tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47230112887823137202024-03-14T08:44:29.142+00:00NavyLouiseNavyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-42051823401388408042015-10-18T14:12:00.004+01:002015-10-18T14:12:50.709+01:00Autumn<br />
Hello! We took a stroll this morning and I shot some fun Autumnal photos of E, I figured this is a good enough way to get slowly back into this blog.<br />
She turns 3 in just a couple of weeks, time has flown, we are enjoying the little things right now as life has been (and continues to be) incredibly hectic.<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-60109238076361475532015-05-15T16:48:00.000+01:002015-05-15T16:48:00.103+01:00Recipe : Rainbow meringues <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've had a little love affair with meringues for as long as I can remember, at the age of around 15 I attempted to make them. I failed and never tried again, until today. Not only did I finally succeed in making a very tasty meringue, I went and made them extra pretty too!<br />
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How to make your own.<br />
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Ingrediants:<br />
4 egg whites<br />
210 grams of caster sugar<br />
food colouring<br />
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Plus piping bags and a large nozzle (or you can cut a large hole in the end of the piping bag) and a stand or hand mixer to make things easy!<br />
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Making the Mixture:<br />
Preheat your oven to 140 degrees C<br />
Separate your eggs carefully and put the whites into a bowl or mixer. Mix them for 2 minutes on a low speed until they start to look slightly frothy and bubbly, then speed up a little bit for another 1 minute. The eggs will start to look whiter and like something is beginning to happen!<br />
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Now get up to full speed mixing and watch carefully as the eggs will start to form soft peaks, push through until they begin to look much firmer.<br />
Stop mixing once you can lift the whisk/attachment and the eggs stick to it without plopping back down into the bowl.<br />
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Now add the sugar (make sure it's sieved for no lumps) a tablespoon at a time while mixing on full speed. You'll notice the mix starts to look lovely and glossy. Once all the sugar is incorporated and well mixed, stop!<br />
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Now for the colour! Open up your piping bag (remembering to insert a nozzle or cut the end first) and pop it into a tall glass to keep it upright. Use your food colours to either drizzle lines inside the piping bag, or grab a long paintbrush and paint along the inside instead for a more uniform pattern.<br />
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I drizzled mine in a random order as I was feeling a little experimental ;)<br />
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Now carefully scoop your meringue mix into your piping bag, gently tapping it down as you add more. Once its full, scrunch up the top and twist, you'll notice the colours will have spread along the mixture!<br />
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Line trays with non stick paper and you are ready to pipe out any size meringues you wish, I did a mixture of little baby bite sized ones and some slightly larger. <br />
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Put them in the oven for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave them inside for 1 and a half hours. This leaves them nice and crisp and light on the outside and slightly chewy and soft on the inside - the perfect consistency in my opinion!<br />
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I hope you give this a go and enjoy, it's really such a simple and quick make and looks fab. Experiment with size, different colours and patterns, I'll definitely be making these for future parties! </div>
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-38660736076075776452015-03-30T13:39:00.002+01:002015-03-30T13:47:19.571+01:00Easy Teepee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh how I love a good teepee, endless hours of fun and such a simple construction. Here's how I knocked up one for Enid.<br />
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2 Metres of fabric<br />
Bamboo canes<br />
Yarn<br />
Scissors<br />
Tape Measure<br />
Cotton<br />
You'll also need a sewing machine (or good hand sewing skills!) <br />
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Firstly I measured out how wide I wanted to base to be, then arranged my canes and tried to even them out by measuring the distances between them. I used some tape to hold the tops of the canes while I was still wiggling them, then wound some cotton and yarn tightly around once they were in their finished positions. <br />
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Next step is measuring your fabric. I measured the distances of each side of the teepee - top, middle and bottom of each side - and then used these figures to draw out my triangles on the fabric.<br />
I folded and pinned each side to hem and cut a slit 3/4 of the way up the front panel for the entrance flaps. Then I started to sew each edge. <br />
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To tie the panels on to the canes, I cut long rectangles of fabric, folded them over and sewed 4 on each side so I could easily tie the fabric in place. I liked the effect of the little ties hanging down.<br />
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To tighten and strengthen it somewhat, I added dabs of hot glue between the cane and the knot on each tie after pulling the fabric taught. Once you tie on the front panel, you're done! So simple and quick and it's ready for playing. <br />
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Enid has spent many hours playing with this and it's still in pretty good shape. I think it'd be a great rainy day project which older kids could get involved with creating. </div>
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Off to have a teaparty in our teepee... </div>
<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-38816205235520027742015-03-10T11:22:00.002+00:002015-03-10T11:22:47.602+00:00Finally, an update.<br />
It's been a while, blog. Sorry for the neglect.<br />
So far this year has been quite the rollercoaster, I found out I'll be made redundant from my job in the next month and my focus shifted completely. I've been pouring all my free time into extra learning for my daughter and doing lots of craft projects in any spare seconds. Now it's time to get back on the wagon and pull it together, firstly I've updated the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/NavyLouise" target="_blank">Etsy shop.</a><br />
