Spring pastels

Pastels are all the trend this spring or in fact every spring. Gracing the catwalks and the high street, there is no denying that pastels are all the rage and are here to stay... well that is until at least summer when the summer hues and tropical prints take over our homes and wardrobes!

I'm a huge fan of pastels and when I came across The Pod Company Spring pinterest competition I knew I had to take part. It combined all things pastel, all things spring and one of my favourite past-times... pinning!

Although I wasn't lucky enough to win first prize, the team at Pod were kind enough to send me a Runner's Up prize in the post.

The Pod Company - Runner's Up prize

Orange flower bath salts and Bucks Fizz lip balm

Bucks Fizz lip balm - good enough to eat!

I had a great time taking part and pinning lots of lovely items and inspirations. Thank you to the team at the Pod Company. Click here to view my Spring pastel board.

Also this week

Flower appreciation - ranunculus (no filter) - these are being added to the wedding wish list.

@GlitteredPink ranunculus - flower appreciation

Mother's Day plans 2014

My mum is one of my best friends and always will be. She is always there for me and I can't thank her enough.

I moved to London in August 2013 and my mum, not being a seasoned traveller is yet to visit...but things are about to change! 

Arriving in to Euston at rush hour on Thursday (not well planned by myself but these were the cheapest seats) my mum will be visiting for a long weekend break and what perfect timing than Mother's Day weekend.

Here's a little map of what's in store! 

@GlitteredPink Mothers' Day London map

Cake o'clock!

A girl needs two things - good friends and cake!

Since moving to London I have been without my Uni comforts. Things I miss include shopping at my favourite vintage store Cow, my beautiful friends and Fancie cupcakes (the best cupcakes ever)! 

Treating myself, family and colleagues I purchased mail order cupcakes from Fancie and I was not disappointed, tucking into this scrumptious Salted Caramel cupcake. What I love about Fancie is the proportion of icing to cake is just perfect! See for yourself...

Fancie - Salted Caramel Cupcake

Later this week I also had the delight of meeting up friends and spent the afternoon catching-up over coffee and cake at Hummingbird Bakery in Richmond. I treated myself to a slice of Lemon Raspberry Ripple. 

Hummingbird Bakery - Lemon Raspberry Ripple

The cake didn't stop there I also purchased some to takeaway. How can you resist when they come in these adorable little boxes! 

Hummingbird Bakery - Key Lime cupcake

Cake might be my new obsession but I don't care as a life without cake would be a boring one! 

What's new pussy cat?!

I am very happy this week to have completed my Emily Peacock cross stitch 'HUG' tapestry! Over 29k stitches and 5months later I was delighted to see the final piece in its full glory!

As a gift for leaving my old job this has been the perfect project to occupy me when adjusting to my new life on London. The final part is turning this into a cushion which my mum will be helping me with so I don't mess it up! 

I can't wait to get my hands on the 'KISS' version! 

Needing a new project, to keep my fingers and mind busy, I spent a Friday night and Saturday morning making this little feline, felt friend. 

The steps in the making... 

- Cut out the pattern.

- Pin the pattern on to the felt and fabric and cut out. 

- Sew the leg pieces together and turn the correct way out. Leaving the tops open for stuffing later. 

- Repeat for the arms and ears. 

- Sew the tail flat onto the back body piece. 

- Stuff the legs, arms and ears and stitch in place. 

- Sew together the front pieces as below. 

- Pin the front body on top of the back body with the correct sides facing inwards. 

- Sew around the edge, leaving a hole of just over an inch allowing you to turn the correct way out. 

- Turn the cat the correct way out as shown and stuff the body, sewing the gap. 

- Add the nose and embroidery eyes, mouth and whiskers. Bringing your cat to life! 

- For finishing touches and to make in to a charming child's toy. I have made a yellow rain coat and wellies. 

Don't let your creativity stop there, there are lots of different outfits you can make so your cat is ready for any occasion! 

Enjoy! 

Home is where the heart is

Happy New Year everyone! Let's make 2014 a great year. 

Love them or hate them - Have you made any New Years resolutions...that your actually going to stick to that is?! I have...

1. Lose weight (appears on the list every year)

2. Exercise more (help with point 1) 

3. Go on holiday (incentive for losing weight and point 2)

4. Be more creative 

5. Finish projects

6. Introduce beef into my diet (I was brought up vegetarian so the aim this year is too enjoy all things cow!!) 

7. Read more - pleased to say I've already finished Treasure Island! 

...And the list goes on but I won't bore you with those. 

I think compared to my normal list of New Years resolutions these are realistic...I hope! 

To start the New Year off and whilst pennies are tight I have set about making a handmade New Home card. Here it is...

This was made using scraps of recycled card and paper. Resolution 8: Use up my excising materials before buying more! 

The perfect task for a raining January! Enjoy. 

Stay upto date with GlitteredPink and join the chat on Twitter @GlitteredPink. What's more if you love my pics and projects find out more about my likes and inspiration on Pinterest @GlitteredPink. 

Got to paint a pine cone or two...

...or three or four...or bundles more!

Trust me once you start this project you will be hooked and you won't stop until all your pine cones are decorated! It's highly addictive and great fun to do on a cold winters eve.

