Finished this yesterday, really pleased with it. A very reasonable £16.99 LATT chair and table set hacked with some fab fabric I picked up as a roll end (£2.99 pm) and PVA glue.
Nikki
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Sunday 18 March 2012
Saturday 17 March 2012
NEW ROOM FOR DYLAN
Well, sorry it has been a little while but since I have been at work it has been tough to keep up with sewing and creative projects. I have given my son's room a make over using wall stickers from Pound World, and I'm really pleased with it. We didn't want to spend a lot as we're moving, but I have to admit, this is the cheapest room revamp I've ever done!
Price break down:
8 x wall sticker packs (£1 each) = £8
Paint from the garage = free (blue, green and white, left over from bathroom and Dylan's room first time around)
Fabric = £4.50 (£2.99 pm used about 1.5 m (for cushion and bunting)
Curtains = £20 (Argos)
3 x canvases (£1.50 each) = £4.50 (Dunelm Mill)
2 x mobiles (£10 each) = £20 (Ebay)
Total = £57
Here is the finished result:
Well, sorry it has been a little while but since I have been at work it has been tough to keep up with sewing and creative projects. I have given my son's room a make over using wall stickers from Pound World, and I'm really pleased with it. We didn't want to spend a lot as we're moving, but I have to admit, this is the cheapest room revamp I've ever done!
Price break down:
8 x wall sticker packs (£1 each) = £8
Paint from the garage = free (blue, green and white, left over from bathroom and Dylan's room first time around)
Fabric = £4.50 (£2.99 pm used about 1.5 m (for cushion and bunting)
Curtains = £20 (Argos)
3 x canvases (£1.50 each) = £4.50 (Dunelm Mill)
2 x mobiles (£10 each) = £20 (Ebay)
Total = £57
Here is the finished result:
Meant to say, I went for neutral curtains so I can always change the theme later on (I'm thinking a rocket theme!)
Let me know what you think.
Nikki
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Thursday 16 February 2012
ADAPTED PINEAPPLE CAKE
Had a pineapple, tried this recipe for pineapple upside down cake this morning. Except (and let's face it I can never leave a recipe alone) I added some coconut to the caramelised pineapple mixture, and popped it in a loaf tin (upping the cooking time to about 30 min). BTW line your loaf tin a la this link at Stock Food.
Looks terrible (I didn't grease my baking parchment well enough, so it ended up right side up, doh...), but it tastes good, not overly sweet so okay for kids and grown ups :-)
Nikki
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Had a pineapple, tried this recipe for pineapple upside down cake this morning. Except (and let's face it I can never leave a recipe alone) I added some coconut to the caramelised pineapple mixture, and popped it in a loaf tin (upping the cooking time to about 30 min). BTW line your loaf tin a la this link at Stock Food.
Looks terrible (I didn't grease my baking parchment well enough, so it ended up right side up, doh...), but it tastes good, not overly sweet so okay for kids and grown ups :-)
Nikki
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Sunday 12 February 2012
FEED THE 5000 CASSEROLE!
We had friends over this weekend so I did a vat of chicken casserole to feed everyone. It did us for lunch today (4 adults, 3 kids) and also for the two of us for dinner tonight. I've also managed to get a few toddler sized portions frozen for the wee man.
It cost less than a tenner as I used cheap chicken quarters (about £2-3 per pack) and the veg I had knockin' around the fridge. You can use any veg you have, and as I used a slow cooker the older veg which is on it's way out is fine as you cook it for an age. These sort of meals are ace if you're a working parent as you prep in the morning (or the night before, and refrigerate overnight) and pop them in the slow cooker on low all day. It means you come home to some lovely yummy dinner which is hot and smells d.e.l.i.s.h.
So, how do I make it, I hear you cry?
Firstly, you need a slow cooker or a large oven/stove top casserole dish. I am a total slow cooker convert and use mine all the time. I have a large Rachel Allen one which is about 6.5 litres.
Ingredients:
3 peppers
6 carrots
2 onions
1 leek
1 pack mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1 carton passata (500 g)
1 tin tomatoes
1.5 pints chicken stock (or very thin chicken gravy)
6 chicken leg quarters
2-3 tsp cinnamon
3-4 tbsp paprika
3-4 tbsp italian herbs
4 good sloshes of worcester sauce (or to your own taste)
Black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1) Sear your chicken in a very hot pan with the lid on (it spits like hell). Get it good and brown. Leave it to rest on a plate. Turn on your slow cooker.
3) Add your veg (chopped up). Give it a good mix and get it well coated.
