Cherry Menlove &#187; Crafts for Children

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Felt Bauble Garland

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:28:37 +0000

It is Monday, the start of a new week, and the week that I begin to slowly, slowly decorate the house for Christmas. Pottering about the place in the evenings putting up lights and sorting out the decorations. We purchased our tree on Saturday and if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter (links below) I posted a picture of it yesterday evening. It’s a nice tree and as the weekends leading up to Christmas can occasionally get busy we grabbed the chance to buy it while we were out and about and get it installed in to the living room.

I have a Christmas craft for you to try today if you’d like. This Felt Bauble Garland is a nice ‘sit in front of the telly’ craft. Needs no sewing machine and doesn’t cost a fortune. It’s also a good one if you have children that are old enough to work with a needle and are interested in this sort of thing. Go to town on the decorative front. I chose white felt as the base colour for my baubles as I’m trying to keep everything clean and bright. But you can go with whatever will suit your house.

You also don’t have to stick to my choice of shapes for your baubles. You can go with stars, hearts, moons. Whatever you like. Just have fun!

I decided to have 6 Baubles on my garland but, again, if you have a larger or wider space to fill then you can choose to have more.

Cut out 6 bauble shapes from card (I used cereal boxes) freehand or using a ruler/compass/upturned bowl. Keep the shapes as simple as you like.

Next, you will need to cut out 12 pieces (or double the amount of baubles you are making) of felt to cover the card. These felt pieces need to be a tiny bit larger than the pieces of card (see picture above) as you’ll be encasing the card in the felt.
Make each felt piece approximately half a centimeter larger than the card template, all the way around.

Decorate the 6 baubles however you fancy (see full picture of my garland for inspiration). I decided to use different colour felt, embroidery thread and a few sequins & beads.

Now, cut out 6 bauble tops from your choice of felt. I chose to use a beige colour. You need to make sure these rectangle tops are the same size as the felt bauble tops, not the card template tops.

Once the front of the bauble is decorated & you have your bauble tops cut out you need to sew the pieces of the bauble together. You will need the plain back piece of the bauble, the card, the decorated front piece & the bauble top.
Sandwich all these pieces together (with the card template in the middle of the two felt pieces & the bauble top at the top), or pin if you like.

Sew blanket stitch all the way around. If you are unsure how to do blanket stitch then you can find out how to do it here

Not forgetting to include the bauble top as you work your way around the outside edge.

As a final step create a loop on the back of the bauble - Sew 2 vertical stitches on the back of your bauble top in the center.

Finish by threading all of your baubles on to some ribbon.

This is a lightweight garland so it can be hung anywhere. I may move mine from the mantle and hang it going up the stairs or perhaps in the kitchen. It would also look great in the kids bedroom and although they’re far too young to get excited about the season they certainly like bright colours.

Have a wonderful start to the week.

Are you ready to get cosy?

I love you and thank you so much for reading.

Cherry x

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How To Make Christmas Stockings 2010

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:23:15 +0000

I finished the stockings.

Simple, fun bright stockings that will attract the eyes of my five month old babies.

I’ve started what I hope is a tradition in our little family as I’d like to aim to make them both a stocking each Christmas. I’ll let you know how I get on with that idea, it may be too ambitious, but I do hope not.

As you can see I’m already in my element. Creating corners and wee cosy nooks. It’s entirely for my own satisfaction as the twins are far too young to appreciate any of it but I’ve been waiting a long time for my children’s first Christmas and by golly I’m going to suck the very life out of it.

OK, I’m going to keep the instructions for making these stockings very, very simple.

To make one of these stockings you will need -

Two pieces of felt – both large enough to make one half of a stocking (my stockings measured approx 40x15cm excluding the cuff)
A piece of contrasting felt big enough to make an initial
Buttons, beads & sequins for embellishing
A piece of fabric for the stocking cuff
A piece of fabric for the hanging loop
Embroidery thread for sewing the initial
Your choice of coloured wool for sewing the stockings together
Cotton for sewing on the buttons
Scissors, pinking shears and needles
A piece of card for the templates

Draw a stocking shape on to the card and cut the shape out
Draw around the card template on to the felt and cut out the stocking shape using pinking shears. Do this twice creating two stocking halves
Draw the template of the initial you have chosen (for example ‘A’) on to a piece of card and cut it out
Draw around the template on the contrasting piece of felt and cut it out.
Pin your initial in place on one of the stocking pieces and sew it in to place using a bright coloured embroidery thread
Embellish the initial with sequins and beads to add definition
Decorate the rest of the stocking front with buttons
Sew the two halves together
You now have a stocking

To make the cuff -

Use a piece of fabric that is long enough to fit around the circumference of the stocking and wide enough to create a cuff
To make the cuff, fold the fabric in half and pin together with the right side of the fabric on the inside
Sew up three sides leaving one end open
Use the open end to pull the fabric the right way out and then sew up the open end
Then sew your cuff in to place around the top of the stocking – I sewed on the inside of the cuff and only sewed through one layer of the cuff’s fabric as I didn’t want my stitches to bee seen on the outside
Sew a loop in to the inside corner of the stocking and you have now completed your stocking.

