Bread Board Gift Set

We are all big Jamie Oliver fans in my kitchen and we love Jamie's Italian restaurants -
I am so happy that there is one in York and one in Cheltenham! We love getting bread as a starter and dipping it in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Have you ever visited? Well there is a shop as well that sells these wooden antipasti boards. They come in varying sizes from extra small to extra large (and by that they mean MASSIVE!)

Well, for Mother's Day this year I decided to treat my Mum to one of those boards (the small one!) and a cute little dipping bowl. But this is me we are talking about and I wanted to add a little homemade element. So.. I baked a Pain D'Epi  (wheat stalk bread) from Lorraine Pascale's cookbook.

It looks quite effective although I am sure that I didn't do the shaping quite right!

I packaged the bread up on the board and gave it to my Mum with a bottle of Balsamic Vinegar!

This would also make a good Teacher Gift, Neighbour present or housewarming present.

Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

DIY Cupcake Kit

Its finally starting to feel like spring round here, the sun has shown itself several times and hopefully, we have seen the last of the snow for this season!

A couple of days ago, I shared with you the cupcakes I made for my friend Tori's birthday and today I thought I would share the present I put together for her...

Knowing Tori's love of baking, cuteness and pink, I decided to put together a little kit that would be perfect for adding some fun to her next batch of cupcakes!

First I found a really cute tin... I recommend a square tin if you want to fit your sprinkles etc. in - circle tins leave a lot of unusable space (thanks Mum for pointing this out!)

Next, line your tin with tissue paper and fill with cupcake making goodies

Here is a breakdown of the fun things I included in Tori's Kit...

Assorted Sprinkles, glitter, curls and pearls

Chocolate hearts

Cute cupcake cases (featuring strawberries and hearts)

Cupcake napkins

Heart Shaped Measuring Spoons (from Paperchase)

I also included this adorable badge from Kath Cooper - she has to be one of my favourite local artists and also sells these badges (and variations for sewing and knitting) online!

Once you have gathered all of your supplies, fold the tissue paper over and place the lid on top.

And that's it! I really enjoyed looking out for cutest cupcake cases I could find, and going to Morrisons just to buy sprinkles! And...I have already been lucky enough to try some of Tori's latest cupcakes...so cute and very delicious!

If you missed the cupcake I made Tori, check out these...

Hope you are having a good week!

Love Rebecca

Freezer Paper Stencilled Camera Lunchbag

Happy Tuesday! And a very happy Tuesday it is because my lovely Mum is coming to visit this afternoon! So whilst I am off shopping and having hot chocolate with my Mum, I will share with you the birthday present I made for my dad!

Two things you should know about my Dad that explain this gift

1. He is really into photography

2. He takes his lunch to work in an old shopper bag

Well, I just had to fix that so I decide to make him is very own personalised lunch-bag big enough to hold his lunchbox and fork.

It is another freezer paper project, and an example of a trickier stencil that worked out just as well - I was really pleased with it although it took me a couple of tries to get it just right!

For my full freezer paper tutorial see here

I downloaded this gorgeous camera graphic from Stephanie Corfee and adapted it slightly to make a freezer paper stencil - I basically simplified it to make it a bit easier to cut out with an exacto knife!

I then made the piece of fabric below. I had to make a new stencil for each camera because it was so fiddly but that's ok! It only took me one evening to practise, print and let it dry ready to sew up the next day.

So once you have you painted fabric, onto the bag!

Materials

Calico, printed and plain

(That's it!)

1. Cut four squares of calico 9 x 9 1/2 ". One should have your design on it (I chose to have mine at an angle) and the other three should be plain.

2. Pin 2 plain pieces of calico right sides together and sew three sides, leaving one of the shorter sides open. You should also leave a 2-3" gap in the short side that you do sew.

Pin right sides together your two remaining calico pieces (1 plain, 1 printed) and sew as above.

3. Fold so that the side seam and the bottom seam line up and you have created a point (as in picture below). Draw a line across where it measures 2 1/2 ". Pin. Repeat on the other side and both corners of the lining piece. Sew across the lines and turn right side out to ensure that it matches up on the right side. 

Snip the excess fabric from the corners.

4. Next job is to make the straps. First, cut two pieces of calico 18" x 4". Press in half and then fold the raw long edges into the mid-point fold. Press over so that your piece is now 1" wide and all raw edges are hidden. Sew down each long side.

5. Turn outer bag piece right side out and place inside the lining so right sides are together. Pin the straps in between the lining and outer bag piece about 2" from the seams. Sew all the way round the top of the bag, making sure to catch the straps as well. Turn right side out through the hole you left in the lining and whip stitch it shut. Press the bag.

And there you have a finished printed lunchbag. Make sure you heat-set your fabric so it will be washable too!

What would you print on yours?

Love Rebecca

Just in Case Pouch - Christmas Edition

Have you got all your Christmas presents sorted? Or are there a couple of people you are still to find the perfect gift for?

How about a Just in Case Pouch?

A simple sewn pouch (made in very cute fabric) filled with everyday essentials such as hand cream, tissues and (of course) chocolate! I am making a few of these for people this year and had such fun in Boots buying all the bits and pieces to fill these!

The tutorial for the pouch is here. For these gifts I simplified it and omitted the zip pockets, so feel free to leave out those steps if you also don't need them.

You could easily whip a couple of these up in afternoon so why not?

I hope that your preparations for Christmas are going well!

Love Rebecca