Week 4 - Pavlova

Hi to each and every one of you!

Well what a week it has been! Very up and down and flat out! However, I did get some baking done and it was right at the beginning of the week! Sunday night MIL called to invite us for dinner the next night - well I'm not one to turn down a dinner invite so I eagerly accepted thinking hmmmm maybe I will try my hand at a Pav. Knowing that I had never made one, I figured I shouldn't mention it - just in case!

So out came good old KenWood and Mr Edmonds!

And then hubby got interested in what I was doing and decided to help me by measuring out the suger and putting it in the bowl.

Slowly but surely the egg white/sugar mix got stiffer and shinier just like Mr Edmonds said! I was having faith in this! This is going to work totally! Finally after at least 15 minutes of high speed beating we got the pav onto baking paper - it was a team effort - I think I slightly over beat the mix as it was rather sticky but we got a perfect circle formed!

Into the oven the master peice went!  I couldn't stop looking at it and checking it! My mum has a histoy of making the bestest pavs EVER and hers tend to get that big they take up the oven tray! I was secretly hoping that it would happen with my pav - however, as you can see from the photo - it didn't happen! Oh well they say practise makes perfect right!

After what felt like ALL day, an hour later it was ready to come out the oven and we were ready to go off on a our merry way with a cooked (hopefully!) pavlova to have for dessert at the inlaws! Because it was still a little warm, we decided to wait til we got there for the final dressing of it! Whipped cream and fresh raspberries! Yummo!

When bitten into it was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle - just how my dad likes it! I guess I learned something from my mum after all! It was delish!!!

Don't forget to let me know what you think... random spot prizes for people who comment :) You never know you could be invited for dessert!

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Broni

Week 3 - Kindle Cover

Well, what an interesting week I have had. I got a fantastic Kindle for my birthday (along with some other gifts that made me SUPER spoilt) however, Dick Smith do not have a cover for my kindle until mid February. With that in mind - another project was thought up! I will just make one for myself in the mean time. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted!

Given the amount of curtain fabric I have left over - I thought to myself - hmmm well.... I may as well use it up! So project make my own kindle cover commenced... it went straight in the bin. Day 2: same deal... day 3 we had a winner - or so I thought. It was way too big and I had forgotten to hem the top so it kinda defeated the purpose. Another attempt the next day: fail! So another day and another shot - it was abit more like what I wanted, but still not right. Sooo I have to admit - week 3 is Project Handmade FAIL!

Please see below for Day 3 and Day 5 photos. I do have a wee treat for you though - a good friend came over today to do some crafting - not only did she give me some advise how to make the cover work (might try it one day!) but we also created some fantastic cards! Check out the photos below and let me know which one is your favourite. If your name features on my calendar then you will get a birthday card in the mail this year! If you would like to receive a home made card then simply email me to broni.carey@gmail.com with your name and address and of course your birthday and you just never know what might turn up in the post. A couple of the cards below are made especially for certain people with birthdays coming up!

Day 3 - no hem - way tooooo big!



Day 5 - just wrong on all levels!



  

So what do you think? Do you have a favourite?

Until next week, have a great week and don't forget to comment!

Broni

Week 2 - Quilt

A wee while ago now (hmmmm at least 18 months ago) I was told by a friend that she was pregnant - my first thought was WOW that is awesome - my second thought was I am going to make her a quilt for the baby. When she was 6 months pregnant (about 15 months ago) I went out and brought all the fabric and cotton that I needed and got a little help to cut out all the squares. Bare in mind here I have NEVER made a quilt in my life, in fact I don't even really know how to sew! But I was determined. I borrowed a friends sewing machine (which kinda broke at least 3 times).. clearly that wasn't working for me! I then enlisted another friend to give me "supervised" sewing help! A few rows were created and I was on cloud 9! I then spoke to DH and he agreed that instead of trucking out each week to borrow a sewing machine I should just buy my own... well give a girl an inch... GONE in a flash - I was at Spotlight doing some research into sewing machines! I settled on a Brother and home with me it came. I learnt pretty quickly how to thread it and to get cotton on the bobbin!

