I am feeling pretty smug about these beautiful die cut, hand assembled, wedding invitations with gorgeous purple bows. 

Making these wedding invitations took an age!! The gold outer for each invite took around 15 minutes to cut on my Cricut Explorere machine, and then the purple inlay and invitation details also needed cutting, assembling and purple gemstones added. Finally each one had a ribbon secured which was then hand tied. Although it took days to pull together I think it was all worth it when you see them all finished and piled high. 

The evening invites had the same papercut pattern but just one square adhered to a purple backing and the invite details secured via little paper cuts in each corner. 

 One of the nicest things about making 60 of these beauties - and another 40 evening invites - was that my husband helped! The invites are for the MD at his company and he offered to make these as our wedding gift to him. We spent several nights in the craft room together, designing the cards, then me feeding the cricut and him weeding out the papercuts and sticking on the gems (I think I got the best deal!)

To tie the bows, we followed this video by Lia Griffith and I think it's pretty much revolutionised bow tying for the rest of my days! I even made a bow frame for our bedroom using the same technique: https://instagram.com/p/8bVQ6jNpcE/?taken-by=mummypuddleduck 

 The gold and purple card stock is Peregrina Majestic Gold and Nightclub Purple from G.F.Smith which is stunningly beautiful and very glamorous. Luckily there were enough leftovers for me to make these Christmas bauble papercut garlands! 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/your/shops/mummypuddleduck/tools/mummypuddleduck/uk/listings/251619657 

Let me know what you think of these wedding invitations by contacting me on any of the social channels listed on the left or by commenting below. 

Christmas is coming - papercut banner now listed

The Christmas countdown has officially started as I've just listed the first Christmas item in my Etsy shop! www.mummypuddleduck.etsty.com.

I've listed them as 'Christmas papercut gold and purple bauble banner / bunting / garland' as I'm not quite sure what to refer to them as - is it bunting? Or a garland? Or a banner as they would refer to it in America?

Whatever it's called I think it will add a touch of glamour to any festive decor. I can't say my uneven grey walls show it in the best light but you get the idea. 

There are eight baubles in each garland, two each of four different bauble shapes. A round bauble features cut out holly leaves. A pointed bauble and a round fat bauble both feature snowflakes and the tall thin bauble has a star cut out. Each bauble is 5.5 inches high. 

The gold and purple baubles alternate and the string is two metres (2m) long. Each bauble is secured to the string to ensure they don't all slip to one end or bunch up. These baubles are going to stay put when they're up!

Each shape has been die-cut to make sure they are perfect every time. 

I know design is subjective and this is especially true for Christmas when there are so many different colour schemes and themes so if you like the idea of these but fancy reindeer, Santas and Christmas puddings instead, contact me via Etsy, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (or email mummypuddleduck [at] gmail.com and I will bring your ideas to life - or rather get them down on paper...... and then cut them! 

Let me be amongst the first to say Seasons' Greetings and Happy Christmas! 

Homemade coconut and chocolate sugar scrub

Since discovering count oil as the saviour of dairy and gluten free cooking I've been reading up on other uses for this miracle product.

I wash my face with it, I clean my teeth with it (google oil pulling and there are a million articles on it) and now I use it in a body scrub. 

Pinterest is a gold mine of thousands of other suggestions for coconut oil from cleaning make up brushes to moisturisers, face masks, fixing squeaky doors, even a treatment for head lice. 

But whilst I was trawling pins for inspiration one of the ideas that stood out for me was body scrubs. 

Made with store cupboard ingredients you can whip this up in under half an hour. It costs much less than the beauty brands' body scrubs and it also makes a wonderful gift.

This particular scrub caught my eye as it's chocolate and I don't think it's possible to have enough chocolate in your life. Being dairy free I don't eat chocolate bars anymore so this is a fantastic way to get a blast of chocolaty scent without eating any. Although, in reality,  you could eat this as everything contained in it is completely edible. I bet you can't say that about many store bought beauty products!!!

This was the second body scrub I made (the first was also divine and I will blog that soon) and although that first scrub was wonderful, it was difficult to take into the shower in batches and I didn't want to leave my Kilner jar in the shower to go rusty. As I was using the scrub in the shower - my best ideas come to me in the shower - I thought about setting the scrub in ice cube trays so that I could store the cubes in a jar and simply pick up a couple of cubes before jumping in the shower.

Whilst searching in the depths of the cupboard for the ice cube tray I found a shaped muffin silicone mould - perfect for  chocolate body scrub roses! 

These would make a fantastic gift wrapped in little cellophane bags finished with a ribbon or bow and my friends and family might just find a few of these in their stocking this Christmas!!

 

Chocolate and Coconut oil sugar scrub roses 

1 cup mixed sugars (I used a combination of soft brown, demerara and granulated) 

1/2 cup coconut oil 

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

 

Mix the dry ingredients and add the coconut oil. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the coconut oil. Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. 

 

Once melted, give the sugar a through mix to ensure the coconut oil is evenly distributed. 

 

Press the mixture into moulds, or put directly into a jar. If using moulds chill for 20 minutes to reset the coconut. 

Be aware that the oil will melt if it gets too warm. 

I'm done with all these posh and expensive beauty products that are full of chemicals, perfumes, parabens and Lord knows what else. I'm going au naturel!!

You will love the smell of this scrub when you take it into the shower; it smells like chocolate cupcakes baking!!! Let me know how you get on. 

Quick blueberry compote blog post

Not only is this a quick blog post, it's also a quick blueberry compote recipe.

We've been picking blueberries off the three bushes we have in the garden  for over a month now and the kids have loved eating them raw. This weekend I noticed one of the blueberry bushes was brimming with fruit, some of them getting spoiled, 'going over' because they hadn't been picked.

Cue my mind racing with blueberry recipes!

Hence this super simple blueberry compote recipe.

I picked and washed the berries, there was about a cup and a half full. As I was at home with the boy, he ate half a cup leaving me with the rest to use in the compote.

I washed and sliced each berry, just to be sure they were clean and OK to eat as we don't use any pesticides or protect the blueberry bushes from insects.

I then placed them in a saucepan with two tablespoons of Sweet Freedom sugar substitute. You could also add three tablespoons of sugar instead.

Once the mixture came to a simmer, I used a spatula to crush the berries and added a tablespoon of cornflour. I stirred the compote mixture for about two minutes just to be sure the cornflour wasn't going to stick or clump up.

I poured half of the mixture into a sterilised jar and used the rest for these oat scones after I discovered how to make oat flour.

BLUEBERRY OAT SCONES 

Ingredients
1 cup of oats (gluten free if required)
1 cup of oat flour (whiz a cup and a half of oats in a processor until it is broken down into a fine flour)
1/3 cup coconut sugar (or natural cane sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp ginger
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 large egg
2 tbsp milk or dairy free milk substitute (I used rice milk)
1/2 quantity of blueberry compote (see description above and also method below)

 Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan) 190 degrees or gas mark 4.

In a bowl combine the oats, oat flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and ginger. Mix in the coconut oil as if you were making a crumble topping, gently rubbing the oil and the dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl mix the egg and milk substitute together and then combine with the the oat and coconut oil mixture.

Stir through compote mixture loosely. This does not need to be thoroughly mixed in, more like swirling through the oats.

Using an ice cream scoop, place a mound of mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper, non-stick paper or greaseproof paper (you could try oiling the tray if you don't have any paper  but I don't like to risk it!)

I got 12 out of this quantity of mixture but it will depend how big your ice cream scoop is. Using a spatula scrape all the beautiful blueberry compote and oats from the side of the bowl and either make another scone or drop this small amount on top of the smallest scone on the tray.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Serve warm or transfer to a cooling rack after five minutes.

I find that anything with coconut oil in is best stored in a fridge.

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

A cup of blueberries
2 tablespoons of sweet freedom sugar substitute
1 tbsp cornflour

Simmer blueberries and sugar substitute in a pan for five minutes. Add cornflour and stir well for at least two minutes.

Coconut Flapjack Oaty Bars - gluten, dairy and refined sugar free

I simply love the smell of dessicated coconut.

Opening the packet instinctively reminds my of my late Nan who used to bake at least four dozen cakes every Sunday in anticipation of the family arriving in their droves.

Nan had a shelf full of cake design books that we would pore over for weeks before our birthdays trying to decide which cake design we'd like that year. She always exceeded our expectations with her finished cake and it would be the making of a birthday. I think that's why I am so passionate about homemade birthday cakes now. It's such a vivid memory for me and I want to pass that down to my children.

Aside from special occasions, every Sunday Nan would treat us to the most amazing selection of sweet treats, sufficient to rival the local bakers. There would be pastry horns, Eccles cakes, fairy cakes, eclairs, puff pastry slices, mini Bakewell tarts and - my absolute favourite - coconut macaroons,  of course not to be confused with the current on-trend French macarons.

No, the coconut macaroon, also known as the coconut pyramid, was a mixture of dessicated coconut, caster sugar and egg mixed together before being formed into a mound on top of a sheet of rice paper and finished with the obligatory glace cherry which was then nonchalantly discarded prior to devouring the delicacy. It was crunchy on the outside, squidgy in the middle and full of flavour.

I've made them myself a few times and I when I do I always find myself back in Nan's kitchen, remembering the glorious smell of baking wafting through to the hall. Of course we weren't allowed to choose a cake until we'd eaten our beef or cucumber sandwiches, celery stick (which Nan used to dip into a mountain of salt before eating) and a half a plateful of plain crisps. It was an idylic Sunday afternoon tea and to this day is a vivid and warm memory.

This weekend I was trying to think of homemade snacks that would tick all of my dietary boxes. Obviously gluten and dairy free were top of the list, closely followed by its portability (we'd planned a picnic but the heavens opened at dawn and remained so all day!).

I am also trying to reduce all of our sugar intake. I want to restrict the children's consumption of sugar for various reasons - tooth health, regulation of blood-sugar levels, behavioural effect, etc. And I am trying to cut down as I think it's having a detrimental effect on my skin although with the childhood described above I don't think it's any surprise that I have a sweet tooth! My husband generally doesn't eat many sweet things but he has sugar in hot drinks and tends to raid the cupboard after I've gone to bed and will eat whatever is there. We have a 'silver sweetie bowl' and at least once a day babypuddleduck can be heard asking for "something out of the silver bowl" to which the response is a resounding 'no' - usually because Daddy has consumed its contents!

I scoured the cupboard for ingredients in stock and found gluten free oats, coconut, coconut oil,  eggs, raspberries, sugar substitute Sweet Freedom, cocoa and Doves gluten free flour. I ended up making a raspberry and almond cake (blog to follow soon) and spicy chocolate biscuits (no blog as they were disastrous) and following the banana flapjacks I made a few weeks ago which were a success in my view (a view not shared by babypuddleduck or the boy) I also tried a new oaty bar recipe. They're even better than the banana version and I attempted different toppings too for a bit of variation.

COCONUT FLAPJACK OAT BARS

Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free
Step by step coconut and oat flapjack recipe with images 

Ingredients:
3 cups (240g) of gluten free oats
1 cup (80g) of dessicated coconut
5 tablespoons coconut oil
100ml Sweet Freedom sugar alternative
3 tablespoons dairy free spread (I use Pure)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence




Method
Mix the oats and coconut together in a bowl.

Over a pan of water melt together the coconut oil, coconut butter, maple syrup and vanilla.

I found this handy steamer insert that is supposed to sit in the bottom of a pan but actually sits quite nicely on top of my smaller pan so that I can perch the pyrex jug on top and still be able to lift the jug off the pan once everything has melted. My jug isn't big enough to sit over the pan on its own and when I use the big bowls I find they're too
hot to handle after they've been over the pan for more than a few minutes. I think I got this one from Aldi - you know the aisle in the middle of the store that means you have to spend twice as long in the store as you anticipated and also means you leave with twice as much as you needed!

Once the ingredients have melted together nicely and you've stirred it well to make sure it's all incorporated, pour it over the oat and coconut mixture and again, mix well.



Doesn't my kitchen look colourful with an orange bowl, purple steamer, yellow spatula and red baking tray! I'll never be one of those people whose house is coordinated. Nothing matches here!

Either line a 9 inch square baking tin with baking paper / non-stick parchment or do as I did and use a silicone tray. It makes it much easier to remove them at the end.

Whichever tin you're using, spread the mixture evenly and press down firmly with your fingers or the back of a spoon or anything else that's flat and will compress the mixture. You want to  be really firm so that it bonds well and the flapjacks hold their shape when cut. I ended up with some leftover granola when two of the bars crumbled as I was taking them out of the tray. It still got eaten, but wouldn't have been suitable for our picnic. Don't hold back, be very firm.

Bake at 180 degrees C / 160 degrees C (fan) or gas mark 4 for 20 minutes. Leave in the tin to cool well before slicing.

I made a chocolate coating and dipped the flapjacks in so that half of each bar was covered. I then dipped half of the bars in more coconut to get a monochrome effect.

This recipe made 12 bars (or would have done if two hadn't crumbled into granola as I was lifting them out of the tray!). The boy has had them in his lunch box at nursery and I've taken one to work each day this week. I'd guess they still have a few days left in them too. I've stored them in a cake tin which seems to have kept them nice and fresh.

Do let me know if you try this recipe and take some better pictures than I did to show me!

Homemade confetti tutorial

I love a wedding.

I have had the pleasure of being involved in many weddings this year through the handcrafted bespoke gifts in my Etsy shop.

Some have been made for strangers who have found my personalised items though Google or Etsy searches and some have been for friends of friends. I like this type of order as I get to hear some of the feedback.

Last week I made two frames for a colleague and after returning from one of the weddings this week he volunteered the following feedback from the groom: "Mate, I f***ing love what you gave me, it's brilliant. Better than all the other c**p we got!".

I think roughly translated that means he liked it! Praise indeed.

I think whenever you give a wedding gift it should show the couple how much you care about them. It should be something that's chosen with love, and if it's handmade with a personal touch, specifically for the happy couple, then even better.

I've been to one wedding this summer and of course, I made a map frame for the bride and groom, with a map showing the location of the church and reception venue. But with by brain on 'handmade' overdrive I started thinking about other ways I could bring something individual, made with love and care, to this special day.

I am also incapable of throwing anything away, so this project was just perfect. I was recently ill and off work and my colleagues sent a huge bunch of gorgeous peonies and roses. I was really disappointed when they started to go over, past their best but just in time I found inspiration to make something with them. We also had a few rain damaged roses which, once they'd spent a day in the sunshine drying out, were ideal for this project.  Never again will I think in despair "what can I do with dying flowers?".

An added advantage of this wonderful confetti - as if it could't get any better - is that it is completely biodegradable.

I am off to a wedding again on Friday and my homemade confetti will be coming with me!

Homemade confetti tutorial 

Step 1 - Choose your flowers. I use roses and peonies as the petals seem to dry to a nice crisp finish and they don't take too long. I tried it with purple Lisianthus but the petals were just too waxy and they didn't dry out at all. Even if your blooms are on the turn, they'll still be fine for homemade confetti, as long as they haven't completely shrivelled up.

Step 2 - Line a few baking trays or cardboard boxes / lids with kitchen roll. Gently remove the petals one by one from the flower head. Lay out each petal on the kitchen towel making sure that the petals do not touch. If they do they will dry together. It will take up quite a bit of kitchen roll to keep them spaced out properly but they can be condensed in the next step.

Step 3 - Leave the petals to dry in a cool and shady place, away from direct sunlight. After a couple of days, the petals will have started to dry out and will have reduced in size. At this stage you can condense down the number of trays you need as the petals can be moved closer together. Repeat this step every four or five days. As you remove the kitchen towel you can fold it and keep it for the next confetti project. Waste not, want not! 

Step 4 - Once the petals have completely dried - around three weeks - they can be gathered up and stored. I have kept some in jars and some in paper bags. If you use jars, leave the lid off or make sure it isn't sealed as this can make the petals soften again and sometimes they will start to smell. I took my confetti to the wedding in a handmade paper bag by following this tutorial by Hello Sandwich. I omitted the handles and instead folded the top over and secured with washi tape.