Recent Purchases - Christmas Craft Special

This year, I’ve decided to get creative and have a go at making some Christmas presents and decorations. Over the past few weeks, I have been planning what I’m going to do and I’m starting to get everything I need ready and organised. In the past, I’ve left things too late and its hard to get exactly what I need.

 

One of the things I love to do at Christmas is a nice bit of festive baking and this year I’m very excited to decorate lots of biscuits to give to my friends and family as they make great presents. I’ve bought a collection of Christmas cookie cutters from a fabulous seller on Ebay who has cutters for almost any occasion. If any of you are interested, their ebay shop can be seen here. The cutters all come beautifully individually wrapped in cute tissue paper.

 

 

From Top Left - Angel, Santa Face, Snowman, Mitten, Stocking, Toy Soilder, Wreath, Candy Cane, Bauble, Holly leaf, Snowflake, Bell, Bow, Christmas tree, Gingerbread Man.

There are so many ways in which you can package and wrap these biscuits which I will show you in future posts, including using lovely Christmas ribbons and cellophane and old jars/tins and boxes.

 

Ebay is the perfect place to buy lots of cheap ribbons and twines, wooden decorations, paints, felts, buttons and fabrics to make some lovely handmade gifts and decorations so I fully recommend taking a look and getting lots of inspiration!

 

Here is a little sneaky peak of some of what I have bought over the past few weeks. I will be bringing you a series of Handmade Christmas posts to hopefully inspire you to get creative this festive season!

 

Selection of Christmas ribbons from Ebay

Fabrics

Felt and buttons

 

Will you be making anything this Christmas?

 

Hannah xox

I Love...Christmas Jumpers

Now that Christmas songs are playing at work, I'm starting to feel very Christmassy and one of my favourite things about Christmas are Christmas jumpers! I would wear them all year round if I could.  Here are my favourite current offerings from the high street! My favourite is definitely the cream holly number from Topshop.

Candy Cane - £50, Topshop
Christmas Cardigan - £35, ASOS
Holly - £50, Topshop
Grey Fairisle - £45, Topshop
Cream Reindeer fairisle- £35, ASOS
Red Fairisle - £35, River Island

Hannah xox

My Favourite Autumn Nail Colours

Navy – All through autumn and winter last year, I wore navy on my nails, and I’m loving it this year too. Its softer than black nails but still perfect for parties, and also looks great with a glitter top coat. My current personal favourite is No7 Stay Perfect in Betty Blues, which I bought last year.



1. No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Betty Blues - £5.50
2. Models Own In The Navy - £5
3. 17 Lasting Fix in Midnight Sapphire - £2.99

 Berry reds - Nothing beats a classic red nail, and dark berry reds definitely give this go-to colour an autumnal twist. My current favourite is Rimmel Rapid Ruby but there are so many gorgeous varnishes in this shade!

 

1.    Rimmel Rapid Ruby - £2.99

2.    Models Own Red Red Wine - £5

No7 Stay Perfect Damson Dream - £5.50

 

 

Dark green – I’ve only just tried dark green nails, but this colour is THE perfect autumn colour, I can’t seem to get enough of it! My only nail varnish in this colour is Racing Green by Barry M (£2.99, Boots) but I have recently spotted Emerald Black Beetlejuice by Models Own (£5, Boots) which has a beautiful shimmery effect so this is definitely going to go on my wishlist.

 

1. Barry M Racing Green - £2.99
2. Rimmel Green with Envy - £2.99
3. Models Own Beetlejuice in Emerald Black - £5


What are your favourite nail colours for autumn?


Hannah xox

 

 

Children In Need Baking - Pudsey Bear Biscuits

This week I decided to do my bit for Children In Need and make these Pudsey Bear biscuits and buns to take into work to raise a bit of cash for this fantastic charity day.

 

I bought the lovely Pudsey Bear cookie cutter for just £2.29 from Lakelands, with £1 going to Children In Need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve really got into baking over the last couple of months as I find it a perfect distraction from my thoughts and really helps me to relax when I’m feeling stressed, depressed and anxious. I just put some music on and bake! Everyone seems to love my cakes and bakes and this also helps to improve my confidence.

 

 

The biscuits went down a treat at work so I decided to share this very simple but delicious biscuit recipe with you. This recipe does make quite a lot of biscuits (around 24 Pudsey bears, which are quite large) so you can always half this recipe to make fewer.