I went like a bat out of hell and got the front finished and the batting done and attached to the backing then stopped! (note: at this stage the baby has been born and is about 6 months old!) I went to a quilting night class with a friend and grasped the concept of putting the binding on and knew I could get this quilt finished!

Well another wee while went by and still the quilt stayed put. After the idea of this whole website and my DH comment on finishing something I start was playing on my mind abit - so out came my laptop and You Tube became my friend. Then out came the quilt and I have FINISHED it! I am well pleased with how the quilt turned out. Even though, I couldn't sew in a straight line and my hand sewing is shocking - I am hoping my friend likes it and even more that her now 9 1/2 month old baby gets some use out of it!!! I enjoyed making the quilt and will be doing another one at some point in the not too distant future... I would love to say watch this space, alas, I cannot put another quilt on here - you better keep an eye on Facebook!

Anyway, enough blurb - here are some pics!!


The front

The back







Flat Front



Let me know what you think! I only couriered the quilt yesterday so I'm hoping she gets it by the time she reads the blog!

Until next week, take care and hope you enjoy the project! Don't forget to leave a comment! There will be spot prizes for comments on blog! You never know what you might get in the post!

Broni

Week 1 - Curtains

Who knew that week 1 would be something as extravagant as curtains! Well that's me - once the seed is sewn.... so we now have new curtains for our spare room at the house in Tawa!

What a journery it's been - the decision was made on Monday; fabric purchased on Tuesday; cutting, pinning and sewing commenced on Wednesday; more pinning and sewing completed on Thursday before the finale on Friday with the help of DH! I have to say, a friend also helped me hem one on Wednesday.

On Saturday will be the BIG test of hanging them and ensuring they are actually straight - we'll see! I have a tonne of fabric left - go the man at Spotlight who clearly miscalculated how much fabric we would need - so you can expect to see matching cushions, table cloth, placemats and maybe even an apron out of the matching fabric!!

Fast forward to Saturday.... even the dog assisted in making curtains - well actually she slept while we did the hard work.

Derek put all the tracks up and after a quick trip to spot light for additional hook thingys (oh and 5 new patterns! eeek) I got to put the curtains up and they look FANTASTIC!!!! Because they are against a window (obviously!) it was hard to take a proper photo, however here is one of the windows (the smallest one actually)!!

So, what do you think? Leave me a comment below!

See you next Sunday.

Broni

An idea is born - week 0

This blog is designed for you to follow my journey over the next 52 weeks to personally make an item each and every week. The following ideas have been discussed: curtains, headband, necklace, cards, tags, You Tube video, dance, dinner (one that I have never tried before), soap, cosmetics, clothes (kids and adults), bright blue teddy bear (special request from my nephew!), recycled paper, herb garden, wedding scrap album (special request from my hubby!), apron, fabric christmas stocking, brooch, shaped blackboard, letters, bookmark, art canvas, christmas decoration, earrings, bracelet, night school class, kids birthday cake, theme a birthday, jam, ballet tutu, wrapping paper, cheese, hummus, gingerbread, cushions, peace, preserve fruit, dog beds (to donate to SPCA), quilt, placemats, clock, notebook, recipe card holder, fudge, book of favourite quotes, truffles, corkboard, kite, tog bag, pencil case, jigsaw puzzle, garden, cocktails, photo montage of geneology, slide show of my life.

There is HEAPS of ideas and more than enough to keep me entertained however, if you have any other ideas of something that you might like to see - please comment below. I can't guarantee I will make it - but I can do my best.

The rules of the game are simple:

1. Each item is handmade by me

2. Each item must be DIFFERENT to anything I have ever done before

3. I have to create something new each week and post a description and photo on my blog!

4. Only finished products can feature on the blog

Sounds fun right! Come and share the fun with me and challenge yourself! If you are interested, flick me an email and I will send you the weeks challenge on a Monday morning!

Keep in mind, some items you will need to purchase product ahead of time and possibly spend abit more time creating.

Happy crafting
Broni