Yesterday I went to the Clandestine Cake Club in Warrington, armed with my cake, baked with a Jubilee theme. I had a few ideas on what to bake and finally decided on a classic Victoria sponge cake decorated Jubilee style! Read the rest of this entry
The crafting part of Tilly Mint Boutique has been on the quiet side recently, with the plan over Easter of redecorating parts of the house, my sewing has taken a back seat! However I have still tried to keep up with baking, as I had signed up for the St Helens Clandestine Cake club and there is another Weekly bake off recipe to try! Read the rest of this entry
With the start of February and Penny’s reasons to be Cheerful, I thought I would see how I was doing with my new years resolutions. I think I’m not doing too badly, writing them on here has certainly made me focus more on my goals! There a lot that I have already got stuck into, including the getting rid of 366 items. Since the beginning of the year I have sorted out the loft and under the stairs. I sorted things out into piles and have managed to give some things to friends. I also have a huge pile of thing ready for doing a car boot. It has been so nice to have a good clear out, although I am not sure how many things I have cleared, I will need to get counting!! I have also sorted out my sewing room, and have got a lot of fabrics that I no longer have use for (some were given to me) so I have signed up for Rosa Lilys swap shop. Have a look at her blog and sign up if you too have things to swap! Read the rest of this entry
So here we are, one week till Christmas! Where has the time gone?! I have found myself slowly starting to panic as the days tick by and my list gets longer not shorter!
I thought for handmade Monday this week I would share with you some of the handmade things I have made and bought for presents.
I bought this lovely mosaic bird bath for my mum and dad. I bought it from Jo Sara during the CRAFTfest weekend. I had found her folksy page a couple of months ago and thought the bird bath would be a perfect present, so I was delighted I could support her by buying from the CRAFTfest stall!
Here are some things I have bought and made myself
On the left is a ear warmer (bought for my brother-in-laws girlfriend, but I couldn’t resist buying one for myself too!) from Victoria Rose Crafts. In the centre of the picture is a handmade Stanley lavender dog, and on the right is some hand knitted sushi made by knits and nacksfor my mum (she has a thing for sushi!) I also bought 2 of Penny’s beautiful felted Robbins, one of which is a present for mum – I know she’ll love him!
So today was my finishing off jobs day and I made 2 more presents
An iPad cover for my mum, made from lovely fabric kindly donated by Maeri from The Make and do studio and also 2 lavender heat packs which I made following this tutorial.
The last job of the day was to do some baking. Friends are coming over for a little Christmas party tonight so hubby made some lovely mince pies and I decided to make these rather sparkly cookies!
Tomorrow is the Warrington Clandestine cake club social, where all club rules have been thrown out of the window, so in the spirit of Christmas I decided to make mince pie cupcakes! Here is them half finished
I just need to add a brandy buttercream and they are done!
So a lovely end to a very busy making week! Please pop by Wendy’s blog to see what everyone else has been up to for handmade Monday this week. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas 
Sarah x
This week has been a busy week, not necessarily for crafting but more for making things. On Tuesday I went to the second Clandestine Cake club meeting in Warrington. 9 other lovely ladies also came along, bringing lots of different cakes, all baked with the theme of frolicking fireworks and copious celebration in mind.
There were all sorts of different cakes including a triple layer caramel cake, a hummingbird cake and a chocolate marshmallow cake.
After playing it safe at the last meeting, I wanted to try something a little bit different. My husband suggested using popping candy
So I searched for cake recipes using it and found a Heston Blumenthal recipe. It was fairly straightforward to make, although I missed off the chocolate glaze, which was probably the hardest bit! I forgot to take a photo after I made it, so here’s one after everyone had tucked in and tried a piece.
I didn’t let on what was in the cake, so the popping candy came as a surprise for people, making a lovely crackling sound as everyone was eating!
Later in the week I went along to another course at The Make and Do Studio – Creative Wrapping. The course was run by Sue Lacey, a very talented lady who knows everything you need to know about wrapping presents in a beautiful way.
We learnt the basics of wrapping, how to make a gift bag, tying bows and how to wrap unusual shapes such as bottles and biscuit tins. I learnt so many useful tips, perfect timing for christmas presents!
Please pop over to Wendy’s blog to see what everyone else has been up to for this weeks handmade Monday
Sarah x
After a few requests here is the recipe for the carrot cake I made earlier in the week. This makes enough for 12 cupcakes. I have also used the recipe to fill a 7 inch square cake tin and baked in oven for approx 40mins. It is quite a healthy recipe (without the frosting!!).
Ingredients:
75g Sultanas
200g plain wholemeal flour
1 tbsp ground mixed spice
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
200g soft dark brown sugar
150ml sunflower oil
Zest 1 large orange
2 tbsp orange juice
2 large eggs
200g grated carrots
45g ground almonds
45g walnut halves
For frosting:
200g cream cheese
Zest of 2 oranges
1 tsp orange juice
Sifted icing sugar (adding to taste so may need up to 100g)
Recipe:
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So tonight I went to my first Clandestine Cake club, I hear you ask what is that?! Well it was my idea of heaven! It was a gathering of cake loving people who had never met before, each bringing a cake they had baked in keeping with the theme Fabulicious Five. We all met in […]
