Ice cream sandwiches

I loved ice cream sandwiches as a kid - who didnt! But they were usually made with wafer not biscuits and as ive been seeing biscuit based one all over pinterest i had to give them a go!
I used this recipe by Smitten Kitchen and used my homemade cookies and cream ice cream and they were amazing! Very rich so id might make half sized ones next time but they definitely lived up to my childhood memories!

Cookies and Cream ice cream

More ice cream! I used the same easy recipe as for my Caramel and Chocolate Ice Cream but this time i added crushed up chocolate biscuits to the mix - delicious!
I used the biscuits from my ice cream sandwich and then used this ice cream in the middle! It was v. rich but amazing!

Teabag Boats

I love herbal teas, i dont drink normal tea or coffee but i love chamomile tea and green tea. Herbal teas normally come in a stringed bag and for some reason i always think it would be cute if the string had something attached to it! No idea why, but i thought i give it a go!

So i made some little origami boats from paper

 and stapled them to the string.


Then gave them a dunk! Theyre only paper so they went soggy pretty quickly but they were pretty good for a prototype!

 

Arent they cute!
I'll have to figure out how to make them last a bit longer when wet, possibly use thin plastic instead of paper, but a good first go

 

 

 

Doilie envelopes

I love doilies and i found some hot pink ones that i had to use so i figured id make envelopes for some of my homemade cards

All you need is a doilie, the card you want an envelope for and some tape or glue to seal the envelope
 

Lay the card in the middle of the doilie, make sure its central or your envelope will be wonky!
 

Fold in the short sides first, then the bottom and then the top


Seal with a bit of tape and your done! Super easy
 

They look particularly cute from the front with the little lacey corners
 

 

 I though white doilies would look good for wedding stationary :)

 

 

Caramel and Chocolate ice cream

I went a bit ice cream crazy last weekend and made a couple of different bacthes and some ice cream sandwiches - i think i was in a sugar coma by sunday!
The reason was, that i found the simplest recipe ever. Just custard, cream and whatever flavour you want - thats it! Too good to be true? I thought id give it a go and see.
I wanted to make dulce leche ice cream but my local supermarker didnt have any and i didnt have time to go anywhere else, but then i spotted some caramel and chocolate spread and figured that would be an ok substitute - and it really was! This ice cream is delicious :) I just added a big spoon full of the caramel and chocolate spread to the mix and froze it in the ice cream maker. It made a lovely creamy caramelly chocolately ice cream, a-mazing!
I'll be making this again (once ive burnt off this batch!)

Stamping using a template

When i saw this whale via pinterest i knew i just had to copy the technique of stamping within a template - such a clever idea!
I already had a stripey stamp that id made previously. I just cut a heart out of card, placed it over some paper and stamped away. I liked the ordered pattern of the cross hatches so i used that style as well


Once you've covered all the space, remove the template and youve got a perfect shape underneath

I think this would work brilliantly on greeting cards.

 

 

Washi tape tie twists

 

 

I though i would update the diy tie twists i made with some of the washi tape i bought on holiday. The process is exactly the same just using washi tape instead of glued paper and i love them! Think of all the cute ones you could make with all the amazing washi tape out there...

 

 

 

Chair Socks

Not that i would ever criticise my (defacto) mother in law but the her kitchen chairs make an awful noise when you try to move them over the floor tiles. So it thought i would surprise her and make some socks for them!

I used this pattern at plus 3 crochet, its really easy to do and i churned out 24 of these in about 8 hours over a week. Dont they look cute!

House number spray paint stencil

We've got tenants moving into out house soon and i wanted to make sure they knew which car parking space was theirs. I figured the easiest way would be to paint the house number on the back wall. Im not very good freehand so i thought spray paint and a stencil may be the safer option!

I just printed out our numbers on to paper, traced them onto transparency paper (i just used some over-head projector paper i had lying around) and then cut the numbers out

I taped the stencil to the wall and sprayed with paint. I only had red, white would probably be better but i didnt want to buy a can specially.

Its probably a bit darker than i would have liked but since im not sure if i was even allowed to do this then its probably a good thing its not too obvious!
You could use this on anything though, its a cute way to personalise stuff.

Amazing card!

Check out the amazing snake thankyou card my friend's daughter made me! Even the letters are snakes :)

A future crafter in the making definitely!

Pimms ice cubes

I know its not Pimms weather but i love the stuff! Ive seen loads of posts on fruit ice cubes and frozen fruit and i though how Pimms would be the perfect partner for that!

Its dead easy, you'll need some Pimms, lemonade, fruit (i like mint, strawberries and cucumber in my Pimms) and an ice cube tray

Pop your fruit in the ice cube tray, add water and freeze

Dont they look delicious on their own!

Make up your Pimms with lemonade and add the ice cubes. Sip it and pretend it summer!

The Cat Sat On the Mag

Does anyone else's cat do this? Sit on anything youre trying to read? Mine drives me potty!!

Magnetic Rolling Planner/Calendar

I love lists, planners, diaries, calendars, notebooks, anything on paper really but i do have an issue with paper - writing anything its just so permanent and therefore inflexible. My life feels too unpredictable for that, too many things change too quickly and also i like to plan further ahead than some diaries and calendars allow

My one really big issue with paper diaries and calendar is when you get to the end of the month or week you have to flip the page to see the next week or month. I know that sounds ridiculous but i like being able to see everything in one go. I get round this by using online calendars and to do lists but they dont work as well when more than one person is involved. Lovely BM is less keen on lists and plans as i am (ie he's normal!) so i have no chance of getting him onboard with an online system so at home i have to use a paper calendar - and im back to my old issue :( But then inspiration struck (thanks jetlag induced insomnia!) - i could make myself a rolling calendar!

I used an old metal memo board and some strips of magnetic sheet

I made 5 strips (5 weeks ahead is my preferred range!) and split them into 7 squares with permanent pen. I then used a non permanent pen to add in the dates and the reminders

So when the top week ends, i peel it off and wipe off the dates and reminders

Move everything up and then add the blank week at the bottom

Add in the new dates and reminders and im good to go! How have i survived this long without this in my life - its the BEST!!

Crochet fishes

Not really sure why i wanted a rainbow of crocheted fishes but i did so i made them!

I used this pattern by Sheepdogsfleece (isnt her idea of a crochet fish in a fish bowl just genius!!), it was super easy to follow (im still a novice crocheter) and i whipped the set up in a few evenings
No idea where im going to put them or what i going to do with them but i do love them - a lot!

Biscuits and boxes

My mum was on holiday at the same time as lovely BM and I so my aunts kindly stepped in to make sure my dad was ok while we were all off enjoying ourselves! (NB. my dad has health issues which makes flying and being away from home stressful for him (and us) so hes prefers to holiday at home, we didnt exclude him deliberately!) So as a thankyou i thought i would make my aunts some biscuits.

The biscuits are an amazing chocolate sable from Smitten Kitchen which were just ridiculously delicious! And i thought they deserved theyre own special packaging too

I made a double walled box (where the walls all tuck in on themselves to make a much nicer visible edge) and little slip cover (i used this free pattern by Mel Stampz for the slip cover)

I wrapped the cookies in greaseproof paper to keep them protected and made it look a bit more finished

A pretty cute little thankyou gift i think!

Wish birthday cards

 

Lovely BM and I are moving house soon (more on that to follow i imagine!) so were having a mega clearout. During which i found some candles, i remembered seeing a card on pinterest that i loved so i thought id make my own versions
I love how they turned out, especially the make a wish one, but the washi tape wasnt strong enough to hold the candles in place for long, i'll need to glue them to the card before i give them to anyone!

Embroidered photos

Ive seen lots of amazing embroidered photos which i love but the skill and the detail of the embroidery is entirely beyond my basic experience! But i thought i might give a more basic version a go.
I printed off some free stock photos i found online and then stitched shapes onto them.

I think in the back of my mind they were for Valentines day (hearts and kisses etc) but as lovely BM is not a fan of V-day they were never going to get given so i need to think of what to do with them. I might just add them to birthday cards or possibly frame them, i like how they look when theyre 3 in a row... so this one is to be continued!

Get well soon (clumsy) card

My friend broke her wrist last year by going out in the ice and snow in her 4 inch stillettos and falling over - ouch! We were all very sympathetic at the time but then, when she did the same this year (practically to the day!) and broke her foot i was starting to see a pattern and the sympathic feeling were slightly less. However a broken foot still sucks so i made her this card!

Luckily she saw the humour in her predicament and loved the card!

Notebooks and Washi tape!

More holiday purchases! Arent these adorable, i love the airmail washi tape especially, thats going to get a lot of use!

Fabric purchases!

I can never resist a look round local fabric shops when im on holiday and my recent trip was no different!
I bought a lovely selection of new fabric, i especially love the foxes (look at the little sleeping fox - too cute!!)

Light box DIY

Ive seen loads of homemade light boxes around but i thought id finally give my own a go and it was so easy!
Put some fiary lights in a really useful box, pop the lid back on and your away!

Cant believe ive not done this before!