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DIY rice heat pack warmers
upcycling

DIY Pocket Hand Warmers

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Pocket Hand Warmers are this seasons must have accessory! Whilst walking to the train station for work on a Monday morning, think how much nicer life would be with snuggly hands in your pockets. You can use rice or wheat as your fillings and as long as you only microwave for 30 seconds at a time, you can get the perfect temperature for you.
To do this yourself you will need…
Needle and thread,
Pair of scissors
Spare material 15cmx30cm more or less
Rice or Wheat.

STEP ONE Measure the material and cut to the 15cm by 30cm we mentioned above, or any sort of similar size is ok.
STEP TWO Fold the material so it now forms a square 15cm by 15cm, the print should be on the inside of the fold.
STEP THREE Thread the needle and start to make stiches around a fingers width from the fold along the outside of the three sides of the material. Go all the way to the end and tie off.
STEP FOUR From the gap you have left you can now fold the material through and turn it the right way out. I use a crochet hook and this helps me to poke it out of the hole.
STEP FIVE Once all of the corners have been gently pushed out you are now able to carefully and slowly pour the rice or wheat in to the hole you have created. I use a piece of paper I have turned into a cone shape as this helps me avoid spills.
STEP SIX Fill to around 3/4 full and then use the needle and thread to sew it up as neatly as you can.

STEP SEVEN is give these to a friend who you want to make very happy! For best results microwave for 30 second blasts and shake a little in between each blast.

Easy to make gifts
My friends love me fo rme, but a few of these don’t go a miss either! Snuggly friends are happy friends! So enjoy the gift giving.

easy to grow all year round potato planter
Garden Progress

Potato Tower Update, Getting Ready For Christmas

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Potato Tower – Why build up?
Well for me it is as simple as wanting to have an easy harvest. It is far less painful on my back and means I can get a greater yield from the space I have available. It is also a great way to grow potatoes throughout Autumn and in to Winter, as it allows a really good irrigation.
You Will Need;
Seed Potatoes
Chicken Wire,
Straw.

STEP ONE Simply create a cone using the chicken wire, when cutting it be careful not to catch yourself as it will be sharp.
STEP TWO find a sunny spot in the garden and set up your tower, line it with straw and ensure it wont fall over in the Autumn winds.
STEP THREE Fill to around a quarter with soil and it will sit just inside the straw lining.
STEP FOUR place three to four seed potatoes on the soil, look for ideal seed potatoes with lots of eyes all over.
STEP FIVE Cover the potatoes over and your tower will be around a third filled.

Wait a few weeks and there will be green leaves showing through, cover these up with more straw around the outside then soil. Repeat until you have filled the tower almost to the top.
Then the plant will produce flowers and the leaves will begin to fail. This is the right time to empty the tower into the compost and take all of the potatoes out for your dinner.

Peanut Butter Fudge
recipes

Peanut Butter Fudge, with extra chunky chocolate topping

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Peanut Butter Fudge is an instant crowd pleaser and will make you very popular in work. Do not worry this is a foolproof recipe for even the beginner to ty and tackle.
You Will Need;
1 397g tin of condensed milk
100g of unsalted butter
1 tbsp coconut butter
450g granulated sugar
100g of smooth peanut butter
chocolate chunks for the topping.
Loaf Tin, non stick silicon

nice and easy recipe
Stir it all together until the sugar dissolves

Once you have popped all of the ingredients (not the choc chunks yet) into the largest pan you own, keep it on a low heat.
The sugar will dissolve and you are then ready to sling the heat up higher, keep stirring and try not to let it stick to the bottom of the pan as it will turn into caramel grit rather than gorgeous fudge.
This will take around ten minutes, any less and you will have a sugary texture, which is more like tablet than fudge. I quite like to go in between ten minutes and five as you get a nice interesting texture which isn’t 100% smooth.

I burnt myself the first time
Hotter than the surface of the sun, this is a job for adult supervision!

You can see the sugars bubbling away even as it leaves the pan, this means it will burn you even if you wait a few minutes before trying to lick it from the spoon!
Wait for it to cool slightly and then transfer to the fridge to fully cool and set. This is the right time to scatter the chunky chocolate chips all over the top as it will settle in but not melt.
Then once set it is up to you how to cut the fudge up, I am no perfectionist so I go for a rustic look!

fudge at it's finest
The cocnut butter adds an extra shine as well as a depth of flavour.

For the page I am starting on all treats follow here, thanks

Chairs with new life
upcycling

Upcycled Furniture

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We have sold our house this weekend, and are getting ready to move soon. This got me thinking to all of the fun little projects I haven’t got round to yet and these old chairs are a long term project we wanted to tackle together. Old furniture is often good quality and well made, however it does not always fit in with our decor or ideas of how we want to live in our homes. So this is a nice and simple way to upcycle that old but reliable furniture.

You Will Need;
Old furniture you wish to upcycle, there are plenty of charity shops which will also sell ‘new’ furniture to you which is in need of a bit of TLC

recycle, reuse, repurpose
upcycling

Recycling old tin cans – an easy and cheap alternative

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A very simple and easy way of recycling old tin cans into planters, saving you money and meaning you don’t have to rely on plastics so heavily. When you think about it tin cans are a real renewable resource in our houses as, although they can be recycled by most councils in our fortnightly collections, why wouldn’t we use them ourselves?

 

You Will Need;

Old tin cans, washed and left to soak the labels off,

Hammer, 16 oz and 1 Screw

Paint Brushes

Paint such as Gloss Paint 250ml Oxford Blue Wood Metal Door Children Toys Furniture Oil-Based Indoor Outdoor

Old Newspaper to pop on the table and floor depending on who is ‘helping’ with this project!

STEP ONE take your washed and label free tin can and up end it to reveal the bottom, then very gently use the screw and hammer to make tiny little holes in the bottom. These holes will allow the plants to not get water logged and are ideally not too large either.

STEP TWO open up the tin and stir the contents to ensure it is all mixed well together.

STEP THREE if you hold on to the tin can from the inside you are less likely to get paint on yourself, but be careful of sharp edges.  Then just start to paint it, you can be as uneven as you like or you can keep very little paint on the brush to create different effects. Either way it becomes as unique as you are and a perfect planter for gifts or your windowsill!

tin can upcycled project

 

 

Another use for your wood paint, and actually quite a nice way to co-ordinate your crafts