I heart Peter Pan Collars

For the last few seasons I have loved the peter pan collared shirts. At the end of summer, just as the new collections were hitting the shops for autumn, I saw this one in H&M.

Pearls, glass beads, sequins...it’s as if the designer new exactly what would make me get my purse out. However, I thought I’d have a go myself at making  my own pearly peter pan collar.

I already had a pattern piece from a previous project so placed this onto white cotton, and cut two pieces, then placed it onto some left over lace I had and cut one piece, and then onto a piece of sew-in interfacing and cut one piece.

I laid them on top of one another,  interfacing on the bottom, then white cotton, then lace, then white cotton again.

Next I sewed around the edge, (1.5cm  seam allowance) leaving a small gap, a couple of inches in length, through which it can be turned the right way out. Once turned right sides out I hand-stitched the gap closed and sewed a hook and eye clasp onto the pointed ends of the collar to fasten. Then came the long task of sewing on a seemingly endless amount of beads and sequins. This did take a LOT longer than I thought it would! But I know those beads are going nowhere!

Birthday Cake Bakes

My sister's Birthday is just after Christmas and this year we were together to celebrate it. My mom and me made a chocolate cake and stencilled her name in edible gold dust. I was very happy with the end result, it just made it that bit more personal and special.

Here are some more of my favourite Birthday cakes...

This was for a friends’ 18th. It’s banana bread loaf, with cream cheese frosting and topped with strawberries.

Another strawberry theme...for my mum this time. Inspired by Lorraine Pascale’s cake. She used chocolate cigarillo’s around the edge, but white chocolate Cadbury’s fingers were easier to come by.  It’s a chocolate cake base, and butter cream frosting. Strawberries are great for decoration, although I found they can be so juicy they don't look so good after a couple of days.

Another one for my mom, her all time favourite...Marmalade cake. This recipe is from ‘The Great British Bake Off’ 2011 cook book. And I have to admit, not being a fan of marmalade myself, I can still gobble up a big piece of this cake.

And I couldn't not include this epic addition. It was for my Birthday one year and just gi-normous! You can’t go wrong with that much frosting! 

I think it's time to try some new recipes for 2013. Happy baking.

Holiday snaps

I know it's been a while since Christmas, these holidays were about appreciating the moments of quiet and rest and also getting my education in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. Here’s just a few snapshots  to go with it...

We made mini banofee pies, that were super easy but looked super cute. Recipe to follow :)

Playing Scrabble since the rule change, the challenge is convincing other players that "Lala" is a real name. And visiting Bakewell to fid the original original Bakewell pudding.I'm not really a big group person, so having one to one time with friends is important to me. One of my favourite things was going for coffee with my mom, and then browsing the charity shops with her, seeing the same crockery she owns in there! I even managed to find a couple of vintage tea cups that I love.

Here's to 2013!!