Ginger Bisquite

Lifestyle, DIY, Family & Food

Tag Archives: craft

Make your own chocolate egg

April 13, 2014 by Jenni Clutten | 1 Comment

make your own chocolate eggHappy Easter everyone!  Have you had a good first week of the holiday?  We’ve been tackling the spring cleaning here, but that hasn’t stopped us making a bit of a mess in the kitchen.

Last week Waitrose got in touch to ask if we would be interested in a bit of creative Easter Inspiration.  I said yes please, and awaited for my box of goodies to arrive.  I can tell you it was a good post day when a package of sweets and chocolates arrived and I was so excited to lay things out for Nye to have a go at creating his own egg.

SONY DSC SONY DSC

Ingredients
 250g of good quality dark or milk chocolate – remember to save a little extra for decorating

What you’ll need

  • 2 chocolate egg moulds
  • Flat pastry brush or small paintbrush
  • Heat proof bowl
  • Spoon
  • Pan

Step 1 – Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water in a pan.

Step 2 – Paint a thin layer of chocolate inside the egg moulds, making sure it meets the edges of the mould. Depending on the size of the moulds you may need more chocolate, have plenty on standby!

Step 3 – Chill for 5 minutes or until the chocolate is firm.

Step 4 – Spread another even layer of chocolate over the first layer and let cool for another 5 minutes or until firm.

Step 5 – Gently ease the mould away from the chocolate. Join the chocolate halves together with a little melted chocolate, using a flat pastry brush or small paint brush – That’s it! Well done, you have made your very own Easter egg!

Decorating tips:

  • Melt a little extra chocolate and use this to stick on chocolate buttons and small light sweets that won’t fall off like marshmallows or sugar-coated jellies
  • Using icing piping to draw on simple Easter shapes such as chicks, rabbits and lambs to give your egg a fun farm theme
  • Personalise your egg by writing the recipient’s name in icing piping and use decorative sweets that represent their personality
  • Why not turn you egg into a person or an animal? For example use sweets and chocolates for eyes and fur. For an Easter afternoon activity, make an egg that resembles a family member
  • Dip your finished egg in melted chocolate and roll in hundreds and thousands or popping candy for a textured knobbly effect
  • Why not try white chocolate to make your Easter egg
  • Before sealing the two halves, hide an Easter treat inside? Maybe some small sweets, a surprise Easter toy or just a note to say Happy Easter!
  • For a more indulgent egg why not add to the melted chocolate when you’re still preparing the egg, try butterscotch chunks or honeycomb pieces for a real treat!
making easter eggs

Egg Inspiration:
Nye created a kind of Rocky Road chocolate egg with marshmellows and chocolate buttons mixed into the shell of the egg along with some lovely crunchy honeycomb bits.  The Chocolate was very thick so it took longer to dry but it was very delicious and came out of the mold easily.

I created a more simple egg, sprinkling popping candy and butterscotch pieces on the inside of the egg after I painted on the second coat.  A lovely crackling and crunchy surprise for whoever bites into the egg.  To decorate I made a piping bag and piped some easter designs onto a sheet of baking paper and stuck these onto the egg using some fondant icing as edible glue.

SONY DSC making a chocolate egg

As you can see, Nye was very proud of his egg creation.  Fancy having a go, what sort of egg would you make?

Disclosure:
Ingredients and instructions supplied by Waitrose, photos and words my own.

Scrapstore Finds

February 12, 2014 by Jenni Clutten | 23 Comments

scrapstoreIt’s no secret that I love to re-use and recycle and when I found out about Scrapstore I was itching to get into the nearest one to have a mooch about for some crafty items.

“Scrapstores give you the chance to find art and craft materials at a fraction of the price you could find them anywhere else.

Some scrapstores are only open to schools and voluntary organisations but others open their doors to everyone.

All scrapstores have different means of accessing their scrap materials. In some you need to pay an individual membership fee, at others you simply pay for the scrap you take on the day.

Many scrapstores also have shops open to the public selling high quality art and craft materials from glue to paintbrushes to complement the scrap.”

Since we joined our local branch over the Summer we’ve already been several times, picking up scraps of unwanted paper, sticky silver tape, empty sweet jars and numerous other indescribable objects.  As a member we had to pay a £30 yearly individual membership fee which means we can pick up as much Scrapstore bits and pieces as we want.  There are Scrapstores all over the country, and you never know quite what you are going to find, but with a bit of imagination you can create some amazing things.  

Scrapstore Finds

Our local one always has loads of unwanted childrens toys and books, I particularly love the books as they are often ones I remember from my childhood.  Inside the Scrapstore there is also a Community Repaint Scheme and a Furniture Project.

