5 little witches....

I had a small Halloween party for my girl and her pals yesterday, which was fun, but very hard work, it took a lot of thought and planning. I worked for 2 days at making props, baking scary cakes and witchy fingers. The spookifying of my kitchen was a challenge. I downloaded some scary labels and made some myself which I stained with teabags. I stuck to bottles and jars I had collected and filled them with gross looking food stuff-found in the cupboards.

We had scary music sounds, the lights down low,and candles lit.

We did pumpkin carving with the help of 3 other adults, which was most welcome!

We played musical statues to the Monster Mash.

We did face painting.

We ate hot dogs sausage rolls, werewolf cupcakes, Ghostly Mini Pavlovas.

 The girls wouldn't touch the finger biscuits, they were so delish too, just a straightforward shortbread recipe, with some green food colouring! Recipe Here

 More for us to eat then, very nice dunked in a cuppa :)

There was lots of shrieking, tears (from my one, think the excitement was all a bit much) and good fun!!

We are off out tonight to knock on a few neighbours doors, then an early night, I certainly need it.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Pretty Poncho

I made this Poncho for Sadie last week over a couple of eves, it's a very simple pattern, and very quick to achieve as not many rows.  I found the pattern on You Tube.

The wool was a real bargain at £4 for 2 x 100g balls,I just about had enough to make this and finish off with 2 little tassles!

Sadie loves it, it is super soft, I love the way the pink speckles through the grey.

Another added bonus was a lovely gift from my step-mum, who bought me a great book-The Happy hooker, which  has plenty of projects  for me to get stuck into. I need to be kept busy at this for now see.... :)

Another blanket reveal

I started working on this one for my daughter 2 weeks ago.

Amassing squares

It's a bit wonky in places- I'm very new to this so will get better at better at joining. Some of my squares were larger than others which didn't help. Still I made it with love and all adds to the charm, It's very thick, colourful and snuggly!

Draping

I absolutely LOVE crochet!

Onto more projects! Going to try and steer away from pink next time!

Carrot cake from Baking mad series.

I have been watching Eric Lanlard series Baking mad, and am mightily impressed by his baking and decorating abilities, his cakes are works are of which is partly why I really enjoyed the series, as is more creative than every day baking, he can come across rather snobby though, typical Frenchman!

On special occasions its nice to really push the boat out and produce something with a wow factor,and there are lots of ideas in this series for just that.

I though I would try his Carrot cake recipe as haven't found a recipe yet that I really love and think ' This is the one' but this may be....

. 

I halved the amounts on the recipe as only wanted to make one cake as this makes 2 loaf tins.  I added some milk to the mix as felt too claggy and thick to me.

The muscavdo sugar definitely is an improvement on caster sugar, it gives it a better depth of flavour. This cake was very moist inside, I heartily recommend!

Recipe here here

Kids and hubby will devour later.

Finished Blanket!

Yipee!! It's done, it took 1 week, every evening all evening and a bit squeezed in during the day here and there and I'm really proud, as this is the first thing I've ever made, EVER! It wasn't without its problems,but I corrected them as I went. The hardest part was the scalloped edge, lots of unravelling  and restarting took place,until I sussed it.

My daughter loves it and is snuggling into at every given moment which is what I intended.

I think the colours are gorgeous,it makes me feel cheerful looking at it.

The reveal moment.... here it is....

The picture really doesn't do it justice, my camera phone is broken, this was taken on hubby's blackberry,which has the worst camera ever!


Onto blanket number 2 now.....

Blanket in progress

This is the blanket I'm  currently crocheting for my daughter, I started it 2 days ago and have spent all eve for the last 3 nights working on it. The nice thing about this method,is not having to join Granny squares afterwards. Its a ready made blanket,which is draping across me as I make it now,very snuggly!

I'm just over 1/4 way with it, I'm SO enjoying making this and love the colour combos, very Cath Kidston without the red, which draws the eye too much I think. I NEED to learn to make some pretty flowers to embellish it in  the centre.

 I'm loving this, need to watch a few tutorials and practise. Gorgeous isn't it?

The upside to my new found addiction, sedentary as it is, is that I'm not boredom snacking,so will probably lose some weight,I get so engrossed, its time for bed before I know it.