These are very simple stockings but I think it’s the colours that bring them to life. Bright candy colours that make you smile.

I’ll certainly be able to fit a satsuma, some chocolate coins and a rattle in these. I’ll have the satsuma, Robert will nick the coins and the babies will enjoy their rattle. Although it may have to double as a teether as we have that to deal with right now. Eeeek!

Whatever comes our way this Christmas, teething issues or not, I am filled with peace right now. It’s our first as parents and to say that I am rather looking forward to it is an understatement.

If you have been reading me for any length of time you’ll know that I love this time of year but my feelings about this one are off the scale.

It’s not that I’m jumping around and frantic or even trying to get super organised, no, it’s much more calm and mellow than that.

Maybe I’m just happy.

Yes, I’ll leave it at that.

Simple things, simple days, simple feelings.

Oh and a build-up to Christmas that has clearly started in earnest *oh dear*

Apologies in advance.

I love you. Thank you so much for reading.

Cherry x

You can also view my 2009 Christmas Stockings here.
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How – To Make Trick or Treat Halloween Bags

Cherry Menlove — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:04:10 +0000

I’m managing to get on top of the art of starting things early. If I want to make the babies stockings for Christmas then I start them in mid-October. And if I make Halloween Trick or Treat bags and want to show you how to make them too then we have to have Halloween a little earlier than usual. Which is why we had it yesterday afternoon. Not that Truly & Daisy (my sister’s twins) minded. They will be busy on the weekend that Halloween falls so this way they won’t miss out.

I was so pleased that we did this yesterday for other reasons too as I woke up this morning to -5c and frost covering the entire garden. It’s amazing, and slightly wonderful, how quickly the weather changes from one season to the next but I’m a little afraid if Winter is here to stay already. Eeek! Where are the thermal long-johns? I know Robert loves it when I’m in them for 6 months out of twelve!

Now I’ve got my own babies I don’t get to see my beautiful nieces as much. But when I do see them I am reminded of just how much fun there is to come as mine get older. Cries of “that is a big spider hanging from the tree” rang out yesterday in the garden.

Along with “Daddy has a sore botty” !!!!

I’m not quite sure of the meaning of this and I don’t think I’ll ask. But my very good natured sister just looked at me and shrugged as if to say “Yours will be embarrassing you real soon. Just you wait”

As we don’t have neighbors in the usual sense of the word we have to make do with Trick or Treating another way. We copy the Easter Egg hunt from Easter and the kids don’t seem to mind a jot. Looking for chocolate is not a hardship for children and I think finding it under a tree is magical at any age. I loved it and ate much more than I should have yesterday.

Not wanting to leave my babies out of the fun I settled on my very old Autumnal quilt with a cup of tea and the sun at my back.

Look at the way Anaïs is holding on to my cardi. I love that. She’s getting very good at sitting up with not very much help.

Truly got bored at one point and wanted to fish in the pond.

And then Daisy joined her.

I stayed on the quilt for most of the time.

It would seem that my kids are very outdoorsy at the moment. They really do like it and are much more content outside, even if it is very cold. This is great for Robert and I as we are fans of gardening in the cooler weather. And the babies seem to be quite happy sitting in their seats or in their buggy and watching us. We wrap them up, making sure that they are warm, and we do everything that we would normally do. They love to watch us, napping occasionally, and chatting to their hands….when they are not in their mouths.

A nice cuppa on the lawn on an autumn afternoon.

Loving the simple things again.

Touching noses with Truly is a simple thing that I loved doing yesterday.

She’s a very generous girl, is our Tru. If you ask her for some of her chocolate she’ll give it to you.

But she also knows a good thing when she sees it and very quickly cottoned on to the fact that she may as well take the whole basket of sweets home with her instead of filling up a piddly trick or treat bag that holds half as much.

That’s my girl.

My kids seem to be cottoning on and getting a little smarter too…….

Anaïs : So, how long do we have to sit out here, having our pictures taken & getting cold bottoms?

Ned: Just smile, don’t say a word and the whole thing will be done much quicker.

Me: You are good children, aren’t you! Only another 5085 pictures left to take.

Anaïs : Whhhhhhhaaaaaaaatttttt!

Ned: Told you.

Be still my heart.

Puddy feet in minature Uggs.

Holding a felty soft Trick or Treat bag in small puddy hands.

Do me the honor of making these yourselves. And if you do, you have to let me know. Use the form on this page and if you have a blog send me the link.