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Pretty new cloud mobiles, lots of garlands and some odds and sods I've been chipping away at for a while. It feels so good to have a full shop again and I've had some fab custom orders recently which have helped to keep me on my toes.<br />
Happy March to all, off to write some more posts..Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-86980917019242674492015-01-13T16:47:00.003+00:002015-01-13T16:47:41.820+00:00Goodbye 2014 - Snapshots.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-59020276965241210532014-11-04T20:53:00.001+00:002014-11-04T22:56:48.007+00:002nd Birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On sunday, we celebrated Enid's second birthday. The day went so fast, but was full of cake eating and playing with all the amazing gifts she was lucky enough to receive. <br>
We went swimming the day before and watched fireworks in the evening, she adored both and was thoroughly worn out by the end of the day.<br>
I'd say her favourite part of her special days was probably the balloons, she was obsessed by them and repeatedly tried to eat them much to my dismay. It's a small blow to me that I officially have a toddler now, but the positive side of me is incredibly excited to see what more she will achieve in the next year. We have had struggles with her health but things are on the up with her now walking with determined strength, the next step is talking (she has reduced hearing which we hope to have improved soon) but she has recently been mastering the sign language I am reciting daily.<br>
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Enid's favourite things to do right now are feed the ducks, eat broccoli and paint. She's a heart breaker and never fails to make us laugh and smile. Happy 2nd Birthday Enid Rosemary. <br>
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<br>Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-79275950136698202612014-10-16T10:41:00.002+01:002014-10-16T10:42:20.906+01:00My visit to Yarndale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We recently visited the Yardale Festival in Skipton, it was a lovely 2 day event dedicated to all things wooly. We stayed nearby and parked in Skipton on the day, then walked through the local park to the event, through the Yarn walk, which was full of yarnbombing in the form of wooly bikes and lampposts.</div>
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The event itself was packed full of colourful stalls and there were even some gorgeous Alpaca and a few Angora bunnies to see, which I think was probably Enid's favourite part!</div>
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It took us a few hours to walk around and seeing as we went on the first day (which I'm told was the busiest) it was quite difficult to navigate the buggy around, but we still enjoyed browsing and trying to work our way into all the little stalls.</div>
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I came away with less than I expected, I bought some lovely vintage knitting needles, a cute wooly brooch, a new 6.5 hook and an obligatory Yarndale tea towel. I thought it was a bit of a shame that around 90% of the stalls were just selling expensive hand spun wool or spinning accessories, which is sadly all rather out of my budget. I was really hoping to see some cool new companies selling acrylic, or more stalls with unique hand made goods, but it felt a little like unless you wanted to pay lots for some wool, there wasn't so much there for you.</div>
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I'm still very happy I visited, it was a fun day out and nice to be around like minded creativeness, the best parts for me where the yarn walk, the free vintage bus into Skipton, getting a few bargains and seeing <a href="http://attic24.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Attic24</a>'s stall with Lucy from the blog.</div>
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I don't think I would go back next year unless there was guaranteed to be a bit more diversity, but it was definitely a very fun day out!</div>
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Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-91271261982491111632014-09-20T20:52:00.004+01:002014-09-20T20:54:09.143+01:002nd Birthday party ideas<br />
In less than 2 months, Enid will be turning 2 years old. I want to do a simple tea party for close friends and family like <a href="http://navylouise.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/1st-birthday.html" target="_blank">last year</a> so I've been searching pinterest and Etsy, with a pastels and mint theme in mind. Here's a few cute things I've come across which could easily be used to create a theme for a small party, without going overboard. <br />
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<a href="https://img1.etsystatic.com/031/2/9414640/il_570xN.640737973_twcj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/031/2/9414640/il_570xN.640737973_twcj.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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Set things off with these adorable invitations from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/200032454/mint-gold-birthday-invitation-elephant?ref=sr_gallery_9&ga_search_query=invitations+mint+birthday&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_page=3&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery" target="_blank">pink dahlia printable</a></div>
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Dress the walls with this streamer banner by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/191001123/mint-green-and-gold-tassel-garland-party?ref=sr_gallery_10&ga_search_query=birthday+party+mint&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery" target="_blank">blush bazaar</a></div>
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Cute mini bubbles add some fun to the table, from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/198421141/mint-and-gold-glitter-colorblock-bubble?ref=related-0" target="_blank">Peabody and Co</a></div>
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These amazing confetti balloons would bring a party mood to any room (available in custom colours) by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/200388137/meg-made-confetti-filled-balloons?ref=related-4" target="_blank">megdashmade</a></div>
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Drink from these pretty paper straws with gold hearts, by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/186022473/24-paper-straws-with-mix-of-pink-and?ref=sr_gallery_32&ga_search_query=birthday+party+mint&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery" target="_blank">papertrail by laura B</a></div>
