Crochet Clothes / Coat Hanger - Tutorial

I love crochet and I love giving old objects a new lease of life so this project is perfect for me, it makes my soul happy.  I was given some old fabric covered coat hangers years ago, my great Auntie had covered them in fabric but the padding was started to break down so I decided to pimp them up.   

The wooden coat hangers hidden underneath are lovely but the clothes just keep sliding off them, this project stops that issue whilst looking oh so pretty.  I thought I would type up a little tutorial for you all , so here we go.

Take one wooden coat hanger, some yarn of your choice, a crochet hook (I used my favourite 4 mm Tulip hook) and a yarn needle.  Now chain enough stitches to go around the hanger.   Not too few as you don't want loads of gaps showing if you have to pull it to go round and not many as you don't want a saggy coat hanger, no one wants to look at a saggy coat hanger lol.  I chained 12 stitches here.

Now add one turning chain and then single crochet all the way back to the beginning.

Keep added new rows of single crochet ....... now is the time you can mix it up a bit, why not add some new colours for fun?

To do this pull in the new colour just before you finish the last stitch on your previous row as shown above.  You can then either cut the old colour leaving a few inches tail to thread into the hanger cover at the end or leave it and pick it back up later in the pattern if you are using the colour again.

As you go along keep checking if you have made it long enough, it is easy to get carried away on the creative wave.  You need it to be a couple of rows longer than the hanger each end.  When you have finished pull your yarn through to lock the stiches off.  Then sew in any loose ends.

Fold your creation over so the top touches the bottom length ways.

Then fold it again so the start touches the finish.  This will show you where the centre of your creation is, I have marked it above with my wool needle.  

Feed your creation over your clothes hook so that the hook is where you marked the centre. 

 

Now you need to cut a long length of yarn that matches you creation best.  Make sure it is at least twice the length of your coat hanger.  Thread your yarn onto a yarn needle and then run a running stitch along the end of your clothes hanger cover, pull the yarn all the way through leaving enough tail to knot off when you have finished.

I then run a satin stitch (I think that is the name of it) along the length of the hanger to close the cover over the hanger.  Make sure you pull the yarn all the way through as you go along.  When you get to the end knot off both ends and feed the tails into the inside of of the hanger cover.

You can add some pretty flowers, pom poms or what ever your heart desires to your creation to finish it off.

Now run off, find a lovely old vintage dress and hang it on your new hanger ........ it will make your heart skip a little beat in joy.

PS Before you run off pop over to www.lemonadeyarns.co.uk where the owner is offering 25% off all her cotton yarn until mid March 2015.  Cotton yarn is perfect for this project !

Plum Fruit Leathers Tutorial

I have been wanting to make fruit leathers for a while now so when a friend had a glut of plumbs I thought it was the perfect time to give it a go.

I read a lot of recipes and tried a few out but this is what worked best for me ..... no recipe needed as such.

***Wwahooo I hear you cry***

So, grab some plumbs (that sounds wrong, sorry :-/), no particular amount needed but I used about 12  (if you use more you can just put more trays in the oven), cut them in half and de-stone them.  I find the easiest way to do this is cutting them round the middle and twisting them.

Cover a baking tray with foil and place the plumb halves on top.  Pop them in the oven at about 170 degC for 20 mins to get rid of some of the moisture and to make the skin easier the blend.  Remove them from the oven and turn it down to 100 degC.

Let them cool and pop them in a blender or food processor until they turn into a puree.  Add honey to taste, I added a couple of desert spoons full of our own honey (more about that another day, so excited about that here!).

Now grab a baking tray, pop some baking paper on the top (glossy side up) and pour some of the puree in the center of it.  Not too much though, just enough so that you can move it to cover the tray so you can't see the baking paper underneath, I used the back of a spoon to do this.  The thinner you can make it the quicker it will dehydrate.  If you make it too thick it takes hours and hours ....... and hours and hours ...... and hours to dehydrate!

Now pop it in the oven and leave it for at least 3 - 4 hours, check every 30 mins after this time.  If it still feels liquidy/squidgy (can't think of another word to best describe it) then leave it for another 30 mins.   When it feels a little tacky to touch but not squidgy take it out of the oven and leave it too cool.

Now use a knife or pizza cutter and score lines into the 'leather'.  It should peel off from the outside edges and create strips of fruit leather ..... WWWAAHOOO!

The children adore these and they have used up some fab plumbs - bonus !  I am going to try Raspberries next ...... wish me luck ! x

Fun with flood icing ....

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The girls love baking so we recently decided to try our hand at flood icing some biscuits, you can create some really lovely effects using this technique.

