Childcare Venn Diagram

Here are my thoughts on finding help with childcare, in the form of a Venn diagram.

Chewy sprinkle party cookies

These are the most delicious cookies I've ever made: chewy, doughy cookies with white chocolate chicks and plenty of sprinkles.

This year, we were away for Mr Pippa's birthday. As the only thing he'll 'allow' me to do is make him a cake (and even then it was a few years before he agreed to it, on the condition that there are no candles, balloons, decorations or singing). Not knowing what the kitchen would be like in our holiday accommodation, I thought it might might be a bit much to attempt a cake, so I brought the ingredients to make these cookies, which Mr Pippa had for breakfast, straight from the oven.

Brightly coloured sprinkles are really hard to find in the UK. All I could find were these, which look a bit faded.

I got the recipe from a blog called Sally's Baking Addiction (link to the recipe here - check out how bright her sprinkles are!).

One question I used to have when making cookies was this:

How do you get the cookies to stay thick and puffy and not go like crispy cow pat?

Well, I discovered this secret from Sally's Baking Addiction:

Firstly, chill the cookie mix.

Secondly, instead of rolling the mix into balls, I moulded the mix into little towers and put those chilled cookie mix towers on the baking sheet.

What with chilling the cookie mix before baking, one could prepare the mix, then pop in the oven right before a party (or just whenever you fancy dunking a freshly baked cookie into your brew, which in my case would be around 3pm on any day of the week).

Rainbow Cake, take two

I made this cake in March/April, but it's taken me this long to share it with you because my life is incredibly busy at the mo and I don't get much time to do things I enjoy, like baking and blogging (and drawing and painting and sewing and making and... I could go on).

I first made a rainbow cake (and shared with you how to make one) way back in March 2011 (but I didn't end up blogging about it until July because that seems to be how things go on this blog).

I used a different recipe this time (recipe from Good Food magazine, April issue). I also used a smaller baking tin - 5 inch instead of 7 inch.

I didn't want the individual layers to be too deep (it does have 6 layers, after all), so only half-filled them with cake mix. Other than using a different recipe, I followed exactly the same process as the last time I did a rainbow cake.

Below, I played about with the order I wanted the layers. Much less messy if each layer is wrapped in food wrap.

Unlike last time, I didn't put a layer of lemon curd along with the icing between each layer. This cake used a mascarpone icing and I spread it thickly between each layer.

Recipe for the icing/frosting:
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 x 250g tubs mascarpone (or light cream cheese)
350g icing sugar

Briefly beat the mascarpone and the vanilla, then fold in the sifted icing sugar.

These cakes were very different to the standard Victoria sponge recipe I used previously. They were incredibly dense, chewy and had a sheen in the outside.

I smothered the cake in mascarpone icing, chucked some sprinkles at it and put it in the fridge to 'set'.

It was heavenly. The best thing about it, in my opinion, was the mascarpone icing. I found the sponge itself a bit too heavy and as a cake, I'm not too sure about it. As a dessert, however - yes! Better to have half a slice (or less!) with a dollop of ice cream.

A few months later (so, just recently), I made a blue ombre cake, using this recipe, for my friend's baby shower. It was an incredibly hot day and the mascarpone icing did not fare well. In fact, I couldn't finish my slice (shock horror!). Later, however, when the cake was allowed to chill in the fridge, it was like eating a different cake.

A bit of my summer

I've been quite busy over the summer. No crafting, sadly, but lots of days out and hanging out in the garden. I am seriously behind of photo editing, but you can see what I've been up to over on my photo blog.

Making Dribble Bibs From Old Tees

In this post I will show you how to make your own dribble bibs.

[Warning: this post mentions dribble/drool and small children.]

Difficulty level: stupidly easy

So, why dribble bibs? Why not just bibs? Well, these bibs have a layer of micro fleece next to the skin, meaning the neck is kept completely dry while the bib is wet with drool. It's like some kind of magic! Yes, sliced bread was a pretty cool invention, but fleece was next in line.

So, here's what you'll need:
An old t-shirt, which is no good to anyone anymore (you know you're far too old to be wearing that Sesame Street top and it's way too bobbly to pass it on to someone else)
Some micro fleece (not microfibre - that stuff is very different and will make a huge mess the moment you cut into it. Micro fleece should just look like a really thin fleece blanket.)
Needle and thread
Velcro (or poppers, if you'd prefer)

1. How to get the right size/shape bib

To get the bib to the size/shape I wanted, I used a different bib as a template. Although this £8 Skibz bib looks cool, it's actually rubbish. Don't waste your money. I like the size and shape though, so I drew around that.

2. Cut your fabric

If you want to use the motif/image/logo on the tee, position your paper template accordingly and cut around it. You could either use your fancy rotary cutter, or you could pin the paper template to the fabric and cut around it with scissors, like the rest of us. Do the same with the fleece and pin it to the back of the bib.

The fleece definitely won't fray. The fabric of the top might, depending on what it is. But, because the look of these bibs is a repurposed 'hey-this-used-to-be-a-top' rough around the edges, I don't think it matters it it frays a bit.

3. Sewing the thing together

So, if you're following this, you should have your fabric and fleece pinned together (see above). Make sure the logo/pattern on your fabric is facing up, as you'd like it in the finished product. Either by hand or with a machine, stitch the bib, about 1cm in from the edge all around.

4. Adding the fastening

I chose Velcro because it's cheap and you don't need any fancy equipment to attach it. Cut the Velcro to size (I bought a roll of it from eBay) and pin in place - one bit on the fleece side of the bib and one bit on the fabric side (make sure you've got one fuzzy and one catchy, not two fuzzys or two catchys. Y'know - a positive and a negative. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how Velcro works but you never know these days). When you're happy with the placement of the Velcro, stitch it in place.

That's it! Bib done! Stick it to a baby Gently fasten it around your baby's neck and watch in amazement as that bad boy soaks up a gallon of drool!

Another handy thing about these bibs is that they're great for an extra bit of warmth around the neck for babies during the colder months. Which could mean any time of the year if you're in Britain.

So, not sure what to do with the extra fabric left from making this belly band? Make some bibs! This could be a cool baby shower gift.

Months 1-12

I made a promise to myself that I would keep this blog crafty and not flood it with baby posts (I have a separate blog for that gross mushy stuff), but here's one picture I thought I'd share here.

Aren't those nappies just so cheery?

 For a full post on how to create your own monthly baby shoot, hop on over to my other blog here.

Scrappy fabric tutu {no sewing}

Hello you.

It's been a wee while. Turns out that life with a toddler is even more all-consuming than life with a baby. Who knew?! However, I did also have my BSL level 3 to complete, but that's done now, so I have time to blog.

So,  a little while ago (summer, perhaps. I'm not sure), I was commissioned to make something for a 3 year old girl. I excitedly suggested a tutu. I was told that the girl already loved tulle ballerina tutu. Ah, but did she have a scrappy fabric tutu?! This is a whole new world of tutu. This is a whole new tutu world. This is a new tutu for a new world. This is... different.

 

I used strips (varying lengths) of fabrics, with some Cath Kidston fabrics thrown in.

Using a 1" wide strip of elastic, I made a circle and tied it in a knot.

Taking the fabric strips, I tied/knotted them to the elastic.

It really was that easy. You could definitely make this.

And, because I didn't have a 3 year old girl to hand, I decided to model the tutu on my son's teddy so you could kind of see how it might look worn around the waist.

The teddy did not look happy about being used like this.