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<a href="https://img1.etsystatic.com/038/0/9383155/il_570xN.650511227_gebk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/038/0/9383155/il_570xN.650511227_gebk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Tie in a contrast colour with these cool paper plates from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/202649253/chevron-paper-plates-725-square-pink?ref=sr_gallery_7&ga_search_query=pink+paper+plates&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery" target="_blank">troll tech owl</a></div>
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Finish the day with paper bags for handing out thank you's, from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/192952825/mint-green-stripe-party-favor-bags-teal?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=birthday+party+mint&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery" target="_blank">when it rains shop</a></div>
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So far I have ordered those gorgeous balloons and the paper plates, but I also got some amazing food colour from <a href="http://www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1807" target="_blank">The cake decorating co</a>. Check them out, they stock what I call "proper" food colouring, which is so hard to get here in the UK and the turquoise colour I purchased is amazing!<br />
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Do you have any tips for easy small party planning?<br />
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<a href="http://etsy.me/1tKRIt9" target="_blank">Click here for a free £5 voucher towards your first order on Etsy</a>Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-15299970286677043242014-09-12T18:00:00.000+01:002014-09-13T10:34:04.311+01:00DIY Fun : Tie Dye<br>
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The thought of tie dye takes me back to middle school craft club, I remember learning all the twisting techniques and having so much fun with it. It's something I've wanted to play with again for a good few years, having a little one now meant I have an excuse to dye some vests and I figured if they didn't turn out great they could still be used under her clothes in winter, so I did it!<br>
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I picked up a selection of plain white vests from Asda, some cheap elastic bands in different sizes and 4 colours of Dylon fabric dye. You can pick up tie dying sets online or in Hobbycraft but I didn't like any of the colour combinations and felt like going oldschool with this, seems more fun than the controlled "add water to bottles and shake" method of the kits!<br>
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I used half of the contents of each packet in a bowl with the required about of warm water and salt, then stirred thoroughly. It's very important to get your water warm enough, you can see here the yellow dye did not mix properly as the water I added wasn't the right temp, no matter how much stirring I did, it wouldn't smooth out.<br>
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Since I'm crazy like that, I decided to do my dying in the bath (If you have a garden, that's a very good place to do this!) I ran the shower over the tub first so any dye spills wouldn't immediately stain. <br>
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I placed my drying rack on one side and the bowls of dye in the other and hoped for the best! After some extreme googling, I found some great tutorials on how to band up your shirts for different dying effects. Check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/colorfulsteve" target="_blank">Colorful Steve on YouTube</a> he makes this look easy, I used his heart method and then went for a few random spirals and lines.<br>
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I tied everything up and then ran it all under the luke warm tap to dampen them, I didn't want them too wet as I wanted to be able to control the colour to some extent, but leaving them totally dry makes it difficult to work as the dye wont soak up or spread very easily.<br>
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As this was all pretty much trial and error for me, I went ahead and just dipped the clothes in each dye as I fancied. I used my spoons to pour on some colours and dunked other areas until I liked the effect. I left each item scrunched up on the rack for a few hours and then rinsed everything in cold water until the water ran clear. <br>
<br>
The most fun part of all this was taking off the elastic bands and seeing which ideas had worked and which hadn't. The heart was recognisable but not quite as good as I hoped, while some of the spiral designs I didn't think would look great, actually turned out really cool. <br>
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After rinsing I threw them in the washing machine on a 30 degree quick cycle and then air dried them.<br>
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These were my favourites (I apologise for not ironing these first!), I'm glad I only used half of each dye pack as I can have another go at this now and hopefully get even better results. The colours faded a lot, I still like them but wish I had let everything sit overnight before rinsing out.<br>
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I'm calling this a success either way, especially since Enid loves this cute tri colour one!<br>
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Have you ever tried tie dying?<br><br>Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-3617069515255914412014-09-11T09:55:00.000+01:002014-09-11T09:55:27.077+01:00Birthday break snapshots<br />
I turned the grand old age of 30 last week and we
celebrated with a trip to one of my favourite childhood holiday spots in
Norfolk. We stayed in a small seaside village near Great Yarmouth,
which has so many memories for me I couldn't fit them all in to one blog
post if I tried!<br />
As someone who has a pretty intense phobia of
fish and all things slimey looking sealife, it's curious to me why I
love the sea so much (I'm also a really bad swimmer too). There is just
something so amazingly calming about being near it, sitting on an empty
beach watching the waves roll and listening to all those lovely seaside
noises is magic and you can't fail to feel good.<br />
<br />
It had been over a year since we last saw the sea and for me, that is far, far too long. <br />
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I
can't say that I'm overly thrilled about turning 30, but life goes on
and I enjoyed a really lovely day whilst being rather spoiled. My sweet
husband gave me some amazingly thoughtful gifts and even turned his hand
to cake making, which is something he has no patience for usually.<br />
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We
enjoyed an indulgent breakfast with my dad and a stroll along the beach
in the morning, which will go down as the best birthday morning I've
ever had.<br />
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The rest of the week was spent, beaching, penny arcading and exploring. <br />
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<br />
