When my best friend’s babies came along I made each of them name pictures for the nursery wall.
Because it was such a momentous event (super exciting but also signalling the end to our era of clubbing!) I wanted something special that they could keep forever.
My friend must have liked them as she has now asked me to create one for her brand new niece.
Because they are personalised and handmade they feel really special, but actually they are really easy to make.
Here’s how:
Buy a frame with a mount, a selection of ribbons, a sheet of felt and an embroidery silk in the same tones.
Cut a piece of card slightly larger than the aperture of the mount. Stick lengths of ribbon along the back of one side and weave with ribbons on the adjacent side. Take a look at my Easter card blog for the technique <link> https://dairydiarychat.co.uk/2016/03/09/banish-the-blue-part-2/
On a piece of paper print out your chosen name in simple lettering. Cut out the letters and pin to the felt. Cut around the letters. Use the embroidery silk to do a blanket stitch around the edge of each letter.
Glue the letters to the finished woven ribbon card and place in the frame.
With the wind still whistling around our ears, rain pelting the windows and the clocks waiting another few weeks before they go forward, it’s easy to get despondent.
Lift the mood by creating something
lovely for Easter, and maybe give
one of your creations as a gift.
I have been recipe testing for the next diary recently and to save my waistline from ‘just one more taste’ I have been giving out little parcels of food to neighbours and to teachers/acquaintances at the school gate. People have been genuinely thrilled to receive something unexpected (and yummy of course!) and it really brightens my (and hopefully their) day.
So…..here are three ideas for easy Easter treats to share:
Calories 291 per portion
Fat 15g (6.5g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians
Ingredients
Plain Madeira cake 285g pack
Chocolate spread 5 tbsp
White chocolate 225g (8oz), broken into pieces
Lollipop sticks 10 x 15cm (6in) Neon sugar sprinkles
Instructions
Trim off brown edges and crumble cake into a bowl. Add half the chocolate spread and mix well with your hands. Add remaining spread a tablespoon at a time until you have a mixture that can be squished and rolled into 10 tightly packed 30g (1oz) egg shapes.
Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper and chill for 1 hour.
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring often.
Dip end of each stick into chocolate and insert into eggs. Place in a cake pop stand or glass and leave to set. Dip cake pop into chocolate and slowly rotate until evenly covered. Hold over a plate and sprinkle with decorations. Leave to set as before. Repeat with other pops.
If giving as an Easter gift, pop into a cellophane bag and tie with a pretty coloured ribbon.
Choose a selection of ribbons in similar colours. Cut into strips slightly longer than the length of the oval.
On the reverse of the oval attached a piece of ribbon (at the top left only) with a piece of tape. It should hang vertically down the length of the edge of the oval. Attach a second ribbon next to it to create a ribbon ‘fringe’ behind the oval.
Cut more ribbon slightly wider than the width of the oval.
Attach a piece of ribbon at the top of the oval but this time horizontally. Weave the ribbon in and out of the other ribbons to create a woven effect. Attach to the back with tape. Repeat until the oval is filled with the woven ribbon pattern.
Line an 18cm (7in) square baking tin with cling film.
Place butter and chocolate in a large bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, until melted, checking frequently.
Put biscuits into a strong polythene bag and bash with a rolling pin until broken up. Stir into chocolate with mini eggs, marshmallows and cranberries.
Press into tin and refrigerate for at least an hour until firm. Remove from tin and cut into 16 squares.
This week is National Nest Box Week, an initiative set up to encourage everyone to put up nest boxes in their local area in order to enhance biodiversity and conservation of our breeding birds and wildlife.
Natural nest sites for birds such as holes in trees or old buildings are disappearing fast as gardens are tidied and old houses are repaired.
Taking part in NNBW gives you the chance to contribute to bird conservation whilst giving you the pleasure of observing any breeding birds that you attract to your nest box.
And here is a step-by-step guide to making a bird box.
This project is taken from our Seasonal Garden Ideas book,
available to buy for just £3.99!
A Box for the Birds
Encourage small songbirds into your garden with a tailor-made nest box – this small-hole version is suitable for blue and great tits, coal tits and tree sparrows.
You can make the box at any time of year, but try to put it into position in January. Birds can start looking for nesting sites pretty early.
Making the box and putting it up should take an afternoon.
