Colour, roses and a Parisian cushion...

 Colour...

What is your favourite?

I couldn't say...

for I LOVE them all!

 This is a beautiful and colourful selection of flowers

freshly picked from 'Mia Bella Gardens'.

 Canna lilies in the brightest orange...

 With the softest pastel roses...

 Don't you adore 'David Austin' roses?

They must be my most favourite roses variety.

Delicate noisettes of heaven scent.

 A vase full of flowers...

A perfect décor accent 

for my newest Parisian themed bird cushion!

The Soul Cannot Live Without Love...

I came across this quote on Pinterest the other day,

 and it really got me thinking...

Do you think it was the dramatic black background 
and white font that did this?

On our morning walk 

Around Mia Bella Gardens...
past the aviaries,

Gracie and I came upon the most beautiful rose...

In bud it was perfect...
with a given name that sings.
(The rosette shaped yellow rose is a David Austin called 'Symphony'.)

In flower it was lovely...
it's fragrance was from heaven,
and my soul sighed a sigh...
OF LOVE!

And I thought about that quote in dramatic black and white,

that I just had to 'pretty' up a little.

(Here is my version of this quote 
using a rose photograph from 'Mia Bella Gardens'...)

While I was titivating this wee creation for you my friends, 

many questions were running through my mind...

Where do people get LOVE fixes from?

Are you like me and discover 

LOVE

in many things...

Do you feel LOVE looking at a garden full of beauty?

Do you feel LOVE when a poem, story or film touches your heart?

Do you feel LOVE when your acts of kindness touch someone else's soul?

Or someone else's acts of kindness touch yours?

Do you feel LOVE when you create, bake or make something?

Do you feel love in laughter and smiles?

Do you feel LOVE when you spend time with family and friends?

Do you feel LOVE when you play and care 
for your furbaby, scaled or feathered pet friends?

Do you feel LOVE when at one with nature?

Next time you think your life is LOVELESS,

you just need to open your eyes 

LOVE is everywhere...

and it is BEAUTIFUL!

Homemade Coconut 'Bounty' Bars

When I have failures...
They seem to happen in twos or threes.
Thankfully by some miracle, 
I seem to be able to save the project at hand!
Remember the 'almost failure' with the French Look DIY pot? 
http://miabellapassion.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/mod-podge-creation-reveal.html

Well folks, here is an 'almost' EPIC FAIL
 I thought I would share it with you.
I added the word EPIC as I was pretty sure 
whilst making these Bounty Bars, they were definitely not save-able!

I found a delicious recipe for homemade bounty bars
with SIMPLE picture instructions at 'Not Enough Cinnamon',

http://notenoughcinnamon.com/2012/11/30/easy-homemade-bounty-aka-mounds/

Homemade bounty bars are
sometimes known as mounds...

and I thought "Oh YUM, let the confectionery-making begin!".

It all started off so well...

I gathered my ingredients...

 condensed milk, coconut, melting chocolate.

And into my bowl went...

one cup of condensed milk and three cups of coconut.

It was mixed together as instructed.

So far so good!

But then mistake number one occurred,

I added a bit more coconut as I thought the mixture was too wet!

 Mental note to self for the future...

'Do not overthink things!'

Then I 'squeezed' the coconut mixture - using clean, wet hands into mounds...

Which of course was harder to do, 

because my mixture was now dryer than it should have been.

Second note to self...

'Do not adjust quantities - stick to recipe!'

The wee mounds were popped onto a tray lined with baking paper

and into the freezer for 20 minutes they went...

Near the end of chilling time, I melted the milk chocolate...

and this is where things went 

horribly, 

horribly 

wrong...

The first mound was dipped, and the coldness of it made the chocolate set FAST!

It looked OK, quite smooth, but a little thick, 

so thinking the chocolate needed to be thinner...

Mistake number two occurred... 

 I added a little bit of cream to it.

BIG MISTAKE!

IT WENT THICKER!!!

Needless to say, I was grateful a chocolate cake was in the oven, 

and my chocolate concoction was now the ganache to ice it with!

Then melted dipping chocolate attempt number two began...

Dark chocolate this time...

Nicely melted, 

but I still struggled to dip my mounds nicely...

they did not look smoothly coated...

In fact, mine most certainly resembled hedgehogs!

And worst still,

one got completely stuck to the fork,
But that was a terrific excuse to EAT it!

It's clear I need a few lessons on how to dip confectionery into melted chocolate.

(I think I did not have my melted chocolate hot enough!)

