Monday 31 January 2011

from the giftlist - a very uncliche Valentine to you


I think part of my passion for gifting was sparked when I worked in a handmade cosmetic store over Christmas. We were busy from October through till January selling gifts gifts gifts, making recommendations and perfecting wrapping techniques, but nothing could have prepared me for the afternoon I had on Christmas Eve. I have never seen so many desperate men in my life, frantically snatching up whatever crushed and tattered offerings were left. Torn open gift box, smashed bath bombs, half melted massage bars - they were taking it all. With stocks of our Christmas themed supplies gone or beyond the point at which I would be willing to sell them, I had to get creative with what was left. So I grabbed some boxes and filled them with our floral soaps, petal filled bath bombs and chocolate bath melts. Instead of the typical Milk Tray and Roses combination of the expected husband to wife gifts, here was a treat box of hand-selected 'chocolates and flowers' lapped up by my grateful customers and hopefully well-recieved by their unsuspecting other halves.

So with two weeks till Valentines my friends, I thought I would share with you a chocolatey-flowery gift guide with not a cliche in sight!




Saturday 29 January 2011

Hip Hip Hooray - it's my -





Would you believe I had more garlands that I didn't get round to hanging?



I decided to go with a faded pastel colour scheme and an entire table of sweet treats (ok, there were a few healthy snacks for the bebes)



Earl Grey Cupcakes, tiny doily heart shaped toppers - and a lot of pink glitter sugar to cover up the uneven frosting!
Recognise that cupcake stand?


Rose-tinted meringues with pink buttercream



a doilie bowl full of marshmallows
(excuse the cake sitting on a cardboard cake box, I didn't take into account the 9"cake 7" cakestand ratio!)



Pink Wafers & Party Rings




As well as the dessert table, I put together a little tea bar using china teacups, vintage teaspoons and lots of lovely things to customise your cuppa:



rose scented black tea


earl grey with a hint of orange blossom



vanilla sugar & dried lavender




vanilla sugar, lavender, green tea, lemon slices, demerara
chai spiced milk, jersey cream, sugar cubes
rosetinted tea, orange blossom earl grey, decaf Yorkshire blend


I'm not sure I managed an entire cup of tea the whole party, or got my hands on a slice of cake, but I had such a great time. We are off to my hometown tomorrow, for a hot date while my mama looks after the little man for the first time!

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo


Thursday 27 January 2011

cupcakestands for a birthday tea


So I'm nearly done with all the birthday party prep, I went with a super simple mixture of homemade cupcakes and cookies and a shop bought cake displayed an varying shades of loveliness. And so the mini cakestand makes its debut.

As always my craft projects can be summed up in one photo, so here it is:


A little glass candlestick (one with a flat top of a decent width), superglue and a vintage saucer. Because my saucer was so little lining up the candlestick was quite easy, but if you have a larger plate smaller stick ratio you might need to do some measuring to get it square in the centre. Add some superglue and weigh down (philosophy is always a good choice for a weighty tome so I used an Edward De Bono, peruse your bookshelf at liberty). If you're worried about your candlestick slipping hold it in place with masking tape.

Leave for a good 24 hours or as long as your glue specifies and wash well before you use for food. I used tiny saucers as they are perfect for individual cupcake holders and after the party is over I think they may well take up residence on my dressing table to display my jewellery.



from the kitchen - lavender's blue part two


So earlier this week I shared a 'recipe' for lavender sugar. And you might have thought "well it looks pretty, but when am I ever going to use lavender flavoured anything?" And that is exactly what I thought when I first saw food grade lavender on sale in the spices section in the supermarket. But a spoon of lavender sugar in a cup of tea is lovely and relaxing and of course, sugar cookies could always use some extra oomph. So I adapted my favourite sugar cookie recipe, cut the vanilla in half and mized half regular caster sugar with my lavender-ised mix et voila - lavender scented sugar cookies, we will be indulging on Friday for my afternoon tea birthday party:


(please forgive the childlike handwriting - I thought it would look arty and romantic writing joined up, but in truth it looks a bit Junior School - which is the last time I wrote anything joined up!)


Recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 180
Cream 90g butter, 50g caster sugar and 50g lavender sugar until soft and pale then beat in 1 large egg followed by 1/2 tsp vanilla, 200g flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt
Wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for 20-30 minutes
Roll out onto floured surface and cut using flour dipped cookie cutter
Bake for 8-12 minutes until pale gold and still slightly soft in centre
Cool on wire rack and ice/ decorate

Since I am going with a 'keep it simple, stupid' mantra for this party I knew I would never ice these to the kind of perfection I would want. Instead I used letter cutters to cut the centre of my cookies and will dust liberally with icing sugar right before serving.

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Wednesday 26 January 2011

contraband caramel corn


I do think no trip to the movies is complete without some delicious sugary sweet popcorn to munch on and for my first trip to the movies in nearly 18 months I decided to make some of my own. So Sunday night sees me and my girlfriends and my oversized handbag stuffed with  tooth decayingly luscious caramel popcorn to (because after departing with the best part of a tenner to get in to the film no way I am paying movie theatre prices for snacks too) queueing to see Mr Firth in The Kings Speech. The film I could take or leave (but really a late showing on four hours sleep the night before was never a good option) but the popcorn was delish!

* Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pan and add 200g popping corn kernels
* Cover immediately and shake gently every couple of minutes
* Once the popping has slowed down, turn off the heat but don't remove the lid yet
* Tip the popped corn into a bowl and return the pan to the heat
* Add 125g diced butter, 150g caster sugar and 2 big squirts of clear honey - bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 5 minutes without stirring
* Pour over your popcorn and mix well, then pour out onto a paper lined baking sheet
* Let it cool and set for an hour or two, then use your hands to break up the hardened piece and enjoy/ smuggle your contraband to be eaten under cover of darkness

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Tuesday 25 January 2011

from the kitchen - lavender's blue...

Hello lovelies, I thought I would pop in and share something sugary and flowery for your Tuesday afternoon. I made up a couple of jars of flavoured sugar for some baking fun (that I'll also be sharing later this week):


I've actually seen cookbooks that include 'recipes' for these, but I'm sure you don't need a whole long spiel. Layer your flavourings (in this case dried lavender and vanilla pods) in a jar of caster sugar, leave for at least a week and enjoy in anything that could use some subtle flavour.

The vanilla sugar is lovely in a latte and I will be using the lavender one in some cookies later this week. Oh and a couple of beautiful jars with neatly layered ingredients would make a really sweet Valentine for a foodie friend.


Monday 24 January 2011

from the giftlist - a Blue Monday pick me up


happy {blue} monday


That, my friends, is scientific proof that today is a day for hiding in your pjs with mugs of hot tea and bad movies. Seriously, you might have read that the Blue Monday Theory has been widely discredited, you might also (somewhat cynically) point out that the 'study' was comissioned by a travel agency, you might you might oh friends. But really, do you need an excuse?

Even if you're not buying into the science, you have got to admit this time of year can start looking bleak . Christmas is a distant memory, your resolutions are failing fast, the credit card bill is imminent and unless you're blessed with an Aquarius birthday (like someone special we both know!) the opportunities for making, baking, crafting and wrapping are scarce. And so I am recomissioning today as ...................




no, no, no, I'm KIDDING guys. Today is Official Pick-me-Up Day. That's right, it's official. Your mission is to find someone in need of a pick-me-up and pick them up. Later today I will be sharing a pick-me-up giftguide for some inspiration, you should probably also check out Pay it Forward that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. So go on folks, spread some love. I'll be watching.

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Friday 21 January 2011

a friday link list - doilies extravaganza


did you guys enjoy my doily bowl project earlier this week? I call it a tutorial but really one photo sums up all the steps!

I hope you've not had enough doily love yet (esp. since all the decor and invites for my birthday party are doily-centric!) Here are my favourite projects from around the blogosphere:

Doily Pillow Tutorial by Rachel Denbow


Gilded doily votives from One Pearl Button

frosted doily mirror from papernstitch - p.s. have you read Brittni's 'Handmade for the Holidays' e-mag - if not indulge yourself in some serious eye-candy

cupcake wrappers - such an easy diy, you need to try this

Doily hooplas - can you believe I actually made one of these this week and didn't take a photo before I posted it halfway across the world?! So annoyed, but hopefully the recipient will take a super awesome photo of my handiwork

and next week there will be more doily loveliness and a hell of a lot of party planning going on!



Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Thursday 20 January 2011

project gift it - Grad Pops

Happy Graduation Day to my mama!

As you guys know, I love to celebrate with a sweet treat. Hell, I love a sweet treat even without an excuse, but something sweet is perfect on this occassion because really, what is an appropriate graduation gift? Seriously guys, any ideas would be welcome because I really wanted to do a graduate gift guide towards the end of the academic year and the only thing I could think of that a recent graduate would want in this climate is a job worthy of their education!

So I offer up a no-bake, sort of feels like I'm cheating cos it's so easy Grad-Pops. I had one of those 'gosh darn it, why didn't I think of that?' moments when I found these Bakerella cakepops via Be Different, Act Normal but forgave myself instantly when I realised how supercute and simple these were going to be.



I'll be honest, I dutifully tottered off to the shops with Bakerella's list in hand: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, little yellow sweeties, chocolate squares, yellow stringy confectionary type thing - and I bought all the stuff too. But when I got home my peanut butter cups were to short and wide (I later ntoiced Bakerella uses mini ones, and I had enough trouble getting the regular ones over here!), the yellow gummy snakes I bought could not be cut into the right size and the Smarties I bought to make little tops contained only one single lowly yellow Smartie in the entire tube. So I had a rummage around in the cupboards - thank god for my baking cupboard and hoarding tendencies - together we have a creative match made in the kitchen.

First up, in place of peanut butter cups I made solid chocolate bases using melted chocolate and petit four baking cases - they still have the fluted edge and are perfect height. Added the chocolate square tops - I used a block of Lindt milk chocolate and a knife to cut it for neater edges - using a warm spoon to gently melt the two pieces and stuck them together.


Then my brainwave - why am I trying to model confectionary to much frustration and little avail when I have perfectly good modelling fondant sitting in the cupboard? Seriously, what can't you do with fondant? The tassles were made with a blob of fondant and stuck on with a tiny line of melted chocolate.

Leave to set for a while, check the strength of your chocolate glue and add more melted chocolate if your two pieces fall apart. Et voila!

Of course if you want to go totally Bakerella you can add a lollipop stick and turn them into true pops. I decided against it as I am posting mine to my mum, but as always, food on a stick tastes infinitely better!

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Wednesday 19 January 2011

wrap it with a doily


I think I should just go ahead and re-commission this week as official doily week, what do you think? As you know I am a super fan of a brown paper package with a little embellishment be it a ribbon curl, origami bow or recycled Xmas decoration and since I am mega obsessed with doilies at the moment I figured I'd do a little wrap-it round up of doily packages. Thrifted crochet, vintage paper or entirely handmade, I do love a little doily action:



source: unknown





 source: unknown






Tuesday 18 January 2011

a doily bowl for a granny chic afternoon

Eeek, just twelve days till my birthday, which means ten days till my birthday party! I am so super excited - I'm hosting a granny chic afternoon tea party - think florals, cakestands and lots of doilies. In my head I'm one of those crazy party planner types who does everything handmade, but this time I am taking it easy. All my diys are low-energy high impact types, I'm buying in the birthday cake (quel horreur), focussing on  sweet treats and fun ways to display everything. Later this week I'll be posting my diy cakestands, but for now a super simple doily bowl:



I would post a real tutorial but it is pretty much summed up in this one pic:




(thrifted crochet doilies + spray starch + upsidedown bowl) x leave over night = doilie bowls



Pretty huh? The starch didn't make them as sturdy as I'd like so I can't put anything too heavy in them. Next time I think I'd use a watered down pva solution or something like these plaster of paris bowls.


If you make these please let me know what you did with them. I think a doily bowl of sweet treats could replace the ubiquitous muffin basket, or you could fill it full of sparkly costume jewellery for your best friend's dressing table.

