Turning a pest into a sauce...

As discussed on my gardening blog (use link at the side!) I am still over run with horseradish even though I have tried to exterminate the crop from my herb bed.

When I dug up a massive root of it I knew it was to be turned into horseradish sauce.

The recipe came from 'The Preserving Book' again as it has been the only recipe so far that actually keeps the horseradish fresh and useable for up to two months!

This sauce needed:

300ml white wine vinegar
8 tbsp double cream (at room temperature!)
150g grated raw horseradish
4 tbsp sugar
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
12 whole peppercorns

The white wine vinegar, sugar, cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns is put in a large pan and heated until the sugar has dissolved. It is then boiled for 5 mins until the liquid has reduced by half.

The cream is added and boiled for 1 minute until it looks smooth.

The liquid is then passed through a sieve ( to remove the cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf) and then left to stand to cool.

Once cooled add the horseradish and season (with salt only) to taste! Pour into pre sterilised  jars!

Dinosaur in disguise!

As I have said many times before my husband is a dinosaur nut. And, instead of getting him something rabbit related for Easter this year (to go with the jars I made a couple of weeks ago) I thought I would delve into the world of decoupage again and give him a decorated dinosaur.

The dinosaur template was relatively inexpensive  and the papers were left over from a few previous projects so it was nice to use up some scraps too!

Again I used Mod Podge which dries in a nice matt glaze.

I used two colours of the decoupage papers: camouflage and gold crackle...

The process of actually doing the decoupaging took a lot longer than I had anticipated as I was trying to do this project when my husband was not in the house so tried to fit in doing it between him leaving for work and me taking my daughter to nursery first thing in the morning... This had mixed results as sometimes my daughter let me get in with it and sometimes she didn't!

Eventually I got it done and was pleased that it was finished...

I can't wait to give it to him on Easter Sunday!

Rats!

The summer term is always packed with exams and stressing students but the one breath of fresh air is the middle school play which is an adaption of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere called 'London Below' and the set is currently being constructed, script being written and the props are being made...

I sometimes dread when my head of department writes the scripts as you never know what props she is going to come up with. The latest one that she wanted some rats made which can sit on your hand but also not look realistic and look handmade... This is right up my street!

I first made a paper version at my desk to work out how big it needed to be and then took it apart to make a template.

I then found some scraps of felt that I had in my stash of stuff which sits in a basket and cut out a body in the felt and stuck it together.

I cut out two ears and sewed them on and added scraps of red for the inside of the ears.

With a length of red material I rolled it up into a tail - and the fact that it is very creased seemed to help!

I sewed the eyes and added the whiskers...

And voila! A quick rat puppet!

When I make the next ones I hope to do the following:
1) sew down the body to make the seam join stronger
2) use embroidery thread for the eyes to make them stand out a little more
3) stiffen the felt with starch spray to make it more rigid!

Loving mices to pieces...

As it has been a busy time at school I find it increasingly difficult to concentrate on bigger projects to do in my evenings so instead turn to little but satisfying ones while watching tv of an evening...

As ever, I still quest for the perfect craft magazine so was surprised that many weekly women's magazines are jumping on the bandwagon.

The latest in these is prima who have released a 'special' which is dedicated to all kinds of crafts.

On the front of the magazine is a kit to make a pin cushion mouse - perfect for an evenings worth of sewing!

The pattern was clear and easy to find... However, the instructions left quite a lot open to interpretation and could have benefitted from photos for each of the stages as both me and my husband had to re read a couple of the stages for sense!

Otherwise it made quite a pleasing pin cushion - though at the moment it is sat on the bookcase waiting to find a home!

Footsteps and memories...

One of the many joys of having a young baby is the fact that there are many little things you can do to give yourself a memento of when they were very tiny!

This imprint was taken when my gorgeous daughter was only 3 months old at our local children's centre.

Play dough was placed in a clean metal takeaway container and her foot was carefully placed and pushed... Careful that the dough doesn't go between the toes otherwise it can take an age to clean afterwards!

Liquid plaster of paris is then added until the foot is filled and there is about a 1cm deep above it.

Let it dry for 24 hours.

Then remove the plaster carefully and use a dry toothbrush to get rid of any excess dough.

And there you have it. I have mounted my daughters on a cheap memory box frame with a sheet of patterned paper...

This particular one is so easy to do that I am thinking of doing one when it is her naming ceremony too as she has grown a lot since this one!

The perfect present for a 6 month old...

When my husband was looking for his next cross stitching project he saw this kit and just knew that he wanted to sew it for our daughter who has just turned six months old.

My husband dedicates a lot of time to reading our daughter books of every kind but she especially loves the Mr Men books. So when he spied a height chart with mr men he simply had to give it a go.

The hardest part was trying to find the right place to start as finding middle of such a long project was not easy... But once he started on one the rest fell into place.

He has probably taken about a month to complete the project by completing a bit every night...

When he finished the pattern he also wanted to dedicate it to our daughter... Her nickname is 'little face' hence why it says 'for face'. My husband was particularly pleased with this as he didn't follow a pattern and did it freehand.

The piece is now waiting to be stretched and framed and hopefully will be enjoyed for years to come...

Sleeping dragon in progress...

It is not often that I decide to take on a massive project. Especially when I am super busy with work.

But, with the easter holidays looming I thought it would not matter and I would find time to do it.

I have always wanted to make a model of a sleeping dragon - a name that has stuck from an early age - so when I got sent some fabric to make something with for a competition (I wasn't quick enough to enter, unfortunately!) I thought a sleeping dragon it would have to be!

First of all I made a paper version...



And then it was taking the model to pieces...
and lying them on the fabric and tracing around them.

Cutting out and labelling then commenced...

And this is where I am up to now...

So much still to do...