Autumn

Firstly I just want to say I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I have been so busy but I"m hoping to get back into the rhythm of posting once a week.

Before I start, I just wanted to point out how quickly Autumn came to the UK. One day it was sunny and warm and the next day we had a visit from Mr Jack Frost. So as you may of guessed already I wanted to write about Autumn; the darker evenings, the clear, crisp mornings and the heating cranked up full, this time of year is my favourite. I can finally dig out all my snuggly jumpers that have been buried under t-shirts and shorts for the last six months because jumpers are just Autumn wrapped up in one word. All the high street stores stock their shelves high with thick, woolly jumpers. My favourite colour has to be that gorgeous maroon/dark red. As we are on the subject of colours, wow, October colours are just beautiful. They range from pure, bright yellows through to vivid oranges and rich, deep reds. The trees loose their lively, green leaves and stand still as skeletons as the harsh bitter wind weaves through their branches... Anyway as I was saying here are a few things that I love about Autumn.

Candles, yes you knew I would mention them sometime:). I think candles just add to the cosy atmosphere in the evenings. Step into your onesie with a hot chocolate and light those candles. Oh, am I forgetting something? Yes, bath bombs. Your evenings aren't complete without a big, warm bubble bath. I find Lush an a amazing place to purchase bath products. All natural ingredients and not tested on animals. I recently used the Sakura bath ballistic. It smelt of pure cherry blossom, gorgeous.

Last week, I painted my nails a dark purple which is unusual for me as I usually stick to lighter colours but because it was Autumn I decided to venture out and use No7 Damson Dream. I loved it so much that once it had worn down a bit I replaced it with a dark teel colour also from the No7 range. I think Autumn is the perfect season to start wearing darker nail polish. Dark reds, greens, purples, even pinks and blues.

 - Here are some of my jumpers -

 - Sakura Bath Bomb from Lush -

 Thank you for reading, hope you have a wonderful Autumn full of hot chocolates and onesies:)

DIY Cards

 Hello again! In the picture above there are four of my homemade cards. I love to make things unique and special by creating my cards by hand. Usually I look for ideas on Pinterest and from there I create my own designs. In this post I tell you how I made them and give you guys a few ideas to make your own! I

- Different Font Card -

 I wish I could've thought of a more creative name for this card but alas no... my imagination doesn't stretch that far so we will have to make do with 'different font card'. Sorry! For this card, all you need is a pencil, black fine liner and a plain, white piece of A4 card. I first drew out my words in pencil onto the card, starting at the top and making my way to the bottom. I then went over the pencil lines with fine liner, colouring in some of the words

- Musical Note Button Card -

For this card I used again a plain, white sheet of A4 card, a pencil, a black fine liner and 7 black buttons of different shape and size. I first used a ruler to draw on the lines with pencil and then marked on where all the notes would go. I then drew with a ruler the notes before I stuck on the buttons. I glued on the buttons with PVA glue.

- Elephant Balloons -

For this card I used:

• two pieces of different patterned paper
• 13 buttons (different colours)
• green, sparkly card
• A4 white card
• Black fineliner  

To make this card I used a template for the elephant and its ear. I cut them out of the patterned paper and stuck them onto the white card with double sided tape. I then cut a strip of green card (long enough to fit on the width of the card) and frayed the edges slightly to make it look like 3D grass. I stuck that on with double sided tape too. Using the black fine liner I marked out where the buttons would go before joining them to the elephants trunk. I used UHU glue to stick each button on.

- Daffodil Card -

I used buttons again for this card for the center of the daffodils. You need a plain, white sheet of A4 card, orange, yellow crayons, black fine liner (again) and 6 yellowy buttons of different sizes and shapes. First I drew each daffodil (without the buttons) and coloured them in with the yellow and orange crayons. I made them stand out a bit more with the fine liner. I drew straight lines with a ruler to the bottom of the page for the stems. Using PVA, I stuck the buttons into the centers of the daffodils.