So how did you do it ????  All you need are some cookies, icing, food colouring, an icing bag and a cocktail stick.  We made cute heart shaped ones ..... pick a recipe you like and remember to pop the dough in the fridge for about 20 mins before rolling it out and cutting it so that it keeps the shape when you bake them.  Let them cool completely before decorating them.

Now mix up some icing in the colour that you want to outline your cookie.  Make sure you create a thick icing, just liquid enough to go through your piping bag.

Pipe a line around your whole cookie, this will hold the other icing inside so make sure there are no gaps :-)  Let it dry for at least 30 mins.

Now mix up some icing which isn't too thick in consistency, you need to be able to pour it off the spoon.  Spoon some onto your cookie, less is more at this stage so start off with a small spoon full and then add more if needed ..... if you add too much at this stage it will overflow over the top of your outline icing.

 Now use a cocktail stick to work your icing into the corners ....... it is a bit like painting with icing.

Now at this stage you can either let it dry completely and then add your decorations or you can go ahead and add spots, swirls, lines and it will give an nice watercolour effect ...... just have fun, they will taste nice no matter what the creative outcome :-D

Whilst creating these we also made some jam filled cookies ..... yum !

Take an old container ........

Little Sweetpea loves nothing more than sitting at her little writing desk doodling and created lists so I thought it was about time she had her very own little pen pot.

After finishing the latest tin of scummy hot chocolate I decided to turn it into a pen pot for her.  It is such a simple project which I know will make her very happy when she returns from school later today :-)

I thought I would write a little tutorial so that if someone else wanted to make one they could, so here goes.

First wash the tin out so it doesn't cover the pencils in chocolate (although that would make them smell very lovely indeed).

Then measure around the tin and measure the length of the tin to determine the paper sizes needed.  Cut your pretty paper to the right width and length and stick around the tin.  I used double sided sticky tape (Blue Peter Stylee) do to that.  Then maybe add a border in the middle ....... get creative .....

Now take some pretty scissors and cut some ribbon or cute pom pom trim to give the tin some bling !

Loving the pom pom trim ....... reminds me of my Nan's vintage lamp shades :-)

Then add any other items you want, let your imagination run wild!  Now pop it on the table for your little one to find and watch the big smile on their face (this is the most important part of the project ..... those smiles are so precious :-) ) ..... or keep the tin for yourself :-)  You could even decopatch the tin, newspaper print would look pretty cool.

Happy creating.

How to Watermark an Image

Hello everyone, I thought I would do a little tutorial on how to Watermark your images using Picmonkey .  So what is a Watermark??  A Watermark is when you add either your page name or your own name over an image and then fade it so the image can still be seen through the text (see the words Scented Sweetpeas on the above image to see an example).

I know a lot of facebook page owners and blog authors have had issues with people taking their images and using them as their own.  This is really upsetting if you have taken the time to take a photo and edit it only to find someone just takes it as their own :-(

Here an easy step you can follow to help protect your images:

Firstly go to www.picmonkey.com - this webside is great for editing photos in lots of ways.

Click edit a photo – this will open your computer files.

Pick a photo and double click it to upload.

Edit the photo as you wish - there are loads of wonderful photo editing techniques on this site so have fun !

Click the P on the right hand side tool bar

Highlight which font you like and click ‘Add Text’

Type your page name or your name in the text box that appears on the screen which says 'Type your text here'.

Now move the fade button along (this is just below the text colour choice) to fade the word until you are happy with it.  You can also move your text by just clicking on it so it is shown in a box and then drag it to where you want it.

Now click save and save the photo back to your computer.  Remember this will replace your original photo so if you want to keep the original add something like a .1 after the photo name so it is saved as a new file.

I hope you find this useful, feel free to pin this or share it.  x

Keeping cosy but still having fun outside :-)

It is chilly here in the UK at the moment (well not as chilly as over in places like Russia or Canada but chilly for our standards :-)).  This week the temperatures have been going down to -10 degrees in some areas so I have been keeping the woodburner going non-stop and to save a few pennies I have been popping my kettle on top and enjoying waiting for the whistling sound to call me.

Now I don't usually like cold weather but I have been looking forward to some frosty weather so I can have a play with ice :-) 

Some time go I saw an idea for making your own ice art.   As soon as the icy weather was upon us I rummaged through the cupboard for a nice flat based dish and rummaged through the garden for some arty items :-)

I chose some lovely fennel seed heads and holly berries.  I popped them out over-night and waited until morning came to see if my creations had been created for me by Mother Nature.

