Mannequin

I've had this mannequin for some time and it was used as a display in my little shop but we've no use for it now so I've decided to upcycle it!
The black cover it had was a little faded so that went in the bin
I chose a white background decopatch paper with fun flower colours and shapes and started to decopatch

My little one helped me start as he was home sick from school

I finished the rest of in my studio - typically I got this far and ran out of papers! I needed a tiny bit too!

and ta-da

 I love how she's turned out x

Cheesey Garlic Bread

Working in the pantry and selling fresh baked bread daily really is a treat
When you only have a few slices left at home though and your having a pasta dish for dinner! Garlic bread sprung to mind

All you need is
Crusty bread, grated cheese, butter and garlic

 Mix the butter and garlic together until combined

 Spread the garlic butter on thickly and sprinkle on the cheese

 and bake in the oven for 15 mins and voila, delicious yummy cheesey garlic bread

 Although I opted out of the cheese and sprinkled mine heavily with red pepper instead and it was gorgeous

Instagram Catch Up

It feels like the boys have only just gone back to school after Christmas and they've had another half term already!
It was a week of chilling back at home watching movies, sorting out their bedrooms, little man getting over a horrid cold, play dates with friends, working in my shop, appointments, bowling and basically some relaxed family time

I'm now feeling refreshed as a routine is back in place with the school/work day

Crochet Roundup

Do I really have this many projects on the go!
I found so many projects that i'd started and left that I took them all home from my studio and started sorting them out, finishing them off or getting them ready for their final stages

In that lovely lot there are cushions, blankets and fun little treats
I'm refusing to purchase anymore yarn until this lovely lot is finished and ready to be put in my shop, although a couple of projects are for our home

Sunday Smiles

Risotto Chicken Pot

Risotto is one of my most favourite dishes to make, especially as its a case of throw in what you want, stir it and serve and again you can use whats left in your fridge at the end of the week

Really simple to make

Arborio Rice
garlic
mushrooms
chicken
leek
red pepper
chicken bovril (i used about 500ml of stock)
and seasoning

fry off the rice for a few minutes with olive oil
add the mushrooms, chicken, leek and garlic and stir for a few more minutes
pour in some of the stock and stir well
once the stock has soaked into the rice add some more and stir in
keep doing this until all of the stock has been used
the rice should take on a sticky appearance

serve with crusty bread and enjoy :)

Sunday Smiles

Quotes can be found in my Pinterest board here

Valentine Smiles

I found this gorgeous print on pinterest and added it to my quote board here

You can purchase this from this cute Etsy shop here

Oatmeal & Ginger Cookies

I found this recipe in the new Lorraine Pascale cookery book 'A lighter way to bake' they sound yummy and they smelt yummy and they tasted even more yummier

Recipe

50g unsalted butter
100g soft light brown sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tsp olive oil
125g wholemeal flour
100g rolled oats
1 tbsp ground ginger
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp bicarb of soda
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 170c gas mark 3
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper

cream together the butter and sugar, when combined stir in the egg and olive oil until well mixed
add the flour, oats, ginger, baking powder, bicarb of soda and salt
mix everything together it will be a wettish mixture (i found doing this with my hands easier than a spoon)

roll the mixture into 12 even sized balls and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet
press down on each one with a fork until about 1cm thickness
bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through but still soft to touch

remove from the oven, leave to cool on the baking tray for a moment and then carefully put on a wire rack

Superhero Day

At school this term our little one has had the fun project of Superheros
This week in school he got to dress up as a superhero for the day and I got to go in school and see what he's been up too

With Riley not one for dressing up I was super mum happy that he got into the spiderman outfit!

At school he showed me the super hero car he'd made

Then we both got to design a city for his chosen superhero, spiderman of course
We drew big tall buildings and lots of fun things for the superhero to do

I'm enjoying this time whilst I can as now jack is in year 7 you just don't get to see them in the school environment anymore!

