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Showing posts with label Makes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Makes. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Craft: Tea Cup Candles

Okay, so it's Valentine's Day, and most people are probably out spending time with the ones they love, whether that's your partner, your family, your friends or your pets.

Once you get back, though, here's an awesome craft for you to try. Not only is an easy way to spice up your home decor, but they make amazing gifts too - and if you try it in time, you can even give them for Mother's Day. It's the 18th March, by the way!



What You'll Need:
Teacups. Pick cute ones!
Wax pellets
Stearin
Medium wire wick. These should be lead-free
Candle dye.
Half a bamboo skewer
Two old pans. One should be big, and one smaller.
Trivet
Plastic jug

You'll need about one hour to do this! I used vintage-inspired teacups with pink candle wax - I love the feminine old-school feel!

Method:

Hold a piece of wire wick to the cup, and cut so that the wick is 5cm longer then the height of the cup.

Tie the wire wick piece to half a bamboo skewer, and place so that the longer piece of wick is in the cup.

Balance the skewer over the top of the cup.

Fill the larger pan with cold water. Place on a hob and slowly bring to the boil.

Place the wax pellets in a smaller saucepan, and place this inside the bigger saucepan.

Simmer on a low heat until the wax begins to melt. If you wish to make colored candles, add some dye now.

Add one tablespoon of stearin for every one pound of wax. This isn't essential, but produces a much higher-quality result.

Pour the completely melted wax into a plastic jug.

Pour the wax from the jug into teacups, and leave to cool. A well may form around the wick - if so, top up with more hot wax.

Once the candle has completely set, untie the wick from the skewer, and remove the skewer. Trim the wick to the right size.

There's plenty of cute teacup candles you can make, and if you make sets of two or four candles, they make fantastic presents.

You could even use personalized teacups!

I've found 1lb of wax makes approximately four candles, so if you're planning on making a larger set, you will need more wax.

Enjoy! And don't forget to share your pictures if you try this. I'd love to see your designs!




Monday, 13 February 2012

Recipe! - Chocolate Profiteroles

I'm currently working on recipe books, so I've been looking over some retro inspired recipes, and I've found some gorgeous ones...this has to be one of my favourites!



It takes about 15 minutes to make 25 profiteroles (and 50 minutes cooking time!)

Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter
150g plain flour
1tsp caster sugar
4 medium eggs
300ml double cream

For the chocolate sauce:
250g dark chocolate. 70% cocoa solids gives the best results!
3tsp golden syrup
2tbsp double cream
50g unsalted butter

Method:

First, prepare the choux bun ingredients. Beat together four medium eggs in one bowl, and whip 300ml of double cream in another.

Lightly grease two baking trays, and turn the oven to 200C, gas mark 6.

Put 100g butter and 250ml of water into a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.

Pour 150g flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1tsp sugar into the hot mixture.

Beat until the mixture becomes a ball of dough, and detaches from the side of the pan.

Beat in 1/4 of the egg mixture. Beat well, and add another 1/4, until the egg is fully mixed in.

Use two teaspoons to shape pieces of dough into walnut sized balls. If you like round profiteroles, smooth the balls with the spoons. For a walnut appearance, leave the top of the ball pointed.

Bake in the over for 45 minutes. Check regularly after 30 minutes to ensure you don't overcook them - they are ready when they appear golden, crispy and puffed.

Place the profiteroles onto a wire rack, and use a sharp knife to cut half way through each profiterole. This lets the steam out and prevents them from becoming too chewy.

**You can freeze profiteroles at this point to use later. If you do this, put them back in the over for a few minutes to ensure they are crispy, and then freeze**

While they cool, make the chocolate sauce. Put a pan of boiling water on the hob, and place 250g dark chocolate in a bowl. Melt the chocolate over the boiling water.

Mix in the butter, golden syrup and cream, a little at a time.

Remove the mixture from the heat.

Whip cream, and pipe a blob into each profiterole. Pile the profiteroles into a pile once they have all been filled, and pour chocolate sauce over them.

Serve!
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I got plenty of compliments on these when I served them for dessert yesterday - I even used some white chocolate as a sauce, to see if this was just as nice. It was!

Have you got a retro recipe? I'd love to try it!

Sunday, 12 February 2012

Gorgeous Baby Mobile!

I'm currently designing new lines, which gives me plenty of time to try out new crafts and ideas too. I recently saw these gorgeous images, and couldn't help but make it...even though I have no baby!






To make it, you'll need:


15cm polystyrene circular tube
Silver thread or fishing wire
Fleece/Cotton Batting
Plenty of coloured papers
Pins
Pencils
Scissors
Glue


Method:


Cut out 40cm of wire or thread, and repeat until you've got plenty of pieces.


Tie four around the polystyrene circle, equal distances apart. These will be used to hang the mobile.


Tie the rest around the circle. It doesn't matter how these are tied around, they are for decorating!


Cut raindrop shapes out from different colours of paper. You'll need two of each colour to make one raindrop. 


Lie out the raindrops as you'd like them to appear on one piece of wire. Apply glue to one side of each raindrop, and lie the wire on top of the glue. Put the second colour raindrop on top, to secure the wire in the middle.


Use different colours and numbers of raindrops on each wire, to give a varied effect.


Braid the four threads which are for hanging the mobile, to make a thicker, stronger hanger.


Pull apart some cotton batting or fleece, and pin random sections around the polystyrene to hide the threads and give a fluffy cloud look. 


Let the glue dry, and suspend the mobile. For safety's sake, hang it well out of reach of children.
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It's so beautiful! Pinks and purples give a feminine vibe perfect for bedrooms, or use bright primary colours for something which is bound to catch baby's attention.


I'm not sure where the pattern came from originally, but I've heard that there is something similar on Lait Fraise, so credit to them for the design. It's gorgeous!

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