We had friends over this weekend so I did a vat of chicken casserole to feed everyone. It did us for lunch today (4 adults, 3 kids) and also for the two of us for dinner tonight. I've also managed to get a few toddler sized portions frozen for the wee man.
It cost less than a tenner as I used cheap chicken quarters (about £2-3 per pack) and the veg I had knockin' around the fridge. You can use any veg you have, and as I used a slow cooker the older veg which is on it's way out is fine as you cook it for an age. These sort of meals are ace if you're a working parent as you prep in the morning (or the night before, and refrigerate overnight) and pop them in the slow cooker on low all day. It means you come home to some lovely yummy dinner which is hot and smells d.e.l.i.s.h.
So, how do I make it, I hear you cry?
Firstly, you need a slow cooker or a large oven/stove top casserole dish. I am a total slow cooker convert and use mine all the time. I have a large Rachel Allen one which is about 6.5 litres.
Ingredients:
3 peppers
6 carrots
2 onions
1 leek
1 pack mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1 carton passata (500 g)
1 tin tomatoes
1.5 pints chicken stock (or very thin chicken gravy)
6 chicken leg quarters
2-3 tsp cinnamon
3-4 tbsp paprika
3-4 tbsp italian herbs
4 good sloshes of worcester sauce (or to your own taste)
Black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1) Sear your chicken in a very hot pan with the lid on (it spits like hell). Get it good and brown. Leave it to rest on a plate. Turn on your slow cooker.
Here is some I made earlier...
2) Chop up your garlic and onions. Add the cinnamon, paprika, herbs, sugar black pepper (to taste i.e. as much or as little as you like), add the worcester sauce. Remember that when you're cooking in a slow cooker, the more flavour you add the better as it will diminish over the long cooking period, so... don't be shy with the herbs and spices. I shove mine in, but I've given you the amounts above as a guide.3) Add your veg (chopped up). Give it a good mix and get it well coated.
4) Add your chicken on top of the veg.
5) Pour over the passata, tinned toms and then the stock. Give it a good stir (but be careful as it will be pretty full). Push the chicken down so it's half in the sauce.
6) Start your slow cooker on 'high' for about 30 minutes and then switch to 'low'. Leave it all day, or for at least 5 hours.
7) When you serve you can either leave the chicken on the bone, or, take the quarters out, strip the meat off and put the meat back in the saucy veg. I serve it with crusty bread in a bowl, or with pasta or brown rice.
Tip numero uno: If you do decide to strip the meat off, keep the bones and make a stock with them. I normally empty my casserole out of the slow cooker dish into fridge containers, pop the bones back in and add a load of boiling water from the kettle (normally two full kettles as I have a big one... fnah, fnah). Leave them to cook overnight and then freeze your stock for your next casserole (this is also good for toddlers as this stock from the bones will be less salty than using stock cubes/gravy).
My stock simmering post casserole consumption.
Tip numero dos: Use weaning pots (about 50-100 ml size, you can buy bulk lots on eBay) and freeze off toddler sized portions. These are very handy when you're stuck with nothing to eat in the house, or you're sending your little fella to the childminder/grannies/aunties etc etc so they don't have to worry about prepping a veg filled nutritious meal!
Happy slow cooking!
Nikki
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Thursday 9 February 2012
GET AS MANY VEG IN TO YOUR TODDLER AS POSSIBLE RECIPE: 5 VEG PASTA BAKE
This is a great dinner to get your little ones eating their veg. We made it this morning to take to a friend's house for lunch. We wanted something quick and easy that would feed four of us for lunch and then do the dinner as well. We've actually ended up with some left over for dinner tomorrow. I thought I'd share this as my friend was very complimentary about it today, and her little girl ate lots of it too!
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
4 tomatoes
500g (1 carton) passata (or 2 tins chopped tomatoes)
2 peppers
1 leek
4 carrots
Mushrooms (we only had one so chopped it fine, but add as many as you want!)
Frozen peas
2//3 jar pesto
Grated cheese (as much or as little as you like)
500 g bag of macaroni pasta (or whatever pasta you have)
Generous pinch of black pepper, 1 tbsp sugar (optional) and italian herbs (2 tbsp)
1) Cook your pasta, drain and rinse with cold water. Stand off to the side. Also start your sauce by lightly frying off the 2 cloves of garlic and onion. Turn on your oven, set to 180degC (about 350degF, gas mark 4).
2) Add about 4 tomatoes (chopped), cook through.
