Anyone for tea?

I saw these fantastic biscuits here and just had to recreate them as a little thank you present for Kylie who I am going to stay with tomorrow. *excited!* 

 Now nothing ever goes straight forward for me, and these are not exactly like the original but I like them anyway.  I went to two, yes two, supermarkets and they were both out of plain flour!  How odd!  I got wholemeal instead which is why they are darker in colour and this actually makes them taste like chocolate digestives!  Win!

I made little tags with cups of tea and hearts.  (The boyfriend thought I was mad!)  I think they make the tea bags though.  I used this recipe though substituted wholemeal flour.

I did use more chocolate too but I think I can be forgiven for that :p

I Heart Dorothy Halter Neck

Hope she doesn't mind me modelling it!

This top was hanging around for a while unfinished and is for my very good friend Kylie who I am going to stay with this week!  Yay!  I? will be giving it to her then, so I am hoping she won't read this post before then and spoil the surprise!  I used this New Look 6900 pattern:

...which I have used before and is fab!  I lengthened the top a little as I found it a bit short when I have made it up before but it is simple and easy to go together and I recommend it.  It is also my first Sew Weekly post for the Buttons Challenge as I used a little button to decorate the front...

....and buttons to make an adjustable back.  This was for two reasons, the first I thoguht it would be cute to be able to change the ways you could wear it, halter, cross back and straight straps and two, I couldn't get my friend to try it on so this way it should fit her.

Cross over back (my favourite)

Slightly lumpy buttonholes!

The lovely Kylie loves the Wizard of Oz so I have had this Dorothy inspired idea in my head for a while.  She is a size smaller than me so that is why it looks wrinkled on me wearing it, it should fit her fine fingers crossed! 

I did plan on doing some embroidery where the heart button is but I couldn't decide what I wanted and as I haven't done any before I was worried I would mess it up, then I remembered ?I had a few of these buttons left over and it added that extra something.  I have also got her this pretty necklace she can wear with it from the same etsy store I got my other goodies from.  I hope she likes it all!

Ruby Red Slippers from EvelynMaeCreations

And because I couldn't resist messing around:

Resolved to Sew 2012

There is a fab giveaway going on over at Very Berry Handmade with 11 amazing prizes!  All you have to do to enter is blog about your sewing resolutions, as I haven't done this yet, I thought it would be a great time to do so.

My newest purchase, I didn't know this pattern existed!  Anyone remember the Wuzzles?

(1)  Sew more and procrastinate less. 
I have an awful habit of picking a pattern, fabric, notions and saving until I can buy them, thinking about my new dress for weeks, then the stuff gets here and suddenly I find something I HAVE to watch on tv, a blog I HAVE to read or a cake I MUST bake and it gets forgotten even though I was so pumped up about this before.  I am not sure why I put off the actual sewing as I love it, maybe it is because once I start something I like to sit and see it through rather than stop then come back to it.

(2)  Complete my 12 in 12 challenge
I didn't quite complete it last month, I skipped one month, but I am trying to sew one garment each month to improve my sewing skills and create a home made wardrobe.

(3)  Take part in The Sew Weekly Challenge
I am not going to do every week but I sew more when it is to a deadline and I love some of the themes that they come up with for people to sew along with.


(4)  Learn a new sewing technique(s)
My main aim with sewing different patterns is to learn new tips, tricks and techniques.  I like to try something different with every project and would like to try pattern drafting, french seams, sewing sheer fabric, hand embroidery etc

(5)  Start a monthly book review section on my blog
I always have a book on the go and I love to read maybe more than I love sewing (eeep can't believe I just said that!) and was thinking about doing some book review posts.  I'm not sure whether to just make them part of my current blog or if I should start another that would deal with them but I tend to read 4 or 5 books a month and people I know often ask me what they should read next.  Plus I like to keep a record of what I have read just for my own pleasure.

So thats it!  Not too specific as I don't think I would keep resolutions that are too difficult or time consuming.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Charity Shop Bed Sheets

 This week I popped into a couple of charity shops in town ans I found a couple of double duvets which I think have great potential for dress/skirts/tops.  The first is mainly white with little green flowers and it has a band around the bottom with green, orange and yellow tones.  I think the border could be the bottom of a skirt or waistband on a dress.  

