Deck the halls...

CHRISTMAS IS SO CLOSE!!!

Yes I may have already overdosed on sweets and Christmas films but there's still time to craft up some quick decorations before the real fun begins. This weeks Tiddlybits has some great ideas on projects for you to try and don't forget to visit the Pinterest board for lots more. 

First up is this gorgeous wall hanging from 20 North Ora. I'd love to make a wreath for my front door but I have no idea where to find the greenery and I can't afford the greenery or afford the base they need to go on so this wall hanging offers an awesome alternative. 

I tried this idea myself last year and I love it. It's such a great and easy way to add Christmas cheer to doors and cupboards. However, last year I didn't add a gift tag and think it's a brilliant idea so thanks to Liz on Call for that one! 

So, if like me, you've started the Christmas celebrations already, you may have some wine corks lying around the house. Instead of dumping them, why not turn them into colourful Christmas decorations that you can from year to year? This tutorial from Joy's Life is awesome and more importantly easy to do and for those of you with children, it's one that they can get involved with too. You could also use glue to sprinkle them with glitter too! 

And if, you've got wine corks then you must have wine bottles too! Follow this great tutorial from Born in '82 for a clever way to turn them into beautiful decorations. Super simple but so elegant and decorations you'll have for years!

Also, if you have old magazines or no idea what to do with the toy catalogues after you've finished writing your list to Santa, why not try making these gorgeous paper ornaments from them? A beautifully simple idea from Stephanie Lynn. 

And because we don't restrict ourselves to crafts here at Tiddlybobs, why not try your hand at creative baking and make a Santa bread?

How cool is that?? Love this idea from Taste of Home and hopefully will get a chance to try so keep your eyes peeled for that! 

Around the World Blog Hop

I was tagged for the Around the World Blog Hop by Lisa on her beautiful blog The Quilting Bird. Thanks for the tag Lisa and for opening my eyes to Zenia's blog A Quilted Passion.

The Around the World Blog Hop is kind of like a chain letter except it's with blogs on the internet.  It's a great opportunity to meet and learn about other bloggers.  When tagged, the tagee has to acknowledge who tagged them, answer 4 questions and then tag 3 different bloggers. If you can't find 3, one will do (see the bottom of the post for my three!)!

So here goes...

What am I working on?

Currently I'm just gathering ideas for Christmas projects. I want to make a new advent calender and decorations for our tree. Also, because money is tight, I will probably making some presents for people so need ideas to make them look as expensive as possible!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I guess what features on my blog differs from the many other craft blogs out there because I am just a beginner. A lot of craft blogs out there are from the perspective of crafters who have an established product or products and are selling them whereas I am just figuring out and documenting the basics.

Why do I write/create what I do?

The aim of my blog is to inspire crafters of all levels to just get the glue out and make. I think crafting is such a joy to do and is wonderful for your mental health particularly nowadays when everything is so instant and rushed; it's nice to work with your hands and have to take time to complete a project.

In my weekly Tiddlybits, I put together a list of links to all the great ideas I come across on Pinterest in the hope that they inspire people to create wonderful stuff of their own.

This week I've also featured creative baking ideas as I also love baking and think that's another great with to get creative and might suit people who don't want to spend hours elbow deep in Papier-mâché!

How does my writing/creative process work?

For the posts about the crafting projects I attempt, I take pictures for every step of the project and then I will either create a step by step tutorial using the pictures and written instructions or if it was a relatively simple project, just let the pictures do the talking! I usually write a little about why I decided to take on that project and the lessons I've learned from the process too.

For the weekly Tiddlybits, I pick a theme usually sparked by something I've found in my house and I wonder about all the different things you could do with it. I then create a secret board on Pinterest and pin all the great ideas on the theme I find in there. Then I pick out 4 or 5 favourites and pop pictures of  them in a blog post with comments on why I think they're so good as well as links to the blogs/websites where they were originally posted.

For my new Morning Walks feature, I just take pictures when me and my boyfriend are out walking. I edit them in Photoshop creating a collage of the various photos and then upload that to Tiddlybobs. As the aim is just to inspire people I don't usually write anything in order to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Who am I tagging?