You will need:

- an assortment of pine cones (dried)

- acrylic paint - I chose a selection of pearlised paint and glitter glue to coordinate

- glitter glue

- vase - for decoration

1. Paint the tips of the pine cones in the acrylic paint. The pine cones naturally have a visible outline on the top and bottom on each tip, which I used as a guide. 

2. Allow to dry and add glitter glue over the top of each tip for added sparkle. 

3. Repeat for all colours and allow to dry. 

4. Once complete you can chose how to display. For the time-being we chose a glass vase but the long term plan is to have them threaded on string. 

This was a great way to spend an evening, relaxing and catching up with my mum over Christmas and great fun too! 

Back to basics - salt-dough Christmas decorations - step 2

In my previous post I detail the basics for making salt-dough decorations with 3 simple ingredients which every one has at home - salt, flour and water. Now for the fun bit...decorating! 

Step 2 - decorate

- Paint or not to paint? That is the question!

For this batch I went for paint. As soon as I had painted a couple I was hooked. 

Using paint which I've had since I was a child I turned this basic bakes into cute, festive ornaments ready to be displayed pride of place on the tree this Christmas! 

- Don't paint both sides at once as you will only end up trying to peel them off whatever surface you have left them to dry. Instead do them in batches, allowing them to dry each side to dry. 

- For finishing touches add glitter, sequins - whatever you fancy. 

- Finally thread ribbon through the hole so your decorations can hang on the tree.

What will you do with your salt dough decorations? Give them as a gift this Christmas or have them as part of your wrapping decoration - the perfect homemade finishing touch. 

Festive family food - Rudolph pretzel cookies

Today is about the perfect partners for a festive family party this Christmas. Making their second appearance for 2013 are the melted snowman iced spiced biscuits and new for this year are our Rudolph pretzel cookies.

Here's our simple steps for making these yummy Rudolph cookies : 

1. Make the cookie dough - I followed a simple cookie recipe found here minus the choc chips.

In addition for each cookie you will need - 2 Smartie eyes, 1 Smartie nose and 2 pretzels for antlers! 

2. Roll the dough in to small squashed sausage shapes / pear shapes. 

3. Bake for approx 7mins at 190 until the cookies start to go golden and crack. TIP: Make sure they are well spaced out on the baking trays as they will rise and spread during the cooking process.

4. Whip the cookies out of the oven and add a Smartie red nose and blue Smartie eyes by gently pressing into the dough. Add the choc covered pretzels the same way and return to the oven for approx 20seconds allowing the choc to melt into the dough. 

5. Take out of the oven and cool on a wire rack. 

TIP: If any of the Smarties fall off once cooled you can attach them back on using a small blob of icing sugar. 

Ta da...the cookies are ready to eat! Perfect I might say with a glass of milk or cup of tea! Enjoy and happy baking! 

Back to basics - salt-dough Christmas ornaments - Step 1

Take 3 simple ingredients - salt, flour and water and turn them into charming decorations for the Christmas tree and home. How to do it? Easy with these simple steps.

Ingredients

- 1 cup salt

- 2 cups flour

- 1 cup water 

Step 1 - bake and make 

- Mix together the ingredients forming a dough - as if you would bread.

- Roll out the dough until it is approximately 2mm thick or as desired. My recommendations are any thicker they will take longer to bake and any thinner they will be more brittle once complete. 

- Use an assortment of cutters, stamps, presses or anything else you can get your hands on to create the design. For example, cookie cutters, cake decorations, leaves from the garden etc. The more creative the better! 

- If you are planning on hanging your decorations make sure you add a hole, using a cocktail stick, straw or pen. Remember the hole will close over slightly during the cooking process, reducing in size.

- Place your decorations on to a grease proof paper covered baking tray. 

- Cook in the oven for 3-6 hours on a low temp. Approx 60 degrees c. I found that they cooked a lot longer than I was expecting but I wanted to ensure they were truly hard. Check on them regularly and don't allow them to burn. 

I had read a couple of blogs about microwaving for 3mins. This didn't work for me! Mine didn't even last 30seconds! Here's the results...

They bubbled and burnt - even if painted these wouldn't work as they are brittle. I'm glad I tried it though, as let's face it who doesn't want to speed up 6hours!  

- Once cooked leave out to cool on a cooling rack or switch the oven off and leave them in there to cool. 

The results: 

 

Step 2 - decoration

Coming soon...

Holidays are coming...

In the past I've made Christmas cards by hand - drawing designs for friends, family and love ones. Although lovely these are very time consuming and this year was about making on mass...well 30 and required a speedier option - cue the scissors!

To make:

- recycled Christmas cards

- glue

- scissors

- star sequins

- double sided tape

- plain cards (pack of 20 for £1 bargin!)

- pen

- double sided foam (optional)

1. Cut out varied tree shapes from the recycled cards - the more the merrier. I did this free hand as I think it adds to the charm but you could use a stencil if you prefer. 

2. Arrange 4 trees on the card and glue down. 

3. Add a sequin to one tree using the double sided tape. Glue would work also but tape is my preference for sequins. 

4. Write your message onto scrap bits of recycled card and attach to card using double sided foam. Creating a 3D effect. 

Voila! The cards are then ready for you to add your own personal message and send - to be received and displayed pride of place on all your friends mantels and window ledges! And all of this for the bargin price of £1! 

Enjoy! 

Also this week making their 2013 comback, we have melted snowman biscuits. Click here for how to make.