Cactus Love


If you're looking for an original, cute valentine's gift for that special someone, look no further! There are now plenty of cute little cacti available in my Etsy store. You can find this little on by clicking here!


Meet Judith, your perfect desktop companion, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face even on the most difficult of days. Give her to someone special in your life so that they remember you every time they see her cute face! She is a great gift for those plant lovers who just can't keep a plant alive, but need a little life and light brought into their office or study. She would also be happy to be an ornament on your bookshelf or mantelpiece. 


Sandy is a plant who will never die! Perfect for those of us who don't have green fingers, and those who do! She would be a lovely gift for that special someone. Or, if you want to keep her for yourself she would very happily be an ornament on your bookshelf, desk or mantelpiece. 

Chocolate and Cookie Dough Muffins


After some experimenting on Monday evening I came up with this recipe. They are yummy and they  taste even better the day after, so don't eat them all right away! The cookie dough has a slightly salty taste compared to the muffin which makes a great contrast.


To make the cookie dough:
90g butter
100g sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
200g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100g chocolate chips


In one bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and leave to one side.
In another bowl cream the butter and sugar. Then mix in the egg and vanilla.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, mixing all the time. At this point I usually use my hands to knead the dough. If the dough feels very sticky you can add more flour, a little at a time. When the dough is a good consistency add in the choc chips. Put in the fridge whilst you make the muffins.

This will make more cookie dough than you will need for the muffins - but when is too much cookie dough ever a problem? Wrap up whatever is left and put it in the freezer ready for a day when you feel the need for cookies!

To make the muffins: 
200g flour
75g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
175g sugar
2 eggs
100ml sunflower oil
175ml milk
2 tsp vanilla essence



Heat the oven to 170C and put paper cases in a muffin tin.
In one bowl beat the eggs.
In another bowl put the flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix. Add the sugar and mix.
Add the eggs, sunflower oil, milk and vanilla and mix until it is all combined and looks like the picture above.



Put one teaspoon of muffin mixture into each paper case.

Put a small ball of cookie dough into each paper case.











   
Put 2 teaspoons of muffin mix into each paper case so that the cookie dough balls are completely covered.

Then put them in the oven for 20 minutes.
            
Once they are done, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool on a wire rack.





Once they are cooled, eat them!










I shared this post on the Back for Seconds link party.

And in this week's news...



We went snowboarding again today and I really enjoyed it! I still can't quite believe I can do it - I know I'm not going down any steep hills or anything yet, but I didn't think I'd even have the guts to step on a board so I'm very happy :) This is a video of me today.


In other news, on Friday I bought some new shelves to try and bring some order to the mess in the craft corner of my bedroom!


And it's time to get busy making a Mardi Gras themed amigurumi for our Plush Team swap next month.

New adventures with socks


Last year I taught a lot of people how to make sock monkeys! It seemed to be very popular and as I'm planning art club activities for this term I've been thinking about variations on that theme. After looking at pictures on google images I decided to go for an elephant. I found a tutorial on Fretta and Friend's blog and I mixed that with how I make the monkeys and this is what I came up with!

I added the scarf as his neck was a bit scrawny looking. I'm not totally happy with the dimensions of it. I think the arms and trunk are too fat and the head is a bit too small but for a first go it's ok. I'm looking forward to seeing what the young people at Novi Most Jajce come up with when we make them at art club.

A Good Start to the Year


2013 got off to a good start. We spent New Years Eve in London on the Victoria Embankment, dancing in the street and watching the amazing fireworks.


Then we came home to Bosnia to 10 days of snowboarding. I had intended to just sit and watch the others as I was terrified of the idea of snowboarding, but somehow I got convinced to join in and after a day and a half I managed to snowboard on my own without holding onto anyone! I can only do it on a gentle slope, the idea of going to the top of a ski lift also terrifies me, but it's more than I ever thought I'd do and I've got the rest of the winter to improve as we have a ski centar just 30 mins drive from our front door.


And just to prove that I did it...