It's EXTREMELY difficult to pick three as there are so many great blogs out there but these three are my current favourites! 

My first tag goes to Tinkered Treasures who's blog is so beautiful and cute especially the recent Girlie  Office feature - which I am now totally jealous of! 

My second tag is for Turquoise Autumn which is full of stunning photos and I love the Wilderness Wednesday posts. 

And finally, The Villa on Mount Pleasant  who creates the most stunning vintage interiors and gives me serious house envy. 

Fire burn and Cauldron Bubble

The aim of Tiddlybobs is not only to inspire your makes but also to inspire your bakes. I find it extremely fun to put a twist on a traditional bake, like my piña colada cupcakes (picture below), so I decided to make this weeks Tiddlybits all about creative baking. These creative bakes are all inspired by Hallowe'en so I hope they do give you some ideas for your party bakes for October 31st. 

If you do try any creative bakes after being inspired by this blog please do send me pictures  of them via Twitter @Tiddlybobs or to tiddlybobs@gmail.com as I'd love to see them! Also, please visit my Pinterest board for more ideas if none of these take your fancy. 

First up are these awesome ghost meringues from Smart School House. They don't require many ingredients so you can keep your costs down and also they don't take long so top marks all round for this idea!

So you've made pound cake before but have you ever made pound cake with a pumpkin INSIDE?? Nope didn't think so! This peekaboo pumpkin pound cake recipe a fantastic idea from Sandra Denneler at SheKnows. 

Unfortunately I can't find a tutorial for these awesome Voodoo Doll cookies found on indulgy.com. But here is a recipe for Gingerbread Men from NetMums so just whip them up and make up some different colour icing and get creative!

I love this monster cake from Makoodle. So simple yet so creative. You could also use different colours on the cake and eyes, play around wight he heights of the eyes or even put the mouth on the front instead of the top to make your bake truly unique. 

That's it for this weeks Tiddlybits! 

Happy Baking!

A Recipe for Colouring In

I am firmly aware that I am unable to draw and having a brother who is a graphic designer and a boyfriend who is an illustrator does nothing but confirm that. However, I do still enjoy having a dabble now again and there is nothing more relaxing in this world than colouring in - anyone that says differently is lying. 

I was kindly gifted with a blank recipe book last Christmas and today (Yes, only today!) I decided to start filling it. As I'm just learning to bake I don't have a lot of recipes that I do over and over again or even recipes that turn out the exact same the second time around except for this jam tart recipe. It's super quick and has yet to go wrong so I decided it deserved pride of place as the first recipe to be put in my book. 

The book contains a blank page on one side and lined pages on the other so it's just made for accompanying your recipes with illustrations - well, I thought so anyway. 

I'm pretty pleased with the result considering my drawing skills but besides that, it was super fun and just so relaxing to do! If you haven't done any drawing or colouring in since primary school, I demand that you do so straight away. You'll love it! Can't wait to master more baked goods so that I try out more recipe inspired drawings! 

Piña Colada Cupcakes

I wasn't sure about blogging about my bakes here on Tiddlybobs, as I began it with the idea that it would just be about my journey into (and hopefully progression through!) the world of crafting. However, I've been reading a lot of advice about blogging lately and the one thing that crops up the most is to blog about what you love and baking is definitely one of my loves! I've always dabbled in it over the years being the daughter of a woman who bakes the most delicious things in the world, but over the last year I have baking a lot more (since moving in with four other people means I don't have to eat everything I bake anymore!) and I love trying out new recipes and learning new techniques. So I think I will start adding my bakes to this blog but probably only the more creative projects I attempt and not just boring pictures of Victoria sponges!

My most recent bake was some piña colada cupcakes. 

I recently visited a craft fair in Oxfordshire and bought some piña colada curd from the lovely people at Cherry Tree Preserves  and was dying to use it in a recipe. I just made a standard batch of vanilla cupcakes. I then spooned out a small hole in the top of each cupcake and popped in some of the curd. I swirled butter icing over the top and added straws, umbrellas and gummy fruit shapes to give the idea of a piña colada cocktail!