What you need
Saw, sandpaper, screwdriver, hammer, tape measure, pencil, drill, drill bits including a 28mm wide bit for the entrance hole.
One piece of sawn, untreated timber measuring 1.2m (4ft) long, 15cm (6in) wide and 1.25cm (¾ in) thick.
Two brass hinges and screws.
Water-based wood preservative and brush.
Hook or strong nail for hanging the box.
1 Mark out all the pieces on the timber using tape measure and pencil, to the following dimensions:
Back 30cm x 15cm (12in x 6in).
Floor 11cm x 15cm (4.5in x 6in).
Front 18cm x 15cm (7in x 6in).
Roof 20cm x 15cm (8in x 6in).
Side panels x 2 (cut for the sloping roof) 20cm (8in) high at the back, 18cm (7in) high at the front, 15cm (6in) at top and bottom.
2 Cut out the six sections accurately with a saw.
3 Sand all rough edges smooth – any splinters could damage the birds. Drill several small holes in the floor piece for drainage.
4 Fix one of the sides to the floor of the box using three nails set at intervals, then nail both of these to the back section – three nails per join are enough.
5 Turn the box on to the fixed side and nail the second side on to the back and floor.
6 Make the entrance hole for the birds in the front using a drill and 28mm wide drill bit. Position this hole at least 13cm (5in) up from the floor so the baby chicks can’t fall out. Sand the edges of the hole smooth.
7 Turn the box on its side and nail the front piece to the sides. Everything should fit together tightly without gaps. Screw the brass hinges on to the roof and back pieces.
8 Drill a hole in the top of the bird box for attaching to a tree trunk or branch via a hook or nail. Paint the outside of the box with a water-based wood preservative but do not allow the preservative to get inside the box – it will poison the chicks. Also keep the preservative away from the entrance – the adult birds often tap this area with their beaks before entering.
9 Position the box in a sheltered site, preferably between north and east to avoid heavy rain and hot afternoon sun. Place it high enough to be out of reach of prowling cats. Don’t position it near a bird feeding table – the constant coming and going of other birds will deter the parent birds from using the box.
Tips
Hanging the box about 2m (7ft) above ground should be enough to deter predators. Tilt the box slightly forwards when fixing it in place to aid water run-off.
Aftercare
Don’t be tempted to look in the box while baby birds are inside – such disturbance may cause the parents to desert the nest. Just watch comings and goings from a distance.
When the chicks have fledged and left the box, take it down, remove old nesting material and clean it thoroughly with scalding hot water – this is enough to kill any parasites.
Reapply water-based preservative if needed to prolong the life of the box, then hang it up again.
Creative Creations to Sooth the Soul from Dairy Diary
After the hubbub of Christmas it’s easy to feel a little fed up. The weather’s dismal and the excitement of the season has been and gone.
However, now’s the time to embrace the cold – cosy up indoors and create something lovely.
The feel-good factor of crafting
is a great mood lifter.
The project may seem a little premature, but it’s a great way of recycling Christmas cards and gift wrap. It also means that you can already tick one thing off the to-do list for next Christmas.
Pop your gorgeous tags in a box and store with your Christmas decorations – and don’t forget to make a note in your Dairy Diary – otherwise it’s easy to forget and buy new tags in November.
Christmas gift tags for 2016
Old Christmas cards and Christmas paper
Craft knife or paper cutter
Christmas punch
Double-sided tape
Scissors
Card
Hole punch
Ribbon or wool (I cut these from gifts or the inside of new clothes)
1 Choose pretty elements from the old cards and wrap cut with a punch, knife or paper cutter.
2 Cut squares or rectangles of paper slightly larger.
3 Layer one on top of another on a piece of card and secure with double-sided tape.
It’s traditional to hang a wreath on the door at Christmas, and there are lots to choose from in the shops – but why not make your own using the abundant and varied foliage and berries available in the winter garden?
To ensure your wreath stays fresh as long as possible, make it as near to Christmas as you can. It should only take an hour or so.
What you need
Plants: Stems, foliage and berries from as many evergreen plants in the garden as you can muster: here, variegated holly, cypress, ivy (in flower), elaeagnus, rosemary, rose hips and hawthorn berries have all been pressed into use. Aim for long stems and unblemished leaves if possible.
Equipment: Circular wreath ring from a florist or garden centre. Thin wire. Soft green string.