For each bag you will need the following:

2 squares of felt measuring 30 x 30cm (in the colour of your choice)
4 strips of felt measuring 40 x 4cm and cut to a point at each end (in the colour of your choice)
A square of felt for making the decoration on the bag (i.e. the ghost or pumpkin and in a contrasting colour to the bag itself)
Some additional felt for any embellishments on the bag (i.e. eyes, nose, mouths etc.)
Embroidery thread
Needle
Pins

How to make the bag(s)

Start by drawing out your chosen Halloween image for the front of the bag onto a piece of card, I drew out a pumpkin for one bag and a ghost for the other but you can get as creative or as ghoulish as you or dare, woo ha ha!
Cut out the cardboard template.
Draw around the template onto the felt you have chosen and cut the felt shape out.

Cut out and sew on any embellishments, for example if you are making a pumpkin like I did, now is the time cut out the eyes, nose, mouth and stalk.

Pin the motif to one of the squares of felt and use embroidery thread to sew it on. I used green thread on my orange pumpkin and black thread on my ghost for contrast.

Next for the handles. Sew two of the 40 x 4cm strips together, sewing them together will make the handles stronger. I used a blanket-stitch all the way around the handle in a white thread.
Repeat this with the other two strips of felt, thus creating two handles for your bag.

Pin either end of one of the handles to the opposite side of the felt to which the motif is on. (I pinned mine approximately 7 cm in from each side and approximately 4cm down.)
Repeat this step using the other felt handle, on the other square of felt.

Sew the handles in place using embroidery thread and follow the line of the handle point when sewing them on.
When the handles are sewn together in place it is then time to sew the bag together.
Pin the bag together in place and the correct way round.

Use embroidery thread to blanket stitch the three sides of the bag together.
To finish the bag, I blanket stitched either side of the bag across the the top (the opening) as I found this gave it more definition.

I love you and feel very fortunate to have you read this. Please know that.

Cherry x

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Autumnal Felt Leaf Garland

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:26:50 +0000

So, the song that the babies and I rocked out to this morning was this little gem….

“Where it began, I can’t begin to know when
But then I know it’s growing strong
Oh, wasn’t the spring, whooo
And spring became the summer
Who’d believe you’d come along

Hands, touching hands, reaching out
Touching me, touching you
Oh, sweet Caroline
Good times never seem so good
I’ve been inclined to believe it never would”

It made me feel so good and alive and babies don’t mind when you sing at the top of your voice. In fact they positively encourage that sort of behavior as they smile at you while you’re doing it. Of course it helped that at the time I was changing their nappies but I think it’s all down to my singing.

I love crafting almost as much as I like singing embarrassingly loudly in the morning. It’s really lovely to make something by hand for your home or as a gift for someone else. But nothing prepared me for how lovely it was to craft for my kids. If I could tell you all of the teeny tiny projects I have on the go at the house right now you’d wonder if I would ever get all of them done. But one of the projects has been completed and that is the one on offer today.

Clearly my kids didn’t help me make this as they can’t even hold their own heads up yet but this leaf garland made out of felt is fantastic for a parent to make and for a small baby to be fascinated by.

Ned LOVES the shapes and colours as they contrast well but this craft is also great for a parent to make and for an older child to help with. So, whatever the age this is a great autumnal craft for everyone.

For the project you will need the following items:

Various colours of felt for the leaves
Various colours of embroidery thread
Needle
Card for the leaf templates
String/Ribbon

Draw out your various leaf shapes onto some card and cut them out, it doesn’t matter what card you use as it won’t be seen.
Use a felt tip pen to trace around the edges of your cardboard leaf shapes and then cut them out. (The children will love tracing around the leaf templates!)

Remembering to cut out two felt leaves per cardboard template so that the template can be sandwiched between them. (This will make the leaves sturdier so that they won’t flop when they are hung on the garland.)

Repeat this process until all of the leaves are cut out. It is up to you how many leaves you make as it will depend on the length of your garland.

Use a contrasting embroidery thread to sew the veins on to one of the leaf shapes.

Sandwich the cardboard leaf template back between the two leaf shaped pieces of felt and secure them together with a paperclip so they stay in place whilst sewing together. For this I used a blanket stitch with yet another contrasting coloured embroidery thread. In this case, black.

Repeat this process until all of the leaves are complete.

You can use any type of ribbon or string to attach your leaves to, I used some string and then wound some thin red ribbon around the string for extra colour. To attach the leaves to the string I used a needle and thread to stitch them securely in place, spacing them evenly along the string.

You are then ready to hang your beautifully autumnal leaf garland wherever takes your fancy.

Here it is in the nursery.

Lovely, lovely Autumn.

Have a fantastic day. It’s very autumnal here in West Sussex and I’m writing this from a rather cosy office right now. Looking out over the drive to the ENORMOUS beech tree that dominates the garden. I’ve watched that tree this year as a little bit pregnant, a lot pregnant and as a mummy. And here we are a year later. Back to where we started. I find comfort in that. A wee bit of stability in an ever changing life.

I love you and will see you back here tomorrow.

