a little faery dust

faery, faerie, fairy.... whatever

Ingredients:
glitter
mini jam jars (the kind that you get when you order a scone with jam and cream or found at a hotel breakfast bar)
a handful of buttons
a few scraps of fabric
twine (a hair tie or rubber band will work too)
small piece of card
alphabet stamps
ink
scissors
1 x child

Instructions:
*Make sure the jam jar is clean (glitter and jam not so great actually). Fill the jam jar with glitter and put the lid on tightly (you can tape it down if you hate glitter as much as I do)

*Use scissors (or pinking shears) to cut the fabric into a circle to cover the lid of the jar. (I used a slightly larger jar as a template)

*Tie the fabric around the jar using the twine, (hair tie, rubber band).

*Cut a small piece of card into a tag shape and let your child stamp faery dust, magic dust, glitter (ignore the temper tantrum that follows when you say to said child that they have missed a letter,blurred the ink, or no they cannot have the glitter back it is it the fairy dust pot.....then sit and re-stamp another piece of card because you are fussy and anal about crafts and the letters must be perfect)

*Have a mini breakdown when said child stomps off in a rage, leaving you threatening to cancel Christmas and call Santa .....after eating all the chocolate in the advent calender.

*Thread some buttons onto a piece of thread and tie around the jar.

*Add the tag and there you go one lovely little faerie dust decoration/gift (and a way to hide the evil glitter in plain sight. because there is nothing more evil than a child with a bottle of glue and a pot of glitter)

*send annoying demonic offspring to help Daddy while you have a cup of coffee (or something stronger) and steal the chocolate meant for Christmas Day.

(alternatively you could fill them with edible glitter, but I couldn't find any round these parts)

if only it made kids be good, calm, and comatose

Snowmen Cupcakes

who you lookin at?

ingredients:

cupcakes:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 ½ cup caster (white) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup milk
3 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
Grease 12 cupcake cups or line with paper muffin liners. (recipe makes 24 cupcakes (not fairycake size, muffin tin size.)

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.In a small bowl mix the milk and the vanilla.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

add half the flour and mix well. Add half the milk and vanilla mixture.

Add eggs, one at a time mixing well. slowly add in the remainder of the dry mixture.

Add the last of the milk and vanilla.

spoon the batter into the cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1-1/2 cups powdered (icing) sugar
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or vanilla flavouring)

Place the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a bowl and slowly add in the powdered (icing) sugar as you mix. Blend until smooth.

decoration:
1 large bag of plain m&ms
1 industrious child to separate the m&ms ( you only need the brown and orange ones so bribery is easy)
sweetened and tenderized coconut
1 bag plain chocolate chips


assembly:

place the sweet coconut in a bowl.

ice a cupcake with the vanilla icing and gently dip the cupcake into the coconut.

use the brown m&ms for the eyes and the orange ones for the nose, and chocolate chip (coal) for the snowman's smile. Its a fun job that the kids can help you with, especially separating out the m&m colours, as H quite happily sat for an unheard of 10 minutes separating out all the m&ms and was quite happy to steal a few.

alternatively you could use other orange sweets for the snowman's nose or colour some marzipan orange and roll flat and cut small triangles (carrots) or roll into small carrot shapes.

cooks notes: I made two batches 48 cupcakes to sell after H's school Christmas Concert, every single cupcake sold!, M assures me they were very nice I never got one though I may have made myself just the teensiest bit sickly "tasting" the icing....and cake batter... I also made 24 Double Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes which sold too, so I was quite pleased that even if my crafts aren't selling my cakes were appreciated and raised some money for H's school.

Questions Currently Plaguing My Brain

Lego Indy meets the Doctor (taken at Hamley's Toy Store)

Amy at A Commonplace Life (a new blog I have found to stalk via Katy's blog) blogged the questions that are currently plaguing her. I thought it was an excellent stream of conciousness writinging excercize, and a brilliant way to procrastinate and not get things done that I set myself the task of doing today. So here goes....

Will I ever finish writing the Poison Apple Tree fairy tale?

Will I ever write a book?

Should I go do the dishes and the laundry now? or wait till just before M and H get home when I will look like I am a good housewife?

Will I ever be a good housewife? because really I loath dusting and hoovering more than anything.

Will I ever be able to do the things I dream of doing?

Will I ever be anything more than the dreamer I am?

Will I get booted from the crafting community because most of the presents for chrstmas are bought games, and electronic gizmos and I haven't made anything yet?

is my writing any good at all? or should I give up on that dream and get a job?

will we ever move back to the US?

If I make muffins for breakfast tommorrow will they be eaten? or will the Boy randomly decide that is the day that he wants some sort of crappy cereal?

Why do all the shows I really love, that having craking dialogue and great music get cancelled? (Dollhouse, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Moonlight, etc)

can I play just one more game of Bejewelled on facebook?

when a friend said I was a Jack of all trades was that really a compliment?

should I get a part time job so I get out of the house more than I do?

would I be able to handle a job and still cooking and cleaning as I'm not the best housewife to begin with and I really don't know how I could cope with that... this really isn't a question is it?

Will I be forever allergic to broccoli ? ( the allergy developed after having H)

Why do I love crafts but hate crafting with kids?

will I get through next week's craft night, baking for the School Christmas Fair, and helping out at said fair?

is there any dark chocolate in the house for me?

have I written enough questions or should I write more (I definitly have more you know)?

...also will you signup for my Alice in Wonderland Craft Swap?

Alice in Wonderland Swap

After receiving so many positive comments about my question I have done a little swap write up for those of us that wish to take a fall down the rabbit hole and go for a wander around Wonderland.

The Alice in Wonderland Swap


1. SIGN UP by leaving a comment here before 31st of December!

2. Email me at meridianariel @ hotmail.com with the following information:
-Name
-Mailing Address
-Website or Blog Address: (or even your flickr photos so that your partner can stalk you)*
-twitter ID:
-favourite book:
-favourite movie:
-your favourite thing about Alice in Wonderland:
Your favourite candy/chocolate/movie treat:
-A little bit about your crafts, your life, whatever you like to help your partner get to know you.

3. Save the swap icon/picture and blog about it or place it somewhere on your blog so others can find out about the swap.

*Swap partners will be chosen randomly by me, and I will email your partner’s details on Around the 1st of January 2010 eep! (if there are more than 50 or so participating I may need to rope someone in to help me sort out partners as I am useless)

4. Your parcel should contain:
*Candy (or chocolate) to eat while watching Alice in Wonderland (any version)
*Handmade crafts with the Alice in Wonderland theme.. (For example The swap can be as simple or as extravagant as you wish, just make sure that the things you send are something you would be happy to receive yourself.
*craft supplies

(Make sure you and your partner spend roughly the same amount around £20 ($30 ish))


5. Mail your package by Monday the 22nd of February! (because Tim Burton’s Alice hits cinemas the following week)

6. Take a picture of your swap parcel once you receive it. Upload your images to the 80’s Fantasy Movie Craft Swap flickr account (I‘ll start one soon). More information will be in your confirmation email once you sign up.

* please have an established blog, flickr account, as I want you and your partner to both be able to become friends, and view each others crafts, and its difficult for swaps to be fair if you haven’t got anything for us to stalk.