Fudge it with Caramel Rough Fudge

 Totally bad for you!

 But oh so good.

Sometimes we need to have naughty little treats and this 'Caramel Rough Fudge' ticks all those boxes.

I have adapted this recipe to have less sugar and butter than usual, so that kind of makes me feel a bit better when chomping on a piece! 

It is also a fabulous homemade gift.

Instead of pouring the mixture to set in a tray, 

just pop spoon fulls into mini cupcake cases.

Box, or place in cellophane to gift.

The recipe calls for white chocolate melts.

Caramel Syrup.

Brown Sugar.

Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Coconut.

White Chocolate Melts.

And butter.

The extra bonus about this recipe is it is super simple to make in a microwave.

The microwave I used was 800 watts.

If yours is more powerful you will need to drop the cooking time by 2 mins at the end.

Method:

Melt 100 grams of salted butter.

Add 400 grams of brown sugar,

A 395 gram can of Sweetened condensed milk.

Microwave in 4 increments of 2 minutes.

Stir between each increment.

Add 1/2 cup dry coconut.

And 20 ml of caramel syrup.

Microwave for 4 minutes.

Stir through 290 grams of white chocolate melts.

When melted and smooth spoon into mini cupcake cases.

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You'll find the printable recipe HERE

You will find a pounds and ounces to grams and oven temperature conversions HERE

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#homemadefudge #sweets #homemadegifts

DIY Fringed Throw

Isn't is funny what you remember from your childhood.

 Things like pretending builders' sawhorses were our ponies, complete with reins and saddles.

And helping Mum fray the edges to create a fringe on the homemade fabric doilies and coffee table runners she was making. 

Oh, how I particularly loved to do this.

And that 'fray' memory is what this blog post is all about.

I purchased 2 x 2.4 metres of cotton fabric from Spotlight online.

It has a loose weave.

Perfect for fraying.

And that really is the secret.

The fabric has to have a weave that is not tight.

As you need to be able to pick with a needle the individual weave strands to pull.

Mum always stitched by machine about 1 inch from the edge around the entire fabric piece if she frayed all four edges. 

If she only frayed the top and bottom,

she would roll, iron and stitch a small side seam after fraying was complete.

So this is my frayed edge DIY fringed throw.

It was fun to make.

And in doing so returned to mind some lovely memories.

With its boho look, this throw is super pretty in the decor too.

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Original art HERE

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#diyprojects #homemade #diydecor

Bird Bath Upcycle.

 

An old Birdbath has been in Mia Bella Passions gardens for many moons.

It's made of concrete, and I have always enjoyed it.

It once contained water for the birdlife in the garden to quench their thirst or bathe in.

But as time wore on the heavy concrete bowl developed some cracks, it would not contain the water anymore.

I thought about endeavouring to create a colourful mosaic repair on the inside of the bowl, but saw this planting idea in a home and garden magazine and thought 'AHA' I can do that.

So I did!

The succulents were baby plants from another area of the garden.

But you can source these and other varieties of succulent plants from most Garden Depots.

All I needed to do (as it already had some cracks for drainage was fill the birdbath bowl with a quality potting mix, and plant the succulents straight into it.

I didn't use a succulent potting mix as I wanted a mix that would retain a bit more moisture. 

It was not long before the succulents multiplied.

They certainly like the quality potting mix!

The new lease of life of the birdbath looks fabulous!

Visitors to the garden comment on its intriguing style.

So if you have an old birdbath tucked into the back of a garden bed, or one you'd like to simply upcycle, a fun succulent top might be what it needs! 

The succulent variety I have used is called echeveria elegans.

  I also have succulents planted around the base of a magnolia tree.

They really are such easy-care plants as long as you protect them from very cold temperatures (frost and snow).

They are also very easy to propagate from a leaf or baby plant runner.

Just pinch a leaf or the mini baby plant and place it into the potting mix.

The baby plant is the quickest method to grow more plants quickly.

This succulent watercolour print image is available at Fine Art America - you'll find it HERE.

(There are 9 colourways to choose from).

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you can join for free HERE.

#succulents #pottedsucculents #succulentprint