But the good thing is,

they may not look like the perfect chocolate mounds 

created by 'not enough cinnamon' on their Blog,

BUT THEY DO TASTE DELICIOUS.

My homemade coconut bounty bar mounds have a new name:

 'Coconut hedgehogs'!

For the latest posts JOIN :)


#homemadesweets #homebakedconfectionery #homemadebountybars

Pink Love...

Mia Bella gardens is in love with pink...

Bright pink petunias...

Pink dahlias...

with funky contrasting yellow centres.

Shocking pink...

Shade loving fushias...

with soft pink outer petals and stamens.

The visiting bees are in love with pink too...

deliriously in love with the scent...

of bright pink scented stock flowers.

Pink love is in the garden...

and a flamingo too!

Poppy Pretties...

 At Mia Bella Gardens there is a field of poppies...

 Well, that's not quite true...
it's actually a garden bed
of pretty poppies.

Last year I went seed scattering mad,

and now early in the summer season,

the garden is a mass of prettiness.

 Poppy bud beauty...

After the drabness of the winter,

 isn't the minty green of the buds and leaves luscious?

 You have to wonder how so much flower is packed into that small bud!

Poppy pretties...

Nature spoils us with their beauty...

Nature spoils me,
Because this is the vista outside my lounge room window.

Cupcake making for kids!

It was with much fun we had the pleasure of 'testing' a cupcake kit for kids

for our local Whitcoulls  bookstore !
First we make a batch of vanilla cupcakes
and let them cool before icing them.

 The kit had the smallest rolling pin you've ever seen in it...

cute little cutters, and fondant in pink, yellow, white and blue.

This kit is quite educational too...
with fondant in primary colours mixed to make new colours,

Yellow + blue = green...
So that's a bit of science isn't it?

 The fondant passed the taste test...

Kids would love the different flavours...

 pink strawberry was the best!

 The little cupcake stand was a trick to get the cupcakes on...

But this was the end result.

Cupcake making with fondant icing...

Now there's an idea to keep the children entertained 
during the weekend,
or holidays!

DIY Willow Wreath...

The countdown to Christmas is truly underway, 

have you been doing any planning?

I thought I had better get a move on with that,

 so I sat down  with pen and notepad, and planned away!

Every year I have a colour theme,

and this year it will be the traditional red, dark green and white.

I'm going to make book page butterflies,

Scotty dog decorations in white felt,

and a decorated wreath.

Those bits will go nicely with the felt reindeer made last year,

and all the other Christmasy things,

 I have made or collected over the years.

Don't you just LOVE Christmas?

When do you decorate your house?

Are you like me and decorate in the first week of December?

The large wreath was today's creation

 and it should be dry enough to decorate in a few weeks time.

Here is how you make a willow wreath...

There is a little willow tree 

in the house paddock at Mia Bella Gardens,

so I gathered some of it...

As well as some thin wire...

                                               and secateurs.

The next task was to strip the leaves and tips from the willow...

 Then cut some small pieces of wire...

 Choosing some of the longer lengths of willow bend into a circle....

 Using the wire, bind it together in three of four places....

 Don't worry if it's not perfectly round, 

as you shape it as you weave more willow into it.

 Keep weaving and twisting, poking the willow into the circle...

give it a squish and help it shape into a circle.

If you have access to willow, have a go at making a wreath...

It is lovely to work with as it is so supple.

It took me about 3/4 of an hour to make this....

Quite therapeutic actually, all that weaving.

 

 And here it is...

ready to hang and dry...

Don't the poppies look pretty framed by my DIY willow wreath?

In LOVE with old china....

It's a terrible addiction I seem to have for anything old...

And old china is something that I do enjoy very much.

The other day when I went to visit a friend,

she was having a sort out of some bit's and pieces
 that belonged to her mother...

it was all going in a yard sale...

 I was so lucky to have first pick!

And my oh my, did I enjoy looking through her boxes

 of newspaper wrapped china and glassware.

I really did have to curb my desire to buy the whole lot...

but one has to be realistic...

so I bought the pieces that I knew would fit the décor of my home,

And the pieces I knew I would actually use!

And here they are...

Pretty don't you think?

Now I have to rearrange 'everything' to find a home for it all!

 I have always admired this design...

It is 'Foxglove' by Carltonware...

I adore the wee sugar bowl and the jugs!

New trios of cups, saucers and plates are always a great excuse to have a tea party!

There is a lovely thistle design by Adderly which is English bone china...

The other set is also bone china, 

and that's Colclough with the most dainty violets on it!

I seem to have so many passions...

If I was asked "What is your most favourite thing?"

That my friends is a question that would be impossible to answer...