Thank you for reading! I really enjoy designing and making little things like this and I hope you will too. 

Thank you again x

The Perfect Gluten Free Cupcakes

In this post I will tell you (with pictures!) a step by step routine of how to bake gluten free (flour free) red velvet and lemon cupcakes. I have always used this recipe and it has always worked out the best! I really enjoy baking these, they are my favourite. These are free of gluten. This recipe makes 18 cakes but you can double it or half it. To make this recipe you will need: 

• 3 mixing bowls
• electric whisk
• spoon
• 18 paper/silicone cupcake cases
• cupcake baking tray
• cooling rack

Step 1:
Get all your ingredients which include:

• 150g Free From gluten self raising flour (I got mine from asda, I find it the best!)
• 150g Granulated sugar
• 150g Olive spread (just any margarine)
• 1.5tsp Gluten free baking powder
• 3 eggs (free range!)
• 1.5tsp vanilla extract
• 2tsp red food colouring
• 1 lemon

 Icing:

• 75g butter (slightly melted)
• 150g icing sugar

 Step 2:
Firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees, gas mark 4. Next get your set of weighing scales and your big mixing bowl. Start by adding the flour, then sugar and then butter; make sure you keep an eye on the weighing scales! 150g each.



 
Step 3: 
To put the baking powder in I take it off the weighing scales because you won't be using them any time soon. Put 1.5tsp of baking powder, then break the 3 eggs into a separate bowl or jug. Add them to your mixture and finally put 1.5tsp of vanilla extract. 

Step 4:
Once you have all your ingredients in the big mixing bowl, use the electric whisk to mix them all up. I usually whisk for a couple of
minutes until the mixture is a
creamy consistency. If it is too thick and it doesn't drip of the whisk, I would add a little splash of milk.









Step 5:
Your mixture should look like the image on the right by this point. Now I split the mixture into two so I can make the lemon and red velvet separately. I have three bowls because I was experimenting on baking coconut cupcakes:) Now you zest the lemon with either a grater or a lemon zester. You also juice the lemon either by using a juicer or just squeezing it over one of your mixtures. Add the zest and about 2tbsp of the lemon juices. In your other bowl, measure out 2tsp of red food colouring and add it to the mix. I don't add cocoa powder but of course you can if you want them chocolatey. About 2tbsp would do. 

 That is what the red velvet will look like, if you can add more or less food colouring or just add none at all for plain, vanilla cupcakes.

 

Step 6: 

Spoon both mixtures into cupcake cases on your cupcake baking tray. Then put them in the preheated oven for about ten to fifteen minutes. Whilst the cakes are baking, you can make the icing to go on them.

Step 7: 

To make the lemon icing that goes on the lemon cakes, you have to get your other mixing bowl and sieve about 75g of your icing sugar. Once you have sieved the icing sugar, mix it slowly together with about 30g of your butter. You have to beat it for a long time to get it into a nice paste. It may be a bit tough so add in about 2tbsp of lemon juice to give it a good flavour. I added a tiny splash of red colouring to make a lovely pink colour but of course you can make yours any colour. 

 

Step 8:

To make the red velvet icing, just complete the previous steps but miss out the red colouring and lemon juice and add milk or water instead. So you are left with a perfect, creamy mix. By the time you have finished making the icing, your cakes should be ready and set to cool on a rack.

They should look a bit like these!

Step 9: Once your cakes are cool, you can start piping or spreading your icing onto your cakes. Be creative do whatever you want to decorate them, they are your cakes!

Here are my finished cakes:)

Now you can sit back with a cup of tea and eat your cakes. I really hoped you had as much fun baking them as I did and that they turned out as tasty and delicious as you expected! I loved writing this post as I haven't done one like this before. Can't wait to show you come more of my wonderful recipes I have cooked in the past.

Hope you enjoyed reading!
Thanks x