I hope everyone else is enjoying the last slice of summer. Happy September!<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-43507029185821155812014-08-19T10:14:00.001+01:002014-08-19T10:14:32.793+01:00Etsy Favourites<br />
Free time today means I've been doing some serious Etsy browsing, which made me realise I haven't made an Etsy favourites post in forever. Here's a small selection of some of the gorgeous items I've been ogling recently.<br />
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1.<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/179071986/harriet-the-spy-print?ref=favs_view_16" target="_blank"> Harriet the spy print</a> - I'm a long time Harriet lover and this print is just beautiful<br />
2. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95317214/bunny-pillow-easter-bunny-pillow-spring?ref=listing-2" target="_blank">Bunny pillow</a> - Simply the cutest <br />
3. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/102009276/custom-pinafore-with-pockets-adjustable?ref=listing-0" target="_blank">Pinafore dress</a> - Hand made dresses with circle skirts and pockets? Heaven! <br />
4. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/191018238/handmade-sterling-silver-ring-with-teal?ref=favs_view_9" target="_blank">Pretty teal ring</a> - I love everything from this seller, but this vintage stone on a pretty twist band is classically beautiful <br />
5. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/87225304/fox-cub-keyring-keychain-head-charm?ref=favs_view_24" target="_blank">Fox cub keychain</a> - Adorable lazer cut foxy! <br />
6. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/170938497/dynamic-duos-submarine-sunglasses?ref=favs_view_7" target="_blank">Submarine pins</a> - Big Submarine film fan right here, I love the idea of having these cute pins displayed on my coat as a subtle nod to such an awesome movie<br />
7.<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/104773771/confettis-tray?ref=favs_view_20" target="_blank"> Confetti tray</a> - I'd serve my husband tea all day long with this beauty (don't tell him I said that!)<br />
<br />
Have you seen any must haves on Etsy lately?<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-42656165275144740202014-08-08T16:52:00.002+01:002014-08-08T16:54:39.025+01:00An update<br />
Just a quick update, I recently added a few new bits to my Etsy shop, including blankets and a new hat. Click <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/NavyLouise?ref=si_shop" target="_blank">HERE</a> to have a look!<br />
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<br />
I also added a new tutorial to my YouTube channel last week, showing an easy way to crochet granny squares together.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7S7pTQG_p0M" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
I hope you're all enjoying the summer! I had plenty planned but inevitably life and toddlers get in the way, plus a recent disaster has left me unable to complete a few projects I had planned for the blog as my sewing machine has died! I've a few more tutorials planned though so I'll be sure to post them when finished.<br />
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Happy Friday!<br />
<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-35859413940974214692014-07-24T10:07:00.000+01:002014-07-24T10:12:04.638+01:00Recipe : Soft cinnamon pretzels<br />
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Oh cinnamon pretzels, how I love thee. These sugar coated dough twists are the stuff of worn out lust for me on long trips to my local shopping centre. The little pretzel stalls always give out samples, but one bite is never enough and I inevitably always get suckered into buying an entire pretzel, but since they aren't cheap and I don't get to go on many long shopping trips these days, here's how to make them at home and save yourself a fortune.<br />
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Despite how ugly I managed to make them look, they taste awesome, I promise!<br />
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Ingrediants :<br />
<br />
350 ml warm water<br />
1 tablespoon sugar<br />
2 teaspoons salt<br />
1 packet active dry yeast<br />
22 oz plain flour<br />
2 oz melted butter<br />
Vegetable oil for pan<br />
Large pan of water<br />
5 oz of baking soda<br />
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water<br />
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For the topping:<br />
A few tablespoons of melted butter, 8oz sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon<br />
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Add the warm water, yeast and sugar to a bowl and leave for 5 minutes until the yeast begins to activate and the water starts to "froth", then add the salt. Next, begin to add your flour slowly while mixing (I used my mixer for making this dough but you can do this by hand too) and throw in the butter until it's combined into a soft dough. Mix or hand kneed for 5 minutes.<br />
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Next, take your dough and place it in an oiled bowl (to stop it sticking) and cover with cling film. Leave it in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour - Top tip: I turned on my tumble dryer for 2 minutes, turned it off and then placed my bowl of dough inside, it's the perfect "warm spot" - Your dough should have doubled in size.<br />
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Now for the fun part! Making pretzels, grab a small handful of dough and roll it into a long sausage, twist as above and then flip the "bunny ears" down to form your pretzel shape. This takes a bit of practice (hence why mine look a bit iffy!)<br />
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Preheat your oven to 230 C at this point and then your next step is to get a large pan of boiling water and add the bicarbonate of soda. You need to boil each pretzel for 30 seconds, you can add a couple at a time but I liked to shape mine, boil it and then move on to the next one. You'll notice them puff up a little, this is what helps to give them there texture!<br />
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Set each one down to dry off a little and then place them on an oiled/lined baking tray, brush with the egg/water mix and cook for 10-15 minutes until brown. <br />
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While they're baking, add your sugar and cinnamon to a clean bowl and mix. Melt some butter in a bowl with a pastry brush and get a surface ready for your dipping!<br />
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Once the pretzels are out of the oven and left for a few minutes so they're not too hot, brush each one with butter and then dip them in the cinnamon sugar mix to completely coat them. <br />
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That's it! They taste best when they're warm, I found that the ones which didn't get instantly devoured where still best when microwaved for 30 seconds.<br />
