DIY play kitchen

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I’m so excited about this post!!!!
I enjoyed this project so much and I’m so happy to share with you all how I did it.

I’ve been wanting to get my girls a little wooden play kitchen for a while but they can be a bit costly and really generic. So with that in mind I made a decision to make them a DIY play kitchen instead if buying one.

First thing I needed was to find the right furniture. That was definitely the hardest part of the job.
But thanks to my dearest mother I didn’t have to wait too long.
She found a old bookcase being dumped out and she quickly called it to my attention!

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This was perfect!!!
The height and the wight would work perfectly for what I wanted to do with it.

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Here’s my little girl trying out the height and also trying to help.
You can kind of see in the photo that I (i mean my lovely dad) chopped off the top half of the bookshelf.

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Here we marked the hole where the sink would go. We just used an old metal kitchen bowl. You can buy them in pound shops or in my case I just stole one from my mum’s kitchen, oops.

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O yes, and I also removed one of the doors. You will see why later!

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My dad had an old tap in his shed so that came in handy!!!
He drilled a hole on the side and fixed it next to the sink.
I removed the other door and sanded the furniture roughly before I painted it with a primer.

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I painted the outside and the top front of the kitchen ‘egg shell’ and painted the rest white. I also varnished the entire furniture with a water base clear varnish to make it that extra bit more resistant to scratches.
The stripe that looks like I forgot to paint is because I will “tile” the splash back of the play kitchen.

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The door on the left that I removed earlier was cut to make it look like an oven door and painted white.
And yet again my dad came to the rescue!
He had some clear acrylic which I screwed onto the back of the oven door.

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I added a silver handle to the front of the oven door and voila!!
Oven door done!!!

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I fixed the sink in place with some “no more nails” glue.

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I painted the inside of the oven black to look more realistic and added a wire rack and a light to the top.
I attached 5 silver knobs that my dad had laying around which he kindly donated to towards this project.

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The back splash “mosaic tiles” I made using some colourful card paper, wrapping paper and wallpaper that I cut into little squares. I glued it all onto a piece of white card, to look like white grouting, which I measured to fit the bottom of the wall. And glued it to the wall with pva glue and gave 6 coats of clear varnish to protect it!
For the hob I used the lids of coffee containers I had asked my mum to collect 4 me. I glued them with no more glue aswell (I used this a lot in this project).

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I found a really cute fabric full of cupcakes and made this cute curtain to give it a more vintage/ cottage kitchen feel! And just fixed it to where I removed one of the doors. I found a pink box where I put all the kitchen play food and other items to keep it all tidy behind the curtain.
I will be posting a tutorial of how I made the curtain later.

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I made a little shelf for more storage and put 4 hooks under the top of the furniture to hang their little tea cups.

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On one side I screwed more hooks to hang tea towels and aprons.

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The other side made a magnetic board using a cheap oven tray I bought in a pound shop which I wrapped the border with some fabric and pva glue and I glued it to the kitchen with “no more glue” again.

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I printed a cute quote and put it in a frame which I bought in a carboot sale for really cheap and sprayed it pink. And I glued that on aswell.
Then I glued this hook rail to hang their little oven gloves and accessories. I will post a tutorial for the oven gloves later too!

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That’s it guys!!!
The last thing was just to have fun with the accessories.

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Some of the accessories I made myself. Like cake stands and dessert display cabinet, I will be posting some tutorials later, so keep a look out.
And some of the play food that I make for my girls I will also be sharing it here!!
So if you like the cake and these little desserts don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss any of the tutorials!!!

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The end!!!
I hope you like it!

P-S I thought it would be good to list how much I spend making this little kitchen to show you how much cheaper it worked out for me to make it rather than buying it:
Furniture- free
Sand paper- £1.25
Paint- free (I had these left over from painting the house)
Varnish- free (borrowed from dad)
Sink/bowl- free (from mum’s kitchen)
Tap- free (from dad’s shed)
Knobs- free (from dad’s shed)
Cooker- free (coffee container lids)
Shelf- free ( piece of wood from dad’s shed)
Shelf brackets- £0.75 each
Hooks- £2.80 for 6
Fabric- £2.49 per metre
Acrylic- free (dad’s shed)
Wire rack- £1
Oven light- £1 for 2
Picture frame- £0.20
Pink spray- £3.50
Oven tray- £1
Hook hanging rack- free
Pink box- £2.99
Accessories- £12
Total spent= £29.73

DIY Bunting

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Hello every one!!!
Sorry it’s been a while since I posted any thing. I’ve been so busy crafting and looking after my girls.
I’m determined to post all my creations ASAP!!!
This is one of many.
So without any more delay, here we go!

