Revision Survival Pack

THAT time of year is upon us. The time when exams are everywhere and students of many ages are working hard to consolidate all the information they should have learnt during the past year in order to succeed in their upcoming exams. And I am no different. I am less than one month away from my third year University exams and revision is in full swing (as well as continuing dissertation work). All of my friends are also hard at work and we are often together in the library. All the revising all the time can get a bit much so I decided to make little revision packs for my closest friends to help them on their way. These are a thoughtful gift for anyone currently immersed in revision and can be a sweet relief from the stress that revision can bring. So what did I include in my pack...well all the essentials of course (wink!)....

1. Stress Relief Pills (aka smarties) - find a cute little jar and fill it with smarties or m&ms or some other small candy - whatever floats your boat really - I chose pink smarties for my friend Tori due to her love of pink - this was just another way to personalise the packs

2. Stress Relief Capsules (aka Bubble wrap) - this is a bit of a joke item, guaranteed to raise a smile - bubble wrap, for popping when stress needs an outlet!

3. Emergency Chocolate - This is a revision pack must - for those moments when you don't get it, or you have just been staring at the page for so long and nothing is going in anymore! I bought some Dairy Milk bars and wrapped them up in 'emergency' wrappers - the instructions on the back advise 'For best results, eat entire bar'.

4. Countdown Calendar - this is possibly my favourite item in the pack. The calendar contains all the dates between the date of giving the pack and the first day of freedom after exams, which allows your recipient to cross off the days and see themselves getting closer to freedom!

I put it all together in a brown paper bag and added the 'Keep Calm and Carry On Revising' label to the outside.

Below is a PDF download that will allow you to create your very own Revision Survival Pack for someone you know going through exams. All you need to do is add the countdown days and print it out on white card and you are set!

Revision Survival Pack Download

Good Luck to everyone studying and working hard for exams/assignments!

Love Rebecca

 

Cupcake Wars - Tangled Cupcake Tower

So yesterday I shared with you the cupcakes that my Mum and I made in our 'war' last week. Today I am going to show you how I made the Tangled Tower Cupcake Stand, in case anyone fancies having a go themselves! I didn't take too many photos as I was making it but hopefully the ones I did take will allow you to follow how to make it! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Materials

Pringles tube (empty of course!)

Cylindrical tub

(I used an 'Oat so Simple' tub)

Wooden Skewers

Two cardboard circles 

(I used two tiers from a store bought cupcake stand)

Grey Paint

Green Tissue Paper

A4 sheet of Grey Card

1. Draw round the pringles tube in the centre of the cardboard circles, cut the circle out of the middle. You should now have a cardboard ring. Make sure it fits over the top of the tube. 

2. With a pen, mark around the tube where you would like the shelves to sit. My bottom tier was 4 cm from the base. Using a nail and a hammer, make 4 holes on each line (try to match them up so you have too pairs that are in line - think like you are marking 12, 3, 6 and 9 on a clock). 

I placed the nail in place and gently hammered it to create the hole.

3. Poke the skewers through the holes so you have 4 supports at each level. I poked one skewer in whole and had to cut the other in half poking one half through each hole - this will depend on your holes so play around until you get it to work. 

5. Now your structure is complete, it is time to decorate.

 Cover the tiers in green tissue papers strips, making sure to cover the whole surface. Paint the pringles tube and the cylinder container with grey paint. Mine took 3 coats. Using a darker grey, paint brick lines all the way up the tower, including a window in the top cylinder.

6. Insert the bottom skewers and add the bottom shelf. I sellotaped the skewers to the bottom of the shelf for extra support. Repeat with the second shelf.

7. Next assemble the tower. I used a glue gun to attach the top of the tower to the pringles tube. Cut a circle out of the grey card and cut a slit to the centre. Curve it round to form a cone and sellotape. Affix to the top of the tower.

8. Add your cupcakes!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Love Rebecca

Cupcake Wars - Home Edition

Have you ever seen 'Cupcake Wars' - it is on food network at 6am here in England and my Mum and I watch it every morning over breakfast (on the plus 1 channel - we are not up at 6am!). If you have never seen it, the basic idea is that there are four participants and three rounds. Each episode has a different event that the participants are baking cupcakes for. The first round is 'taste' where the participants are given certain ingredients to include in a cupcake, the second is taste and presentation (three cupcakes this time) and in the final round the contestants (now just two of them) must bake 1000 cupcakes complete with a display worthy of the event.

So my Mum and I decided that it would be fun to have our own, adapted, Cupcake War.

Our rules...15-20 cupcakes each, two different varieties and a stand to hold them all. We set ourselves the theme of Disney and set forth for a day of baking, laughs and yummy cupcakes! Here is the result of our baking day...

We started off with a shopping trip to get all the ingredients - I swear our table nearly buckled under the weight of all our lovely cupcake ingredients!

