New to craft, so where to start?

Christmas crackers pulled, turkey is long gone, and that strange period between Christmas and New Year takes hold.  Bit at a loss on what to do?  This is the perfect time to try out a new hobby or bring an old back to life.  Sometimes put off by past experiences or the belief that things are harder than they really are.

Crafting is becoming very popular but where do you start, that is the hard bit unless you have a Grannie to hand to show you.  For children it is easy but finding starter kits for adults can prove a challenge.  They do exist and they make life easy by bringing together all you need or much of it.

There are so many old wives tales around putting people off.  Crochet it not difficult unless you take up fine lace work, it is less stress than knitting, as your pretty much only responsible for one stitch at a time, not a whole row!  French knitting, cotton reel with four pins on top is not just for kids, you can make quite sophisticated designs from mug hugs to coasters.

So dive in, see what kits you can find, get help from the vast number of video's on You Tube, books or find a local craft club or centre where you can try out your hobby with others, picking up hints and tips as you go.

SIO Tips no 30

Roof windows allow in a lot of light but can also fade your furnishings or clothes, make a simple light floaty blind to reduce the damage but keep the light.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

Alcohol Free Winter Warmers No 3

Designated driver or simply want to give the grog a miss then we have some ideas for you.  Simple and easy to achieve and you do not have to produce gallons at once! Evening or morning, Christmas or not these drinks are lovely.

Apple Hooch - alcohol free apple punch
Serves 6-8

Sturdy pan

Two cartons of pure apple juice

One carton of quality pineapple juice

Zest of one orange

Slice the orange into 12 half slices after zesting

Push a clove into each orange piece

4 cinnamon sticks cut each in half to create 8 small sticks

Sweetening - if needed (pineapple is very sweet) use honey or sugar.



Add all ingredients excluding the sweetener of your choice, warm through but do not boil, add slowly your sweetener a little at a time till you are happy if required.  Simmer never boil and serve ensuring each cup gets a slice of orange or a cinnamon stick



Want to add alcohol to some of your mixture, separate off the quantity you want to add to and pour in rum to suit, never boil as this kills the alcohol as it will start to evaporate.

Again as with other recipes can be prepared in advance and heated as needed.  Kept warm in a flask or slow cooker.

You could decorate your heat proof glasses or mugs with apple slices, remember you will need to dip in lemon juice or they will go brown.

ENJOY

Salt Dough Decorations

Following on from my recent blog for home-made play dough I decided to find my Mums' Salt Dough recipe and make some decorations for the Christmas tree. They make simple, effective baubles that you can keep year on year; just make sure you paint them well and store them in a dry place. This is a great activity to get the kids involved in and one they will remember for the rest of their lives.

You'll need a few simple things:

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
1/2 Cup Water
Acrylic Paints
Glitter
Ribbon/Wire

Mixing Bowl
Cookie cutters
Baking tray
Knitting needle or skewer

Salt dough really couldn't be easier, you simply put the salt and flour in a mixing bowl and gradually add the water while mixing with your hand.

When all the water is added you knead the dough for 10 minutes to mix it well and to make the dough more elastic.

Once this is done you can set up your work station to roll out the dough and cut out shapes using the cookie cutters. If you're making these with kids try putting their dough on a tray and sit them at the kitchen table where they will be able to sit comfortably; your kitchen counters may be a little too high for them to work from.

You may need a palette knife or fish slice to lift the delicate shapes.
Don't forget to use a knitting needle to poke a hole to hang the decorations by before they get too dry.

Once you've cut your decorations out, lay them on a baking tray to dry. You can either leave them in a warm dry place to dry hard which will take a couple of days or you can put them in the oven at a very low temperature for a few hours. If you notice they are going a little brown you should cover them with tin foil until they are dried thoroughly.

Now they are ready to decorate in any way you can think of! So get creative with paints, glitter, sequins or anything else you can stick onto your shapes. Don't forget to lay down newspaper first, especially if the kiddies are helping and be sure that you're around to supervise them.

