back home and back dated crafts

tea towel drawn by H and hand stamped with a little help

Were back from our holiday to visit my parents in Idaho, jet lagged all to hell and H currently having a major hissy fit as there is cheese on his sandwich...? We had a great time, though not enough of it and I will blog pictures later on in the week when I have stolen them from M, and can be bothered to sort them out. For now I will show you a few things I made the week before going away and didn't have a chance to blog.

lavender and rice warm bags hand stamped with Pappy and Grammy

H helped sew the lavender and rice bags, picked out the fabrics himself, and filled them with the aforementioned dried lavender and rice, then together we stamped the ribbon with "PAPPY" and "GRAMMY" least they forget, as well as getting him to draw a picture to trace onto a simple cotton tea towel from ikea, and then stamped it with my alphabet stamps and fabric ink.

a slightly better picture of the warmbag for my Mother

A few days before heading to the airport was my friend Flamesparrow's birthday, so in an effort to cheer her up I sent her a parcel of books, with a homemade card (which I think is one of the best I have ever done) and a small faceted onyx bracelet. The parcel didn't arrive until we were at our airport hotel so i never blogged about them either. I suppose I could have set the posts to post at certain dates then things would have been secret until my creations were in the hands of who there were meant for but the week before going away was chaotic to say the least.

onyx bracelet for flame

I know in my last post I promised a giveaway, but you will have to give me a few days as I have nothing made to actually giveaway. I did buy some crafty treats, fabric and stamps while away so I do have supplies to make some lovely things, and hopefully inspiration to get them made as well. And I have a lot of writing to do to, somebody kick me up the backside please, in a day or two though when I'm not so lethargic and jetlagged.

Flamesparrow's birthday card

Maple Pecan Muffins

Ingredients


2 cups self-raising flour
1/2cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
½ cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans


pre heat oven to 400F.


Place paper baking cups into a muffin tin, or grease and flour the muffin tins.


In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients except for the pecans the batter will be slightly lumpy. Carefully fold in the pecans.


Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups filling them about two thirds full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of brown sugar before placeing them in the oven.


Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately remove from the pan and place on a wire rack.

Best served warm with a small amount of butter.



cooks notes: The intention was to serve the muffins with some bacon, but as there was none in the house they were served on their own. Very nice and not too sweet the recipe is my own, alother there are several diffrent versions avalible, most of which including Nigella's version used vegtable oil, which I rarely ever use as I think it makes cakes very heavey and greasy with a not so pleasant aftertaste.



H was slightly bemused by the muffins and said "Mummy why do these cupcakes taste like pancakes? " though he never thought to question why I would give him cupcakes for breakfast.



I have finished making the valentine's cards for the studio, the floor is a mess but have made all 40. time for chocolate. The picture is jsut a quick snap, they do look nicer than that.