Clay Play

Yesterday I finally got round to doing something I've been thinking about for a while, making polymer clay handles for some of my crochet hooks. I've had the clay for a while, but was a bit daunted. I can be a bit cack handed when it comes to modeling and making, I wasn't sure I'd be happy with the results.
It took me a bit of time fiddling and changing things, adding and taking off, and I learned some valuable lessons - such s don't mix the colours too early or it'll just all mix into one! But I had fun and ultimately I was rather proud of myself at the end.
These hooks are for my own use, but I do plan to make more to sell in the near future. And I even had enough clay left over to make a rainbow badge, too :)

Breakfast yoghurt pots

I'd be lying if I said I came up with this idea myself, but it's such a simple and tasty breakfast, and one that's often on our table, I wanted to share it with you. I originally was told about it by a good friend who had, I believe, seen the recipe on the Slimming World website. Now please don't stop reading, thinking that this is diet food, and bound to be lacking something. It's not. What I want to show you is the bones of it, pad it out any way you like, with things you enjoy. See where it takes you.
For our breakfast pots I always start with the basics, and you must too. They are yoghurt, porridge oats and fruit. For 5 servings (3 are for children) I used 500g of natural yoghurt, about 80g of oats, and 120g of blueberries.
You want to start by putting some of your fruit in the bottom of your containers/glasses/beakers. I use plastic beakers because I have 3 children who like to drop things. And they're colourful.  Today I used frozen blueberries, of which I often have an abundance in my freezer. You can use anything you like, fresh or frozen, mix them up or have a single fruit, strawberry and kiwi work well, but blueberry is the run away favourite here.
Next cover the fruit with a layer of oats. Just enough, not too much. Roughly a dessert spoonful. Plain porridge oats, the kind you make porridge from scratch with, and even better is you can buy the cheap as chips stuff, it's just as good.
Then add a generous layer of yoghurt. Any type of yoghurt... Plain, natural, flavoured, Greek style... Choice is yours. Just remember if you are giving to children under 2 that you'll need it to be full fat, otherwise it really doesn't matter.
The next step is to repeat the layers, fruit, oats, yoghurt and optional - add a swirl of honey to the middle fruit layer if you so desire.
I like to top it with more fruit, just to make it pretty. You could add toasted oats or granola too.
Cover with cling film - and this is the hard part - and put in the fridge, for at least overnight, to let everything all soak together.
I make this usually the morning before I need them, and it does take a bit of forward planning. But it's definitely worth it!!

Learning a new skill

You are never too old to learn something new, and whilst I was having a bimble through some of my favourite crafty blogs recently, I came across something that immediately grabbed my attention. Tunisian crochet, otherwise known as Afghan stitch. Definitely something I wanted to try!
It's done with a Tunisian hook, which looks a bit like a cross between a crochet hook and a knitting needle, and it is a little bit like a cross between the two arts in actual fact.
I'm right at the beginning of my Tunisian obsession, and once I master it I'll gladly share my finished pieces. In the meantime if you are intrigued take a look at www.mooglyblog.com, there are some great tutorials available.
Happy hooking!

Broken crayons? No problem!

I posted recently on my Facebook page about recycling old, broken crayons and making them useful again, instead of throwing them out.
Here's how I did it!

You need:
Broken crayons with all paper removed.
A silicon tray/mould  such as a muffin tray, ice cube tray, cake pop mould. Please note it must be silicon.
An oven

Preheat the oven to about 150 c
Organise your bits of crayon into colours and fill the moulds with the crayon pieces. You can really play with the colours here, putting them together as a single colour or a rainbow of colours. Be careful not to overfill the moulds!

Put the tray in the oven and set your timer for 5 minutes. You'll need to put it on top of another tray just in case of spills - you don't want wax on the bottom of your oven! You'll also need to stay nearby and keep a close eye on the wax as it melts. It might take a little longer than 5 min, that's just a guide.  As soon as it has melted, take it out of the oven and set it aside to cool.
Please note, the wax will be very hot and will cause burns if spilt. This is definitely not a job for the children!
Once cool, push the crayons out of the moulds, and set the children free with them, to create their masterpieces. Or just play with them, as my 3yr old likes to do!