Cherry

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How To Make a Fabric Union Jack

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 25 May 2010 09:56:58 +0000

How To Make a Fabric Union Jack

The nursery, strangely enough, has been a hard room to decorate. There is something about getting a space ready for two people you haven’t met that leaves me a bit bewildered and wanting to stall. Robert and I have set up the basics, the cot beds, drawers, clothing, muslin’s etc… but in terms of personalizing it I am waiting until they are here to really get cracking on that.

However, one thing I knew I wanted in this room was a fabric Union Jack. I love the Union Jack because there can be so many variations on its themes in terms of colours used. It doesn’t have to be red, white & blue. And although, strictly speaking, this is not an exact copy of the flag it is still clear what it is and we have been asked about it a lot since it first appeared in the pictures from my Baby Shower.

So, without further ado here is how you can make one for yourself. ….

This framed fabric Union Jack is a great way of creating your own art, all you need are some fabric remnants, an iron, a picture frame with a card border on the inside of the frame and hey presto you have your very own piece of (patriotic) art. I wanted a piece that I could proudly hang in my twins nursery so my colour scheme for the flag was quite mellow using pinks, blues, whites and greens.

Note: I used a picture of the Union Jack as a guide for making my flag and it is good idea to have the picture on hand throughout the process to refer to.

Note: Your flag size will depend on the size of your frame/border so you will need to measure out your fabric pieces accordingly to fit the frame.

Use the card border that comes with your frame to construct your flag.
I used some masking tape at each corner to stick the background fabric to the card.
Before finally cutting the piece of fabric that will make the background of your flag ensure that it is slightly bigger than the inside measurements of the border.

Once you have the background piece of your flag in place, begin work on the strips of fabric that will bring the flag to life.
Decide what fabric will make up what part of the flag
Each piece of fabric will have to be made into a strip so cut them all to size, fold over so that each strip is double in thickness…

… and iron them for a neater and crisper finish.

I would advise using spray starch when ironing your strips as this enables the fabric to hold its shape and makes it easier to put the pieces in to place on the flag.

The key to this flag looking great is how the strips of fabric lay on top and across each other. Flat, flush and neat.
Here are my pink and white strips.

And here are my green and white strips.

Once all of my fabric strips were neatly cut, folded and ironed I started constructing the flag

By laying the fabric strips…

piece…

by…

piece…

in to place.

The flag was then placed securely in to the frame – use masking tape if you feel the need to stick it down – and it was hung up above one of the cot beds……

There it is. On the wall above Boy Meatball’s bed. The nursery is so bright and lovely that I’m carefully considering what I put on the walls and around the room as I like the sense of space it has right now.

Baby ‘stuff’ is so lovely nowadays and so different to how it all was when I was a baby. Maternity wear can be considered high fashion when certain designers get their paws in to it and I know for a fact that the industry itself is growing and growing. But there are occasions when you don’t have to part with your hard earned cash and give it to somebody who has created something very simple but really rather nice. You can simply make your own. That is what I have done with this flag and it looks just as good as anything I’ve seen in the stores, which I believe is a huge point of this hand-made revolution. No one wants anything sub-standard, whether it’s made by hand or not.

Do have a go at making this if the mood takes you. Choose your own colours, size and frame and hang it wherever you like. I’ve always thought it might look rather fetching hung over my roll top bath. Who knows, I may make another, it was so easy after all!

Lots of love and stuff,
Cherry oxoxox

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How To Make Mini Soft Building Blocks For Children

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:31:26 +0000

Today is an exciting day as it’s the first time I get to introduce ‘Cherry Baby’ at Cherry Menlove to you all. I know that so many of you out there have children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and kiddos that you see on a regular basis so this is the launch of my children’s collection.

I’m excited to be working on different patterns and designs for lots and lots of items specifically made for the smaller people in your lives and very much look forward to premiering them here on my website. But today we’re starting small and with a craft project that I have sitting in my brand new nursery right now.

These handmade mini building blocks were a delight to make; not only are they relatively easy to make but they are just the type of craft project I want to be involved in at present because of the two little bambinos on the way. These little beauties would make an ideal, not to mention really thoughtful, baby shower gift, so go on, give it a go.

Start by printing out the free down-loadable building block template and cut it out.
Note: You will notice that the template has an inner and an outer line, cut along the very outer line as the inner line is just a guide for how big the hem should be.
Use a pencil to trace around the template onto the opposite side of the fabric you are using.

Now cut out the fabric template.

Cut an incision of approx 1.5cm at each of the base corners (so your scissors meet the inner guide line), by making these incisions you will create a 1cm hem for sewing.

Sew each of the four sides of the block up using the 1cm hem as your guide.
Make sure that the patterned side of the fabric is facing inside when you sew. We sewed our blocks by hand, but they can be sewn by machine if you prefer.
Once all of the sides of the block are sewn up, fold over the the top piece of the fabric (make an incision into the seam at each side if necessary) and continue to sew around the top of the block.
All sides should now be sewn up apart from one.

