Happy Easter.

~ Wishing you all a very Happy Easter for those of you who celebrate it ~

Jamie and I have had my little brother to stay for the past few days. Today I was out of bed early in an effort to hide a bunch of tiny chocolate eggs around my apartment before my little brother woke. It was nice to be able to have an Easter Egg Hunt this year, as normally Jamie and I do not hide eggs for each other.

My little brother found the golden eggs in no time at all...

This year I am hosting Easter lunch at my place, and soon my mother and grandparents will be arriving. The beef bourguignon I have made for lunch is simmering away nicely in the oven (and filling our tiny apartment with the smell of warm red wine - yum!). I have a lemon tart chilled in the fridge ready for dessert. The table is laid with my best china and silver...

Now all I need are the guests!

Hope you all get the chance to spend today doing something special with loved ones,

Sam xox

Hot crossed yum.

I know we are still a while away from Easter, but with the cooler days over the past week I decided we needed a little warming and tried my hand at baking hot crossed buns. I had never made these before, but figured it couldn't be that different to making bread or pizza dough. Some flour, milk, yeast, and a LOT of kneading!

These were so yummy and pretty cheap to make. I think these will be a regular feature of my baking repertoire.

Here's the recipe:

(taken from Modern Classic's 2 by Donna Hay)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

4 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

2 teaspoons mixed spice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

50g butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/2 cup sultanas

1/3 cup candied mixed peal (optional)

1/2 cup plain flour, extra

1/3 cup water

1 quantity glaze*

Place yeast, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and all of the milk in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.

Add the flour, mixed spice, ground cinnamon, butter, egg, sultanas, mixed peel, and the remaining sugar to the yeast mixture and mix using a butter knife until a sticky dough forms.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8 minutes or until it feels elastic.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to stand in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls.

Grease a 23cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.

Place the dough balls in the tin, cover with a clean tea towel, and set aside for 30 minutes, or until they rise.

Preheat an oven to 200C (400F).

Combine the extra flour and water, place in a piping bag, and pipe crosses on the buns.

Bake for 35 minutes or until browned and springy to touch.

Brush with the warm glaze while the buns are hot.

Serve warm with butter.

Makes 12

* Glaze: Place 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add 2 teaspoons powdered gelatine sprinkled over 1 tablespoon water and cook for 1 minute. Brush warm glaze on buns.

Sam xox

Crescent skirt pattern ordered.

That's right everyone! Tasia from Sewaholic has released her second pattern, the Crescent Skirt. This is the second original pattern designed by this clever lady, and it looks promising. The skirt pattern features three different views, piping detail, a innovative zipper insertion method, and pockets! I have already pre-ordered my copy of the pattern and I can't wait for it to arrive. Tasia is running a sew-along, beginning April 18, but seeing how quickly I sewed up the Pendrell Blouse, I have a funny feeling I may have this pattern finished before the sew-along begins!

You might think I am a little silly to be buying a skirt pattern as the southern hemisphere moves towards winter, but you see, our winters in Sydney are often warm enough to wear a skirt like this and tights... maybe only one month of the year is too cold for this.

I hope you're all having a fantastic week! We had a very wet weekend which resulted in some flooding a few hours south of Sydney. My poor vegetable garden was pooling with water - I thought my zucchini plants were going to float away. In an effort to cope with the terrible weather and the fact that I was couped up inside all weekend, I spent Sunday sewing a blouse using a Burda Style pattern. I am looking forward to showing you all some photos :-)

Thanks also for your lovely comments about my grandparents golden wedding anniversary. We celebrated the weekend before last with a big party at my Uncle and Aunty's home. 50 years is a very long time to be married - quite a milestone when you read the divorce rates of today. Nan and Pop are a fantastic couple who compliment each other perfectly. I am super lucky to have them as mine, and even more lucky to be able to be there to celebrate such a special milestone with them. Here are a couple of pics...

~ I even got to wear my newly made dress. ~

~ Cutting the cake ~

When Jamie and I became engaged, Nan gave me a cake knife as a gift, a knife that was given to her as a wedding gift. Jamie and I used that knife to cut our wedding cake. Last weekend, Nan and Pop used that knife to cut their cake... 50 years after the knife was given to them. I hope Jamie and I are able to do the same with that knife in 48 years time...

~ And what was inside that masterpiece you ask? Why chocolate and cream of course. ~

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers. And following the celebration theme of this post, I have to add that this is my 200th blog post! Woohoo!

Sam xox

2 years ago today...

... we were married.

Sam xox

Dolls house.

You know when you buy someone a present, and it is a little left-of-centre you begin to worry they might not like it?

Well, my friend Mel had a birthday at the beginning of this month. We have been friends for ages, and over the years she has spoken many times of the dolls house she used to have when she was a little girl. She loved the tiny furniture, the way each room was decorated, and the way the wooden object captured her childhood imagination for hours on end.

Years have past and Mel does not know what ever happened to that beloved toy. Recently, Frankie magazine did an article on a lady who keeps a retro dolls house in her linen cupboard. Mel and I both saw this and it reignited Mel's reminiscing about her old dolls house.

With a little over a month until her birthday, I knew what I wanted to give her for her birthday, and I began my ebay search for a dolls house.

The criteria?

- Not pink.

- Multi-story.

- Stairs with doorways (so many had stairs but no hole for the little people to walk through - how were they supposed to move about each room? I mean really...).

- Plain enough that Mel could make her own 'mark' on it without having to do too much prep work.

