Feb
Make beads from junk mail and magazines
I must admit that I am a bit of a ‘greeny’ and I try to leave as small a carbon footprint as I can.
And one of the cool things about being a crafter is that you can often use lots of stuff that you would ordinarily throw out, thereby giving it a new life instead of assigning it to landfill.
If you want to do your little bit for the planet, save some money and get a craft fix at the same time, you should consider working recycled materials into your crafting, and there’s a way to do it for just about any craft.
One way for beaders to get into recycling is to make their own paper beads. You’ll find lots of how-to videos on making your own beads from old magazines and junk mail on YouTube including the one below, and you can check out lots more here.
There are a variety of bead shapes you can make and the appearance of each bead will be determined by the type of paper and the print colours you choose, so your beads will be different to everyone else’s. You’re only really limited by your imagination.
I’ll post links to other ways you can repurpose no-longer-wanted items as I come across them.
Tags: Beading, paper beads, recycle, repurpose
Feb
I’m baaaack!
Well, if you’ve been wondering where I’ve got to, a whole lot has been going on in my life since I last posted — getting into the swing of working from home after the best part of 40 years working in one office or another, a death in the family, a new grandchild and bathroom renovations.
For any crafter out there with a bit of a tech bent, head to my consumer technology site Gail on Tech to see what’s been occupying me besides my freelance technology writing for Australian PC User magazine and the aforementioned collection of distractions.
However, I’m looking to the new year as a motivation to get back in the saddle with this site.
Anyway, I plan to not be so slack on the craft front in 2010. So, let’s see how I go.
Aug
Divine caramel pavlova
I promised you a pavlova recipe to use up those left-over egg whites from yesterday’s chocolate tarts.
Well here it is; another of my cousin Kerrie’s scrumptious creations.
INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites
¾ cup of caster sugar
¾ cup of brown sugar
1 tblsp of cornflour
1 tspn of white vinegar
Cream, whipped
Chocolate, grated or shaved
METHOD:
Beat sugars and egg whites until it forms just firmer than soft peaks. Fold in cornflour and vinegar. Spread the mixture to form a circle onto baking paper on a baking tray, then pop it into the oven at 120°C (100°C fan-forced) for about 2 hours.
Let the pavolva cool in the oven with the door open.
To serve, top the pavlova base with whipped cream and shaved chocolate (or anything else you fancy).
And here’s how it looks when served: crunchy on the outside; marshmallowy and yummy on the inside.
The pavolva base can be stored in an airtight container until later if you want to make it ahead of time or have it on hand to impress unexpected visitors.
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Here’s my cousin Bartholomew giving it his seal of approval.
Aug
Delicious chocolate tarts
It’s always a joy to see my gorgeous cousin Kerrie, but double the pleasure when she comes bearing food, as she is a stellar cook.
At a recent family morning tea, Kerrie had baked up a storm and we are still trying to work off the extra inches —but hey, was it worth it!
Here’s the first instalment of the recipes she so kindly consented to share. These chocolate tarts are absolutely devine.
Stay tuned for more goodies in coming days!
CHOCOLATE TARTS
(Makes 18 tarts)
INGREDIENTS:
Tart bases:
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
(also nice to add some crushed walnuts if you have them)
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
125g melted butter
Grease standard-sized muffin tins. Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into the base of each muffin tin hole and up the sides.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
Chocolate custard:
½ cup caster sugar
2tblsp cornflour
300ml cream
100g dark chocolate
4 egg yolks
METHOD:
Grease standard-sized muffin tins. Mix all the base ingredients together and press mixture firmly into the base of each muffin tin hole and up the sides to form a tart case.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
Combine caster sugar, cornflour and cream in a saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat and stir for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Spoon the chocolate custard mixture into the tart shells (each tart will hold about one-and-a-half tablespoons of chocolate custard).
Return the filled cases in the muffin tins to the oven for 10 minutes.
Stand for about 10 minutes, then pop the muffin tins into the refrigerator to set completely.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
You will have 4 egg whites left over, which is perfect for making tomorrow’s recipe: a small caramel pavlova!
Thanks, Kerrie!
Jun
A new world knitting record!