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I’ve never made bunting before, but always wanted to try.
So when I had to make some decorations for my girls second birthday party I got my wish!

Before I start let me just say that I am NOT an expert seamstress! My mum taught me the basics and the rest I’ve taught my self through trial and error so please forgive me for any mistakes you may come across.
If you have any questions about this tutorial do leave a comment and I will try to answer them.

I started off by making a template with card paper. I made a diamond shape just because it was easier for me to cut out more triangles at once but a triangular shape will do just fine!!!

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Cut out the triangles or diamond shapes on your chosen fabric. I cut out 40 diamonds, which makes 20 triangles.

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Sew along the sides of the triangle, wrong way around!
Cut along the top so you can turn the fabric inside out to make it the “right” side out!
Iron the triangles flat to make it easier to sew them all together.

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I used a red ribbon to hold all the triangles together. It was a little thinner than 3cm and it was just right so I wouldn’t recommend you to use anything less than 2cm thickness just because it makes it more difficult when sewing.

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Pin the the triangles onto the ribbon about 5 cm apart from each other and sew!

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Iron your bunting one last time to flatten out the ribbon.

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And hang it anywhere you like!!!

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The beauty of sewing 2 triangles together is that you can hang it from both sides or even across a room, because it doesn’t have a wrong side it will look neat on both sides!

That’s it!!!
Enjoy!!!

Hanging laundry cocoon

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I have a weirdly shaped small bathroom and not much room for storage at home. I needed a laundry basket but couldn’t find any where to fit one. So I came up with the idea to have a hanging one in the bathroom. And this is the outcome.

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I’m so pleased with how it turned out. And even my husband is sold on the idea. He is the one that named it “the cocoon”, he thought it was quite ugly in the beginning, but he admits it that he has grown fond of it!!!!

I used jute string to make it last and not easy to break, because when its full with laundry it gets quite heavy.

If you would like to give it a try, here it is.

Hanging laundry basket pattern:

Material:
A lot of jute string/ gardeners string ( I used about 8, 50g yarns )
6mm crochet hook

You will be working in rounds throughout this pattern

Abbreviations:
Dc- Double crochet
Sc- Single crochet
Dc2tog- Double crochet 2 together (1Double crochet decrease in 2 stitches)

Chain 3, 10 Dc in second chain from hook
Round 1: 2 Dc in each Dc (20Dc)
Round 2: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next Dc) around (30 Dc)
Round 3: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 2 DC) around (40 Dc)
Round 4: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 3 Dc) around (50 Dc)
Round 5: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 4 Dc) around (60 Dc)
Round 6: working in back loops only Dc around (60 Dc)
Round 7: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next Dc) around (70 Dc)
Round 8: Dc in each Dc around (70 Dc)
Round 9: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 2 Dc) around (80 Dc)
Round 10: Dc in each Dc around (80 Dc)
Round 11: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 3 Dc) around (90 Dc)
Round 12: Dc in each Dc around (90 Dc)
Round 13: (2 Dc in first Dc, Dc in next 4 Dc) around (100 Dc)
Round 14: Dc in each Dc around (100 Dc)
Round 15-26: Dc in each Dc (100 Dc)
Round 27: (Dc2tog in first 2 Dc, Dc in next 4 Dc) around (90 Dc)
Round 28: Dc in each Dc around (90 Dc)
Round 29: (Dc2tog in first 2 Dc, Dc in next 3 Dc) around (80 Dc)
Round 30: Dc in each Dc around (80 Dc)
Round 31: Sc in each Dc around (80 Sc)
Round 32: Sc in each Sc apart from last 10 stitches (70 Sc), Chain 20, skip last 10 stitches and join the chain to the first stitch of round 33
Round 33: Sc in each Sc including the chain (90 Sc)
Round 34: Sc in each Sc around including chain that is now the handle where the basket will be hung from. (90 Sc) Fasten off and weave in ends.

My cocoon measures 77cm / 31in

That’s it!! Easy as that!!!