Turn the block back the right way and fill with soft toy polyester filling.

Using a very small and tight stitch, sew up the final edge of the block.

To exaggerate and neaten the edges of our blocks, we stitched over the hems on each side of the block, once again using a very small and tight stitch.
This makes the blocks look more ‘block-like’ as they can have a tendency to soften around the edges when you stuff them.

This part does take a little bit of time, but it’s worth it in the end. It also makes the blocks a great deal more secure for when very little hands are holding (and chewing) them.

It’s lovely to be making things for this room in the house. Especially as Spring is in the air and everything is so exciting right now.

I recently moved the office in to the house to be closer to the action as it was over in another room across the drive. The new view I have from my desk allows me to watch changes outside. So far I’ve seen snow, drizzle, biting winds, dark mornings, darker evenings and a pond that is frozen over. Now I see all the bulbs bursting forth, buds forming on the trees and the sun coming in and landing on the desks.

Thank goodness for change.

And that’s all I have to say.

Lots of love,
Cx

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How To Make A Christmas Stocking

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:48:33 +0000

How To Make A Christmas Stocking

So, as my two babies continue to grow inside my tummy and I continue to constantly pick myself up off of the floor after such an enormous, heartwarming show of kindness at our good news things are still moving on apace here at the house.

We continue to decorate most inches of space for Christmas and are still having flashes of inspiration at the oddest times. Plans get thrown out of the window and we scrap certain projects in favour of others and today’s post was one of those moments.

I’ll now hand over to Jodie, whose project this is. I hope you love it as much as I do. I know I plan on making two of these myself!

Jodie.

I mentioned to Cherry recently that I really wanted to make a Christmas stocking this year for each of my girls. I envisioned these stockings coming out year after year and that they would really grow to mean something special to them. I could see the stockings hanging on either side of the fireplace in the run up to Christmas and then stuffed with presents come Christmas Day.

That was my plan.

Luckily Cherry thought this was a great idea and so set me to work straight away. Ha!

Some of the stockings you see in the shops are somewhat on the small side, but I wanted my stockings to be BIG (mine measure approx 60cm x 35cm)!

I set about drawing up a template, one that I would then draw around on to my chosen fabric. I used newspaper to draw my stocking template.
I chose some lovely mushroom and duck egg blue upholstery fabric. The decision to use this type of fabric was made because I wanted the stockings to be gorgeous but hard-wearing enough to survive many Christmases to come.

Once I had drawn my stocking template (front and back) onto the fabric I cut the shapes out and pinned them together inside out as the fabric I was using was not reversible.

Tip: If you are using fabric that is not reversible, you will need to draw around the stocking shape first with the boot toe facing towards your left and then flip the stocking template over so the boot toe faces to right. When the templates are then cut out the two correct sides of the stocking (fabric) will marry up correctly.

I then double hemmed the top (opening) of both pieces of the stocking. This is to ensure that the opening of the stocking will not fray but will also make it stronger

To make the hanging tag for the stocking I cut a small piece of fabric measuring 14 cm and hemmed either side of it. Your hanging tag may be a different size to mine as it will depend on the size of your stocking.
I machined one end of the tag to the inside of the top left hand side of the stocking (so you have the toe pointing to the right when you look at it)

I then machined the other end of the tag to the other side of the inside of the stocking

For the stocking’s trim, I decided to keep it quite traditional so I used a faux fur Santa trim

I measured out enough fur trim to be wrapped around the top of the stocking and cut the width of the trim to measure approx 32cm (again, your trim size will differ, depending on the size of your stocking)

I folded the fur trim over length-ways, (so the fur was inside) pinned in place and machined the edge closed as well as one of the ends, leaving the other end open

I then turned fabric fur channel back the right way, leaving one end open still
I attached the fur trim by hand sewing it to the top of the stocking opening. As you will have already double hemmed the top (opening) of the stocking, you should be able to sew the fur trim onto the side of the double hem without it looking too messy.

When you have attached the top of the fur trim on to the top of the stocking, continue to hand sew the sides of the trim together, thus sealing the fur channel you have created

To personalise each of my stockings I used the first name initial of each of my girls & I chose some turquoise blue felt which complemented the duck-egg-blue fabric

I used some card to draw and cut out a ‘T’ and a ‘D’
When I was happy with the size and shape of each letter I drew around the cardboard templates onto the turquoise felt and cut the letters out of the fabric

To decorate the letters I used some pearlised sequins and beads. Placing the sequin nearest to the fabric and the bead on top of the sequin I sewed them together on top of each other to give more of a sparkly effect (and you have to have a bit of sparkle at Christmas!)
By sewing the sequins and beads on all the way around the edges of the letters, I felt it gave them more definition and finished them off perfectly

I then pinned my decorated letters in place onto each of my stockings and sewed them on by hand using some turquoise thread

And here they are, hanging on the end of the bed, ready for Santa to stuff them with presents on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas my little angels.