Then we set about baking! I really enjoyed it, our kitchen is nice and big and my Mum and I often cook in there together so we are used to each other and don't get in each others way :)

 In the spirit of the TV show, both of us will walk you through our cupcakes and displays so I am happy to welcome my lovely Mum and excellent cook Diane...

I chose the oldest and one of my all time favourite films - Snow White.
 My first cake was the apple cake. It was my plain cupcake recipe with a surprise (but not poisonous)  bramley apple filling. I decorated it with red glitter sugar.

My second cup cake was my Happy cup cake which just had to be chocolate. I used the recipe from Georgetown Cupcakes. The decoration was a bit scary but was supposed to depict a Happy face!!

I chose a green cupcake stand to represent the woodland grass and added yellow flowers to complete the look!

(Back to me) 

For my cakes, I chose Tangled, one of the most recent Disney movies - it is definitely one of my favourite Disney films - I love the songs and the characters!

For my first cupcake, I took inspiration from Pascal the chameleon who befriends Rapunzel. I made a Key Lime cupcake frosted with lime buttercream icing and topped with an icing chameleon face. The recipe I used is from Sprinkles Cupcakes. 

For my second cupcake, I decided to take another attempt at the funfetti cupcake from Sally's Baking Addiction, and although I still couldn't get sprinkles that worked, it still tasted yummy! This is my 'See the Light' cupcake, and is topped with buttercream icing, star sprinkles and an icing plait.

For my display, I decided to depict Rapunzel's tower. For a tutorial on how to make your very own Tangled Tower Cupcake Stand, check out this post.

The fruity flavours (apple and lime) were the most popular but from what I heard they all went down well at my Dad's work where we sent them the next day!

How do you think we did?

Which flavour tickles your fancy?

Love Rebecca

DIY Skyline Lampshade

This month's Craft Challenge from Rosie at Craftbotic is to make some budget home decor. As soon as I saw the challenge I knew exactly what I was going to do.

Ages ago I pinned this lampshade with the idea that I would one day attempt to replicate it...and finally I did! I bought a lamp for £5.00 and made this...

I was really pleased with the result but it took a bit of trialing to get there so I thought I would share with you how to make one of your own! The technique would work for whatever design you choose to add to your shade, I decided to add a skyline as I have always found them quite beautiful!

Materials

Lamp

Template 

(I used this - I printed it so it would wrap all the way round my lamp - feel free to use any image to get the desired effect!)

Thick needle

Dark Card

1. Turn on your lamp and gauge how thick the lampshade is. I found that my lampshade was too thin and let loads of light through. This meant that when I did the holes for the silhouette first time round, they didn't show up because there was no contrast against the lampshade itself. If you decide the shade is letting too much light through, cover the inside with dark card - I used a couple of A4 sheets of black card. I drew round the shade to get the shape and then trimmed it to size, trying it on the shade every so often to make sure I had a good fit. Use a glue stick to secure the card to the inside of the lampshade.

2. Get your template and sellotape it to the lampshade - if your shade is tapered like mine you will need to add pleat-like folds near the top to make it fit, just ease it round until your desired stencil is flat against the lamp shade.

3. Using a thick needle, poke holes all the way round your outline. I added a moon and stars as finishing touches.

4. Remove the stencil, and try your lamp out!

I am looking forward to this lamp finding a home where ever I may be living next year!

Love Rebecca

Easy Bunting Birthday Cards

I absolutely love bunting at the moment - I think it looks so cute and am looking forward to making some for my bedroom next year.

It also makes a cute topper for birthday cards and this card can be whipped up in just a few minutes - it is very simple! You could vary the colours to personalise the card for you recipient, add a different message or stamp a greeting on the front....this is a really versatile card that will always look cute!

Materials

Card Blank

2 colours of felt

Contrasting thread

1. Cut triangles out of your felt

2. Line the up on your card to get the position you desire

3. Using a glue stick, glue the back of each triangle and stick it to the card

4. Using a contrasting thread in your sewing machine, sew a line across the top of the felt triangles

And that is it! These are super simple and you can whip up a batch so you always have one handy!

Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

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Storybook Craft Project - Happily Ever After Inspiration Book

How could I do a Storybook Craft Project and neglect the most classic stories of all time - Fairy Tales. We grow up with these stories and they are well know throughout our culture. 

The different stories have many aspects in common, one of which is of course the Happy Ending.

I have been thinking a lot lately about my Happily Ever After. What I want out of my life and where it will take me. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher (with certain points where I changed my mind and preferred vet, astronaut and child psychologist!) so for me, my happily ever after is going to be achieving this goal and beginning my career. And I am thrilled that next year will be starting my journey. I will be moving, finding a place of my own to live (for the first time ever!) and I have been having so many ideas of things I can do for the new place. Although I have gathered them on pinterest (of course) I like the idea of having them physically as well, that was I can slip the book in my bag when I go shopping and then if I find some fabric or something I will know how much of it I want etc. So I made my Happily Ever After book that I am sharing with you today.