Keep checking back for the rest of the party projects (or just pop over after the party next week and get your whole fix in one go - though secretly I don't really want you to do that!)

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Monday 17 January 2011

from the giftlist - tea-zone



clockwise from top left:

Just a quick note for today, since I am super busy with diy projects for my afternoon tea birthday party next week and a hundred and one Valentines guest posts - hopefully you will be seeing some Charlotte inspired gift love at some of your favourite blogs. Tomorrow I will be posting a super cute doily project and later in the week some graduation inspiration in celebration of my mom getting her masters degree!

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Friday 14 January 2011

a friday link list



I absolutely love the concept of Pay it Forward, my favourite sugestion: "Tape the exact change for a soda or snack to a vending machine" - look out for my list on 'Random Acts of Kindness Day' (17th February) - if you don't read any other blog today, read this one!

Some other things from this week:


I fell in love with this Quiet Book made by the talented mamas of Serving Pink Lemonade

I spliced open my son's Rubber Duckie in the name of crafting!

Spent a lot of time thinking about this post on Heirloom Crafting, so much in our lives is disposable that our crafting should be geared towards sustainable, lasting and joyful projects


I know macarons are probably so last year when they were blog de rigeur and every magazine was heralding them as the new cupcake. I'm pretty sure they're vaguely uncool now, so they'll fit right in at the granny chic birthday party I'm having at the end of the month. Got a great recipe to share? I will mostly be reading Emily's tips for the perfect macaron for the next two weeks!

... while we're talking about baking tips and birthday parties, you should probably read How to Ice a Cake from Prudent Baby

... and still talking about baking, I will be baking a difference with Frosting for the Cause on March 30th!


Coming up this week wrap it with a doilie and a gift guide for a tea lover


Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

Thursday 13 January 2011

rubber duckie gets an upgrade

This project was originally inspired by this Lego Stick from Instructables but for the life of me could not find a single suitable piece of Lego. Then I saw this Action Man head and for a split second considered ripping the eagle-eyed head off Clive, the husband's beloved and battered childhood hero. But not wanting imminent divorce, instead I went looking for other fun things to surgically enhance. And so I bring you the 'Demise of the Rubber Duckie'.

I'm so excited for my first tutorial, I only wish I hadn't waited till the little man was in bed and have to shoot it all in the light of the anglepoise! I have been updating my FB status as I was crafting, started with an innocuous 'USB stick meet hammer' which plenty of people assumed was a jesting comment owing to my frustration with a faulty memory stick - little did they know I was at that point kneeling on my kitchen floor wielding a real life hammer at a tiny innocent data-traveller.

Step one - using whatever means you deem neccessary, remove the plastic casing from around your stick. I have had cheapy ones in the past where a knife inserted through a crack in the casing worked, this one was a little sturdier, hence the hammer incident. In the end you want the internal bits to be in tact and to look something like this:


Step two: meet Vinnie's Rubber Duckie:



cute right? Here's another pic so you can remember what he looked like...


... before my next FB update 'in which the rubber duck meets the kitchen knife'
(viewers of a sensitive disposition should look away now)


yes, that's right, I am asking you to impale the duck in the name of art and crafting.

You need to make a slit just slighty smaller than the width of what remains of your memory stick



(I am squeezing the duck here to show the gash in his intestines, yours should look like a closed slit)

Step three: 'rubber duckie gets a body mod' - slide your stick into the hole to check for size, you want it to fit snugly otherwise when you pull your duck/stick out of your computer duck and stick will part ways


Step four: add glue as neccessary. You will need to superglue around the opening, but be aware you want as much of the silver part of your stick uncovered as you can, you don't want to to end up with a too short stick that won't fit in the computer! Also be warned, most rubber duckies have a valve thing on the bottom so you can squeeze bathwater out of them, you don't want glue seeping out of this hole, I would suggest go lightly with the glue and set it on top of newspaper while crafting and drying.



Step five: once dry insert into laptop/pc/mac/computer device type thing and load up with wonderful things, wordy essays or boring work stuff:



and an extra cuteness I didn't expect, my stickduck has a flashy blue light when data is being transferred:



And there you have it, super fun & still cute, perfect size for a little treat.
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