After an entire month of searching I had lost hope, and conceded that I wasn't going to be able to find Mel a dolls house, and would have to make Mel an apron instead. That was until, 5 days before her birthday, I came across this gem...

I bought it! I gave it to her! Mel LOVED it!

And she has already made some purchases for it off Etsy...

Retro Kitchen!

Tiny items!!!

Isn't the tiny stuff just too sweet! Mel it is going to look amazing! I'm so glad you like it :-)

Sam xox

Christmas cake.

Last weekend Jamie and I thought it was about time we made our first ever Christmas cake together (well, probably more my thoughts than Jamie's). I had been soaking my fruit for almost a week, every day checking on it and 'feeding' it Sherry. The smell of alcohol was overpowering when I finally took the cover off the fruit. I will definitely not be driving after eating this (what does happen to alcohol after it has been baked in the over for almost two hours?).

When the time came to construct the cake (and I say construct because of Jamie's engineering background - I had to convince him there was a purpose to his participation somehow), Jamie really was a good sport! In between telling me that making a specific type of food for a specific celebration ran against his logical mind, he did an excellent job of mixing the cake!

After two hours of making and baking, we ended up with three cakes, and I have chosen the best of the three to take to my family for Christmas lunch.

Ta-da!

I am pretty proud of my first ever Christmas cake :-)

Sam xox

Merit badge.

For my birthday earlier this month, I received a merit badge from Mel for "being a happy camper". We had some interesting experiences earlier this year when we went camping (think rain, mud, bull ants, and dropping of pants) and this badge is a cute reminder of that holiday together.

Lee Meszaros selling these handmade and hand painted merit badges on Etsy. They were featured in Fankie magazine earlier this year, where Lee spoke about how she had the inspiration for her designs where she came across an old Brownies sash in a thrift store.Lee's badges are based on the traditional Boy Scout/ Girl Guide merit badges, just with a grown up twist.

This even inspired me pull out my own Girl Guide uniform that has been hiding deep in my wardrobe.

I think I need to give my old guiding sash some TLC and sew those badges back on neatly!

Sam xox

Christmas tree.

It's that time of year again. Well, for me anyway. Yes, it is a little early but I just couldn't wait. Last night Jamie and I put up our Christmas tree.

When we first moved into our apartment years ago, we had a modest sized tree with a few decorations. Over the years we collected bits and pieces here and there, and developed quite a nice display on our tree. Last year, Jamie insisted we wait until the first week of December to put up our tree, because (apparently) the rule is that the tree cannot go up any earlier. Bah! Well, I played by the 'rules' and waited, and when the first weekend of December 2009 came around I raced to our garage to retrieve our Christmas goodies.

To my dismay I could only find half our Christmas tree. Yep, half, the useless bottom half that is cube in shape with a gapping hole in the centre where the top half of the tree is supposed to join it. We searched and searched but it appeared that the top half of the tree had vanished! We hit the local shopping centre in search of a replacement tree, but every shop had sold out! In a state of panic we went into Target, and saw a lady dismantling a display tree. We did the same to the only green bushy fake tree left. Fortunately the store gave us a 50% discount because it was the display tree. Unfortunately it was 6 foot 5 inches tall! A tad too big for our cosy apartment.

Jamie pulling the tree apart in the store!

Going from a tiny tree to a huge tree called for more tinsel and decorations. This led to a half hour 'debate' in Target around weather we have silver tinsel or gold tinsel for the tree. Jamie was adamant he wanted silver, and as I wouldn't budge on gold we agreed to get one of each, and had an interesting time that Christmas compromising on whose tinsel went on the top half.

Last night I dragged out the Christmas boxes from underneath the spare bed, and untied their ribbons with all the excitement of a child opening an early Christmas present.

My heart always skips a beat when I get the first glimpse of our decorations...

Every year I make a Christmas decoration. For 2007 I made a felt star. For 2008 I made a paper bell. For 2009 I knitted a bell. This year, inspired by a decoration on a tree in the October issue of (British) Country Living Magazine, I made a felt heart.

If anyone ever does come across the top half of my old Christmas tree, can you let me know?

Sam xox

Craft day.

This year I decided not to celebrate my birthday with dinner or drinks. Instead, today I celebrated by having a craft day with my crafty girlfriends at my home. We ate, we stitched, and we enjoyed each others company.

I already count myself lucky to have these girls in my life, but the cherry on the top really is that they are just as crafty as me!

Mill worked on her trademark Christmas stars. This year she is planning on making many to give as gifts, and has given herself the deadline of November 25 to have 20 complete. Every star she makes is a different combination of colours for the felt, thread and beads. They look really beautiful hanging on the Christmas tree as the lights reflect on the tiny beads.

Renae has been working on this cross stitch for a while now, remember I blogged about it here? Well, today we got to watch her complete the final stitches! I am really looking forward to what it will look like framed and hanging on her wall. Her next project is a similar theme but with an adult and baby giraffe.

Mel's blanket continues to grow and grow. I absolutely love the colour combination she has chosen!

I wanted some light craft today. I had seen a red and white Christmas decoration on a tree in the October issue of Country Living Magazine (British) and had a try at copying it. My heart turned out quite a different shape but I am happy with the end result. This will be my handmade Christmas decoration for 2010!

Beautiful books given to me by Mel - thank you!!!

Sam xox

High tea.

High Tea with my Mum and Nan for my 26th birthday. The pictures say it all...

Sam xox