They look so pretty swinging in the gentle wind - like rubies set in glass.

I love how they look against the sky and with the sparkle they create when the sun reflects off them.  Little Sweetpea has loved this experiment too, she has bought them in and sat then near the fire to see how they melt slowly.  She then popped bits of ice on her hand and is amazed by how it melts because of her body temperature.  She turned to me and told me how it was 'magic'  - she is right :-)   Obviously I told her why it was melting and how but I like the idea of it being magic.  PS if you are doing this with your children please be careful which berries you use, I was very careful to keep an eye on my little one as I didn't want her eating holly berries and being sick.

Another thing making me smile this week is Eldest Sweetpea running past the window with batons of wood.  What was he up to?  When I asked he told me he was making a bee hive.  He is hoping some of Mr Sweetpea's honey bees will see the new home he has made and move house :-)  I went out to the shed and this is what I found.  He has even carved an entrance hole out for them and put wire mesh on - oh how I love his DIY ways - it makes up for his hormonal outbursts :-)

Middle and little Sweetpea have been busy looking after the chickens.  The chickens are still enjoying pottering around the garden, I don't think my hellebore's are enjoying them being out though :-(  We had one chicken jump up at our dining room window yesterday, goodness knows how it got there as it is all locked off.  She was so happy to be re-united with her mates and they were very happy to see her too - you could hear them clucking about her arrival.

I had better be off , I am afraid I am not allowed on the pc as much at the moment due to being diagnosed with tendonitis :-(  I have been told to take ibuprofen 3 times a day and to limit things that exasperate it.  I will keep reading blogs and love reading your comments too but please forgive me if I don't respond or comment as much as usual. 

Take care
Zoe
xxxx

Goodness me .......................

Goodness me, can it already nearly be the end of January?  It seems that in a blink of an eye we have shot past from Christmas and a whole month has nearly past by :-(  I have also realised that it is 2 years since I started blogging!   oohh I do love this blog world, full of inspirational people - thanks for being here and reading my little blog , it really does warm my heart when I read your comments.   Hhmmm I think I will have to have a little giveaway soon to celebrate :-)

So what have I been up to the last few weeks?  Well ages ago, October in fact, I bought some tulle to make little Sweetpea a tutu for her birthday.  October came and went and on Christmas Eve I decided to create her tutu for her.  It turned out really well and she loves it as you can see :-)

Little Sweetpea mid-jump :-)

I created it with white tulle, sparkly glitter tulle and bright pink tulle.  I then added some apple green ribbon and a bright pink ribbon bow at the back.

She loved modelling this on my bed, leaping all over the place and dropping sparkles everywhere.  I went to work the next day covered in glitter, no one was really surprised though as they are used to me now :-)  She is such a girlie girl which is rather lovely after having an older son and daughter who only wears trousers.  If you want to make one I used this tutorial and bought the tulle from here.

For the Making Winter project this month I thought I would share something I made a little while ago to use up my glut of tomatoes. The recipe came from the River Cottage Handbook no 2 of Preserves - I love this book :-)  I made my tomatoes into roasted tomato passata.   

Basically I roasted the tomatoes with garlic, shallots (so many that I wore goggles when cutting them all up :-)), rosemary, salt, pepper, sugar and oil and then took the skins off the tomatoes (they just peeled off when they were cooked).  I then popped it all in the blender to puree it and jarred it up in sterile jars.

It made the most lovely pasta sauce and was also fantastic as a pizza topper.  I will definitely be making this again next year ! 

Talking of tomatoes, I miss my little veggie patch and can't wait to get out there in the Spring.  I have been letting the chickens roam free in the winter sunshine.  They love pottering around the garden (I just hope my hellebores aren't to their taste !) and I do love going outside and them walking around with me :-)

A week or so ago we had gales here and my garden looked a little worse for wear!  Luckily the fences just missed our little stand alone chicken run - the other chickens were also safe and sound in their shed.

I have also been busy in my little facebook shop.  I now have over 1000 likers which I am really chuffed about - I can't believe so many people like my little creations :-)  The above creation is a hairclip holder custom made for a customer - it is nice when people push you to create new things, it pushes you out of your comfort zone a bit :-)  Do pop over and say hi here, would love to see you there if you are on facebook.

By the way, talking about the joy of blogging, if you used to follow my sons blog, just to let you know, it is no more :-( Blogger took his blog off him as apparently he is too young!?  It was wondeful for him as it was a way of him creating a little diary and helped his literacy and IT skills but for some reason you are not allowed one until the age of 13 - not sure why.  He was so upset poor dot.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit him and comment though. xxx