Chocolate chip cookies

I gave the biggest mini Maker options for the afternoon's activities and she chose cooking, a greed focused decision I thought (takes after her father!).  So we all put on our aprons and set to work in the kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't remember where I got this recipe from; its really easy & quick so great to do with youngsters and always produces crowd pleasing results.

150g golden castor sugar

200g brown sugar

250g melted butter

2 eggs

generous splash of vanilla extract

300g plain flour

250g chocolate chips

Set oven to 375F.

Melt butter and stir into the sugars.  Then mix in the eggs & vanilla extract.  Stir in flour then last but not least mix in the chocolate chips.  

Blob a desert spoonful per cookie on a lined baking sheet allowing plenty of space for spread.  Bake for approx 10mins, until they slightly colour on the edges. Whilst the cookies are baking fight over bowl & spoon licking rights....

As the mini Maker's were involved we put our blobs of mixture into greased muffin trays which made for more of a cookie cake. No bad thing we thought!

Children's pillowcase

We're ready for bed....Join the sleep set....Sweet dreams love....See you in the morning....

is the message written around my pillowcase. One of my Grandma's (I had 4 in my hay day) bought this for me many many Christmas's ago. She was a champion of upmarket catalogue shopping and as a result we had varied, and mostly good gifts from her. The monogrammed theme lasted a few years (towels, note-lets, pens & pencils) but the pillowcase was my favourite.  Obviously as it came with me to the USA!  I confess to giving it a good sniff when I found it in the cupboard. Still smells of my childhood.

Anyway it prompted the thought to make a pillow case for my niece, Florence, who is moving into a big bed very soon. The design inspiration came from looking at this fab embroidered growth chart.  

The first thing I did was cut out blocks 3x3 inches & sew them together. Then pressed the seems towards the lighter coloured fabric.

Next step was to patch pieces to make the "F" & press the edges in. I'm sure there is a better way of doing this but the end result is satisfactory.

The strip of coloured blocks were sewn into the fabric approx 3/4 of the way in.  It took a lot of brain power to work out how best to do this (really!). In the end I opted for pinning the strip then cutting the front face of the pillow case and sewing each piece of the front fabric to the strip separately. Makes sense, right?!

Here's the finished article.  I hope it lasts as long as my pillow case has!

Anzac biscuits

To celebrate the presence of a bottle of liquid nectar or as its also known, Lyle's golden syrup in our house (bought from the UK) and because a Kiwi friend is popping in for a coffee tomorrow morning I decided to make some Anzac biscuits.
As always I have the idea of what to make then realise when I've already set to that I don't have half the ingredients. In this case I didn't have the required desiccated coconut. I have substituted in crushed flaked almonds with very satisfactory results.  Lets see what the native says tomorrow morning.....

Anzac biscuits

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of desiccated coconut or crushed flaked almonds

2/3 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of jumbo oats

125g butter

1tbs golden syrup

1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

2 tbs boiling water

Set oven to 160c (315F).
Mix together flour, almonds, brown sugar & oats in a bowl. Melt butter & golden syrup together.
In a little bowl pour boiling water over bicarb of soda. Mix into butter & syrup.  Pour over the oats mixture and stir to combine.
Roll small balls of the mixture in your hands and put onto lined tray.  Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.
Bake for 20mins (ish) until the biscuits are golden.

PS. If you'v never heard of Anzac biscuits google it! Its a interesting story...

Boys and sewing

Imagine my delight when my sister told me that my nephew wanted a sewing kit for his 6th Birthday, which he was spending with us.  I would have loved to put one together for him but sadly I didn't have enough notice.
Alex seem to have the best ones on the market.  This version looked the least girly but I wasn't prepared to pay 30 bucks when I could essentially get the same thing from Amazon for 20 bucks but pink. Luckily Thomas is a 6 year old boy who is in touch with his feminine side.

Assembling the material

Sewing commences

The finished puppy

He diligently sat for well over an hour happily sewing away until red puppy was finished. Pretty good staying power for a 6 year old boy don't you think?!

Stone stories

I am totally obsessed with my latest make it is the most addictive crafting I have done recently.

My inspiration/tutorial came from Emily at red bird crafts.  She really does have the stone addiction thing going on as well.  Thank you Emily for sharing your creative ideas and sharing the love for stone stories.

Let me run thorough why I think sticking things onto stones is so wonderfully amazing.

• Collecting stones.  It is a great excuse to get out and about.  And what child, or adult (OK maybe its just me) doesn't love stones?

picnic by the river, stone collecting

• Using up scraps.  I now have a second bag of remnants, I save even the most minuscule scrap of fabric to reuse.  Very satisfying.
• Mod Podge.  What's not to like? Great name, great label

• They are quick and easy to do.  Once you've decided on your design (I dream about my next creation) all you have to do is cut it out of your chosen fabric & stick onto your chosen stone.
• And if your still not convinced have a look at these little beauties...

• They inspire imaginative play. As we speak the dinosaur is roaring at Jess the cat and a story is unfolding..

Pinterest and the world of blogs

The blogsphere is new to me and I must confess to still being not 100% au fait with it all. I remember asking my husband what a blog was not that long ago (we are talking years not weeks) and he explained. Nope, still didn't get it. 

Until now.  Wow.  There are so many talented people out there!! Every surf trip I discover something truly beautiful/amazing/clever/witty/creative. It can be a very humbling experience.

My latest find is Pinterest.  Now forgive me, as I am sure you have all discovered this fabulous treasure trove long ago, but what a great idea!  It is going to be my new go to source of inspiration. I have set up my own pinboard and hope to do plenty of pinning in the future. If I properly get the hang of it ;-).

It is true the bloggers' life can be a little lonely and disheartening at first.  After the intial flurry of hits from friends the numbers drop off....and before you know it you are lost at sea.  I am hoping Pininterest and installing the "followers" gadget on my blog will up my stats, a little. So please take the time to hit follow, and thanks to my husband, my only follower - so far! xx

Stationery holder

The girls of the family are heading back to Blighty for my Mum's 70th birthday party (amongst other things) at the end of August. I am all to aware of the 11 hour flight & the need to keep 2 little girls entertained (to be fair to them the novelty of squeezing into the tiny loo & going to the loo should keep them occupied for a good 5 hours).  
So I am coming up with things to keep them busy.  I had been coveting this fabric for a while but couldn't really put it to use until now!  Quite apt as Grandma & Grandpa live in London and no doubt we will be going on a bus & in a taxi at some point.
I made these stationery rolls/holders for them and hope to keep them a surprise until loo trip boredom sets in, or taxing down the runway.

I used the pattern from breadandbuttons which call it a travelling art show pattern.  Its super easy to follow and I knocked them both up in no time.


Wish me luck for that flight ;-)