Once they are dry you can thread your ribbon or wire through the hole and have fun finding places to hang them.

Have a very happy Christmas everyone!

Ruthie

Emergency Play-Dough for visiting kids

I don't have children of my own so am fairly unprepared for entertaining the kids of visiting friends. One such visit proved that necessity is indeed the mother of invention or rather creation in my case. I remembered my own Mum making us salt dough to play with. We would then bake the dough shapes we'd made and paint or varnish them but I wanted something brighter and more immediate - so I looked for a Play-dough recipe. Here's what I made...

What you'll need:

1 Cup flour (I used plain)
1/2 Cup Table Salt
1 Cup Water (I used warm to speed things up)
1 Tablespoon Veg or Sunflower Oil
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
Food colouring, drop by drop

Plus a large non-stick pan
Measuring cups
Wooden Spoon
Plastic tray or wipeable surface to mix colouring
Empty plastic jars
Apron

Add all ingredients apart from the food colouring to the  non-stick pan and turn on the heat to a medium  temp.

Lumpy now but keep stirring...

The mix will look lumpy and goopy at first but it quickly comes together and the lumps get knocked out as you mix.

Now it's ready to add the colour

You'll know it's ready when the dough forms a ball and becomes impossible to mix any more.

Remember to use a tray

Now you can divide it into however many colours you want to make.

Make a well before adding colour

Make a dimple in the dough and add drops of food colouring and knead in until you have the colour you'd like.

Knead the colour in well

I like to use rubber gloves for this part because the food colouring can get under your nails. It doesn't stain hands once it's mixed in properly so it's safe to let your child loose with.

Ready to be played with

You'll eventually have a lovely soft ball of dough. Ready to be played with by little ones or big kids alike.
Just make sure they play on a table or tray because play-dough isn't great for carpets!

Keeps fresh for ages if kept sealed

Home made play-dough really is so much nicer than the  shop bought stuff. It's totally edible so safe to leave small children to play with, though I can guarantee they won't want to eat much because of the high salt content. You could add some essential oil if you want to make it smell nice too.
Remember to supply cookie cutters and a rolling pin and go have some fun!

It's also great for stress relief, so you'll find everyone reaching for the pot to have a go after a long day. Get the whole family involved and try making up games to play like 3D Pictionary - Fun to play when the grown ups get together for Mulled Wine and Mince pies.

Have a fun-tastic festive season!

Ruthie

SIO Tips no. 29

If you have memories of dry turkey from past Christmases, buy a fresh-killed (meaning, never frozen) turkey. They truly are juicier, tenderer, and tastier than frozen birds.

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time.

Alcohol Free Winter Warmers No 2

Designated driver or simply want to give the grog a miss then we have some ideas for you.  Simple and easy to achieve and you do not have to produce gallons at once! Evening or morning, Christmas or not these drinks are lovely.




Glockenspiel - non Alcoholic Glühwein
Serves 4-6

Study pan
4-6 small mugs or heat proof glasses
1 Carton of good quality cranberry juice - avoid cranberry drink you want pure juice
1/2 carton of quality fresh orange juice
6 Slices of orange
1 Sachet of mulled wine spices - on the spice rack in supermarkets you can boxes of sachets containing ready mixed spices (you can add two if you want it super spicy)
3 Cinnamon sticks - halved to create 6 short sticks
Sweeten to taste with either honey, sugar, or spoonful’s of redcurrant jelly.

Add all ingredients excluding the sweetener of your choice, warm through but do not boil, add slowly your sweetener a little at a time till you are happy.  Simmer never boil and serve ensuring each cup gets a slice of orange and a cinnamon stick piece but never the sachet.  

Keeps well, can be made up and heated later, keep the heat low if keeping warm.  Works on a slow cooker if you want to have it somewhere else than where your cooker is, likewise in flasks. 

ENJOY!