OK, it’s official: I’m a champion! Well, me and 255 other knitters. We all braved the cold early morning in Martin Place, Sydney today to knit squares to make blankets for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Prince of Wales Hospital and establish the world record for group knitting in the process.
My mum, who has successfully battled cancer on three fronts over the years, couldn’t get to the event today, as she has the ‘flu, but I was there to fly the flag for her — or wield the knitting needles, at least. However, she’s going to be knitting up a storm at home for the cause.
If you , too, couldn’t make it to the event today, but would still like to be a part of this good cause, you can knit squares for blankets at home, plus scarves, wraps, hats or any other garments to help alleviate the chill sensations experienced by patients as they undergo chemotherapy treatment.
To give you an idea of what is needed, we knitted 10-inch squares today using 9mm needles and 8ply wool — you’ll need to cast on around 30 stitches if you’re a knitter with average tension.
All completed items can be sent to the following address up until July 1:
New Idea Knitting Event
Pacific Magazines
35-51 Mitchell St
McMahons Point NSW 2060
Tags: cancer, Charity, Guiness World Records, Prince of Wales Hospital
Jun
Beaded earrings — five free patterns
The Beading Daily Web site has instructions for five great beaded earring projects, which you can download from here — and they’re all for free!
This site also has other great free projects, plus the pay-to-download recipes are very reasonably priced.
You can sign up to to the site here to receive free email notification of new additions to the site, plus beaded jewellery tips and tricks, and you can join in the community forums with other beaders.
Tags: Beading, earrings, free patterns, instructions, Jewellery, tutorials
Jun
Pea and ham soup
June 1 may be the first day of winter in Australia, but winter doesn’t begin in the Lipscombe household until the first pot of pea and ham soup makes its appearance for the year.
Our pea and ham soup is not for the faint-hearted — it adds a new meaning to ‘hearty’, as you can literally stand your spoon up in it!
It’s the best comfort food for lunch on a cold winter’s day and it freezes well to take to work for lunch through the week.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
1 large ham hock
500g green split peas
1 cup of pearl barley, rinsed
3 large brown onions, chopped
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
3 bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place the ham hock in a large boiler of water and bring to the boil, cooking for just a couple of minutes — this helps remove any impurities or scum on the hock skin. Remove the hock and set aside; discard the water and wash the boiler in preparation for cooking the soup.
While the hock is blanching, chop the vegies (I put my vegies as they’re chopped into a large Glad cliplock bag, as there are a lot of vegies here and I can just discard it when I’m done — one less thing to wash up!).
Add a good splash of oilive oil to the boiler and add vegies, cooking for about 10 minutes until they’ve started to lightly brown.
Add the ham hock and remaining ingredients to the vegies and add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and cook on a slow simmer for around 3 hours — you’ll need to stir occasionally, as this soup can stick, and top up water periodically as needed, depending on how thick you like your soup.
At the end of the cooking process, remove the ham hock. Strip the meat from the bone, shred it and return it to the soup. Stir through and serve with crusty bread.
Bon appetite!
Tags: Cooking, pea and ham, recipe, soup
May
Knitting world record attempt
New Idea magazine is rallying Sydney knitters to attempt to break the world knitting record for the number of people knitting simultaneously. The event is in support of breast cancer sufferers.
The attempt will be made on Monday, June 15 in Martin Place, Sydney. Knitters need to assemble at 7.30am, when they can check in and collect their goody bag, containing wool, needles and a book of knitting patterns, courtesy of Spotlight, plus a copy of New Idea and a recipe book. Knitters will be making 10-inch squares and need to knit continuously for 20 minutes to break the record.
Squares knitted on the day will be made into blankets and given to women undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer at the Prince of Wales Hospital.
You can download an information pack and find a link to register to be part of the record attempt here. There’s also an address where you can send knitted items to if you can’t make it on the day.
If you can’t make it on the day, you can still send knitted items (hats, scarves & wraps/blankets preferred) to New Idea at the following address:
New Idea Knitting Event
Pacific Magazines
35-51 Mitchell St
McMahons Point NSW 2060
The event is a great chance to meet other knitters and help a good cause at the same time — and how often do you get the chance to be part of a world record?
