Easter Dinner DIYs

April is here, spring has sprung and before know it Easter will be thrust upon us in the form of a four day weekend. In the past I have either been away or moving house over the Easter weekend so this year I decided to embrace it in the best way I know how- crafts!

Now don’t get me wrong, these DIYs aren’t ground breaking by any means but they add a little something that will make your Easter feel special...

Easter nest cakes

These little babies have been around for years and for good reason. They’re simple and quick with minimal fuss but show you’ve made some effort with your Easter.

This recipe makes 12 nests and you will need:

- Shredded Wheat (85g crushed)

- Melting milk chocolate (200g split into pieces)

- Mini Eggs (x 2 bags)

- Cake Cases

- Easter chicks for decoration (because cute!!)

Step 1- Shred your shredded wheat and then melt your chocolate by placing it into a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Step 2- Once the chocolate has melted, add in your shredded wheat into the bowl and stir well to combine.

Step 3- Spoon the chocolate covered wheat into the cupcake cases. Use the back of a teaspoon and press into the centre of the mix to make the nest shape.

Step 4- Place 3 mini eggs on top of each nest and chill in the fridge for 2 hours until set.

And voila! There you have your simple but very cute and effective Easter cakes done and dusted in under 30 minutes!

The bunny napkins

I saw these napkins on Pinterest and got a bit obsessed! How cute are these!? Again they are incredibly easy to do but add an extra touch to any Easter eating.

You will need:

-Cloth napkins

-Plastic and/or polystyrene eggs

- Spray paint (or if you want to paint with a different paint go ahead(

- A marker pen

- Twine

Step 1- Spray paint (or hand paint if you’d prefer) your eggs the colour you’d like. Tip: Place the eggs on sticks for easy access when spraying and place in a vase/ jug to dry on the stick!

Step 2- Once dry, write the name of your guest onto the egg.

Step 3- Fold your napkin in half diagonally, then take the centre triangle and fold it down to the bottom of the napkin.

Step 4- Roll the napkin up and then place your egg in the centre of the napkin.

Step 5- Fold the napkin up and over the egg to create the bunny ears. Secure in place with twine.

Again, it’s a super simple DIY to do but the effect is fun and I’m sure your dinner guests will appreciate the effort!

The Easter Centre Piece

This is the first time I’ve ever attempted a centre piece so I decided to work with faux foliage and flowers for the table display and real flowers in the case. I’m a little heavy handed/ wasn’t sure how long foliage and flowers would last displayed on the table so if you’re a beginner like me, this is a good option.

You will need:

- Faux Eucalyptus (eBay)

- Faux flower heads (available in most craft stores and shops like Wilkos, B&M)

- A flower crown (mine was from ebay)

- More plastic eggs (again spray painted/hand painted to the colour of your choice)

- A vase of your choice

- Daffodils., tulips or any spring flowers you’d like to have as your centre piece

Step 1- With your vase in the centre, grab your eucalyptus and begin to fashion it into the shape you’d like your centre piece to be. Place them diagonally across one another to disguise the ends and bend the “stork” ends in order to get your eucalyptus laying as you’d like it.

Step2- Place your flower crown on top of the eucalyptus arrangement. I did this to add some depth to the flower arrangement and it’s a great way to get use out of a flower crown other than on your head!

Step 3- Place the individual flowers sporadically around the eucalyptus to bulk out sprase areas and/or cover and areas you don’t want to be seen. The arrangement should begin to look a lot fuller now.

Step 4- To finish it all off, nestle your plastic eggs into the arrangement for added Easter effect before placing your spring bouquet of choice in the vase.

This was surprisingly simple to do but I think the effect is pretty cool and will definitely get you in the spring and Easter vibes.

So those are my Easter dinner DIYs. I know it’s not as widely celebrated as Christmas but I think Easter is the perfect excuse to decorate and feel cheery for spring, plus with the long weekend its a lovely opportunity to spend time with family and friends so why not make your home a bit extra?

I hope you enjoyed the DIYs and if you decide to re-create any yourself I would love to see them! You can also watch the video I made on these DIYs if you’d like to see them in action:

Have a brilliant Easter Bank Holiday!

Winter Hygge Hobbies

The weather has been suitably miserable since 2019 has started. If it’s not snow and ice it’s torrential rain and wind which RUINS all chances of taking outfit pictures (!!)

So instead I thought I’d embrace being indoors, wearing pyjamas all damn day and my hygge hobbies! If you don’t know what Hygge is, here is a definition, courtesy of the internet:

hygge

noun

"a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being"

Card Making

At the end of last year I was way behind with being organised for people’s birthdays and frantically ordering cards from well known pig and pigeon sites...So this year I decided to compile a list of card occasions and set to work using old card I had laying around my office. I was surprised at just how much card making bits I had! It’s also been incredibly therapeutic to get back into some gluing and sticking, colouring and drawing to create cards for friends and loved ones that are much more personal than a stock bought. And yes if you’re wondering, that is a pickle on the card I’m making in the photo.. It’s an in-joke between Chris and I and he loved that card so the joy of making it was well worth it! I’ve made a Valentines card and now I’m working on Mother’s Day and other birthday cards to have ready and waiting for upcoming occasions.

Knitting

If you’ve ever read one of my first blog posts, this blanket may look familiar... Seven years on I’ve decided this WILL be the year I finally finish it!! Knitting is the perfect winter hobby. Being surrounded by cosy yarn and the gentle click clacking of needles is music to my ears and I find it helps me unwind. If you’re someone who struggles to relax and sit still, knitting is for you. It’ll keep you away from your pesky phone but occupies your hands perfectly! I’ve found I’m so much more engaged in watching films, tv series and the like. Plus as relaxing as it is, I feel productive doing it so instead of scrolling, try knit one purl one!

