Elephant soft toy - craft diy

 

Hands up anyone who makes mistakes with the laundry. It's not just me then. Shrinking jumpers is my thing, I don't mean to it just happens sometimes. All is not lost as there are a wealth of things that you can make with a shrunken jumper. I was inspired by my wooden elephant to make a soft toy.

 

After finding my inspiration I drew the elephant shape. I decided to make the ears from mismatching cotton scraps. After cutting out my 2 sides I stitched it up right sides together making sure to leave a gap so that you can turn your creature the right way round and stuff it.

 

 

Now that it is the right way round you can stuff your creature. You will need to attach you two buttons for eyes. I decided to slightly stuff the ears with polystyrene beads to give them a little substance. I made the ears separately to the main body and attached them by hand so that they can move independently.

 

Let me know what creature you decided to make from your jumper/laundry related mishaps.

 

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo

 

 

 

Caramalised apples and agave crepes - recipe

 

I bought the most succulent apples the other day in Monoprix, I really love the produce section in Paris. One of my favourite things is how fresh everything is. I have found that you can't buy fruit and vegetables too far in advance as they will spoil, meaning they are not packed with preservatives and they taste amazing. This was also the perfect opportunity to give my new crepe pan an outing, when in France and all!

Basic crepe recipe

you will need;

• 3 eggs
• 320ml milk
• 120g flour
• pinch of salt
• 15g melted unsalted butter

Apple filling

you will need;

• 6 apples
• knob of butter
• 2tbsp light brown sugar
• 2tsp mixed spice
• 2 shots agave spirit

method;

1. Begin by whisking all of the crepe ingredients together until you make a smooth batter.
2. Peel, core and slice your apples.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan heat a knob of butter and start to gently fry your apple slices. Sprinkle them with the mixed spices and sugar. Turn them occasionally.
4. Whilst they are cooking start to make your crepes, you can keep them warm in a hot oven.
5. When the apples are fully caramelised add the agave and let it bubble for a few second before removing the pan from the heat. However if you want to cook all of the alcohol off you may need to leave it on the heat a little longer, but where's the fun in that?
6. Fill your crepes with apples and pour on a little of the agave syrup from the pan.

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo

Peg magnets - diy

 

I love a big project as much as anyone but a super quick and effective diy is just as satisfying. One of my pet hates is placing a note under a magnet and then the magnet ceases to hold. Making these peg magnets solved that problem. I simply used the leftover pegs from this project and added self adhesive magnetic tape on one side. Job done and peg magnets finished and I am free to leave little notes.

 

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo

 

Spicy central american soup

 

I spent a lot of time travelling and I love bringing the flavours of the world back home with me. There are days when you just want to feel like you have eaten something so fresh and healthy and still be satisfied that your dinner was tasty. I am determined to prove that healthy can be tasty and fun. The spices of Central America satisfied my love of heat and depth of flavour. When I developed this recipe I wanted to capture that. This is such a hearty soup it works really well as a main meal.

 

 

This soup is packed full of healthy vegetables.

 

you will need;

 

6 tomatoes

1 large sweet potato

1 aubergine

12oz can of kidney beans

3 sticks of celery and the leaves

1 green chilli

1/2tsp chilli powder

1/2tsp ground cloves

1tsp grated nutmeg

1 garlic clove

1 carrot

1tsp celery salt

1tsp dried oregano

1/2tsp all spice 

 



 

method;

1. Peel & halve the sweet potato, and slice into thin halve moon slices. Cut the carrot into small pieces  along with the celery and chilli. I didn't deseed my chilli but the amount of heat you require is up to you.
2. People forget the celery leaves and often they end up in the bin, that is a crime. Slice these finely and fry with the spices, vegetables in a large pan with a little oil.
3. Drain and rinse the kidney beans, crumble a stock cube over the top and fill the pan with  boiling water until the veg is covered with 2 inches of water.
4. Cut the tomatoes into bite sized piece and add to the soup.
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. I topped my soup with a giant crouton and grated gruyere cheese.

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo