Upcycled Denim Pinafore

 

I love denim pinafores on little girls and have been waiting for the denim in Spotlight to come on sale, as at $18- $24 a metre its a bit pricey for me.  It did, but they only had black left and I wanted blue ... Murphys Law!  So decided to buy a pre-loved denim skirt for $6 and upcycle it into a baby dress. 

I love the finished product.  It only took me an hour or so to whip up and I love the idea of upcycling so much I am going to try some other projects.  My photo quality below is poor - I do alot of my sewing at nighttime when the children are in bed, that combined with the fact my camera is on a slow decline to the rubbish pile makes for not great photos.  Here is how I did it.

You need one skirt, 1 x metre of lining (depending on size - I made a size 1), buttons and matching thread.

Firstly cut down a side seam of the skirt to open it up.

Fold along centre seam (or just centre) of the front panel of the skirt,with right sides facing, and pin and cut out the front of you dress (on the fold).  You can copy off a pinafore dress you already have - or there are lots of free pdf's on the internet for pinafore dresses - just google it and you should find one.

Then do the same with the back panel of the skirt to cut out the back piece of your dress pattern.

Then cut out your lining, back and front.

Next you are going to pin the denim together, right sides facing, and do the same for the lining.

Sew along each side seam and once finished press out your seams with an iron.

Slip your lining into the denim dress with right sides facing together.

And pin the lining and dress together along the straps and underarms, matching the straps etc together.

Sew around the whole top piece.  Once sewn trim close to your seam and notch the arm hole edges.

Turn dress right way out and iron.  Now you are doing to sew around the top of the dress to give a nice flat finish.  See picture.

Then its time to put the buttons on.  Use the button function of your sewing machine.

Then hem along the bottom (I folded twice) and sew.

And there you have it.  You can embellish it anyway you want.

Caramel Streusel Slice

This is another recipe I ripped out of a magazine a few years back and have finally given it a go.  Its a different twist on the traditional Caramel Slice, and although its not my favourite, my hubby loves anything with cinnamon in it so he thinks its great!

BASE
125g butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour

TOPPING
1 cup plain flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
125g butter
1 TBS water

FILLING
395g condensed milk
30g butter
2 TBS golden syrup

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease and line a 18 x 28cm slice pan.

To make TOPPING.  Sift flour and cinnamon together and stir in sugar.  Grate butter into mixture and rub in with fingers until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Add water and form mixture into a dough.  Roll into a log and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill in freezer for half an hour.

To make BASE beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Sift in flours and stir until a firm dough forms.  Press dough evenly into base of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.  Cool.

To make FILLING combine sweetened condensed milk, butter and syrup in a small saucepan.  Heat on a medium heat stirring until smooth.  Continue stirring until mixture bubbles and thickens - around 5 minutes.

Spread filling over the cooled base.  Grate topping over the filling and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until firm.  Cool in the pan for around 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Cool completely then cut into fingers.

Chocolate Melting Moments with Coffee Cream

I found this recipe in a Womans Day magazine about a year ago, and bored with normal biscuits, finally gave it a go!

200g butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line two baking trays.

In a large bowl beat together butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  For best results use an electric beater.

Stir in combined sifted flours and cocoa. 

Fit a piping bag with a 1.5cm star nozzle, fill bag with mixture and pipe 4cm wide biscuits on to trays.  Should make approximately 28 biscuits.

Bake for 15 - 17 minutes until slightly firm.  Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks


COFFEE CREAM

The recipe stated to use 2 teaspoons of instant coffee, which I did, and the coffee icing was really overpowering!  So unless you enjoy a really strong coffee flavour, I would recommend cutting the coffee down to 1/2 - 1 teaspoons.

50g butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tsp instant coffee (see above)
1 tsp boiling water

Beat butter all ingredients together until pale.  Sandwich biscuits together with Coffee Cream.  Will store in an airtight container for 3 - 5 days.

Bandana Bibs - Goober Bibs!

Ada is at that dribble stage.  I must change her tops about three times a day as she is a super soaker with her dribble.  I was recommended a really easy Bandana Bib tutorial.  These are brilliant for soaking up all that dribble and mean no more clothing changes.  They take about 10 minutes to make from start to finish.  The only difference I made was using snaps instead of velcro.

The tutorial is straightforward and easy to follow.  http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/happy-bunny-day-bandana-drool-bib-tutorial/

Supermum Who?

So often I get comments from people on how amazed they are at what I achieve in my day baking and sewing and that I am a supermum.  But often its such a different picture 'behind the scenes'!  I sometimes gently remind people that I am only showcasing my acheivements and not my failings (of which on a normal day there are many!).  I think you need to be careful when looking at other peoples Facebook pages and blogs that you do not start to feel inadequate and compare yourself to them.  Especially as you look from the computer to around your house at the morning breakfast dishes piled on the bench, 3 days worth of washing to fold on the floor in the corner, the dirty nappy your toddler just removed and left on the floor as he went running naked outside into the rain and the empty baking containers sitting in the cupboard that are gathering dust...... and then look back at your computer at their pictures of beautiful baking, sewing and clean children.  And you wonder how do they do it?

So I thought I would take a minute to share with you a bit of what happens behind the scenes on a normal day in my house.

My boys went on a frenzy late this afternoon.  They started in their bedroom as I was beginning to prepare dinner.  They caused alot of destruction as I was busy in the kitchen.  I screamed at them (yes, I lost my rag totally) and told them they had to clean up their mess.  I would like to add here that its not only children who crack it during the witching hours (5pm till bedtime) - its mummies too.  10 minutes later I was very surprised that I could see their bedroom floor.  That was until I looked into the cot ...

My darlings had just scooped everything up like mini-diggers and dumped it all into Samuels cot.  When I asked Jack where Sam was to sleep that night he suggested in his bed with him.  I noticed that Sam had even done some lovely chalk drawings in the bedroom and cleaned his hands on the side of the cot.

Deciding I would tackle that one later, as I just didn't have time to do it then, I made the boys move into the family room to play.  I had cleaned the place spotless ready for the hubby to come home.  I was rather involved in cooking dinner and trying to stop the baby from crying and wasn't keeping a close enough eye on the boys as I should of been.  This is what happened in the half an hour before my hubby came home.

Sam managed to get himself naked in this time also.  Ada has been placed in the middle as I was carrying her and had to put her down to dash off and mediate the mexican standoff that was happening over a Lightening McQueen toy.

Also as I write this all my dirty nappies are in a pile, unwashed in the laundry sink, I haven't emptied the kittens kitty litter tray today, I have a massive pile of accounts to sort for the business which I promised myself I'd do today and I haven't, the rubbish has fallen over outside and I need to pick it up, the dinner dishes are still on the bench and there is a wet towel on the floor in the middle of the family room.

Supermum I am not.  Normal mummy of 3 children under 5 I am.  So next time you find yourself starting to feel a bit inadequate while looking at someones blog or Facebook photos just remember that they are only showcasing their best and behind those photos a little bit of destruction is sure to be lurking!

Ginger Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

These cupcakes were made on Good Morning last week, and I loved the thought of a nice ginger cupcake.  These are really good.  The ginger is not too overpowering and is really set off by the lemon icing.  I love them!

INGREDIENTS
300g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
150g unsalted butter
400g caster sugar
4 eggs
7ml vanilla essence
100g finely chopped crystalised ginger
160ml sour cream

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger and mixed spice.

In a seperate bowl (big bowl), cream the butter for a few minutes.  Add the suger one third at a time, beating for at least 2 minutes after each addition.  Beat until mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has disolved.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla and mix in.  Add to this half the sifted dry ingredients, chopped ginger and half the sour cream.  Stir in gently and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Divide mixture between the cupcake papers and bake for 20 minutes or until cakes are cooked.

LEMON FROSTING
200g butter
600g icing sugar
Grated rind and juice of one lemon

Cream the butter.  Add icing sugar and lemon juice and rind in alternative batches.  If mixture is really stuff add a TBS milk - mix until light and fluffy.

I added some little gingerbread garnishes which were made from the Gingerbread recipe I posted earlier.

Gingerbread Men

After trying many different Gingerbread Men recipes, two years ago I came across one that is amazing, and has never failed on me yet.  I ripped it out of a magazine (so have no idea on who to credit for it) and will not use any other recipe now!  It creates a good sized batch and the kids just love them.

INGREDIENTS
125g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg yolk
1 TBS ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

Put butter, softened, into a food processor with the brown sugar and process until pale and creamy.  Add the golden syrup.  Seperate the egg and add the yolk (save the white for the icing) and process until well mixed.

Sift the dry ingredients into the processor and process in short bursts (mixture should come to resemble small crumbs that can be pressed into a dough).  Press together to form a disc shape, cover in clingwrap and refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Halve the dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll the first half out until its 5mm thick.  Cut it into shapes and arrange 2cm apart on a lined baking tray.

Bake for 7 - 10 minutes.  While these are baking, roll and cut out the second batch of dough.

Cool on a cooling rack.  When cool ice. 

ICING
To make icing, whisk the reserved egg white till foamy.  Sift in 1/2 cup of icing sugar, stir, then repeat until the icing holds it shape when piped (this shouldn't take more than 1 1/2 cups).

Transfer icing to a bag and ice your men and decorate how you please.