It's not been the best year. I started 2010 housebound, trapped inside by snow, pregnancy and SPD. I was in unbearable pain, resenting the baby I was carrying, frustrated with myself for feeling such resentment and self-pity. Even when Dimples arrived, the pain didn't stop, the resentment didn't go away, the frustration lingered. And so I wallowed in misery, struggled with a newborn and a toddler and tears that refused to cease. I hardly felt … [Read more...]
Perfect Brussel Sprouts
When is a Ferrero Rocher not a Ferrero Rocher? When you take Regal Ice and a few hours of your life to turn it into the tastiest Brussel Sprout you will ever eat. Take a small blob of light green and squash onto the chocolate. This is the centre of your sprout. Mush together two shades of green icing until almost-blended. The incomplete mix of colours will give a little realism to the leaves. Flatten out- use a little icing sugar … [Read more...]
Love and Loss: The Gallery
There were so many photos I was going to post, so many things I was going to write about Love today.But my Gran, a grand old Dame, died at 1.50pm this afternoon after a short battle with cancer. … [Read more...]
Secret Santa
Another Kidling Craft day, cheating slightly since the shapes are left over from last year's Christmas party activity, so I had no nasty cutting up to do. The secret to a good Santa: Take your super dooper Santa template and stick on felt/paper/painted face. If it looks odd, it'll make more sense shortly.Liberally apply glue. Ideally to picture, though this is not the only place where glue will stick.Liberally apply cotton wool to glue. Wherever … [Read more...]
The ghost of Christmas past
Christmas always had a precision to it. I awoke on Christmas morning, more often than not was awoken by my younger brother, and sat on my bed unpacking my stocking. Once I'd reached the tangerine and gold chocolate coins that were tucked at the bottom, I'd take my stash into my parents' bed and show them all that Santa had given me. After my brothers had done the same, mum would go downstairs to get us all a drink. I never understood until I was … [Read more...]
Edible Sparkle gifts for teachers (and mums!)
These Edible Sparkles are so simple you can make them with your children, yet they look so effective people will think they took hours to create! These are easy to make with small children too: they love bashing the honeycomb for example. I made the chocolate disc shapes with the melted chocolate and left my two girls to add the toppings themselves. They did a great job and took real pride in making the gifts for their teachers. If you … [Read more...]
Better late than never, right? No bake salt-dough alternatives to decorate your tree.
PD has been a bit off colour of late so we've been staying at home doing some winter craft. As she is a big raw-dough consumer, I came up with an alternative to prevent her overdosing on salt, with a little help from the Usbourne 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do book. All you need is some old bread, cookie cutters, and some paint.And in my case, a plain wreath I bought from Ikea.Step 1: cut out your shapes from the bread. I'd recommend … [Read more...]