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This Year’s Gingerbread House

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:28:42 +0000

So here it is, my Gingerbread House for 2009. I’ve made it early for two reasons.

1, Because I’m obsessed with Christmas

2, Because I like to give you, the reader, a chance to decide whether or not you’d like to make one. There’s nothing worse than being presented with an idea that you would have loved to have tried and not have enough time for it.

I’m also going to add something else right here also – I don’t make NEAT gingerbread houses. I don’t like NEAT gingerbread houses. I like them to look like there is so much sugar holding them together that NOTHING but a peckish child would ever be able to dismantle them.

Here’s how you make it -

Pre-heat your oven to 220c / 425f
I used a food mixer with the paddle attachment to make the dough for my gingerbread house. It can be mixed by hand but you will need to put a bit of elbow grease into it as the gingerbread dough does become quite hard to mix because of its thick consistency!
Start by creaming together the sugar and margarine
Then mix in the black treacle (molasses will work but NOT black-strap) and set to one side
In a separate and large mixing bowl blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon and ginger
Measure out the 250ml of water and bit by bit, add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture along with the water

Tip: It is advisable to add the water gradually at this stage as you may/may not require the full amount for your gingerbread dough

The dough mixture should end up being of a of bread dough consistency; thick, strong and slightly stretchy, but not too sticky. You should be able to remove it from the mixing bowl without leaving any behind.

On a well floured surface use a rolling pin to start rolling the gingerbread dough out ready for the template to be cut in to it

Tip: I found that a thickness of around 1/4 inch worked well for the thickness of the gingerbread walls and roof but you could make yours thicker if you prefer.

When you are happy with the thickness of the dough you are ready to cut out your gingerbread house template

Tip: I made a cardboard template for my house consisting of four walls, two roof pieces (front and back), two additional roof pieces (sides) four chimney pieces, two small windows and a front door and then cut around it using a small sharp knife; you however may have a steadier hand than me and not require a template at all!

When cut, place your gingerbread house pieces onto a greaseproof or lined baking tray(s) and bake in the oven for around 15 mins
When you remove your gingerbread pieces from the oven do not worry if they feel a little soft and spongy to the touch, they will stiffen up, I promise.
Allow the gingerbread pieces to cool down completely before you start on the next step

Making the mortar -

If you are using a food mixer for this part, use the whisking attachment. If you are mixing this by hand, you will need to use a hand whisk and have a lot of energy!
Mix together the icing (confectioners) sugar, cream of tartar and the three egg whites until light and fluffy, this takes a few minutes in a mixer, longer by hand.

Using a pallet knife start building your gingerbread house using the gingerbread pieces and the mortar you have just made.

You may need to do the sticking of the gingerbread house together over a couple of days (i.e. stick the base (walls) of the house together one day and put the roof on the next) as the mortar will need time to set.

And you may even need the help of another person to hold pieces such as the roof.

Decorate your house with lots and lots of sweeties using the leftover mortar as the glue to stick them on with

Square chewy sweets work well as guttering and also a place for fairies to sit. The fairies you see in these pictures were bought from the fabulous Stephanie at the recent Country Living Christmas Fair. I can honestly say her stall was packed and I had to get in there quick before she had none left.

The chimney was stuffed with marshmallow flumps which gave my second fairy a very comfortable seat for the Christmas period.

And I sat one with a very large lolly by the front door. I fashioned a garden path out of tiny present confetti but as soon as there is any kind of draft the presents blow away.

Oops!

Marshmallows for roof tiles, dolly mixtures for the top of the roof, chocolate buttons as pebble dashing. The only thing that will limit your decorating of a gingerbread house are the sweets you can get your paws on. Nothing else.

Warning: Although this mixture is edible it is advisable not to eat it, because let’s face it, it won’t taste as good as it should after it’s been sitting around for most of December gathering dust!

Hello Nel!

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How to Make a Child’s Pencil Case

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:44:37 +0000

It is not long before the children will be packing their little ruck-sacks and heading back to start another year of school. This is a great project that may help them to get excited about going back and they can actually use it.

*We used a sewing machine for this project but this pencil case could also be hand sewn*

Cut your chosen piece of fabric to size (22 x 22 cm).
Ensuring the fabric is inside out fold in half
Pin a hem measuring approx 0.5cm along the top and bottom of the fabric and then machine along both hems
Ensuring that the pencil case is still inside out, hem (approx 0.5cm) and sew up just one of the end of the pencil case

Pin one side of the closed zipper to one side of the pencil case’s top opening; marrying up the zippers teeth with the length of the pencil case’s opening
Ensuring that the zipper remains closed, sew from where the zipper’s teeth start until the zipper’s teeth finish. NOT along the entire length of the zipper.

Sew the first side of the zipper into place

Now do the same again; pin and sew the other side of the zipper to the other side of the pencil case.

