| Happy New Year! We know that January is well underway but there is still time to make these cosy and crafty treats for yourself and your loved ones. At the moment everyone in Northern Europe has a cold snap and some long wintery nights so it is perfect time to make something special for your home. | |
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Sweet Home Comforts
 handmade chocolates |
This season we invented chocolate mendiant puddings! These are circular chocolate snacks decorated with fruit and nuts to look like Christmas puddings. Stunning layered chocolate bark is really simple to make with melted white, milk and dark chocolate that cools into patterns and layers. Sweet toppings like mini marshmallows or any of your favourite treats also add more texture to the edible artwork. |
| Clementine cupcakes with orange icing and cranberry and silver balls to decorate went down well especially as they are made using gluten free flour so everyone can have some. | |
| Icing the buns means we could take them on our travels and they stay fresh a few extra days too. | |
| Special thanks to Mrs Hartley for all her patience with a bain marie and extra supplies of the finest confectionary embellishments! | |
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Cosy Sofa
 cosy sofa
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As the temperatures plummet and the mornings become frostier, we have been adding pretty and warm layers to our furniture. Using the sewing machine we have been quickly upcycling cashmere sweaters that have seen better days into extra snug cushions. |
 pudding christmas card |
Christmas pudding cards featuring a map of the solent icing were popular. These handmade cards doubled as handy festive decorations for those who have recently moved house. Our cards are made using photocopy maps, recycled card, leftover wrapping paper and a sharp craft knife. Glue sticks work really well for collage on cards A5 size or smaller as you can get making really quickly and this paper glue allows for some quick alteration if required.
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 new years greeting |
Inside our cards this year we printed hand drawn and coloured traditional bells with this greeting: Peace and Love from Coast to Coast 2016 The red ribbon above the bells relates to the shape of the winding solent coast and the front of the card. |
 feather and fabric wreath |
This feather and fabric wreath is a great way of using up all those little pieces collected through the year. The structure for this decoration is a foam ring which is readily available from florists. Thread, string and ribbon is used to tie the different materials onto the wreath. Just hang in a hallway or entrance to welcome seasonal visitors. |
 trimmings Christmas wreath |
Trimmings and offcut curtain making cords make up this colourful fabric stuffed festive wreath for the mantlepiece. The fabric structure is crafted out of stiff backed fabric strip such that you might find with venetian blind samples. This is rolled into a long 'sausage' and then secured, wrapped and decorated with many ribbons and tassles. |
 Throws folded ready to wrap |
Here is a selection of three of our festive throw gifts. Just choose a plain throw, add your own fabric and pockets and decorate in style to fit your interior of that of your friends or family members. |
 cream fleece and floral cotton throw |
These cosy throws have been customised using a base of a plain cream fleece throw large enough to cover a single bed or a decent sized sofa. |
 green pocket throw |
These are a selection of the throws we made this year using fabrics chosen to reflect a particular persons favourite colours. We then added a big pocket on each one and personalised the throw with hand sewn monograms. |
 warm red fleece throw |
The sewing machine was used to attach a wide fabric border to each end of the throws. Blanket stitch was then added all along the join to give a neat and attractive finish. We used odd balls of wool and vintage fabric pieces to make these unique gifts. |