Last week I picked up a small car mat, which you can see in the top picture.  Nye has really enjoyed playing with it since I brought it home and I can see him using it for years.  And, as soon as he outgrows it I know I can give it away for another child to make use of.  The other two items I’ve shown below I purchased, but I think you’ll agree that £5 for this stylish chair and £2.50 for two and half litres of unused and unopened masonry paint is a pretty good deal!

paint. Collage

There are scrapstores all over the country and you can find your nearest one on the Reuseful website.

DIY Children’s Tent – UK Version

June 27, 2013 by Jenni Clutten | 3 Comments

Nye is now 18 months old, and I have been wanting to find some more creative activities that will provide opportunities for imaginative play.  Den’s are an excellent example of toys that can be used for multiple purposes, inside and outside and will last and be enjoyed for years.  I still remember being addicted to making dens in our house as a child so this months Center Parcs June Challenge was the perfect push I needed to create our very own DIY Children’s Tent.

DIY Children's TentI remembered immediately that I had pinned a DIY A Frame Tent on some time ago and sought immediately to track it down on one of my numerous boards.  I eventually found it, wrote down all the measurements and headed out to look for some suitable material in local charity shop and DIY store.  However, it soon became apparent that I wouldn’t be able to find the exact measurements as the widths of wood in the UK are different to America (mm here and inches there.)

So, with that in mind I thought it might be helpful to share the measurements I used so that the DIY is a little easier for people this side of the pond.  I also took the advice of  Rubyellen who suggests that you could use a single bed cover instead of fabric.  For me this meant the cover was double sided (fishes on the inside and out) and also that I did not have to hem the fabric. (Hurrah) I was also feeling extra cheeky as I had no elastic to sew to the cover and managed to clip the edges of the fabric to the frame using elastic bands and string.  But, having used this for a few days, I think sewing on the elastic will mean I don’t have to keep tying the edges down every 24 hours.

YOU WILL NEED

For the Tent Cover

  • 1 x single duvet cover (135mm x 200m) – you could also use fabric cut to any size you would like and just alter the length of the wood to accommodate.
  • 1 meter of elastic
  • Scissors
  • 4 x Elastic Bands

For The Frame

  • 2 x 18 x44mm x 2.4m
  • 1 x 18mm x 2.4 dowel rod
  • Drill
  • 18mm or 19mm flat wood drill bit (I used 19mm because that’s the closest we had to 18mm)
  • Hand saw
  • Tape Measure
  • Pencil
  • String

First of all I must say the instructions on the original A-Frame blog post are really clear and include pictures that are incredibly helpful.  I am going to write a quick run down of what I did, just because I did make a few alterations to try and make the whole process a bit quicker.  But if you get stuck, please click on the link and the photos there will help you!

  1. Start by using the hand saw to cut the 2 x 2.4m wood lengths in half.  Once this is done you will have 4 x 1.2m lengths which will make the A frame.
  2. Next use a hand saw to cut the circular dowel that creates the top of the tent.  I cut mine to 147cm.
    I calculated this length by using the width of the fabric (135cm) and then adding 6cm on to each end (135 + 6 + 6) = 147cm.  This then allows for the a frame to be added on to the end with a little room keep it all together.
  3. We then measured up to drill the holes in the 4 x A frame.  To do this I used a tape measure to mark 15cm down from the top of each leg the marked a cross in the centre of the wood (22mm) which showed where the drill bit needed to go.
  4. Once each leg was measured up we used a 19mm drill bit to create a hole for the top dowel of the tent to be inserted.
  5. Next I inserted the dowel into the four holes to create the basic frame of the tent and stood it up ready for its finishing touches.
  6. Once the frame has been created you can then hang the fabric over it and line up the legs at each end.
  7. As I was unable to find a 18mm drill bit and used a 19mm one instead,  I then used some string to secure the legs into place.
  8. Finally once I was happy with how the cover was hanging, I used an elastic band on the bottom of each leg to secure the four corners of the fabric.  For good measure I then tied some string around to keep them as tight as possible. (You could sew some elastic directly on to the fabric to make for a more hard wearing tent)
  9. Enjoy your new DIY Children’s Tent by adding some cushions and blankets!

I am writing this post in my capacity as a Center Parcs family blogger.  For a chance to become a Center Parcs Family Blogger and to win a family break to a Center Parcs village of your choice, simply share pictures of your outside hideout on your blog, letting Tots 100 and Center Parcs know that it’s your entry into this month’s challenge. Then just tweet us a link to it – be sure to include the Center Parcs and Tots 100 handles in your tweet, and don’t forget to use the #CPFamilyBreaks hashtag before the challenge closes on June 28th.

This gallery contains 0 photos