Tags: breast cancer, Charity, Guiness World Records, New Idea, Prince of Wales Hospital
Apr
Easy crocheted bead lariat
If you can crochet, here is a dead easy lariat that you can make in an hour or less. You can arrange your beads in a random order, or you can have a consistent pattern — say, one of a bead type, followed by two of another, repeated until desired number of beads — depending on the look you want to achieve.
You can experiment with the number of beads and the gap between them — you can easily undo the crocheting and begin again, but always thread on more beads than you think you’ll need, because that is the one thing you can’t add if your lariat comes up short.
Materials
3 or 4ply knitting cotton or 0.5mm rat tail stringing thread amount depends on desired lariat length)
Beads — mixed sizes and finishes in the colour scheme of your choice (the number depends on how close you want the beads to each other and how long you want your lariat to be.
3.50 crochet hook
superglue
Instructions
1. Apply superglue to the first 2cm of the cotton (this forms a ‘needle’ to help you easily thread your beads — be very careful to not get the glue on your fingers. Let the thread dry thoroughly.
2. Thread beads on your thread in the pattern that you desire, being generous with the number of beads — you can always finish your lariat with beads left over, but if you don’t have enough, you’ll have to begin again from this step.
3. Taking your hook and thread and leaving several centimetres from the superglued end, make a slip knot.
4. Pull down the first bead and incorporate it into a single chain. Make four chain and then draw up the next bead and incorporate it into the next chain. Continue in this manner until the lariat reaches the deisred length or you run out of beads.
To finish off, thread the beginning thread back through the first bead and trim flush with where it emerges. At the other end, once you’ve crocheted in your last bead, draw the thread through and pull tight and cut a few centimetres from the bead. Then apply superglue to last centimetre, dry thoroughly and, as was done with the other end of the lariat, thread the tail back through the last bead and trim flush with where it emerges. Dab a small amount of superglue on each knot — a toothpick is good for applying this.
The lariat is very versatile and can be worn singularly or doubled and looped through itself (as in the pic below) for a shorter necklace.
You can also wear a number of complimentary lariats together (different coloured thread and/or different coloured beads) — if you plan to do this, staggering the ends instead on lining them up can be very effective. For a more glam version of this lariat, you could use glittery thread.
Apr
Bread-and-butter pudding with caramel sauce
I had people around for dinner on the weekend and decided that bread-and-butter pudding would be good for dessert.
I went looking for a recipe and, as is my usual practice, ended up combining a few recipes to make one that I was happy with — I hate doing that whole bain marie thing, so I wanted to be able to just cook it in the dish I was going to serve it in.
Here’s what I came up with and it turned out a triumph. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo, so we’ll just have to have it again so I can add a pic to this post. Ah well, a dirty job, but I don;t mind taking a hit for the team.
Ingredients
8 slices of stale bread (you can substitute croissants, brioche or panettone for the bread if preferred, but they are probably a bit too rich if you plan to serve the pudding with the caramel sauce below)
6 large eggs
350ml cream
250ml milk
Dash of vanilla (to taste)
1/3 cup sultanas
Castor sugar (add 1/4 cup of caster sugar to the custard mix for sweetness if you don’t plan to serve the pudding with the caramel sauce)
Method
1. Preheat oven to 195C. Grease a medium-sized baking dish (or line it with baking paper if it’s not a very sturdy dish to avoid it overcooking on the bottom and sides and then grease the paper). Lightly butter the bread slices on both sides.
2. Put eggs, cream, milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Add buttered bread slices to the mixture, pushing them doewn into the liquid. Cover and refrigerate for around 30 minutes until bread has absorbed some of the mixture.
3. Arrange half of the bread slices on the bottom of the dish, tearing slices where necessary to cover the base. sprinkle half of the sultanas over the bread slices, then pour over about one-third of the liquid. Add remaining bread slices in the same manner as before and sprinkle the remaining sultanas, pour over remaining liquid and dust with caster sugar.
4. Cook in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes until top is golden brown and the custard is firm. Serve with caramel sauce.
Caramel sauce
Melt 100g of butter in a saucepan. Add 1 1/3 cups of brown sugar and stir constantly until the sugar is melted and the mixture begins to caramelise. Add 1 1/3 cups of cream slowly, stirring constantly over a low heat until the caramel sauce starts to thicken. Decant into a heatproof jug for serving.
Tags: bread and butter pudding, caramel sauce, dessert, pudding