Cream (225g butter & 225g icing sugar)
Ready Roll Icing
Blue & Red food colouring
Writing Icing
Something is sturdy the can structure (we used glow sticks!)
To make the sponges:
Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees.
Whisk the sugar and the butter together until creamy. Then separately beat the eggs. Add the eggs to the mix a bit at a time & whisk. Sieve the flour & flour into mix. Add the filling and the salt & mix. The consistency needs to be slightly runny (you may need to add a little water for the chocolate sponge or a little more flour for the banana sponge).
Split the mix into two & put into two cake tins. Bake for 15 minutes (until golden brown). Leave to cool on a cooling rack for around 20 minutes. Repeat with other cake sponge.
Stick one banana sponge & one chocolate sponge together using butter cream (butter whisked with icing sugar), this is your cake base.
For the can on top:
Cut both other banana & chocolate sponges into 3 small circles each (we used the rim of a glass to size the circles). Then stack them together using butter cream.
To decorate:
Colour some ready roll blue, roll flat & wrap it around the 'can' sponge structure (to stop ready roll sticking to your surface and your rolling pin cover in icing sugar). Cut off excess icing. Then use writing icing to draw the logos & writing onto the can.
Colour some more ready roll red and covered the top of the cake base. Cut off any excess that overlaps the cake base top.
Push the glow stick through the cake base where you want the can to sit. Then push the can structure on the top of it.
Write Happy Birthday on the top of the cake base. The end.
Now it's time to get out your beer cans....as you can see from the photos below, Wizard Sticking is awesome!!!
For such a delightful occasion my friend and I baked a cake....
... I believe it was a pretty darn good effort (with some additional supporting glow sticks added to the original design....and possibly some slightly sloppy icing)
The cake is a banana & chocolate sponge :) so yummy!
To make the sponge you need:
225g Butter
225g Self-Raising Flour
225g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
1 pince of salt
Filling: 3 tbsps of Coco Powder or 2 mashed up bananas
For the rest of the cake you need:
Butter Cream (225g butter & 225g icing sugar)
Ready Roll Icing
Blue & Red food colouring
Writing Icing
Something is sturdy the can structure (we used glow sticks!)
To make the sponges:
Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees.
Whisk the sugar and the butter together until creamy. Then separately beat the eggs. Add the eggs to the mix a bit at a time & whisk. Sieve the flour & flour into mix. Add the filling and the salt & mix. The consistency needs to be slightly runny (you may need to add a little water for the chocolate sponge or a little more flour for the banana sponge).
Split the mix into two & put into two cake tins. Bake for 15 minutes (until golden brown). Leave to cool on a cooling rack for around 20 minutes. Repeat with other cake sponge.
Stick one banana sponge & one chocolate sponge together using butter cream (butter whisked with icing sugar), this is your cake base.
For the can on top:
Cut both other banana & chocolate sponges into 3 small circles each (we used the rim of a glass to size the circles). Then stack them together using butter cream.
To decorate:
Colour some ready roll blue, roll flat & wrap it around the 'can' sponge structure (to stop ready roll sticking to your surface and your rolling pin cover in icing sugar). Cut off excess icing. Then use writing icing to draw the logos & writing onto the can.
Colour some more ready roll red and covered the top of the cake base. Cut off any excess that overlaps the cake base top.
Push the glow stick through the cake base where you want the can to sit. Then push the can structure on the top of it.
Write Happy Birthday on the top of the cake base. The end.
Now it's time to get out your beer cans....as you can see from the photos below, Wizard Sticking is awesome!!!
xxx
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