Chicken One Pot

When you have a few things left over in the fridge and you have cupboard ingredients, what happens is a gorgeous dish comes together
Its not rocket science and theres no cookery school or weighing out involved! Just use what you have

Chicken One Pot
Chicken breast
Leeks
Tomato Puree
Garlic
Chives
Chicken Bovril
Frozen Peas
Plain Flour (for if you need to thicken your sauce slightly

• I simply cut my chicken into bite sized chunks and browned them off in a large frying pan
• I add the leeks which I cut into chunky portions and let them fry together for a little while
• Then I added the tomato puree, garlic (which is a fridge squeezy pack) and chives (which I froze from fresh so great for throwing into meals like this)
• Stir them altogether and pour in some chicken bovril that you've mixed with boiling water (about 300ml)
• Stir in some frozen peas (I used petit pois)
• If you think your chicken one pot is too runny add a couple of table spoons of plain flour to thicken
• Leave to simmer for 20 minutes
  
  Serve with boiled rice

I would have showed you a plate full with the rice but I ate it too quickly as I throughly enjoyed it
If your doing slimming world this classes as free meal

Sunday Smiles

This quote is a free printable from here

Bread & Butter Pudding

This week I made Bread and Butter Pudding for the first time! My reasoning is I really havent liked any that I've tasted in the past so havent bothered to make some
Due to working in the pantry now there was bread left over that couldnt be made into sandwiches so I thought i'd give it a go!

I couldnt really find a quick and easy recipe online or in any of my cookbooks (was totally shocked at that one) so I took a bit from this and that recipe and came up with my own!

Bread & Butter Pudding

100g sugar
8 slices of buttered bread
1 tsp cinnamon
few handfuls of sultanas (or raisins if thats all you have like I did)
2 eggs
300ml of milk

oven temperature - 180c

• mix sugar and cinnamon together
• cut each slice of the buttered bread into 4 triangles
• layer them in an oven proof dish (pref rectangle in shape) sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and raisins
  repeat this again for a second layer
• whisk the eggs and milk together and pour over the bread
• push the bread into the milk mixture so it soaks it all up and leave it for a few minutes
• pop in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes until set and browned

Serve with custard or leave to cool and eat a slice, great for pack ups
Guess what! its gorgeous, and thats coming from someone who doesnt like it! Its nice and sweet and not soggy at all
Enjoy x

The Pantry!

Finally the pantry is up and running, The Warkton Pantry that is!
Its been a long time coming and I'm so proud to be a part of it

My little gift shop is right next door, there use to be a pantry there but the original owner sold the business and sadly the purchaser just ran it into the ground, we dont think he realised what he had in the little shop, but thankfully we did, we as in myself and a lady called Sandra

We are so lucky that a family member of hers is funding the business and we are left to run it to our own devices! We're enjoying it alot, but we are so happy that today, the first opening day is over and out of the way! We can relax a little now

I'll be juggling responsibilities between this and my own shop but its worth it especially with all the wonderful comments and support we've had whilst we've been getting the shop ready

 Really loving and enjoying my future prospects right now x

January update!

I've been so busy of late!
What with running my shop, sorting out the tax return! (boooo) booking into events, helping set up the new pantry right next door to my shop (more on that in another post) creating new ideas for my own personal store and on top of all that the normal home and family routine!
January was certainly a hectic month
I realised today that I havent called my parents as much as I normally do! I havent walked the dog for as long as I normally do and I've only just managed to dye the roots of greying hair this weekend!

February isnt going to be much quieter to be honest! Whereas the shop is quiet as retail sales are always slow in the beginning of the year, I'm using the time to update the studio space with painted chairs! (again more on that in another post!) Update the shop and to get into a routine with the working a couple of days in the said pantry next door!

That all said me and him indoors actually went out Saturday evening, with no children! We met up with some friends and had a lovely meal and trapse around some Northampton bars! (havent done that in years!)

Then on Sunday we took the little one up to Wicksteed Park for a walk and lots of fresh air!
Its in the process of having a lot of work done to it, can you believe this was the boating lake last summer!

Roll on the rest of February x

Sunday Smiles

free printable available here