Note: If you are using a machine to sew the zipper on you will need to lift up the presser foot about half way through machining the zipper so you can move the pull tab from being positioned in front of the needle to being positioned behind the needle, as it will get in the way if you do not do this.

When the zipper has been attached to both sides of the pencil case you will then need to sew up the last side. This part can be a little tricky as it must be sewn up inside out, remembering to sew up until the end of the zipper’s teeth – not the zipper’s full length.
Make sure that you leave the zipper open when you sew up this part of the pencil case.
When it is all sewn up tuck the ends of the zipper in to the pencil case.
Trim off any fabric left over from along the sewn sides. Do this before you turn the pencil case the right way in.
You should end up with a pencil case looking something like this…

Now the children can get involved. We have included a free Apple download for you to print out so you (your child) can use the shapes as templates for drawing round to create the decoration for the pencil case.

Download the “Apple” template and print it out.
Cut out both sizes of the paper apple shapes.
Place the larger apple template onto the red felt and draw around it using a thin black felt-tip pen. Do the same again so you have two red apple shapes and then cut the shapes out.

Using the smaller apple template place it on the green felt and trace around it twice so you have two apples, then cut them out.

Note: You may need to help the children with cutting the smaller parts of the apple.

Using craft glue carefully glue in place the two red apples and then glue the two green apple’s on top.

Allow to dry for around 20 minutes.

And there you have it, a great addition to your child’s school bag on his or her first day back. And they can be very proud in the knowledge that they helped to make it too. Ha!

See you a little later on with a brand new post!

Cherry , xo

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How to make a Wigwam for children – by Cherry Menlove

Cherry Menlove — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:41:29 +0000

How to make a Fabric Wigwam for children by Cherry Menlove

What you will need:

Two pieces of 50 x 130cm fabric for 2 door panels

Two pieces of 150 x 130cm fabric for two wall panels

Three broom handles measuring 120cm each

Small ball of yarn/wool (for the ties)

A large darning needle

1.5 metres of your choice of ribbon (to tie around the top for decoration)

Thread to match your fabric

Pins (to hem the fabric)

Approx 2 metres of string

Hot glue gun

1.4metres of ribbon to cut into ten 14cm strips – for ties at bottom (I used gingham)

10 tent pegs

Rubber mallet or hammer

Note: this wigwam was made for younger children, 18 months – 4 years. If you would like to make your wigwam for older children, just buy longer broom handles to make the frame taller and then use more fabric accordingly.

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How do you begin?

Traditionally a wigwam is a conical tent so I decided that this design would
have three sides, using three poles for the construction. Two of
the sides would be the walls of the tent and the third side would be the door to the wigwam, made up of two pieces of fabric.

To start, chose three different types of contrasting fabric, a different piece for each of the wall panels of the wigwam and a piece of fabric, which will be used for the fabric doors but cut in half. Go to town with the colours as you are making it for small children.

Cut & hem the side panels

Cut the two side panels of fabric that you are using for the walls so they measure 150cm x 130 cm
Double hem the pieces using a 2cm hem

Cut & Hem the doors

Cut two pieces of fabric, these will be the doors, each 50 x 130 cm
Double hem the pieces using a 2 cm hem

Tie the Pieces of the Wigwam together

Lay all four pieces of fabric, two walls and the two pieces that make up the doors, out in front of you in the order that the pieces will be tied together. From left to right :- door – wall – wall – door

Prepare the fabric for tying together

Snip or pierce ten small holes along both sides of the two wall panels (130cm length side) and along only one side of the two door panels. Start 3cm down from the top before making the first hole and then make each hole 10cm apart thereafter.

Note: Pierce only ten holes. The holes should not be pierced all the way down to the bottom of the fabric as you will need to leave some material loose so it can be pegged out in to the ground.

Cut yarn for ties

Once all the holes have been made cut 30 pieces of yarn all measuring 30cm each. These pieces of yarn will be used to tie the sides of the wigwam together.

Tie wigwam panels together

Start by attaching one of the doors to one of the wall panels
Thread the pieces of wool through the holes using the large darning needle.
To secure the pieces of wool tie them in a double knot and then a bow. Pretty & strong!
Tie the two wall panels together at the back of the wigwam
Finally, tie the other door panel to the other wall panel using the same method of threading the wool pieces through the holes and tying them together.

Note: Remember that the order should still be door – wall – wall – door when attaching the pieces together.

Make the frame

Note: It might be a good idea to grab an extra pair of hands for this next part as you may need some help holding the fabric in place whilst it is being secured to the poles.

Take the three poles (broom handles) and erect them so that they make a conical shape
When you are happy that the poles are forming the shape you want take the string and start securing the poles together by weaving the string between and around the tops of the poles, leaving around 6cm of pole free at the top.

Secure the frame with a little hot glue

Once the poles are tied together use a hot glue gun to glue the string to the poles to ensure the structure will be staying put!