Downside is I have pain in my wrist and hand, OUCH! I had this before I think its like a repetitive strain type thing. Have to not do it for prolonged periods-Boo Hoo!

Crochet success!! And other stuff....

The art of crocheting has long since eluded me. I have given it a shot a few times in the past only to fail, as never understood it properly, and didn't know anyone who could show me how to get started, but this all changed last week!

My lovely friend Dee very kindly showed me over a cuppa, and a got me doing a few basic stitches, even though I didn't have a clue what I was doing, it gave me a feel for it. I knew I would be back on You Tube watching a few tutorials, and hoping it would make more sense after my little lesson. That was the plan anyway....

Firstly I went out to the charity shop and picked up a hook and some wool to practise, and  boy did I practise.  As you can see I made loads of mistakes, bad tension, and bucket loads of frustration, but am getting better slowly but surely.

Terrible aren't they?

 I have been trying to follow the massively talented Attic 24 's Summer flower granny square pattern, Lucy's work is AMAZING, her colour combos are fabulous!

On Sunday night after 2-3 days of practise I had that Eureka moment where I just 'got it' I was SO pleased, so finally I can make my girlie a beautiful blanket, amongst other things. I don't have to look at the  pattern now, so that's me am officially addicted, the thought of the colder evenings creeping in on us and curling up on the couch or in bed, in a warm cosy room, with a hot chocolate and hooking away on these little beauties is very appealing indeed, its very  rhythmic and relaxing.

I have chosen to work with all these gorgeous colours, it's Robin DK, and I'm using a 5 mm crochet hook.

 I only bought the purples, blues and lavenders this morning so will work some squares in these colours and will update when more are made, here are the granny squares I have worked so far.

Success!! :)

On a different note It's now been 5 weeks since I passed my driving test, and I have been out every day, lots of ferrying kids to and fro, I feels like I've been driving for 20 years! I've even cracked my parking, my parallels are good, and reverse bay parking is getting better, I'm the kind that can't stand not being able to do something, so have forced myself to tackle difficult manoeuvres,  and it has paid off. It really has changed my life for the better, I love my old Betty!

Oh this really is my favourite time of the year, I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the Autumn, and get excited about the colder mornings and evenings, its so nice being cosy, and it gives me an excuse to get the candles and  fairy lights on, not that I ever need an excuse, I am a  tad addicted to faffing about with lighting.

This week I have revamped the conservatory a bit. The hubby and I sit out here when we are having a a few drinks,  its our little snug for chatting and listening to music, and  shut ourselves away from the kids! I wanted it to look less like a conservatory and more loungy, so  put up these old muslin curtains, to diffuse the light as the sun is blindingly bright in here, the only down side is not being able to see all the garden, as we have lovely lighting that focuses on certain areas, and looks really pretty at night, but can always draw  them back. I need to repaint the walls a bright white, as they are very tired looking at the moment , but until then I have created a nice corner, with mostly old stuff lying around the house- bit of reshuffling. I bought the lovely chunky lovely candle stick from Next, and placed my old vintage lace cloth over the  table, and some stones, shells and driftwood as I wanted it to remind me of the beach.

I pinched the Hydrangeas from a pot outside a restaurant the other day, when no one was looking! Naughty I know but couldn't resist the colour.

 They are not in water. I think the trick to drying them out is to cut them when they are partially dry on the plant, which they are so hopefully they wont wilt. The clock had a zebra fabric which didn't 'go'  so I covered it with my last piece of Cath kidston wrapping paper, a temporary measure until I sort out some fabric.

 Lastly  I painted the picture frames as they were a nasty gold colour. I am very pleased with the result, looks more like a room now , very fresh and more inviting.

So what's not to like about all the upcoming months of festivities? I am planning a little Halloween party for my daughter, and her school friends, so dressing up, some creepy cake decorating and pumpkin carving fun will be had , and my kitchen will need to be adorned with webs, and all manner of things creepy.

I don't  like Bonfire night at all, bloody fireworks go on for weeks and weeks, never used to when I was a child. It's a pain.

Christmas??  Well LOVE IT.  Can't wait to get the tree out........