 

 

 

 

Biscuit ingredients:

·        250g unsalted butter

·        250g golden caster sugar

·        2 free range eggs

·        ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

·        500g plain flour

·        1 tsp baking powder

 

For the decoration:

·        Yellow fondant icing (£1.49, Lakelands)

·        White fondant icing (£1.49, Lakelands)

·        Selection of cake decorating writing pens (I got mine from Asda but you can get them from pretty much any cake decorating shop or supermarket)

·        1 teaspoon of apricot jam mixed with a few drops of hot water (to make a paste to stick the fondant icing to the biscuit)

 

Method:

·        Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.

·        Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and work into a dough using floured hands.

·        On a floured surface, knead the mixture into a ball and divide into 2 portions. Wrap each portion into cling film and put in the fridge. Leave for at least 1 hour.

·        Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

·        Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface and using cutters, cut shapes out and place them onto the baking tray. Make sure to leave a gap in between each biscuit because they may spread slightly whilst baking.

·        Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are starting to go golden.

·        Once cool, it is time to let your imagination run wild and decorate to your hearts content. This is my favourite bit!

·        Mix the apricot jam with warm water.

·        Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the fondant icing. Using the same cutter as the biscuits, cut out shapes in the icing. Brush the biscuits with the apricot jam and stick the icing shapes onto the biscuit. I then outlined each biscuit with black writing icing and used white fondant icing as Pudseys bandage. I decorated the bandage with the other coloured writing icing.

 

Also, I thought I'd share with you the halloween biscuits I made a few weeks ago using the same recipe.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I have inspired you to bake!

Hannah xox
 

 

Wednesday Wishlist - 14.11.12

Topshop Lace Dress - £50
Barry M Gold Glitter Nail Varnish - £2.99
Zara Tartan Scarf - £25.99
Zara Studded Loafers - £49.99
Yankee Candle Christmas Cinnamon
 

Craft Project – Cath Kidston Photo Frame

Christmas is my favourite time of year and with it being just around the corner, I have been trying to think of some little creative crafty gifts for Christmas.

 

You can have lots of fun creating unique gifts for family and friends and I have a number of projects that I’m going to share with you over the coming weeks.

So here is my first one: Cath Kidston paper mache photo frame.

 

 

You will need:

• An old photo frame (I got mine from a charity shop for 50p)
• Patterned tissue paper (I chose Cath Kidston paper tissues in provence rose for 85p)
• Plain white tissue paper
• PVA Glue
• Paintbrush

1) Cover the photo frame with plain white tissue paper using the PVA glue and leave to dry.

2) Tear the patterned tissue paper into small strips and using the PVA glue layer the photo frame with the patterned tissue to give it a decoupage effect.

3) Leave this layer to dry and the repeat step 2 a couple of times.

This is the final result:

It has a vintage effect because the paper has dried slightly crinkled which I think looks great!
I will be giving this photo frame as a gift to a friend who I went on holiday with year with a photo of us together.

 

What do you think of this craft idea?

 

Hannah xox

Todays Nails - Firework Inspired!

E.L.F Black Nail Varnish
Models Own Hedkandi Ibiza Mix

Happy Bonfire Night everyone! To celebrate this day, I've come up with this very simple, but effective, fireworks inspired nail design! I used a black nail varnish for the background and once dry, used the amazing Models Own Ibiza Mix glitter nail varnish to create the 'fireworks'

 

Hope everyone has a lovely evening. I'm full of cold, so looks like I will be sat inside watching fireworks this year!

 

Hannah xox

This week...

 

 

Handmade Halloween biscuits, pumpkin carving, Cath Kidston Christmas decorations book,  new Primark bedding, most recent Topshop purchase - Alexy Platform Chelsea Boots, Jean Paul Gaultier Diet Coke, bedime reading (very inspirational)

 

Hannah xox

Friday Favourites - Come Over To The Dark Side

1. Topshop Nails in Panther - £6.50

2. Topshop Solo Bow Back Court Platforms - £65

3. Topshop stone encrusted earrings

4. Topshop Crochet Lace Flippy Dress - £48

5. Topshop Black Contrast Hem Skirt - £35

6. Topshop Croc Print Trousers - £42

 

(Yes, I think I am a little bit obsessed with Topshop!!)

 

What's on your wishlist?

 

 

Hannah xox

What I Bought - Cath Kidston Deer Jumper

Today, I wanted to share with you one of my recent purchases – this Cath Kidston deer jumper from their Christmas 2012 collection.

 

 

It is a beautifully soft and chunky jumper which is perfect now that the weather has got so cold and the days are much shorter. I bought it in a medium which is perfectly slightly oversized to just throw on and snuggling into.

 

It is a little pricey at £70 but it will last for ages and see me through many winters. The deer print is absolutely gorgeous and by far my favourite Cath Kidston Christmas prints. Plus Bambi is one of my favourite Disney films so how could I resist this cute jumper?!

 

 

What have you bought recently?

 

Hannah xox