Putting it all together

Once the hot glue has dried hang the fabric panels over the top of the wigwam frame

To hold the wigwam in place at the top gather into pleats the two fabric walls and the two corners of the door panels that are attached to the walls.
Use pins to secure the pleats – no need to sew them.
It should look something like this……..see pic below…..

Wrapping it all up at the top

Once the wall and door panel corners are pleated and pinned securely hold together at the top by wrapping the wool around the bundle.
Leave 2 inches of fabric at the top for some frou-frouing
Remove the pins

Making it look nice, neat and pretty

Cover the wool up by tying a 1.5m length of decorative ribbon to tie around the top.

Make the door ties

Use the same wool for the door ties that was used to tie the panels together
Cut eight lengths of wool, each piece measuring 80cm, this makes the ties extra full
Use four of the lengths of wool for each tie-back
Pull back one of the doors, gathered loosely in the middle & secure it to the pole with the wool tie
Repeat with the other door and tie
Truly liked the door ties in particular

Making loops to secure the wigwam to the ground

Now make the ties to secure the wigwam to the ground

Cut ten lengths of ribbon all measuring 14cm each
Fold each piece in half, creating a loop, and sew to the inside hem of the wigwam, around all sides
Three loops for each wall panel – evenly spaced (see pic below for how they should look)
Two loops for each door panel – evenly spaced (see pic below for how they should look)

Securing the wigwam to the ground

Using tent hooks bang the loops in to the ground – ALL THE WAY – not as shown in the picture which is merely for illustrative purposes

And that’s it.

Your Wigwam is complete.

A perfect little hideaway for the kids this summer – ideal for indoors and out……… and great for you if you’d like to squeeze your adult sized body into it and have a little bottle of prosecco all to yourself without anyone knowing.

Although you may find that if you drink the whole bottle you end up walking back in to the house still wearing the wigwam.

REMOVE WIGWAM FROM SELF AFTER SECRETLY DRINKING IN IT!!!

See you on monday and have a great weekend!

Cherry x

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Packing a Picnic Lunch for Children in the Style of Dick Whittington

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:56:54 +0000

Packing a Picnic Lunch for Children in the Style of Dick Whittington

It’s nice to be able to use up scraps of fabric in a way that doesn’t always end up with the scrap becoming a tea-towel. We’re having a great summer here in the UK with the weather behaving REALLY WELL. This means that the twins are always outside and running around like jumping beans dressed up as little girls.

At the end of last week we picked out a scrap of fabric (approx 60cm by 60cm) pinned and hemmed it until it was a simple square and set about filling it with food.

The twins are awesome when it comes to picnics so we knew that a little toddle off down to the bottom of the garden for a light spot of lunch would be perfectly enjoyable for them.

Of course at this point I should add that most of the food was cut up really small and a good portion of it was eaten by Jodie and I as the twins are still very little! Perhaps we’re living out our ‘Dick Whittington’ fantasies through the girls. No matter, this was an awesome way to ‘pack ‘n’ picnic’

We wrapped up loganberry jam sandwiches. Thick and soft on white.

Strawberries and ripe cherry tomatoes were added.

We also had apples for Jo and I and two soft and mallowy tea cakes as a treat for the girls. They only got through one between the two of them but seeing as they often lunch on quinoa and pesto Mummy didn’t mind!

We filled our fabric scrap with the brightly coloured, food goodies…….

…..tied it all up together………

….and threaded a good, substantial stick through our fabric bundle. We’d be able to travel for miles (to the bottom of the garden) with this construction and the addition of some cloudy lemonade (water for the doodles) would see that none of us became dehydrated on our long journey.

I have to be honest, Truly wasn’t that interested in carrying the bundle of foodstuffs. She had recently been the recipient of some new flip-flops and was much more interested in trying to run in them.

Daisy offered to carry it and seemed to take quite well to her role as Mr. Whittington. However she had also been given some new flip-flops and as soon as she saw Tru running down the lawn she dropped the goodies and headed off in the same direction.

That left Jo-Jo and I in sole charge of the lunch.

It wasn’t long before we were discussing the merits of loganberry jam let me tell you!!

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On Friday I posted instructions on how to make a giant patchwork cushion for laying out on the grass with. Firstly, thanks so much for your response to the project – you guys rock, and secondly, remember they are AWESOME for mooching about on indoors.

The Doodles LOVE ‘EM!!! and regularly bury themselves while waiting for the first wave of tiredness to kick in before their morning nap.

Robert the Husband & I watched Vicky, Christina, Barcelona on them (the cushions not the twins) this past Saturday night and we were more than happy to be sitting on the floor and rolling around until we got comfy.

By the way, that movie, oh my God, it was astounding and we loved it! Watch it!!

Check that out, it’s only Monday and already you’ve got your next movie night sorted!

See you tomorrow morning with the most fragrant pick of the summer.

Cherry x

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