The second is a tea coloured paisley print also with a border.  If anyone has any pattern suggestions for these then I would love to know what you would make.  The duvets were the grand sums of £3.99 each and I think I can get a fair amount of usable fabric out of both of them.  I am hoping these will become Sew Weekly creations but I am not sure what yet.  I won't be making something every week but I though this was a great way to keep my costs down.

Cake Pops!

Cake pops for tea?

I have wanted to try cake pops for a while now and I decided to  take the plunge and try them out.  I got the sticks for 99p for 50 on ebay which I thought was a bargain, plus I can easily wash and re-use them as they are pretty tough plastic.  I did look at a fair few tutorials and recipes online but in the end I just sort of winged it.

I bought a cheapo chocolate cake mix for under a pound that you just added eggs and water to for the the main cake as I didn't really want to spend lots on ingredients as this was a dry run for a Guide activity and I want to make them cheap and easy.  Plus I would be sad about blending up a perfectly good cake.  So after baking the cake mix I whizzed it in the food processor then made a batch of buttercream icing and mixed it all in.  Then I spent some time making very uneven balls and then using a little bit of chocolate to secure the sticks in the cake balls then I refridgerated.

One cake mix made around 40 pops

I wasn't sure how many I would make out of one batch but I had 39 so that would be plenty for my guide group when I do it with them.  I did leave them overnight as I didn't have much time so I was doing a little bit each day and they did go pretty solid.  This turned out to be a good thing though as it set the chocolate really quickly being cold and it stopped the crumbs falling off.  I won't have long to set them when I make them with guides so I am just hoping that they will be set enough.

Lollipop, no, cake pop!

I used chocolate to coat them as my local supermarket only had 2 types of candy melts and they were quite expensive.  The chocolate wasn't as smooth as I would like, I expect melts are a lot smoother as they contain more oils but they are fine for a trial.  I found citrus sprinkles which I thought would be great with the chocolate and you can taste them but they are still subtle. 

Butterflies!

I ran out of milk chocolate just over half way through so had to use white for the rest.  The white didn't cover the chocolate sponge as well, you can still see it through the chocolate, and sugar butterflies.  The white actually tastes really good with the sponge though.  Maybe 2 layers would work best but I didn't have time for that.  I worked out that if you used 100g of chocolate per 10 pops I would have plenty.  Especially as the girls are quite likely to pile it on and make a mess everywhere!  I have tested them out on my boyfriend and co-workers and they went down really well, they are very rich and the icing keeps the cake very moist.  I am definatley going to make more!

First Etsy Purchases

 

ooo shiny!

I have browsed Etsy for a long time but this Christmas was the first time I have bought anything.  I bought from the US and the delivery was slowed up with Christmas and bank holidays, but that didn't matter as I wasn't seeing the recipients until after Christmas anyway.  I bought this faux opal ring for myself as there was no way I could afford a real one and I thought, hey I was paying for shipping I might as well do a bulk order, no?  Ok so it doesn't take much to make me buy things.  Also this was my attempt at a tape manicure, I should have waited and done the gold lines with tape too but I free handed it so they are wobbly!

Itty Bitty Owls picture by EvelynMaeCreations

I also bought these really tiny earrings for my friend who is a Brownie leader called Fluffy Owl.  She loved them luckily!  I also bought a necklace but I haven't seen my other friend to give that to her yet, though it may feature in another post soon.......

I am really happy with my purchases from EvelynMaeCreations and would buy from her again.  They have so many different charms it really is hard to choose!  Everything came in little boxes and bags too and I even got a lolly!  My first Etsy purchase was a success!

*All products purchased with my own money, I have no links to EvelynMaeCreations except as a customer*

Wedding Party Dress - Prep

I am going to a wedding reception at the beginning of February of two of my university friends and I thought I should make myself a dress.  After my Christmas dress success it is nice to make another more formal outfit and I used my Christmas money to slightly nicer fabric than I would be able to afford normally. 

I bought this great pattern after seeing it on the Make This Look section of Sew Weekly.

 I am planning on making the sleeveless dress from teal taffeta I got from Abakhan with a contrasting coloured bow. 

Yummy!

I have also just joined The Sew Weekly as a contributor which I am really excited about!  This year they have opened it up to people who want to contribute but not make something every week.  Personally I would find this very difficult, both on the time I have to make something and the amount of money fabric and notions would cost.  I have already set myself the one garment a month target and I am hoping Sew Weekly will help me to reach this as working to a deadline is such a help to me.