It’s big enough to fit a child…

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…or 2.
But I’m not sure she’s happy with that idea!!!

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**Feel free to make and sell the end product from my patterns, but if you do please link it back to me. Please do not use copy and post this pattern as your own.**

If you liked this pattern and end up making one for your self I would love to hear about it and see photos.

Crochet owl hat

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I came across this gorgeous pattern for owl hats last month and I couldn’t help but make all these colours!

If you want to give it a go here is where you can get the pattern!!!
It’s a wonderful blog to get free patterns and inspiration!!!!

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DIY Moustache Scarf

So it’s November!
Before I start with all my Christmas craft projects I had to find time to fit in my movember inspired scarf!

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I’ve searched high and low for a moustache scarf with no joy. So I decided to make my own.

Here is how I did it…

What I used:
Black acrylic paint
Kitchen sponge
1 metre of sheer fabric
Thin paintbrush

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-Cover the surface were you will be painting with newspaper, then place the fabric on top of it folded in half.

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-cut a sponge into your desired shape. In this case a moustache.

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-Fill a bowl with paint and dip the sponge in it. Allow it to soak enough paint to stamp the fabric properly.

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-Dab the sponge a little on the side of the bowl to remove excess paint then stamp the fabric carefully but firmly to make sure the paint sinks through the folded side.

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-Stamp as many or as little designs as you wish. Don’t worry if if some gets smudged or it doesn’t come up perfect. It all adds to the look. And you can also go over some of them with a paintbrush if you aren’t entirely happy.

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-When it is dry ( mine was dry within a couple of hours, but you can leave it longer just to be sure) fold the sides twice and iron.

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-Saw the edges to finish off and wear your scarf!!!

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That’s it!!!
How easy was that?

Hope you like it and if you decide to make one your self I would love to see it so post a msg with a link to the photo.

Thanks

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I’m obsessed with covering everything in fabric at the moment and this piggy bank is one of my latest victims.
I inherited him from my lovely little nanny in law last year and i didn’t really know how to fit it in with our deco, so I decided to change it a bit.

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I had some scrap materials so I decided to use the floral ones. I cut it all into similar sized squares and brushed the piggy with pva/ white craft glue and placed each square individually on the piggy. It dried within 2 hrs.
That’s it all done!!!

I think he looks quite cute, don’t you???

I’ve got a lot of friends having babies soon, so I think a colourful patchwork piggy bank will be a great present!!!

Yummy Scrummy Homemade Sausage

I’ve been thinking about making my girls sausage and mash for a while but havent really been very keen on giving them ready made sausages because I find it too fatty and I never really know what’s in them. So I decided that I would make them homemade ones. I couldnt believe how easy it was.

My girls are 13 months old, but this is a great finger food from 12 months.

What you’ll need:

500g Mince pork

1 egg

1 cube of garlic and onion puree/ 1 clove and 1/2 a small onion

1 tsp of paprika

1tsp of tumeric

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter

your choice of herbs

strong cling film cut into 3 inch strips

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with your hands. If you are using fresh onions and garlic you will find it useful to grate it or mash it because this way it will get mixed up well and you wont get left with chunks like when you chop it, but if thats what you are going for than you can chop finely. 

Make mini ball shapes you can use a table spoon as a size guide. I made these the size of meatballs. Put them to one side and cut the strips of cling film.

Place each meatball in the middle of a strip of cling film and roll it into a sausage shape while wrapping it with the cling film (shorter sides). You should be left with the the longer sides of the cling film at the both ends of the sausage.

Hold on to each end of the cling film and twist it until the sausage feels quite secure in the cling film. As you can see I tied the ends together. I found that it was the best way to hold it all together, but if you find an easier and less time consuming way please let me know.

Place it all together in a cooking pan and fill it with boiling water. Cook it for 15 min.

Let it cool and remove the cling film. You might find that some sausages will automatically come out of their cling film casing, which is helpful in some ways!!!

Place in freezer bags and store it in the freezer. They dont look very appetizing, I know, but you can brown them abit before serving. 

When you want to serve them you can cook straight from frozen by frying them in a bit of olive oil. Serve it with mash and veg. You can also add abit of baked beans to the mash if you wanted to for extra moisture.

I know they look abit odd, but trust me, they are yummy!!!