You can play around with the shapes of these, I made some little bitesized pieces and different sized traditional pretzel shapes and they all tasted just as good so this would be a great thing to get kids involved with as they'll love trying to shape the dough!<br />
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These stacks of bitesize pretzels are yummy with a cuppa and if you're feeling extra fancy how about adding some melted chocolate or nutella?<br />
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Let me know if you try out this recipe!<br />
<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-10555443848695970972014-07-04T09:57:00.002+01:002014-07-04T10:03:58.087+01:00Home made chalkboards : DIY<br />
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You all know how I love a quick DIY project, so after finding some chalk in one of Enid's toy stashes which I'd forgotten about, I figured she needed a chalk board to use them on. I had previously used this 'recipe' for home made chalk board paint so I knew it worked out great. <br />
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All you need is 1 cup of Acrylic paint and 1 tablespoon of tiling grout. I had both of these things in the house already so this was a free project for me, but you can pick up acrylic paint for as little as £1 from a cheap shop which sells art supplies - mine was from Wilkinsons - and a small bag of grout will cost very little also. It's a huge saving when you see the price of chalk board paint by the pot in DIY shops and the great thing is you can use any colour acrylic you want and have a non traditional, funky chalk board. I chose simple black because I wanted to use a colour that Enid associated with chalkboards so she would know what it was!<br />
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All you need to do is mix the paint and grout up well and paint it on your walls, simple! I realised this mix made enough for quite a big chalk board and never one to waste anything, I thought maybe my house could use a couple more boards. <br />
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I drew around a dinner plate with a pencil for this cute circular board in my hallway, I freehand painted the circle which took rather a lot of concentration for my unsteady hands! A good tip for getting nice edges is to have a cup of water on hand, dip the very tip of your brush in the water to thin down the paint when you're doing the edges and it'll be much more fluid. <br />
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You can use a mini roller to paint your board for a smoother finish, but I find it easier with a paintbrush.<br />
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I also did this large rectangular board in our bedroom as a cute wall centre focus to leave reminders on. I actually drew around a picture frame for the shape and then masked it up for painting. Once the paint was dry, I cut some cute polka dotted washi tape and added it as a border, this also acted as support to hold my chalk string.</div>
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To add my string, I carefully used some scissors to score a groove in my piece of chalk, then tied a length of yarn around it and stuck the yarn under my washi tape. So far it's holding up pretty well and hasn't fallen down. </div>
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Once your chalk board is dry, don't forget to scrub over it with the side of a piece of chalk, then wipe off. This primes the board ready for future use!<br />
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Here's Enids personal board, I free handed the heart and she loves it! I'm glad I used black as I handed her some chalk and she crawled straight to the heart and started scribbling.<br />
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I hope you liked this easy DIY, I think it's a great way to add some personality to your home. If I had a larger house I would definitely do an entire chalkboard wall somewhere fun like in the kitchen.<br />
The great thing about this is how easy it is to remove, a quick sand and you can paint over it, so it's a great way to add some customisation to your home!<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-41935639146896301822014-06-19T21:17:00.001+01:002014-06-19T21:17:02.152+01:00Easy Rice Crispy Treats : Recipe<br />
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Today was a little gloomy and we were inside having ourselves a duvet day. I figured we needed a little treat, I wanted something which would be easy to make and which Enid could get involved in creating. I've made rice krispie chocolate cakes tons of times in the past but never those yummy gooey mallow kind so after some searching and adapting, here's how we did it.<br />
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Ingredients :<br />
180 grams Rice Krispies <br />
50 grams butter/margarine<br />
300 grams mini mallows<br />
Sprinkles<br />
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Add the butter to a large pan on a low heat until melted, then pour in your marshmallows. You need to stir them pretty much constantly until they turn into a nice shiny goo!<br />
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Take the pan off the heat and add in your rice krispies, the mallow is very sticky so it takes some elbow grease to stir the mixture together, but once it's all combined you can scoop it all into a greased tin.<br />
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I put my mix into a brownie pan and slightly wet a clean hand to flatten it down and push it into all the gaps. Then we got out the sprinkles to decorate the top!<br />
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Once decorated, place the pan in the fridge until the mallow has hardened. You can then take it out and cut the treats into squares.<br />
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They are really yummy and since the marshmallows are fat free, they feel slightly more guilt free than some other naughty treats! I think next time I'll experiment with adding a little food colouring to the marshmallows and maybe throw in some chocolate chips or sweets.<br />
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Let me know if you have a go! <br />
<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-83377825316051720602014-06-12T11:14:00.000+01:002014-06-12T11:14:00.239+01:00Holiday in Paris<br />
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Happy days, my internet is fixed and I am finally able to upload my snaps from my May holiday to Paris! We went over on the Eurostar for 7 nights and had a fantastic time despite spells of awful weather.<br />