3)Add the pepper, mushroom, leek, and carrots (to be honest just use whatever veg you have in the fridge) and cook through (lightly - you don't want tocook the veg too much as they'll be overcooked)
4) Add the passata, pepper, sugar and herbs to the veg/garlic/onion mix. Mix well and cook on the hob for 15 minutes at a simmer. You just want to cook the veg through and reduce the sauce a bit.
5) Get your dish ready. I use a large glass roaster. Pour in the pasta and veg/sauce mix, add the pesto and then put in a generous amount of frozen peas. Stir well and get all the pasta well covered. Even out the pasta level.
6) Top with cheese (you can also use a cheese and crushed breadsticks if you want it crunchy).
7) Bake for about 1/2 hour.
8) Et voila - enjoy your dish with your family! It goes well with crusty bread and salad.
This is a great dinner to get your little ones eating their veg. We made it this morning to take to a friend's house for lunch. We wanted something quick and easy that would feed four of us for lunch and then do the dinner as well. We've actually ended up with some left over for dinner tomorrow. I thought I'd share this as my friend was very complimentary about it today, and her little girl ate lots of it too!
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
4 tomatoes
500g (1 carton) passata (or 2 tins chopped tomatoes)
2 peppers
1 leek
4 carrots
Mushrooms (we only had one so chopped it fine, but add as many as you want!)
Frozen peas
2//3 jar pesto
Grated cheese (as much or as little as you like)
500 g bag of macaroni pasta (or whatever pasta you have)
Generous pinch of black pepper, 1 tbsp sugar (optional) and italian herbs (2 tbsp)
1) Cook your pasta, drain and rinse with cold water. Stand off to the side. Also start your sauce by lightly frying off the 2 cloves of garlic and onion. Turn on your oven, set to 180degC (about 350degF, gas mark 4).
2) Add about 4 tomatoes (chopped), cook through.
3)Add the pepper, mushroom, leek, and carrots (to be honest just use whatever veg you have in the fridge) and cook through (lightly - you don't want tocook the veg too much as they'll be overcooked)
4) Add the passata, pepper, sugar and herbs to the veg/garlic/onion mix. Mix well and cook on the hob for 15 minutes at a simmer. You just want to cook the veg through and reduce the sauce a bit.
5) Get your dish ready. I use a large glass roaster. Pour in the pasta and veg/sauce mix, add the pesto and then put in a generous amount of frozen peas. Stir well and get all the pasta well covered. Even out the pasta level.
6) Top with cheese (you can also use a cheese and crushed breadsticks if you want it crunchy).
7) Bake for about 1/2 hour.
8) Et voila - enjoy your dish with your family! It goes well with crusty bread and salad.
Nikki
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Wednesday 8 February 2012
TODDLER OAT BARS RECIPE
I went a popular supermarket chain the other day and purchased the wee man some carrot soft oat bars for the hefty price of 2 quid (2 quid, 2 quid, what the is in them? gold??). However Dylan hoovers them up like they cost about 10p. I decided today to make some and try them out with him (I am praying that he likes them the same, if not more).
I used the recipe from Kath eats real food but instead of nuts I used ground almonds, I also swapped the salt to bicarb of soda, upped the seeds to 1/2 cup (and chopped them up, I used a mix of pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds), upped the fruit to 2/3 of a cup (he likes his raisins) and added a squidge of honey to the final mixture.
Having now just tasted the recipe, I would up the fruit (1 cup) and the honey (2 squidges!) and maybe drop the bicarb of soda as it makes for a more cakey texture, without it they'll be more flapjacky.
I'm going to try a carrot version of this, will let you know how it goes!
I went a popular supermarket chain the other day and purchased the wee man some carrot soft oat bars for the hefty price of 2 quid (2 quid, 2 quid, what the is in them? gold??). However Dylan hoovers them up like they cost about 10p. I decided today to make some and try them out with him (I am praying that he likes them the same, if not more).
I used the recipe from Kath eats real food but instead of nuts I used ground almonds, I also swapped the salt to bicarb of soda, upped the seeds to 1/2 cup (and chopped them up, I used a mix of pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds), upped the fruit to 2/3 of a cup (he likes his raisins) and added a squidge of honey to the final mixture.
Cutting in to bar shapes.
Final product.
Having now just tasted the recipe, I would up the fruit (1 cup) and the honey (2 squidges!) and maybe drop the bicarb of soda as it makes for a more cakey texture, without it they'll be more flapjacky.
I'm going to try a carrot version of this, will let you know how it goes!
