Mother Day gift ideas:

So I thought you all might appreciate a few ideas for Mother's Day, I love to make my gifts because I think it's so much more personal. But I don't just restrict myself to the actual gifts, cards and wrapping can all be personalised too! I love to receive a gift that's so beautifully wrapped I can barely bring myself to open it, so I make sure that if I give a gift it's wrapped all pretty.

Here's some quick and easy ideas for presents and also for wrapping:

1. Cupcakes!

This must be one of the simplest ways to make your Mum something delicious and pretty. Try this recipe for Jammy Cupcakes and personalise with you Mum's favourite flavour of jam. 

2. A wall print.

Is there a quote your Mum loves or just want to tell her how much you love her? Try this wall print you can draw yourself for her. 

3. Hand embroidery.

My constellation embroidery can be personalised for you Mum too! Either choose her star sign or maybe her name and favourite colours, leave it in the embroidery hoop and she can easily hang it as a reminder of how much you love her. 

4. Hand painted plates.

Hand painted plates look wonderful and have that lovely handmade quality your Mum will love. Choose a pretty pattern, write her name or paint something she loves like a cupcake or a book. 

5. Personalised cards

Make your Mum a card, for these I dug out all my crafty bits and pieces and got creative. Hint: Washi tape is a lifesaver for jazzing something up! It'll go from simple to creative in just a few seconds!

6. Pin cushion. 

Is your Mum big into sewing try a home-made pin cushion, just grab 2 squares of fabric and sew along 3 of the edges, stuff full of wadding and sew the final side. Pretty, useful and simple! 

7. Pretty packaging. 

I'm posting my Mum's present home to her and wanted it to look pretty and inviting. So I grabbed a simple box and painted some polka dots on. 

8. Gift tags. 

Luggage tags can be a transformed into wonderful gift tags with a few simple ideas. 

Try grabbing some paint and roughly covering one side with a colourful lick of paint, once dry write on top of the paint for a cheerful tag. 

Or put to use that Washi tape collection covering tag with pretty patterns or edging with a floral flourish! 

Need more ideas? Well listen to your Mum, I'm sure she's mentioned things she'd love even if it's just a few nights off making dinner or time alone to relax with a book. 

What are you giving your Mum this year? 

Katy

Polka dotty T-shirt!

I'm mad about polka dots! Who doesn't love them! They're cute and so dainty.
I did a little spring clothes shopping and found a polka dot dress and skirt but searched high and low for a dotty t-shirt but couldn't find exactly what I wanted.

So I decided to make one! What better way is there to get exactly what you want!
Here goes, you'll need:

Your chosen t-shirt, 

Fabric paint- I used Dylon as it's the most available and cheap I've found,

Paint brush, 

Pencil, 

Paper/card, 

Start with your t-shirt laid out and pop your paper/card inside so to stop the fabric paint from going through to the other side.

Draw where you want your polka dots to be so you have a rough guide of where to paint once you start. They don't need to be the size you want just a rough guide to get you started.

Then get painting! I made my polka dots quite small and dainty but you can make them all whatever size you like. 

Keep going until you've finished polka dotting your whole t-shirt. Remember to move the paper around when when you're painting on different areas. You'll need to leave each area time to dry before you move on so not to smudge. 

Once it's all dry, this will take maybe 30 minutes to be fully dry, grab your iron (carefully obviously) and a piece of clean fabric or cloth and lay it over your t-shirt on the ironing board. 

Iron your fabric and t-shirt, make sure you iron all of your shirt and this will fix the fabric paint so that when you wash it it should stay put.

And you should end up with your perfect polka dotty t-shirt! 

What's your perfect polka dot? I'd love to see your creations!

Katy

Jammy Cupcakes

I'm cupcake MAD!
If there's one thing I couldn't live without baking it would be cupcakes. They're easy and delicious!
Cupcakes are adaptable and you can always find something in your kitchen to throw in, chocolate chips, lemon, there's so many options.

This jam cupcake recipe is no exemption and can be adapted for every kind of jam you have in your cupboard. Today I used my Mama's homemade Elderberry jam which G loves! We only had a little left so I thought I'd whip it up into something sweet.

Ingredients-

Cake:
120g unsalted butter,
340g self raising flour,
1/2 teaspoon of salt,
4 large egg yolks,
360g soft brown sugar (can be substituted with caster sugar for a lighter coloured cake)
180ml milk,
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar,
150g of your jam,

Frosting:
450g icing sugar,
120g soft butter,
50g of your chosen jam,


How to:

Add your flour, butter and salt into the mixing bowl and combine together until it form the consistency of crumbs.

In the jug add half of the jam, the egg yolks, milk and white wine vinegar. Whisk until it's all combined thoroughly and turns the colour of your chosen jam.

Add half of the mixture from your jug to the dry ingredients whisk until fully combined. Then slowly add the rest of the mixture until the mix is smooth.

Fill your cupcake cases 3/4 full.

Put a drop of your jam on top of the filled cupcake cases and use a skewer to swirl the jam into the top of your cupcakes. 