Our first 2 days were spent finding our hotel and settling in, we stayed at a hotel called Hipark in Serris and I can't recommend it enough if you're looking for somewhere not far from disney to use as a home from home, I did a lot of research and found it incredibly difficult to get a hotel with self catering suites that didn't have awful reviews and I'm so glad to have found the Hipark! It was a 15 minute walk from Disneyland and having our own facilities made a holiday with a young toddler much easier and a little less expensive. It was also only a 5 minute walk from a huge shopping village with a supermarket and a sealife centre which was great to peruse. <br />
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We then had 4 fantastic days at Disneyland and our last full day saw a visit to central Paris to see some of the classic sights. I won't lie to you, navigating foreign trains with a buggy was a pain but also made for a better adventure and we got to see the Eiffel tower on a beautiful sunny day so it was worth it!<br />
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I was pleasantly surprised by how many rides Enid could go on with us, she absolutely loved it all and I didn't leaving feeling we had taken her too soon as I had worried I would. Thanks to a slightly scary situation on our return journey, we now have a free return Eurostar trip to book within the next year so who knows, we may return to Disneyland, or we might just see where else it can take us. </div>
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It was so nice to get away on our first real solo family holiday and I feel so much better for having been away, I can't wait for summer to properly begin now.<br />
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I have a cute DIY ready to show you and some photos and other bits, so I'll see you soon! Happy June!<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-2046238439517578762014-05-18T15:45:00.004+01:002014-05-18T15:46:43.081+01:00Giveaway<br />
After a beautiful holiday in France, I'm feeling rejuvenated and ready for change. I'll do a little blog post on our Parisian adventures shortly, but for now I thought I'd share this competition with you.<br />
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I have reached over 100 likes on my NavyLouise Facebook page and as promised, am running a giveaway.<br />
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<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">The
winner will get the 3 items from my shop pictured below, a pretty mint beaded
necklace, a Gold Star pin and a multicoloured star garland.</span></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"></span></span>All you need to do to enter is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/navylouise" target="_blank">like NavyLouise on Facebook</a> and share the competition image. You can also gain an additional entry by posting the image on Instagram with the hash tag <span class="st">#navy100</span><br />
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<span class="st">I'll be picking a winner at random on the 1st of June! Good Luck!</span><br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-38382490197167791292014-04-24T10:31:00.002+01:002014-04-24T10:34:13.839+01:00Uses for old baby clothes : Headbands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you're anything like me, you find it hard to part with that cute sleepsuit you remember buying and thinking it'd never fit your little one, or the outfit they wore on a memorable day. The trouble is, kids grow out of their clothes quicker than you can get new ones and you're left with a never ending pile of old stuff. Every few months I have a sort out, anything which is beyond saving (think spaghetti or nursery mud) gets put in a recycling bag and then the rest is sorted into charity, selling and "I can't part with that" piles. So, it's those "I can't part with that" items I want to do more with, to save my home from being taken over!<br />
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Easy Hairband tutorial.<br />
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You'll need:<br />
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Old clothes (doesn't have to be baby clothes, but something with a little stretch is best) <br />
Scissors<br />
Tape measure<br />
Sewing machine or a needle and thread<br />
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First thing to do is measure around your little ones head, then add around 4 inches and cut a rectangle the length of your measurement from your old clothing. I made mine 3 inches wide as I wanted a skinny headband, but you can make yours as wide as you want, the rectangle will be folded later so the width of the finished headband will be roughly half what you cut! </div>
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You then need to "round off" the ends with your scissors, I chose to make a slightly pointed end for mine.</div>
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Next step is to fold your rectangle over so the print is on the inside, with a sewing machine or needle and thread, sew along the cut edge in the area between where the curves begin (ie. in the middle of the band leaving approx 2 inches unsewn either end).</div>
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Once you've sewn the edge, just turn your band right side out and you'll be left with a tube. The last step is simply to knot it around your little ones head and enjoy!</div>
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Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-39073546655979084962014-04-11T10:22:00.003+01:002014-04-11T10:22:58.633+01:00Home - Photo wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently I was a very lucky girl and won a competition ran by Rachael at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachaelscustomartwork?fref=ts" target="_blank">Rachael Elizabeth Art</a>, I received this super pretty crochet photo frame and just knew where it was going to live immediately.</div>
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When we moved into our house, I had wanted to paint the hallway and do something cool with it, but my god those walls are high. We ruled it out due to my husband and I both being extremely clumsy (imagine us on a ladder on high stairs? no.) and I'm sure you remember how I hate to pay other people to do my jobs! So it stayed white and I had to find another way to make it personal, I realised I had quite a few different frames waiting for photos and decided to get on with filling them and hang them up here.</div>
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I started with about 5 in the center and over the last 2 years have been gradually adding frames, I like to keep it organic and only purchase a new frame if it really stands out to me or if we're having a special day out. They're filled with postcards, wrapping paper, photos and special images. In the photos below I can spot a painting we purchased on our honeymoon and a postcard and print from our first trip to the Tate museum with Enid, there's also a frame from an anniversary trip and a special one given to me by a friend. I've also painted a few of the frames with emulsion to help them fit in.<br />
