A creative lifestyle blog.

Saturday 28 September 2013

DIY: VINTAGE TEACUP CANDLES.

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This is hands down my favourite DIY project I have ever shared on this blog, closely followed by the framed chevron pin boards that hang proudly in my living room! I recently purchased this beautiful vintage teacup and saucer and knew instantly that I wanted to give it a little more purpose in my home other than just a decorative item or tucked away in a cupboard. 

As I have seen quite a few teacup candles on the market recently I thought it would be super easy to turn my beloved teacup into one with no problem. I was right! It is so simple to make your own that I'm genuinely annoyed at myself for not making any of my own candles sooner. All you will need is a teacup of your choice, 500g unblended paraffin wax (makes roughly 3 candles), pre waxed candle wicks and some blu tac. Simply blue tac the candle wick into the centre of the teacup. Melt the wax beads using the double boiler method of heating a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once the wax has fully melted simply pour the wax into the teacup and make sure to hold the wick to ensure an upright position. Leave to cool for roughly 3 hours. If you find that the wax has set and formed a well in the centre use a pin to make a few holes and melt some more wax and refill. This project is relatively purse friendly depending on the cost of your chosen teacups so I suggest you head down to your closest car boot and get hunting out some bargains. The rest of the items can be picked up in craft stores or on eBay as linked above. 

 I am already planning on picking up some more teacups so that I can experiment with colour and scents so watch this space. Family and friends beware, you are all probably going to be receiving teacup candles for christmas! 
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Tuesday 17 September 2013

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE.

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Today we have a very naughty little bake, a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge icing and sprinkles to top! Defiantly not one for those on a diet but perfect for any kind of celebration or you could simply cut it up into bite size portions and hand it out to your nearest and dearest and share a little chocolate fudge cake love. The best thing about this cake is that all the chopping and mixing is done quickly in a food processor, you just need to have everything weighed and ready before you start. 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SPONGE:
100g pecan halves, 1 TSP baking powder, 1/2 TSP bicarbonate of soda, 75g of 70% dark chocolate, 2 TBSP cocoa powder, 200g light muscovado sugar, 100ml of hot black coffee, 2 eggs, 175g unsalted butter and 125ml soured cream.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ICING:
150g 70% dark chocolate, 25g unsalted butter, 3 TBSP icing sugar and 2 TBSP black coffee.

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 160ÂșC/gas 3 and prepare a 25.5 x 20.5 x 5cm cake tin or tray bake tin with baking paper. Sift the flour with the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside. Put the chocolate in a bowl of a food processor with the cocoa and 100g of the muscovado sugar. Process until the mixture had a sandy texture. With the machine running pour in the hot coffee via the feed tube and process until the chocolate has melted. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and the rest of the sugar and process for roughly 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl again and add the butter and run the machine again. Scrape down the bowl once more. Add the soured cream and the flour mixture and process until the mixture becomes a smooth, streak-free batter. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until the sponge starts to pull away from the sides. Remove from the oven and run a round bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the sponge. Leave to completely cool within the tin. To make the icing put the chocolate in a small pan with the butter, icing sugar and coffee. Set on the lowest heat possible and stir gently until melted and smooth. Once melted remove from the heat and leave until thick enough thick enough to spread. Cover the top of the cake with icing and chocolate sprinkles and leave to set before cutting. 
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Friday 13 September 2013

MARTHA STEWART AT STAPLES.

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Lets just throw this out there, I am a complete and utter sucker for stationary. I was always that lame kid that used to spend their entire pocket money on highlighters and smelly gel pens and walk away with genuine excitement to get home or to school to show of my latest stationary stash. 

For as long as I can remember I have always had a keen interested in art and generally anything that involved making things so it comes as no real surprise that my 23 year old self is still happy to spend my money on pens, inks, paints, notebooks, you name it I probably have its stashed away somewhere in my craft hoard. In an attempt to get my craft/stationary draws into some form of order I decided to invest a little money in these beautiful storage pieces from the Martha Stewart collection exclusively at Staples. Coming in various colour ways and shapes I decided to go with the desktop organiser, draw with inbox and the small item holder and stack it all together to have one designated place on my desk for all my day to day bits and bobs that are usually shoved away in a draw out of sight. Of course no shopping spree in Staples would be complete without me picking up yet another notebook in the form of this lovely matching lined one from the same range. Online there is currently 33% off all the items I have mentioned so I suggest you snap them up now if you fancy sprucing up your office storage! 

It is so nice to have a place to store all my unnecessary notebooks, pens and pencils and I have found it even helps me keep on top of all the mundane homeowner junk that needs to be taken care of, success! 
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Monday 2 September 2013

DIY: MAP GIFT TAGS.

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DIY-MAP-GIFT-TAGS

After a recent conversation with a dear friend of mine about how lovely old maps looked when used as gift wrap I thought to myself their must be more ways to up-cycle these beautiful maps into something else special. Following the theme of gift giving I decided to start with something incredibly simple, map gift tags. 

This DIY is seriously easy therefore I encourage even my the craft-void readers to have a pop at this one. All you need is some plain gift tags to use as a template/base, a pencil, scissors, a map of any kind, twine/string and any glue of your choice. I chose to use removable photo glue as it is ideal for this type of project as it dries clear, can be removed without damage and will not shrink or wrinkle. All of the items required for this project are readably available in craft stores or via good old eBay. If you don't have any old maps gathering dust in the attic pop to a charity shop or simply print one at home from the internet. To make these tags simply draw around the gift tag onto the back of your map of choice, carefully cut it out, create a hole in line with the template, stick on the map and once dry thread some twine and tie in a knot! I did tell you this one was an easy one, ideal to make with children or for those people that reckon they don't have the time to make things for themselves. I would recommend making a few of these at a time as they are so quick to make and easy to store ready for your next gift giving occasion. 

I think this simple DIY adds a real touch of personality to an otherwise basic gift wrap and is suitable for all occasions, ages and genders, winner! 
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