Thats it!!! Home made sausages for your little one(s)!!!

I hope they enjoy it!!!!

Gifts of nature

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I just love this time of the year: the weather is still holding up and there’s so much free fruit out there just waiting to be picked!
My husband’s parents have a beautiful house in the country where we have just spend a long weekend. Not only are we always spoiled with great food when we go there, but always get goodies to bring back with us. And this time it was no exception!

The trees were full of fruit just asking to be picked. So I went on a picking spree and bought a whole load home.

I went there with the intention to pick my weight in blackberries because I knew the bushes would be full of them, but after filling half a bucket and having my arms pricked and scratched on the nettles I decided I had enough!
I had no intention of picking anything else, until my mother in-law asked if I wanted to take some damsons home.
People that know me will tell you that I’m a sucker for a bargain, specially if it’s free! So without any more insistence from my mother in-law I decided to except her generous offer of some free damsons as well.
As I was reaching the higher branches trying to grab as much damsons as a could I suddenly noticed the apple tree at the bottom of the garden, full of apples.
“Do you mind if I take some apples as well?” I had to ask!
“Ofcourse, please do, they will only go to waste if you don’t pick the! ” she said!
Yay a voice screamed inside, and up I went on the tree! Now, these aren’t the prettiest apples in the world but they are so tasty it doesn’t matter, right!

A few minutes later I was finished with the apples and I started sorting through my treasures, when along came my father in-law and said “wow well done, you did well! Don’t forget the plums!”, I jumped up and replied “plums? What plums?”, he said ” you haven’t seen the plums? You must take some plums, they are delicious!”
I went into the kitchen and asked for another bucket and told my mother in-law, “just when I thought I was finished, I found the plums!”, which she replied “do you have a big freezer?” and ofcourse I don’t!

So for the rest of this month I will be trying out different recipes with all these treasures!!!

Watch this space every one!

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Blackberry and Blueberry Bread Pudding

This is a great recipe for using up stale bread.

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Ingredients:

1 can of condensed milk

200g coconut milk

200g milk

3 eggs

4 bread buns/ 2 small baguette ( or any bread you have left over )

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp cinnamon

100g blueberries

50g blackberries

Soak the bread in milk and coconut milk. When the bread has turned soggy add all other ingredients and blend with a hand blender or if you prefer you can add all the ingredients to a blender and blend everything together there.

Grease a 8 inch/ 20cm tin  with butter and pour the bread mix into the tin and scatter the fruit on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 150C for approximately 40 minutes. ( remember that every oven is different so you will need to keep an eye on it just to make sure ). The bread pudding should be cooked when a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean!

Leave to cool for about 1 hour. Cut into slices or cut into circles with a cookie cutter and serve in cupcake cases.

You can serve this cool as a cake or serve warm with ice cream, clotted cream or custard as a special treat!!!

Tip: You can use any type of bread for this. if you are using a lot of bread all you need to do is adjust the other ingredients. just remember that the mix should be liquid before baking it. so the more bread the more milk you will need to soak the bread in, specially if the bread is quite hard and crispy. You can also use different fruits!

ENJOY!!!!

Hello world!

Hello all!!

So this is the deal: 15 months ago I had 2 beautiful bouncing baby girls.  Yes! It wasn’t a typo. 2 babies at the same time, Twins. Since then life has been nothing short of a crazy rollercoaster ride (more on that later). With it I’ve come across some amazing finds and learned so much that I could not live without!!! I now feel the need to share a lot of my amazing discoveries with you all and hopefully it will be of some interest. You will find meal ideas including most of my recipes and a lot of tips and useful information for all things to do with or for your little angel(s). Youll also find some every day activities alongside my absolute life savers for when you’re out and about with the family. While following a strict routine was key to our ‘survival’, I know that not every one is the same. I have met many parents that have all different parenting styles but hopefully you can ‘cherry pick’some of my ideas for you and your little one.

The material on this site is designed for personal use only, so please be aware that all content is written and images posted by me (Ester Hunter) and its Copyright, need granted permission by the Authour (Me!) for use of any material from this site! Thank you!

Feel free to contact me by email: fingerlickinggoodness22@gmail.com I love to chat and respond to all my comments!!!  I will soon have more ways for you to contact me, but for now you can follow me and leave a comment or question here also.

Thanks for reading!!!!