Nikki
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Sunday 5 February 2012
Saturday 4 February 2012
FIRST STRIP QUILT (+ a mini tutorial)
I was thinking that quilting might be a bit complicated for a first timer like me, so I thought, can I just be really lazy and do it with strips instead? I designed a few in my notebook and then googled "strip quilt". Lo and behold, there have been several people who have already come up with this idea. There is a great tutorial from "a cuppa and a catch up" and another one from "film in the fridge". They both make beautiful quilts and I just LOVE the simplicity of a strip quilt.
I decided that to whittle my fabric stash down a little I'd have a go and make a quilt topper in preparation for my sewing class on Tuesday night. My aim is to take it along with wadding/batting and some binding and get Charlotte (our tutor) to teach me how to finish it off.
Here's what I did:
Cut my strips (these varied some were 18 cm, some 9 cm and some 13 cm). I wanted mixed widths. I cut mine 123 cm long, as I want the final quilt to be around 120 cm wide (as cot bed size is 120 cm x 150 cm).
I cheated and up-cycled a section of a quilt cover, which has three fabrics and some lace detail that I love (this saved some sewing time too).
I laid it out, and then paired the strips ready for sewing as per the tutorial from film in the fridge.
This is a pair being sewn together.
One of the blocks of four strips.
Then you sew them all together and iron. You see that I need to work on lining up my strips and cutting the fabric straight, but it is my first attempt! When I finish it I'm going to trim off the uneven edges and make it all line up.
I am going to back it with this blue fleece to make it soft and cosy. I need to go and buy some binding as well - maybe pink?
I'll let you know how finishing it off goes later in the week.
I then have a plan to make another strip quilt, but this time with some cherry fabric.
Nikki
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Tuesday 31 January 2012
Sew... First sewing class tonight, we basically filled out forms and the woman running it is "as mad as a box of frogs" but she is a creative type, so I am being patient and not letting my scientific side dominate. Let's just go with the flow and let her be as scatty as she needs to be.
I have decided to do a quilt as my first project. I am going to do a marine/nautical theme and keep it simple. I will upload my design when I decide on it, but I think it will just be cot bed size (120 cm x 150 cm). I'm reckoning 12 30 cm squares with a 15 cm panel on each edge. Then I'm hoping to do some fish appliqued onto it. I may also do a matching cushion. I'm going to go with red, white and navy blue colour scheme.
My second aim for the course is to make a dress for work. A basic one, but a dress all the same. I need to start hunting for patterns that I like.... and fabric.
I will update you as and when I finalise the design for the quilt and keep posting about the dresses I'd like to attempt to make!
Nikki
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I have decided to do a quilt as my first project. I am going to do a marine/nautical theme and keep it simple. I will upload my design when I decide on it, but I think it will just be cot bed size (120 cm x 150 cm). I'm reckoning 12 30 cm squares with a 15 cm panel on each edge. Then I'm hoping to do some fish appliqued onto it. I may also do a matching cushion. I'm going to go with red, white and navy blue colour scheme.
My second aim for the course is to make a dress for work. A basic one, but a dress all the same. I need to start hunting for patterns that I like.... and fabric.
I will update you as and when I finalise the design for the quilt and keep posting about the dresses I'd like to attempt to make!
Nikki
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Friday 27 January 2012
So the other day I went charity shop (thrift store) shopping for some fabric and bargain hunting for upcoming projects. I just wanted to share with you what I found because I'm really excited about what I can make with it!
OK, so not making anything with this, but I found this very pretty snack tray (1950's?) for £2.50. I'm currently using it as jewelry storage - I think it's fab.u.lous.
Here is an alternate view, it looks just fab on my mirrored dressing table.
This was a duvet cover that I got which effectively encompasses three fabric designs. I'm thinking that I'm going to use this to hack my Ikea drawers. I'm currently considering covering the fronts of the drawers - watch this space for updates.
I also got this awesome fabric (and a lot of it) for £10.00 from Primark. It's actually a double bedding set so I got like 2m x 2m of each design. There were also a couple of pillowcases. I'm thinking of making some toys with these as they'll look really funky mixed with some plain red fleece that I have. I mainly bought this lot for a home made birthday present for my sister. I have until April to think of something to do with it!
I also got some card making stuff for dirt cheap and a lovely little inspirational book. All in all I spent £25 and got all of this! Bargainaceous!
So many projects to do - sew little time!
Nikki
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Thursday 26 January 2012
Home-made pizza! Oh yeah!
We made pizza for dinner this week, this is a favourite of ours but it came out especially good this week. It's so easy and cheap. I use my bread maker to make the pizza dough (also good because you can put it on timer for days when you are working) and then top with tomato puree, whatever you fancy and mozeralla cheese. We use Pampered Chef stoneware to bake them on (medium stone size) and they give an excellent result as well as keeping them lovely and warm for ages!
