My Favourite Things



Hey

Chocolate Cupcakes!

Baking for Friends



Finished Storage Chest

 

 xxx

Everything Changes Part 3

Hey

I finally got my hands on some Annie Sloan chalk paint, so I was able to get on with my chest.

Before

I started by cleaning with a brush and then sugar soap on the outside.

Once it was clean, I used a brush on wax to protect the majority of the box. I started by testing the colour on the bottom of the box as this would be the area that would be lease visible.

Once the wax had been brushed on, I left it for 10 minutes before buffering it off with a cloth. Buffering this whole box is definitely a good work out for the arms, as the more effort you put in, the shinier the look of the box.

When it came to the painting, I again started on the bottom of the box. I used masking tape to protect the waxed areas next to the areas I was planning on painting. It was the first time I had used chalk paint so it was bit of a learning experience. I had to put quite a lot of paint on my brush and in some areas had to stipple to cover (this may have been due to the fact the bottom of the box was rough in areas).

I then used Annie Sloan wax on top, although it was a bit of an experiment as I could find any instructions on how to use the wax in relation to the paint (i.e. how long to wait to waxing and buffering). I ended up put on 2 layers of wax (well my definition of 2) and then left it a couple of hours before buffering to bring up a bit of a shine.

To clean the hinges and front lock, I taped off the surrounding area before spreading some WD40 either straight onto the area or on to a cloth and then applied. I allowed it to soak in for a for minutes before rubbing with the cloth to clean the area. I didn't know how much I expected it to clean up - the areas are now smooth or although colour wise there isn't much difference. I decided it leave the hinges and lock as they are once cleaning - I though painting them in a black paint would make those areas seem too new.

After

I plan to line the inside of the box but I'm not quite sure how. At the moment I thinking of covering card to line the side and bottom so that I can easy take out and clean.

xxx

Dying To Be Heard

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If you have seen some of my other posts, you will be aware that I have been trying to help spread the awareness of mesothelioma after hearing about Heather's story. September 26th is mesothelioma awareness day and Heather has started a campaign to spread awareness. All it asks is to share a social status.

In honor of #MesoAwarenessDay, I am giving my voice to the victims.

To find out more, you can visit the campaign page here. I'll be sharing my status, will you?

xxx





My Favourite Things

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First project using staple gun for kitchen

Birthday surprise at spinning

Fatface birthday haul with vouchers

xxx

Birthday

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Last week was my mum's birthday and mine is this week, and we both had the same idea for a cake so we ended up baking a joint one. It also allowed me to practise icing big cakes as I don't get lots of opportunities for it.

We had two tiers - the bottom is chocolate Guinness (link to recipe on my sister's blog) and the top is carrot (it was a packet mix as I was baking a lot this week).

First I iced both cakes with blue fondant and stacked the carrot on top of the chocolate.

I then took green fondant and rolled strips out and then cut wavy edges across the top to create a hilly feel. I did each tier in 3 sections of green to make it easier to handle.

To go around the top of each tier, we created bunting. I hand made mine by cutting out triangles of fondant and then stripes and dots in different colours and stuck them to the triangles with vodka. I only made a free as it was very fiddly to do (especially the dots). My mum used a mould that she bought from Lakeland and created lots and much quicker than me. She made block colour bunting and also mixed colours to pick up the pattern in the bunting mould.

My hand made bunting

 

My favourite colour combinations

I wanted to make a bake off tent to go on top, but that was going to be too time consuming for this week so we just added letters and a pinwheel to the top.

xxx

When Summer's Gone

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As the days are getting colder and greyer, I thought I share some photos from earlier in the year when my sister was playing with her camera. Both outfits have the same inspiration but from different times - one modern, one vintage.

To be honest, I can't wait to get my jumpers and boots out for the autumn. Enjoy the sun that we have left.

xxx

Something's Cooking In The Kitchen

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This last weekend, I tried another recipe from my favourite cook book at the moment. I tried an meatball in spicy sauce recipe.

When I was frying the meatballs, they started to fall apart, so next I cook this recipe I will probably try baking them in the oven to try and keep their. In the recipe it also tells you to drain the sauce so that you remove the vegetables and lardons - I didn't I kept the sauce chunky as it seemed such a waste to just toss them. If I had a blender, I would be inclined to blitz the sauce in the future.

I forgot to shred the basil before garnishing

For dessert, I tried a recipe from Chocolate Box which I've had for about a year and a half but had yet to bake from. I selected marbled chocolate cheesecake brownies. The recipe is very simple to follow, and it makes a lot more cheesecake that I was expecting.

Brownie anyone?

xxx