Homemade Cranberry Sauce 06/03/2013

I bought some fresh cranberries not realising that they actually taste quite bitter so I thought I’d make a cranberry sauce.

Here is the Recipe I used:

Ingredients

1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Water
3 Cups of Fresh Cranberries
Raisins (Any amount desired)
Nutmeg (Any amount desired)

Method

Wash the cranberries and check for any that may be squishy, only use the firm red looking cranberries. In a saucepan bring the water and sugar to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Reduce the heat and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes until you hear the cranberries burst.

Then you can add any other ingredients you prefer that may be to your taste.

Remove from the heat and then leave to cool at room temperature. The cranberry sauce thickens as it cools and then store in the refrigerator.

It should keep for about 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

 

Decoupage Bird 02/03/2013

I decided to make a decoupage bird, because I have been watching Kirstie’s Handmade Britain and I was inspired.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kirsties-handmade-britain/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2

If you click onto the scrapbook options it shows a variety of links including the handmade designers website http://www.polkadotsundays.com/ by Jaina Minton, and a link with instructions http://www.channel4.com/4homes/how-to/crafts/how-to-make-paper-birds

Materials I used

Newspaper
Sellotape on a dispenser
Wire for the legs
Wire Cutter
Card for the beak
White Acrylic Paint
PVA Glue
Decoupage Paper
Coloured Round head Pins

How to Make

Scrunch up the newspaper many times to make it durable and then scrunch into a ball to start the body. Then add more scrunched up newspaper to shape the head into a ball and tape this to the body. I then scrunched up more newspaper to form the tail, cover all the newspaper with more tape to strengthen the bird.

To make the legs get your wire and shape it into the fork type shape, and pierce holes underneath the bird. I put some glue onto the wire and then pressed it into the hole.

Cut out the beak from some card and then attach with the glue.

Paint all of the bird with the white acrylic paint and allow to dry.

Now to glue on all the decoupage paper pieces, cut them all into squares and attach them to the bird. Make sure the entire bird is covered in PVA glue as it dries clear, I then did a second coat to ensure it was protected. I used 2 pins with the coloured heads to press into the bird’s head for eyes.

With thanks to Jaina Minton and Kirstie Allsopp

The designer Jaina Minton also sells her items on an Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/PolkaDotSundays

I feel my birdie isn’t as defined as hers but I can practice, I thought of trying a frog next time.

 

Mum and Dad Anniversary Handmade Card 23/02/2013

Its my Mum and Dad’s 28th Anniversary.

I made my card using gold card, some tracing paper for the cake, Anita’s outline stickers and a silver gel pen.

I think this is a little different to most handmade cards but that’s what I like, I like being different to most handmade crafters because that’s what makes me who I am.

I hope you like my crafts too…

Baby Girl Handmade Card

 

My brother’s girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl a few weeks back so I became and auntie.

I made this card using an aperture card and I had some baby embellishments to attach which consisted of A B C letters and a safety pin. I also had some 3-D foam letters to spell GIRL, and I attached some mulberry paper with a picture of a baby.

Happy Valentines Day Bear 14/02/2013

Happy Valentines Day

I made this card for my husband,

I used teddy bear stickers, and some themed green hearts background paper. I used a stamp with silver ink for the Valentines Day writing, and I used bead with letters ingrained into them to spell my husbands name ‘David’.

I have been quite ill recently and lacking inspiration, but I found these stickers in Frosts garden centre in December and I thought they were perfect.