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I originally wanted to stick to white frames with pops of red, but it's been gradually getting more colourful and I'm pleased with that. I like to space the frames randomly and it's a bit like building a big jigsaw with no pattern, spreading it out occasionally while leaving gaps for future frames. <br />
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I'll be on the lookout for more letters (T and an E!) and unusual shaped frames this year. A big thank you again to Rachael for my adorable crochet frame, it fits beautifully into my wall and is so well made!<br />
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I hope you enjoyed this peek at an easy and special way to fill up a wall in your home.<br />
Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-75596083746946644632014-03-22T08:05:00.001+00:002014-03-22T08:07:30.409+00:00Simple Crochet Tutorial<br />
I'm so excited (and nervous) to show you this tutorial I just finished making. I never realised what a long process it would be and it's been very time consuming, but I'm so happy to have completed it.<br />
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I have always wanted to make a YouTube tutorial because they have helped me so many times, I thought a traditional granny square would be a good start, as when I was learning crochet I found it hard to search out tutorials which showed enough detail and actually explained what was going on.<br />
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I've tried my best to make it easy to follow, but it's difficult to know what to say from the perspective of someone who can already crochet! Anyway, I hope you like it and if it helps even one person learn a new hobby then I'm more than happy!<br />
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Thank you for watching! My channel is over at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ZAGfw-ub0l97Svfpy_8Sg" target="_blank">NavyLouise</a>Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-31237378915593552142014-02-21T10:36:00.003+00:002014-02-21T10:39:37.142+00:00Crochet Mood Blanket Update<br />
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Remember <a href="http://navylouise.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-year-new-projects.html" target="_blank">this</a> post about the Crochet Mood Blanket project? Well I'm now 52 days in and loving this project! It's a rather awkward size to properly photograph now, 18 squares long in 2 and a half rows, so it's long and skinny. I thought I'd get my own little model to show my progress instead of an awkward bed shot. </div>
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I continued on with the solid granny's, but after about 10 days I decided I wanted a border colour to bring it all together, so out came the seem ripper and lots of white yarn. It took me a while to take apart, edge each square and then slip stich together but I'm so glad I decided to do it. The white adds some uniformity to all the randomness of the colours and makes it much easier to join them. <br />
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So far I have been truly random and gone for the colour which represents my mood that day, whether it's close to a nearby square colour or not. I also purchased some cute light blue sparkle yarn for special days which you can see above, this square was for valentines day so it seemed fitting to add a heart too! </div>
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Speaking of Valentines, my thoughtful husband gifted me this lovely made to order polymer hook from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/lisashandmakes?section_id=14600966&ref=shopsection_leftnav_1" target="_blank">Lisas Hand Makes</a>, I really recommend it as it's so comfy and it brightens up my crochet sessions nicely!<br />
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Hope you enjoy seeing how much this project has grown, it's going to be huge by the end of the year and I just can't wait to be snuggled under it next winter and be able to reminisce about each square!<br />
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Are you doing this project too?<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-33382134287328046332014-02-16T07:00:00.000+00:002014-02-16T07:00:01.032+00:00Crafty Creatives January Box<br />
I've finally had time to play with my lovely Crafty Creatives box! I signed up to this after giving up on Glossy Box, this is a monthly subscription box but you get a fab set with a crafty theme. Each month you receive a kit which allows you to try out a craft, this really appealed to me as I love trying new crafts and am always ready to turn my hand to something different, this way I don't have to by an entire kit and I can explore things I might not otherwise consider. <br />
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It comes in a plain card box, with your kit inside and a little description of what it is and how to use it. This month was a marbling kit, which got me very excited as I've not done marbling since I was in middle school and it's definitely not something I would have thought to experiment with.<br />
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In the kit you get these mini paints, liquid to use with the paints, some cards, a ceramic heart charm and a couple of small pieces of fabric. It's a good start but I do feel they were a little tight with how many cards they provided, it also would have been nice to get an extra couple of charms. <br />
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This was such a fun craft to play with! All you need to do is fill a tub with the liquid, then drop dots of paint onto the surface, you can use a toothpick to swirl the paint into whatever pattern you like and play around with different colours. When you're happy with the pattern, gently lower your paper onto the surface and you have a fab pattern when you peel it back off, leave to dry and you're left with really cool personalised note cards!<br />
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My husband and I had a lot of fun playing with this and ended up printing onto plain paper once the card provided ran out, my favourite thing to print was the ceramic heart though, I love how it turned out! </div>
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I'd say my first box was quite a success, I'm really looking forward to seeing which craft I get to play with this month now! Check out the <a href="http://www.craftycreatives.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Creatives website</a> if you'd like to learn more about them :)<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-16230591928831861432014-02-13T21:32:00.000+00:002014-02-21T10:23:38.442+00:00Valentines cookies<br />
