Colder weather and longer nights means more nesting! I’ve been feeling more home-y this week so I’ve spent a lot of time making things to break up the whole work/gym/friends cycle a bit more.
(Side note: one of my friends asked me how I have the time to do all this stuff. Mostly they’re things I do sitting in front of the TV in the evening; if I’m watching something, I try to do something else at the same time. Also, prep is key. Having a clear idea of what you want to make and having everything to hand makes all the difference).
On with the makes!
1. Nutella
A couple of years back the weird-looking tree in our back garden started throwing things at us, and we realised they were hazelnuts. It was hugely ironic given the world shortage of hazlenuts at the time and the fact that we’ve managed to kill every other plant that’s entered our home/garden.
This year I spent a few minutes collecting a bowlful – 3.5oz exactly – which turned out to be enough to make homemade Nutella:
Don’t be fooled by how easy that recipe looks: the blending took FOR. EVER. And it actually works out a lot cheaper to just buy your own, even if the nuts are free. But it tastes good, so that’s got to count for something right?
I used a mix of salted caramel chocolate and regular chocolate for a slightly varied taste, and because the nuts were raw out of our garden, we roasted them for 20 minutes beforehand and then rubbed them in kitchen towel before removing the shells using nutcrackers.
2. Oatmeal, cherry and raisin cookies
This is a recipe I’ve perfected over the past couple of years; I was originally looking to recreate the classic oatmeal and raisin Subway cookie, and this isn’t too far off but has more of a chunkier, earthier feel. They taste better than they look (!) I make these fairly regularly because Joe likes to grab a couple for breakfast when he’s heading out of the door in a rush.
I’m still getting used to our new oven but it’s working out fine.
3. A wedding card
Two of my friends are getting married this weekend, so I made a card. I have a lot of cardmaking stuff anyway, but this happened to coincide with me buying a metre of hessian from eBay for a photography backdrop and a sale at Paperchase. Put those two things together and toss some craft bits and a pair of scissors into the mix and you get this:
4. Magnetic recipe card and meal idea holders
My recipe cards used to be stuck all over the fridge individually, but they started to take up far too much space. This post inspired me to cut down some boxes, cover them with scrapbook paper, and attach magnets.
One box holds my baking recipes and one box main meal ideas.
Because they’re in the kitchen, I figured I could pull them in with the rest of the look by creating a mini replica of the normal kitchen bunting I made and attaching it to the front.
They also have what I call my ‘signature’ buttons on them for extra decoration. I love these buttons; they’re attached to my bathroom jars, my hand sewn living room cushion covers, and my outdoor seat pads, so it’s good to get them in the kitchen too. They subconsciously tie elements of different rooms together without looking too matchy-matchy or restricting what colours I can use.
4.5 Spotty storage jars
This doesn’t really count as a make – it’s more of an upcycle. I’ve had these jars since I bought chocolate in a half price Easter sale and decided to keep them because of the nice lids. After we got our kitchen done, I decided they’d be great for storing baking toppings. I simply cut a strip of scrapbook paper and used it to cover the existing label, then stuck down the ends with sticky dots. I’ll be labelling them in the future when I get around to ordering some cute custom pantry labels from Etsy, and probably making them more practical with some clear sticky plastic.
And yep, that’s the same paper I’ve used on the fridge boxes.
Which did you like the best? What have you made recently (or planning to make soon)? Drop me a comment below!
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