11/11/11

So today is the 11/11/11. As (hopefully) you all know, it is armistice day. So I decided to post a video of the armistice day in 1920 when the unknown solider was buried. Here is a British Pathe following the soldiers final journey.

ARMISTICE DAY

Read a extract from a woman's diary in 1941 on armistice day here.

A Crafty Little Air freshener...

As a quick and simple little stocking filler for the craft fair we decided to make these Christmas car air fresheners. Sew two pieces of fabric together on three edges, right sides facing in. Turn it out to make a small bag, and fill the bottom of the bag with three teaspoons of cloves. Then add a few scraps of wadding above the cloves. Cut the tops off the bags with crinkle craft scissors and tie them close with a piece of ribbon. Then, there you go, a quick and lovely smalling Christmas car air freshener!

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It's beginning to look a lot like chirstmas...

So this year (at the last minute) me and my mum have found out that we have a stall at our local Christmas craft fair in our village. It appears that in Norfolk this is a big deal and this fair gets a lot of people coming to it! Anyway with less than a month to go we are now on hyperdrive to try and make enough sell able items in time. So today I am going to make mincemeat! Not just any mincemeat though, Mrs Beeton's mincemeat.

Like with so many of my projects they start out with one thing in mind and often divert off the subject as my craft supplies/ingredients change, so instead of all the specified amount of raisins I am adding in 200g of dried cherries. So here is my sampled Mrs Beeton's recipe - please not that these quantities are for 18lbs as I am making lots of jars for the craft fair, so reduce the quantities for your mincemeat (as you probably don't want a dyslexic to do the maths)!

Ingredients:

• 6 large cooking apples
• 3 large lemons
• 2lb of raisins (but we did 200g of cherries, 500g of sultanas and 500g of raisins)
  
• 2lb currants
• 2lb of suet
• 4lb of soft light brown sugar
• 2oz of candied orange peel
• 2oz of candied lemon peel
• 4tbsp of orange marmalade
• 18 fl oz of brandy

What to do:

1. Core the apples, and put them in an oven at 200c and cook 50-60 minutes until tender. I put mine in the microwave for about 3 minutes (800w) and leave them to cool.
   
2. Wash, dry and grate the lemons, squeeze out the juice into a big mixing bowl.
3. Once the apple is cool, scoop out the flesh and add it to the mixing bowl.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients and give it a good mix.
   
5. Cover the bowl and leave it for two days, stirring occasionally.
6. Pot up the mincemeat and press it down well to avoid air pockets. Cover and store for two weeks before using.
   

*remember you must cook this before eating it*

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October

Well, I apologise for not writing a blog for AGES, there is no excuse as I have only been slightly busy. Anyway so here is a blog about the flower arrangements I have been making for my parents Bed and Breakfast. Another idea from Martha Stewart I recently found was a pumpkin vase...









So here is how to do it...

1. This time I decided to use squashes however I do warn against this as squashes are very hard to carve. Use pumpkins, so much easier and the effect is the same. So, carve the top off your pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and flesh (use the flesh to make pumpkin soup).

2. Put either a small pot in the pumpkin or I used a freezer bag in the centre and fill it up with water.

3. Now start arranging your flowers. Make sure you hide the tub or freezer bag by arranging flowers over them.

And finally here is our family carved pumpkins, left is my aunt Jane's, middle left is my bothers, middle right my dads and right is mine... Happy Halloween.

Also, thank you to everyone who has been visiting my blog from Ikea Hackers.

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Happy Birthday Singer!

This year is the 160th anniversary of Singer Sewing Co. We have four in our house, I brought mine two years ago and since then have made a dress and a number of crafty projects on it. My parents have three! Once they saw my beautiful Singer it appears my dad became obsessed at buying them from our local auction. We now have the three, each in their own window in the living room. So as you can tell we love Singers.

I recently found a brilliant website where you can post your Singer Sewing Machine stories in celebration of the wonderful item. So take a look at other peoples stories here.
And to end this post on the beautiful Singer Sewing Machine the brilliant Beatles movie 'Help' dedicated their film to Elias Howe, "who in 1846 invented the sewing machine." And the film finishes with a picture of a Singer Sewing Machine, classic and brilliant.

And here are two British Pathe films on Singer Sewing Machine...

SEWING MACHINES - OLD AND NEW

SEWING MACHINES

Breakfast at Tiffany's

On October 5th 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's was released in US cinemas. This year it is its 50th anniversery and well worth a watch! And so here is one of the best bits from it...

This weeks top craft picks from other websites:

Sorry for the lateness of this blog post but I have had a very busy week making jams, soups and jelly's!

1. From Apartment Therapy is this brilliant light decor. I really want to have a go at this one!
2. All the crafty blogs are now getting ready for Halloween and I love these! Very imaginative! Have a look over at Craftzine.
3. Another Apartment Therapy is this brilliant 'back to school' canvas which would liven up any classroom or children's room.
4. Finally is this chest of draws painted and then decoupaged with birds on it. Usually I don't like this sort of decoupage but I love this and will give it a go next time I need to decorate a piece of furniture! Have a look at Cottage Hill for details.