This is a really easy and fun project that will keep growing.

Materials

Blank Notebook (I got mine from Paperchase)

Stickers and washi tape (again from Paperchase)

Cute papers and embellishments

(just to say I have just realised I got all my supplies from Paperchase - this is not a paid endorsement of any kind I just really love that shop!)

1. Decorate the front of you book with stickers, washi tape, papers. I also used washi tape to make the tabs on the side. I also added a picture of a castle I got from the internet

2. I used washi tape to decorate the back as well (these are my first ever rolls so I am a bit over-excited by them!)

3. Print pictures, cut from magazines, draw/sketch/doodle your inspiration on the pages inside. I have split my book into Future, Projects and Dreams. And then I have different sections within each one. For example...

In the Future section...the bedroom

Bedroom from Scrumdillydilly

Quilt from Sew Can She

Bunting from The Painted Hive

In the Projects section...sewing to wear

Paper bag skirt from Oh Sweet Joy

Milkmaid skirt from Crafter Hours

I am excited to keep adding to this and to finally make my Happily Ever After a reality!

Have a great weekend

Love Rebecca

Guest Post from A Creative Princess: Story Book Craft Project - Little House on the Prairie

I am really excited to welcome Terri who has written the first guest post in The Storybook Craft Project -

I love Terri's blog and always link up to her great weekly party! You should definitely check it out!

 This project is fantastic and I am now on the hunt for a copy of these books to read!

Without further ado I will hand over to the fabulous Terri...

***

Hi, I'm Terri from A Creative Princess. I was so excited when Rebecca contacted me about doing a guest post for her Storybook Craft Project. Thank you so much, Rebecca, for having me here!

I have always loved the Little House on the Prairie books and had the whole set when I was growing up.

I even bought the set for my daughter when she was young.

Can I tell you how thrilled I was when they actually did a show with that cutie Michael Landon as Pa?!! Made me go read the whole series all over again!

Oops, sorry, back to the craft I did.

My husband brought me home some grids from windows he had replaced.

Perfect for this project!

I cut foam board to the size to fit for the grids and marked the openings.

Then mod-podged paper to each of the spaces...

and then glued the grid piece to the top of it.

I added velcro to the back of the books to adhere to the frame. I didn't glue them because I wanted to be able to take the books off if I wanted to take them down and read them again on a cold winter's night.

It still looked a little plain, so I added jute around all the edges.

Now those "feel good" books have a permanent home in the kids' play room. I'm so sorry that photo is bad, it's been gloomy and rainy here for days!

Thank you, Rebecca, for having me and bringing back those warm memories!

Linking up to a selection of these great Link Parties

The Lil Journal Project

Have any of your been following this great project over at Lil Blue Boo? Basically, the wonderful Ashley posts these great journal prompts that you can use to start your own journal - from drawing your first classroom to mapping out your childhood neighbourhood, it is a great way to get creative and record some memories at the same time! And the best bit ....it doesn't matter if you haven't started yet! Join in! I have and cannot wait to do some more pages in my new journal!

My favourite prompt so far has to be day one. Ashley gives us a quote to write...in our non-dominant hand! I loved the freedom it gave - and the fact that it instantly sets the tone for the journal as imperfect but still perfect!

 Here is another snapshot of a couple of my pages - one with different hand writings on, and the other; a map of the neighbourhood in which I grew up!

So what are you waiting for? Grab a sketchbook and some pens/pencils and join in!

Have a great week

Love Rebecca

Linking up to a selection of these great Link Parties

Easy Lace Lampshade Tutorial

I have two lamps in my room. One is a really cool touch sensitive lamp with a glass shade and the other is just a standard silver lamp with a very standard shade. Except that shade has gotten very grubby. So grubby that I was too ashamed to take a picture and put it online! 

I finally got round to getting a new lampshade (just £2.99 from B&Q) but is just looked too plain.

So, I decided to spruce it up with some blue lace I bought for 20p from Boyes (in their clearance basket).

Here is my tutorial for a 5 minute DIY that will spruce up a simple lampshade - you only need three things and it will cost you less than a fiver to do! 

Materials

1 lampshade

Lace

Double sided tape

1. Apply double sided tape all the way round the top of the lampshade

2. Peel off the paper and starting at the lampshade's seam, stick the lace (very carefully) lining it up with the top of the lampshade. Make sure you press as you go round to secure in place.

3. Carry on until you get all the way round. Add another small piece of tape under the overlap to secure in place

And that's it. Job done...one lamp drastically improved!

Have you improved anything recently with a simple embellishment?

Love Rebecca

Linking up to a selection of these great Link Parties