Fabric storage basket using recycled denim

A quick and interesting way to use an old pair of jeans - and a cheap source of fabric.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

Start with an old pair of jeans and cut off a portion off the bottom.

Bag: re-using a woollen blanket

I love the old check woollen blankets, and I have been stashing a few. Last week, I discovered that my every-day bag was disintegrating, and new ones that I looked at were so expensive! So I got to, and decided to put one of my old blankets to good use (this one I'd picked up for $2 at an Op Shop in the doggy blanket section).

Photo by Sarah Ryan

So I made a template from my old bag, and cut out two on the bias (diagonally), and two from a contrast fabric for the lining. Then I added an extra piece to make an inside pocket. 

A cookbook from 1871

This post isn't giving ideas...it's just something interesting!
Mrs Beeton was a famous English cookery writer from the Victorian era (mid to late 1800's).
I found this book, All About Cookery, when poking about in a little shop in Cygnet and I couldn't pass it up.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

It's like a dictionary of recipes, arranged in alphabetic order. Given it was from 1871, I was surprised at the range of quite fancy French recipes such as souffle or beef ragout.

Upside-down quince cake

The humble quince...looks like a cross between a pear and an apple. And not nice to eat raw.

 

Photo by Sarah Ryan

But make up a nice vanilla bean sugar syrup and poach it for a few hours...and watch it change to a glorious jewel-like ruby pink-red colour.

 

                                    Photo by Sarah Ryan                                          Photo by Sarah Ryan
I was making an upside down cake so I sprinkled some brown sugar on the base and lined the tin with the sliced poached quince.

Decorated biscuits: using stencils

Two occasions: My great-niece's Georgina's 1st birthday party as well as Mother's Day....so some heart shaped biscuits were going to be fitting on both accounts.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

I usually use gingerbread biscuits for decorating as they keep really well, but this time I used a vanilla shortbread (they'd be eaten pretty quickly and the kids would like vanilla biscuits better, I reasoned...)

Little crochet storage basket

I haven't crocheted anything, ever, other than crocheting a chain when I was a kid. But I was tempted to have a go at this simple looking little basket...good for storing bits in the bathroom, or sitting room, or full of felt pebbles like mine here!

Photo by Sarah Ryan

A workshop was advertised at "Gather Handmade", a giftshop in Liverpool St, so I went along to have my first real go at crocheting.

Naked cakes

Naked cakes seem to be a bit of a trend, so I was keen to try out the method. Basicly, it's a style of icing a more formal or party cake, where the layers are still visible and no outer covering of frosting or icing is applied. Often fresh flowers are used for decoration.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

I decided I'd try it out so made two nice butter cakes.