Set your timer for 20 minutes but peep in the oven at about 10 minutes to check they aren't burning on the top. If they are pop a layer of tin foil over the top. 

To check your cupcakes are ready insert a skewer into the centre, if it comes out clean then they're ready if not put them back in for a 5 more minutes and check again. 

Once they're cool enough to touch take them out and leave them on a rack until cool to the touch. 

Now for the best and most delicious part (of course) the frosting! 

I could just eat a bowl of frosting on it's own to be honest but I suppose it should go on the cupcakes. 

Add your icing sugar and softened butter to a bowl and use a spoon to cream this together slightly before we bring out the hand whisk. 

Once it's all combined, and you won't get a sugar shower when you turn your whisk on, mix until fluffy and soft looking. 

Add your jam to the frosting and again whisk until fluffy and thick icing. You want it to hold it's own so if you lift your whisk out of the mix and it stays in a peak then it's perfect. 

Take your piping bags and fill with all your frosting. I use disposable ones because no fabric ones have been able to stand the test yet. 

Decorate in any way you like, swirls, slicks or dots of icing all look perfect because really the important part is how they taste. 

Last but not least. Eat! 

A few wonderful things!

I've always got a little wish list on the go so here's a few things I'm lusting after at the moment!

(Picture from Rowen & Wren page)

This Mason Jar Cocktail shaker from Rowen & Wren is something I'm lusting after. Making cocktails is one of my Spring/Summer resolutions especially for summer BBQ's in our new house.

(Picture from Alphabet Bags page)

Anything Kitty related and I'm hooked. I'm a crazy cat lady ten fold! So this phone case from Alphabet Bags is screaming at me and sitting in my Notonthehighstreet bag waiting for the funds to get it!

(Picture from Carocaro Studio Etsy shop)

This gorgeous typewriter water colour from Carocaro Studio is so pretty! I'm watching lots of vintage typewriters on eBay right now, so this would fit perfectly on my wall hopefully next to a typewriter of my own. 

(Picture from Candy Ruan Etsy page)

This dark brown leather tote from Candy Ruan is on my Birthday wish list! It's so big and roomy, I could imagine using this gorgeous bag every day from the moment I get it. Fingers crossed!

(Picture from Back to Zero Etsy page)

I'm a traditional letter writer and I love to make cards and write letters to people, it's so much more personal and you can make what you send personalised and pretty. This 'Thank You' wax stamp from Back to Zero would be perfect for Thank You cards or just a letter telling someone how much you appreciate them. 

(Picture from Meeta K Wolff Photography) 

I cannot wait for spring to arrive. I mean, hands up if you're sick of this freezing weather I just want to wear my sunnies and dresses again! This picnic looks so delicious and perfect for the spring time! And isn't Meeta K Wolff Photography amazing! 

Paperchase always has the most wonderful things, it's a strange day when I don't come out with a little something even if it's just one of their adorable postcards. This weekend I spotted these gorgeous art deco Thank You cards and couldn't resist, I'll keep them until my birthday and then someone else with get to see their beauty!

Last but not least... It's the beginning of Lent today and I've decided to give up fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolate. I love Lent because it challenges me and usually gives me a boost to do the things I have been aiming to do for a while. So bye bye sweets and hello fruit treats! See you at Easter! 

Katy

Mayo!

I hate mayonnaise. With a capital H!
Ever buy a pre packed, pre made sandwich (probably days before) just dripping in mayonnaise- my worst nightmare. I can be tempted with a little with chips but only on my terms.
I thought I'd give homemade Mayo the benefit of the doubt and since I was using egg whites this weekend I had egg yolks left over. What better time to give it a go!

Everyone will tell you that Mayonnaise is terribly hard to make, while this recipe takes a lot of elbow grease and some hard work it's actually quite simple if you stick to the recipe.

What you'll need:
2 egg yolks,
500 ml of Olive (You choose vegetable, olive, rapeseed...),
1 heaped teaspoon of Dijon Mustard,
2 tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar,
A big pinch of salt,
Half a lemon,

What to do:

1. Put your two egg yolks in a bowl, whisk them for a few minutes to get started. 

2.Take your dijon mustard and add one table spoon. Continue to whisk again (there's going to be a lot of whisking!)

3. Take 250ml of your 500ml of chosen oil and very slowly, like drip by drip whisk it in. 

You'll need to do this super slowly, once you added a little make sure it's completely incorporated otherwise you might not get the emulsion you need. 

4. Next up, add one tablespoon of the white wine vinegar and whisk again, this will loosen up the mixture and make it a little lighter in colour. 

5. Next step is the rest of the oil. Keep whisking! You're arms probably killing you by now but I promise it'll be worth it. 

If you've whisked hard enough and persevered you should end up with something like above. It'll be glossy and thick and stick to the spoon if you've gotten it right. 

6. Once you've hit this stage add salt and lemon juice to your taste and enjoy! 

It won't look like the usual store bought mayonnaise and will be no where near as good for you but it tastes delicious. I think it's just a perfect excuse to throw out your diet for a day or two!

Enjoy!

Katy