Funky Upcycled Jersey Cushion...

An old jersey upcycle...

into cushion cover!

Don't you love those gorgeous Aran jerseys?

I found this one at the Goodwill shop.

Looking a bit sad - as it was a little grubby, and very out of shape, it's jersey days long past.

 But once washed and clean again, you can see its gorgeousness, so lovingly hand-knitted by someone.

but now it's time for a new life as a cushion cover.

 I unstitched the arms at the seam.

these pieces will be upcycled into boot toppers or leg warmers.
Then I turned the jersey inside out and placed the cushion inner inside.

Next job was to pin down each side and across the top (where the jersey neck is).

Remove the inner.

Overlock stitch by machine, pinned seams.

Then trim. 

Overlock the cut edge.

You will now have a double overlocked seam.

If you don't own an overlocker, zigzag stitch will suffice.

Stitch across bottom seam leaving an opening. 

 Turn pillow in the right way.

 Fold the cushion inner in half and pop through the hole.

Wiggle to fit into the casing.
Handstitch the hole shut.

Gorgeous!

Soft, fluffy with a little bit of funky texture. 

And only half an hour to make!

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#diy #cushion #upcycle 

Have you ever seen the flower of the vanilla bean?

If you have never seen the flower of the vanilla bean, this is it!

Beautiful, orchid like, and oh what a fabulous perfume...

The plant is vine like.

I snapped this variety of vanilla while visiting the island nation of Niue.

Distressed Stamped Décor Pots...

Distressed with white paint, and stamped with cute pictures,

these DIY décor pots, are fabulous for holding bits and bobs.

Or make some for gifts.

 You will need terracotta pots.

I used small sized ones.

All you do is dry brush the pots with white paint.

Dry brushing gives an instant distressed look.

 Use a back and forth motion to brush the paint on.
This brush is really soft and fluffy.

 You can see here that there is not a lot of paint on the brush.

Build up your layers of paint colour until it's to your liking.

Leave to dry.

 Stamping pots is a little bit tricky...

Choose an image that is not too large. Press stamp into black ink.

Make sure the stamp is evenly covered with the ink.

 Roll the stamp as you press it to the shape of the pot.

Practice on a bit of paper that you are holding onto the pot first if you haven't done this before. 

You roll the stamp from the side of the image to the middle and then to the other side while following the curve of the pot using a firm pressure.

Remember - You only get ONE chance to get it right!

 Let ink dry,

then seal pot with a clear coat spray sealer.

Just what I need in the art studio to hold all those bits and pieces.

And so very pretty too!

#distressed #diy #paintedpots #stamping

Dining Table Décor - An Olive Tree In A Pot...

I have seen the potted olive tree idea so often...and I LOVE IT!

Large trees in wicker baskets in lounges, in large pottery urns on porches, 
and small trees on dining tables, or on kitchen bench tops.

It took quite some time to locate the perfect olive tree for this project,

most were at least two metres tall...

just a little large for the table top decorating idea!

But once found, my 60 cm tall olive tree,

 was root-pruned and potted into a new plastic pot, 

Baby Tears covers the soil in the pot.

Which was then placed inside a lovely French pressed metal display pot.

Then a with a few snips of the secateurs, the tree was shaped into a standard.

The dining table runner was updated with this newly made one in neutral grey stripes.
(And yes the table and chairs are on the paint and distress 'To do list'.  :) )
This runner is just a strip of remnant fabric, overlocked and hemmed on all four sides.

For another Mia Bella Passions super easy to make table runner, click the link here:

DIY Table Runner Instructions
It is so nice to make a few simple changes to a room that will instantly give a fresh new look to your décor.
All you need to do is rearrange , move a few things to new places, 
add a new table runner, potted plants or vases of flowers....
What I did is: clear the clutter,
(amazing how piles of papers, and things do appear over time),

added a new dining table runner and the potted olive tree...

It now looks fresh and FABULOUS!!!
So while we are in the dining room, I'll show you around...
This room is the centre hub,

with the TV Room, Kitchen and sitting room all connecting to it.

It's not big, but the flow is good.

 There are two china cabinets in the dining room.
This is the large one.
The vignettes on top  are always changing.

There's an antique heirloom chair  
(Must do up one day!)

That's the a peek at the dining room...
now rocking a potted olive tree.
   :)
Are you inspired to freshen up your dining room?

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#olivetree #potplants

How to store walnuts...

The walnut grove in Mia Bella Gardens is having a well earned winter rest...

 And this year there's been a bumper crop of nuts.