Reading

For some of you reading this it may seem like such a simple and obvious choice but for those of us who reserve books for sunshine and sunbeds once or twice a year, you’ll understand! I find getting into reading quite a challenge but once I do I get totally hooked on a book and can’t put it down. Tucked under blankets with a hot chocolate and a good book is utter bliss and something I think many of us take for granted! I’ve been re-reading The Life Changing Magic of not giving a Sh*T by Sarah McKnight which leaves me snorting and giggling aloud- much to my husbands bewilderment but I’d love some recommendations for what to read next if anyone has any! It’s also made me think how much I’d like to go to a library this year. Libraries are FREE and a brilliant service yet it’s so under utilised!

Podcasts

I’ve written a whole post on my favourite winter podcasts which you can read here but I’ve been very much enjoying a cosy listen whilst knitting or card making as opposed to listening to music. There are so many brilliant ones out there and in some instances it’s like listening to friends’ chatter which is comforting on evenings when the husband is on night shift or I’m sick of watching tv.

I think overall these hobbies are an easy way to bring joy to your free time without blowing the bank and actually just enjoying being at home and cosy. Like the definition of Hygge states, they leave me with a feeling of contentment and well-being which is what a lot of us need this time of year. I think it’s also important to take time out from busy schedules and relish some relaxing me-time!

So that’s all I had to say on winter hobbies really! I’m hoping to do some actually craft posts later on in the year but I’m yet to find a craft that is exciting enough/blog post worthy enough to write about! In the meantime, what are your winter and/or hygge hobbies?

DIY Upcycled Bar Cart

D'you ever do a DIY and think yeah I'm really bloody proud of that? Well that's how I feel about this project. It was shockingly easy to transform but my my has it made an impact.

I'd been eyeing up drinks carts like these two for quite some time, but with them costing between £100-£350, you'd have to be trolleyed to pay that surely? It's effectively just a metal cart- meals on wheels even so I set about finding a thrifty and cheaper alternative...

Five pounds later, I became the proud owner of a tea trolley, courtesy of an old lady I found selling hers on Facebook market place.

Apart from a bit of grim and a few cobwebs, this tea trolley was in pretty good nick but the floral design on the trays had to go...

I chose to spray paint my trolley, being quicker and more uniform than painting it on with a brush and this Rust-oleum craft enamel was my weapon of choice. It's fast drying acrylic paint which is perfect if you're as impatient as me at letting things dry. In less than an hour it's dry and is hard wearing as well as toy safe.

A spray paint later, I felt like the hostess with the mostess with my transformed trolley. A lick of paint had given it a new lease of life and was ready to be accessorised with all the drinking paraphernalia that Chris and I own.

I picked up the cocktail kit from eBay for around £15 which ties in perfectly with the copper theme and added some battery powered cork lights into some empty Haig Club bottles to brighten up the corner of the room. The glass punch bowl was given to me by my thrifty mothership who found it in a charity shop for around a fiver so all in all (minus the booze), this DIY totalled around £25.

I'm super chuffed with how well this DIY came out and how cheap it was too. I better brush up on my cocktail making skills in time for Christmas and New Year as I can see us having a fair few drinkies! I'm also planning on doing a post on the dining room before and after at some stage so stay tuned for that.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed making it and if you want to see me in full spray paint action you can see more in the video below!

Get Ready for The Handmade Fair 2017 + ticket discount!

Make-aholics of Britain, its time to get excited for the best craft fair of the year- Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair!

Set on the green of Hampton Court Palace, the fair will be returning for it's 4th year from Friday 15th- Sunday 17th September and as always there's plenty of activities to get excited about. Creatives- sharpen your craft knife and get your paintbrush at the ready for what's set to be another amazing year!

The fair gives you many an opportunity to try your hand at everything from crafts such as transforming a tote bag, to hoop screen printing, duck tape roses and so much more! 

Kirstie will be returning to the Super Theatre to talk arts, crafts and other projects with her hand picked experts in each field such as Annie Sloan, Mr X Stitch and many more. I'm super excited and proud that my wonderful friend Claire of Claireabelle Makes will be taking to the stage to talk all things Pinterest live on stage which is guaranteed to inspire everyone with their future crafting endeavours. 

Having attended The Handmade Fair in 2015, 2016, The Handmade Christmas Fair and meeting Kirstie herself, I can safely say I'm hooked and incredibly excited for this year. There's so much to do, see and make your creative juices will be flowing in no time, especially in the feel good atmosphere of the fair. 

And it doesn't stop there- oh no. As well as workshops, grand makes and theatre talks there is of course an exquisite shopping village too where you can stock up on your craft materials, buy hand crafted pieces (perfect for Christmas!) and  feast on the wonderful artisan food on offer.

The fair has very kindly given you lovely readers of mine a discount on your ticket (hooray!) and the details are as follows:

15% off Full Experience or Entry + Super Theatre tickets
Full Experience tickets: This includes entry, 1 x Super Theatre, 1 x Skills Workshop, 1 x Grand Make £27 instead of £32 – save £5

Entry + Super Theatre: This includes entry and 1 x Super Theatre session 

£17 instead of £20 – save £3

Book at thehandmadefair.com or by calling 0871 230 7153* quoting GENTRY15 

*Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras. Booking fees apply. Offer ends 14/09/2017 or when sold out.

I hope you all have a brilliant time a the fair and I'll see you there!