I buy all our ingredients from Lidl or Aldi to keep the costs down, but mainly because their cured hams and antipasti are to.die.for.
Cured ham, red onion and egg.
Sun-dried tomato, artichoke and cured ham.
We topped both with rocket for serving.
Just thought I'd share this great tip for a mid-week dinner for a busy household. If anyone wants more detail or for me to write a tutorial, let me know, and I'll "gedonit".
Nikki
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I came up with this genius idea today and had to share it! Dylan is forever scattering his tiny shoes all over the house, so I was thinking I'd have to get a shoe rack or nice box to have in the hall. Then I realised that our disused wine rack (because Dylan pulls the wine out of it) is the perfect size for a toddler's shoe rack - as I said - genius.
Nikki
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Sunday 22 January 2012
Got my new sewing machine! V. v. excited. I was very unsure, but I went to John Lewis and they were very helpful. It's a Janome DC 3050 and a good all rounder that will last me for a long time I suspect. I checked that I'd like to do quilting in the future and it's all geared up for that. I suspect I'll have to buy more feet etc, but it's grand for now.
This is what it looks like:
It does, like, 50 stitches, I'll probably never use them all, but they're pretty funky:
This is what it looks like:
Source:content.janome.com
I'm not posting my own pic of it, as I haven't even had time to open the box yet (we are having an Ebay listings weekend, selling some of our inherited Edwardian postcard collection - rock and roll...).
It does, like, 50 stitches, I'll probably never use them all, but they're pretty funky:
Source: mysewingmachinereviews.org
I am very excited as I was told by the woman in the store that the machine I'm currently using is "for teenagers, I normally recommend it for 13-14 year olds who aren't really interested in sewing". I now get why it's been such a pain in the arse.
Asta la vista old machine.
RIP Betty, I suspect she may get reincarnated in a free Ebay listing this weekend...
Nikki
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Wednesday 18 January 2012
I finally made a babushka/matryoshka/russian doll! I've been wanting to do one of these for a while as I have some lovely fabric that I bought back from Singapore which I thought was perfect.
So firstly I looked at some blogs and free pattern sites and came up with my own take on it. I am quite proud that I designed the pattern myself, but it needs work as I need to exaggerate more. It has been a learning curve but I've got a good result at the end of it!
So here are my steps:
Here she is, the finished article. You can see that I really need to exaggerate the pattern in terms of the body and head shape. For a first attempt (and let's face it I'm a total novice and don't really know what I'm doing) I don't think it's too bad. I won't bother with the bottom trim next time, just keep it simple.
When I prefect the pattern I'll post it for others. In my inspiration searches here are some other good free patterns and tutorials that I found:
Blinking flights Russian doll
April's mini matryoshka's
Nesting Babushka dolls by Dolls and Daydreams (not a free pattern but inspiration as I'd like to make nesting dolls eventually)
Matryoshka doll tutorial by Jane Blogs
Next time I'm going to change the pattern a little and do her with a purple scarf section and patterned body section. I'm going to keep the face the same (I think she's pretty) and I really like the vintage button in the centre of the scarf and the trim.
Now for a name for her...
So firstly I looked at some blogs and free pattern sites and came up with my own take on it. I am quite proud that I designed the pattern myself, but it needs work as I need to exaggerate more. It has been a learning curve but I've got a good result at the end of it!
So here are my steps:
So, I drew my pattern and tried to exaggerate features, making it very simple.
Cut the component parts and picked some trim and a button for the centre of the scarf. This is the body with the other component parts after I had sewn on the face and hair with embroidery floss. I was orginally going to put a fleece pouch on the front, but then decided against it, as I wanted to show the fabric pattern.
The front, fully embroidered , with trims, ready to be sewn on to the back (below).
Here she is, the finished article. You can see that I really need to exaggerate the pattern in terms of the body and head shape. For a first attempt (and let's face it I'm a total novice and don't really know what I'm doing) I don't think it's too bad. I won't bother with the bottom trim next time, just keep it simple.
When I prefect the pattern I'll post it for others. In my inspiration searches here are some other good free patterns and tutorials that I found:
Blinking flights Russian doll
April's mini matryoshka's
Nesting Babushka dolls by Dolls and Daydreams (not a free pattern but inspiration as I'd like to make nesting dolls eventually)
Matryoshka doll tutorial by Jane Blogs
Next time I'm going to change the pattern a little and do her with a purple scarf section and patterned body section. I'm going to keep the face the same (I think she's pretty) and I really like the vintage button in the centre of the scarf and the trim.
Now for a name for her...
Nikki
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