 Keeping nuts fresh for any length of time is always difficult, 

because more often than not they will turn rancid and become inedible .

 I love to have walnuts readily available for baking,

 so I thought I would share how I store them.

 I find the easiest way is to freeze them.

And all I do is put the shelled nuts into small freezer bags, and pop them in the freezer.

Then you pull out the quantity needed. Thaw then use. 

Freezer life of the walnuts is one year.

#walnuts #howtofreezewalnuts

Maple Syrup Butter Cookies...

I am loving these cute biscuits...

Not only do they look good, they taste amazing.

Kind of like a melting moment biscuit but with a maple syrup flavour.

 I have this cool vintage biscuit maker.  There are about four different patterns...

but for these biscuits, I chose a daisy flower.

 The biscuit maker pops out the cutest,The  daintiest biscuits.

It is such a fun device to use.

Maple Syrup Butter Kisses

  

  Preheat oven to 180 Celscius (356 F)

  Line two oven trays with baking paper.

 

  Method:

  Cream 125 grams (1/2 cup) soft butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla       essence or paste, 1/2 cup maple syrup.

When creamy and pale add 2 cups of plain flour and 1 cup of cornflour (cornstarch) that has been pre sifted.

Roll into small balls and flatten with a fork.

Or place mixture in a biscuit making device to make small biscuits.

Bake for about 15 minutes until a pale golden colour.

Remove from the oven to cool.

When cold, join the biscuits with maple icing.

Maple Icing:

4 Tablespoons of soft butter, 3 Tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 and a half cups of powdered icing sugar.

Mix to blend, add a little hot water to get to spreadable consistency.

Yield is about 32 small biscuits (unjoined with icing).

You will find a printable recipe HERE.

I think it's time for afternoon tea   :)

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#maplesyruprecipes #maplesyrupcookies

Photo Inspiration - BE YOU...

Sharing some photo inspiration...

Such a strong message and so empowering.

Be true to yourself.

BE YOU - the world will adjust.

Free to copy, print, pop in a frame, use in card making or canvas art for your home décor

- for personal use only.

DIY Strawberry Planter With Measurements...

Let's build the DIY Strawberry planter, my measurements included for those who wish to build it.

This DIY Strawberry Planter was made from a photograph from Pinterest.
 This had no links to the original maker, whom I have never managed to track down, and therefore, there was no plan, or available credits.

It was a 'Guess the measurements from the picture' situation.

But it worked out really well!
You will have to use the pictures as a guide to building it, 
as it has no step-by-step photographic tutorial, as this was made long before I started to do the tutorial thing here on the blog.

Above is the original picture from Pinterest, and I have added the measurements to it.
I'm not a professional builder, so I hope this all makes sense.
 Use the first photograph as a guide and adjust measurements if necessary. 
You can see that the end caps on the original picture above are not even, so I changed that on my version.
Concrete with Quick Mix Fast Set concrete the two long posts into the ground. 
 When set, attach the 1300x45 mm lengths.
Then the ends. 
Put in the centre supports.
The rectangular plastic planter pots should sit nicely in the gaps.
You will need six rectangular planters.
The lip of the planter needs to sit on the wood edge.

Then plant with strawberries (or herbs).

Note: You can convert the metric measurements to imperial by doing a Google search.

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#diystrawberryplanter #herbplanter

#verticalplanterplan

Persimmon & Apricot Pudding Cake...

 Moist and full of fruit,

with a hint of spice...

Meet - Persimmon Apricot Pudding Cake.

 Reminiscent of steamed pudding...but baked in the oven.

This dessert cake is simply delicious!

And did I mention moist?

 Serve with vanilla ice cream and slivers of persimmon....

Persimmon & Apricot Pudding Cake...

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius Grease a 13 x 9 inch glass baking pan. Into a bowl sift:  2 cups plain flour 1 Tablespoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Peel, dice 6 - 8 persimmons to make up 2 cups, and cook in microwave until soft.  Mash with a potato masher. Add 50 grams of butter and stir through hot mash until melted.  Add 3/4 cup finely diced dried apricots,  1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.   Mix then fold in 3 lightly beaten eggs (Number 6 size) Add sifted flours - mix well.  Place in greased pan.   Bake 45 to 55 minutes until skewer comes out clean. If it browns to quickly on top place a foil cover over top of pan. Cool. Serve warm with ice cream or cream.

What are you waiting for?

Let's eat...

And then finish with a fruit tea.

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#Persimmonrecipes #persimmoncake