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I LOVE Valentines day, always have and always will. I really dislike when people are so grumpy over what should be a lovely day, whether you are with someone or not, it can still be a fun day when you can show people around you how much you love them.<br />
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This year I had already bought my husband tickets to see a comedian, so as an easy extra gift I decided to make some cute hand iced cookies. I've never iced biscuits like this before, I don't have too much patience for fiddly jobs and I'm the worlds clumsiest person so this was a bit of a challenge!<br />
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I started by making some biscuits with this recipe, it turned out very dry but just about workable. I chose <a href="http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/the-perfect-shape-cookie-recipe" target="_blank">this</a> recipe because it's great for shaped cookies as it doesn't spread when being baked so your shapes stay perfect. <br />
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I researched the proper way to get nicely iced biscuits and learned about how to use royal icing to create line icing and fill icing to get nice edges. You use thicker line icing to pipe around the edges and then once dry you can fill the middle in with runnier "fill" icing and the line icing will act as a barrier to stop it spreading out. I used royal icing for this, I picked up a pack of Tayte and Lyles royal icing mix from my local supermarket, all you do is add water and it saves mixing raw eggs (which is the traditional way to make it) and takes just 5 minutes.<br />
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I divided my icing up and added food colouring, then started to draw my edges on before adding a few drops of water to the icing to fill in my biscuits.<br />
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I found the line icing quite difficult at first, it's definitely something which requires practice. Getting quite low to the biscuit and piping very slowly definitely helps (also not having a small child hanging on your arm while you try to do it is a bonus!). I used disposable piping bags for this with a small round nozzle which was perfect for the small line icing. I switched to a bigger round nozzle for the fill in's and found that gently using a teaspoon to spread out the icing helped stop me from over filling the biscuits (which causes the icing to leak over your lines!).</div>
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I played around with the fill icing by dotting some contrasting colours onto the biscuits while they were wet, I then dragged a cocktail stick through the dots to create little hearts. Once the fill is dry you can add detail with more line icing, I chose white so that it would stand out. Unfortunately I had left it out a bit too long so it was quite dry, it was still ok to use but very difficult to pipe and as a trigger finger sufferer I had difficulty using my hand after! If you leave yours out too long, add a tiny drop of water to it to make it workable. </div>
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I like to get Enid involved and she loves getting stuck in, so after she helped me make the biscuits, I let her go to town on one (with a little help of course!). I'll wrap this one individually for her to give to her dad at breakfast!<br />
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I'm really happy with how they turned out, I don't think they're too shabby for my first try! I really hope they're appreciated and can't wait to hand them over in the morning! <br />
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Happy Valentines Day everyone! Hope you all have a great day!<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-24774750998970444562014-01-31T09:36:00.000+00:002014-01-31T09:36:01.406+00:00Gratuitous baby portraits - 15 months<br />
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15 Months, how? It's going like the speed of light and I can't keep up! The past couple of months haven't been too kind to us, English winter is wet and horrible and with it comes multiple colds and virus' which coupled with teething, is no fun at all. We've been staying in and keeping cozy as much as possible, while I've tried to fit in lots of crafts and fun stuff. I shot these last week on a lazy day, it was so much fun as she was in a brilliant, happy mood and was chasing my feet around the bed until it all got too much and a lie down was needed.<br />
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This week we are thinking about holidays and planning things to look forward to this year. I'll be back soon with a mood blanket update, a new monthly box review (ooh!) and valentines day fun stuff. I hope you're reading this from somewhere cozy!<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723011288782313720.post-51111321661506938762014-01-18T18:24:00.001+00:002014-02-21T10:24:08.500+00:00New Year, new projects<br />
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This year is going to be one full of crafts and creativity, I have decided. So, to start the year I have been taking part in the Crochet mood blanket which was created by <a href="http://instagram.com/frofunky" target="_blank">Stacey on Instagram.</a><br />
The idea is to crochet one granny square every day (or week) with a colour that coincides with your mood, so at the end of the year you have enough squares for a lovely big multicoloured blanket!<br />
I've been crocheting one square a day and chose to make solid granny squares (you can find a very easy to follow pattern for these <a href="http://fiberflux.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/how-to-crochet-solid-granny-square.html" target="_blank">here</a>) and to join them daily so I could watch them grow.<br />
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It's lovely to search through the hash-tag crochetmoodblanket2014 and see what everyone else has chosen to do and all the beautiful colours they're using and there is also a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/199895496866530/" target="_blank">facebook group</a> for those taking part / looking for inspiration!<br />
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So far I'm up to 18 squares, which will be the total length of squares along, so as of tomorrow I'm on row two! It's amazing how quickly this is coming together already and each square reminds me of particular days. It's not too late to join in with this project, there's always time to catch up!<br />
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I'll be posting some blanket updates throughout the year and have lots of other projects in mind to blog about, is anyone else participating in any cool projects like this?<br />
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<br />Navyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785836413490061076noreply@blogger.com0