Back to Basics: Free Baseball Top Sewing Pattern
Who doesn’t love a basic top? My two favourite staple t-shirts by far are the classic baseball top and a boat neck striped tee. They can pretty much be worn with anything and, as the dress code in my office is smart casual, are great for work or for play. Strangely, despite their iconic status, it can be hard to find the perfect version of either which leaves me frustrated. There are plenty of striped tops with round or scoop necks but not my coveted boat neck, the base colour is cream and not white, it’s skin tight instead of slouchy, it has embroidered logos or embellishment… the list goes…
DIY Lanyards – Sass Up Your Work Pass!
My latest DIY was a bit of antidisestablishmentarianism (that’s right!) and team morale boosting in one. Our company has branded lanyards for the various fascias it operates except for one, so rather than settling for a generic one I decided to bring a little bit of spirit to our team by creating DIY lanyards of our own. This is a really cheap DIY as all you need is some ribbon and lobster clips – they can even be hand sewn if you don’t have a sewing machine. 1. Cut your ribbon to a length of 1m 2. Double fold in each end of the ribbon 3. Thread the ribbon…
Blogtacular 2015 – The Lowdown
I was quite late to the party on Blogtacular last year, only finding out about it and buying my ticket a couple of weeks before the event but I was straight on it this year as soon as tickets were available. I mentioned in my last post that the blog has been a bit neglected recently and I was so excited for the Blogtacular 2015 weekend to arrive because I knew that I’d come home super inspired and ready to get back to it. And guess what? I did! The weekend started with a train journey to London and a cheeky glass (or two) of wine. After a quick pit…
Chorizo Jam Recipe Review
Firstly, an apology and an explanation. I’m sorry for having dropped off the face of the earth the last few months, 2015 has, without exaggeration, been the worst year of my life – peppered with family deaths, arguments, illnesses and the breakdown of my relationship. It’s been a tough old time and, unfortunately, the one thing that really slipped was my blogging. With so much going on, inspiration and motivation has been hard to come by BUT it’s June and I need to move on with my life and the things that I love doing so I’m back and ready to blog! My comeback post is fittingly dedicated to my…
Chorizo & Black Pudding Scotch Egg Recipe
Head chef Simon Taylor from the Copthorne Hotel came up with this mouth watering recipe that’s a cheeky twist on the traditional scotch egg recipe. I have a special place in my heart for the Copthorne because it’s where I did my work experience when I was 15, so when I was asked to get involved in the A Taste of Manchester campaign and give Simon’s recipe a try, I was on board even before I found out that the recipe had chorizo in it (my favourite ingredient!). I’m also pretty fond of scotch eggs too, and meat in general, eggs and bread… in fact, the only thing I’m not…
DIY Steamer Tutorial
I recently had to follow a recipe that called for a steamer but I didn’t have one and as I don’t eat alot of steamed food (or in fact any prior to this point) I didn’t want to rush out and buy one so instead I created my own diy steamer tutorial and it was surprisingly easy! You need: A large pan An empty tin An awl A plate or bowl that fits inside the pan 1. Wash out an empty tin. I used a small spaghetti tin – it has to fit in your pan with the plate and food on top and you should still be able to…
DIY Plant Pot Cake and Giant Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Recently the lovely people at BakingMad.com sent me a package full of baking ingredients to whip up something special with! In the box was an apron to keep me tidy whilst baking, some Billington’s sugar, Allinson flour and a precious bottle of vanilla Nielsen Massey extract. With such quality ingredients I wanted to make a showstopper and decided it was time to dust off my giant cupcake pan! I’ve experimented with a couple of giant cupcake recipes for the pan but this is a trusty one that always turns out good results: 350g golden caster sugar 350g plain flour 350g unsalted butter 6 eggs (beaten) 90g cocoa powder 85g plain…
DIY Sofa Cake for Loaf’s #BakeItToWinIt Competition
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but we’ve got a boys’ room in our house, dedicated to films and playstation! My boyfriend originally set it up with some red leather recliners but they’re starting to show wear and tear and could do with replacing. He’s got his heart set on replacing them with a sofa but times are tight so when I saw the Loaf.com Bake It to Win It Competition advertised on Facebook I knew I had to give it a go – it’d make an awesome early Valentines’ present right? The competition rules are simple – bake a replica of any sofa or bed frame in…
Sweet Potato Bread Recipe
It’s a sad truth but a lot of kitchen gadgets get used a lot at first and then start to gather dust in a corner of the worktop (a bit like a grown up version of Toy Story, if they came alive when you weren’t looking). I want to try and make the most out of my breadmaker this year and this is my first step. This sweet potato bread recipe creates a nice tear and share loaf that goes well with soup, with cheese or is just as lovely toasted. It’s a bit more effort than the tradition breadmaker recipe as you’re only using the dough cycle but it does…
DIY Christmas Tree Decorations from Salt Dough
I had a very fun Sunday making some DIY decorations for my Christmas Tree. We’ve decorated the lounge since last year so our old decorations no longer match the room, I bought some silver baubles and snowflakes from Ikea but wanted to add a homemade touch to the tree with some white ornaments. To do this I whipped up some salt dough and spent a fun afternoon cutting out shapes and painting them! You need: One cup of plain flour Half a cup of salt Half a cup of water Half a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional) Acrylic Paint 1.Preheat the oven to 100 degrees centigrade. 2. Mix the…