Instructions
1 Start with the evergreen and variegated foliage. Twist and tuck the stems into the wreath ring, securing with wire or soft string. Point them all in one direction to get a ‘wheel effect’. Work in this way all round the ring until you have a reasonably full foundation of secure foliage. Space out the variegated or bronze leaves for best effect.
2 Tie small bunches of berries together with wire or string, then tuck them into the ring at intervals in front of the foliage, again securing tightly with wire or string. The berries will be heavier than the foliage, so don’t put too many together in one bunch.
3 Hang the wreath on your door using wire or string.
Tip: If red berries simply aren’t available in your garden, invest in some really good quality, natural-looking artificial ones and keep them for use from year to year.
Notes: Other evergreen/variegated foliage leaves to try include artemisia, aucuba, choosy, euonymus, pittosporum, senecio and skimmia – as well as all the conifers. Just go into the garden and see what’s there!
Aftercare: The wreath should last reasonably well over the Christmas period, but after that the leaves will start to dry up – take it down on Twelfth Night (6 January).
This easy wreath is taken from Seasonal Garden Ideas, a lovely book with step-by-step projects for pretty garden projects throughout the year.
The festive season is almost upon us and soon we will be feverishly shopping, wrapping and delivering gifts.
Whilst we’re visiting friends (and furtively swapping children’s gifts from the car boot) I like to take a little something scrumptious, beautifully wrapped, of course.
This year I have been inspired by the Dairy Diary to make these fabulous Napoleons.
Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to make Napoleons
Napoleons
Time 1½ hrs
Makes 8-10 slices
Calories 513 Fat 18.3g of which 7.4g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Ingredients
For the pastry
Ready-rolled frozen puff pastry 2 x 375g packets, thawed
For the pastry cream
Egg yolks 3
Caster sugar 200g (7oz)
Plain flour 50g (2oz)
Cornflour 25g (1oz)
Milk 500ml (18fl oz)
Vanilla extract ½ tsp
For the glacé icing
Vanilla extract ¼ tsp
Icing sugar 225g (8oz), sifted
For the chocolate drizzle
Dark chocolate
Equipment
25g (1oz) Baking sheets and/or trays
Baking paper
Cling film
Icing pen or piping bag
Secrets of pastry cream
Pastry cream or crème pâtissière is a thick custard sauce used in open fruit tarts and in many small pastry delicacies.
The recipe here uses cornflour to thicken the sauce; many recipes use custard powder instead. Both work well, but custard powder will give a yellow finish, whereas cornflour gives a cream-coloured result. Cook the sauce until it is really thick.
Making the pastry layers
1 Preheat oven to 220°C(200°fan)/425°F/Gas 7. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Lay unrolled puff pastry sheets on prepared baking sheets, and prick them all over with a fork. Lay another baking sheet on top of each sheet of pastry. You may need to do this in batches.
2 Bake for 18–23 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Carefully remove pastry onto a rack to cool. Cut each sheet in half and trim edges. You will have one spare piece.
Making the pastry cream
3 Beat egg yolks and sugar until white, add flour and cornflour and mix well. Add ¼ of milk to loosen mixture. Put remaining milk and vanilla extract into a pan and bring to boil. Pour onto eggs, stir well, return to heat and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens. Transfer to a bowl. Cover surface with cling film and cool completely without stirring.
Making the glacé icing
4 Add vanilla extract to icing sugar and whisk in boiled water, spoon by spoon, until you get a good spreading consistency.
Creating the Napoleons
5 Lay one sheet of cooked pastry onto a board and spread it with a thick layer of pastry cream. Lay a second sheet of pastry on top and spread on another layer of pastry cream.
6 Put on final layer of pastry and spread with an even layer of glacé icing.
7 Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and put it into an icing pen or piping bag with a fine nozzle. Draw horizontal chocolate lines at regular intervals over surface of the icing.
8 Take a metal skewer and lightly drag it diagonally across lines to make an attractive pattern. Leave to set before slicing carefully with a sharp knife into individual servings.
These exquisite pastries are taken from the 2016 Dairy Diary available now.
And these will go into a cake box adorned with a decorative pompom (these are also fabulous for decorating your home for the Christmas season).
Buy a frame with a mount, a selection of ribbons, a sheet of felt and an embroidery silk in the same tones.
