3D Greetings card tutorial

Today I have a Greetings card tutorial for you all. Its my mums birthday in a couple of weeks and I have decided to tie making her a couple of Birthday cards (my sister has "commissioned" the job to me this year!) with another DIY blog post. 

You will need
Scissors
Coloured Pens
Card
A pack of white greetings cards (or folded white paper)
Raised sticky dots/strips which can be bought from most stationary stores.

What to do...

1. Draw your shape (in this case a star) onto the coloured card. I did this one freehand but if you want a neater image it is a good idea to print a shape off the internet to draw around. Once satisfied embellish it with coloured pens and cut it out.

2. Stick the sticky dots to the back of the card shape, make sure there are enough to stick it on strongly and carefully lay it onto the card. Often they stick firm so don't put it down until you are fully comfortable with its position.

3. Once its stuck down, decorate the card with a background image. Don't go too complex but a small amount will help to make the shape stand out further! I added a couple of sparkles to my star. Finally add your message, ready to write inside.

I also created a whale card with goggly eyes but you can do this with any simple shape you choose.

What do you think? Have you made anything recently?

How to make a bedroom sign.

Another "how to" today for y'all. This one is super easy and can be very effective if hung in the right place. I thought I'd post this now as some of you may well be looking at moving into a new space for uni accommodation or looking for a way to alter your room after the summer and this is just the thing to get you started...

You will need. 
Scissors
Pen and Pencil
Card of your colour choice - or even more than one colour if you're feeling fancy!
string
Pegs, I used mini pegs which you can get from most craft stores but you can also use ordinary larger pegs if you want.
A playing card to draw round - don't worry it will still be in one piece at the end!
A message to write on the cards - I wrote Hello There for mine.

What to do

1.Lay the playing card on your coloured card and draw around it with your pencil. You need to do this as many times as necessary for all the letters in your message

2. Cut the cards out - perhaps adding slightly rounder corners as this can make the cards more effective in their design.


3. Start writing the letters on your cards - Do it in pencil first to ensure you get the letters perfect.

4. Cut about 2 metres of string - again this depends on how long your message is and begin pegging the card along it leaving 3 inches between each one.

5. Stick up the ends of the string anywhere you like and admire your handiwork!

Let me know if you use this tutorial - I'd love to see the results!

Recipe for Party Rings

Call me childish but my favourite biscuit by far is the bright and colourful party ring, perfect for dunking in tea or just snacking on alone - actually they now come in handy "mini" packs so you can enjoy these sweet treats on the go - they are my fail safe option if my blood sugars are feeling low!

However with Bake off season re-stating and the nation reaching for their nearest mixing bowl I thought it was perhaps time I gave the humble ring a new twist - any excuse to get my bake on right?

This recipe is super easy but can be a little time consuming if you factor in leaving the dough to cool and icing time. However it is definitely worth it if you are looking for something a bit different to take with you to a party, or even if you just have a rainy afternoon to fill - I'm sure you will have no difficulties getting rid of these beauties.

You will need

for the biscuits ...

125g butter
70g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1tsp of vanilla extract
150g plain flour

for the icing ...

Icing sugar
Food colouring






























What to do...


1. Preheat your oven to 180 and tip your butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. This works best if you have quite soft butter so if necessary take it out of the fridge for a while before you start. Using a wooden spoon mix the butter and sugar together until you have a fairly creamy mixture that will probably keep sticking to your spoon!

2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla before giving it a quick whizz with your food mixer or if your feeling adventurous good ol' elbow grease,

3. Once combined start sifting in the flour mixing as you go with a spoon. It also helps to get your hands in at this point to really bring all the mixture together.

4. Form the mix into a ball of dough, wrap this in cling film and pop it in the fridge for about half an hour.

5. Pop the dough onto a well floured surface and roll it out until its about 1/2 cm thick. If your dough starts to crack run your hands under hot water so they are warm and squish and squeeze the dough to heat it up!

6. With a round cookie cutter start cutting circles out of the dough, once you have a few use a smaller cutter - OK I used a bottle top for this part - and cut out the centre of each circle - add these bits back to the mix to ensure you use it all!

7. Pop the rings onto a lightly greased baking tray and bake for about 13 minutes at 180.

8. Once cooked the biscuits will still be slightly squiggly so leave to cool for a couple of minutes in the baking tray before popping on a cooling rack. This is a good point to start mixing your icing as per the packets instructions - you'll need two bowls for these, one of pink icing and another of white.

9. Once the biscuits are completely cold you can start icing. Its actually easiest to drop one side of the biscuit into the pink icing to get an all over cover - as long as you don't mind getting sticky fingers! Then fill a teaspoon with white icing and dribble it over while the pinks still wet. Do a few at a time so the icing doesn't start to dry to soon.

Leave to set before serving and then enjoy!

What have you been baking? If you give this recipe please send me a link or message - I'd love to see the results!

Grandmas Best Lemon Cake recipe

This lemon cake recipe is in many ways a family secret. Yes, it does stem from a Mary Berry "all in one" recipe but the way my gran has always put it together using nothing but a tablespoon and bowl its taken on a kind of legendary position in my family - hyperbolic I know!

So this bank holiday given that it was both my Grandmas birthdays - Happy Birthday - I took over the golden spatula to make this lemon sponge birthday cake, which went down very nicely even if I do say so myself! If your a fan of the beauty that is the traditional victoria sandwich then you should definitely give this one a try, teamed with Sainsburys "taste the difference" lemon curd its the perfect sweet but not sickly treat.

Ingredients

6oz (or 1 and 1/2 tablespoons if your feeling brave!) of Flour, Sugar and Margarine
3 eggs
1 tsp of baking soda
1 lemon

Filling

Double Cream
Lemon curd

Method

Put the flour, sugar, margarine, eggs and baking soda in a bowl and whisk together with an electric mixer until well blended.

Grate the lemon rind into very fine pieces (it practically makes this cake one of your five a day!) and add it to the mix folding it through so as not to loose the air you put in with all that mixing.

Tip the mixture into 2 sandwich tins and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees in a pre-heated oven before removing - to see if its cooked gently touch the top. If it springs back its done!

Once cooled fill with lemon curd before whisking the cream and adding this on top in small "dollops" before smoothing down. Don't worry if this is spilling out the sides, it all adds to the homemade cake atmosphere - wink wink!

Serve it up with a sprinkling - lets face it this was more a tipping - of caster sugar on top and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee for a perfect decadent snack.

If you liked this recipe please let me know if you want more, or tell me how it turned out. I'd love to know! Whats your favourite cake?