Hufflepuff Badger Birthday Cake!

Every year I love taking on the challenge of baking my own Birthday cake! Every year I learn something new about decorating cakes, normally related to their structural integrity!! I really had narrowed my cake this year down to a few simple options, but I couldn't choose between them. This led to my husband brain storminig with me and erm... a brand new slightly more complex idea took shape.

I'm a big Harry Potter fan, and a proud Hufflepuff. Obviously the animal associated with Hufflepuff is the adorable badger, and when I saw this image I just knew I had to make it out of cake!

The cake itself is Whisk Kid's chocolate cake, as it stays moist, but it's also quite firm for carving into shape. I stacked it with chocolate buttercream, added the back foot, tail and ears shaped from fondant, and crumb-coated the cake. The fur is created with royal icing which I'd coloured in various shades of grey, and applied using flat teaspoon handles - it created the fur texture quite nicely! I made the eyes and nose out of fondant, and piped the mouth on. I gave him a scarf in Hufflepuff colours, and a wee Hufflepuff badge - complete with mini badger! He tasted good...

Neutral Tones Birthday Card

An acquaintance of mine recently sold off a large amount of her craft supplies. Of course, I did what any artist would do and bought way too much stuff whilst it was available at great discounts! Included in everything I bought was a range of "masculine" card toppers and papers - think wood grain, brick work, metal sheets etc. It's all really quite lovely! And they are great for more masculine cards, when flowers don't quite cut it! For this card I paired them with some beautiful shimmery dark grey corrugated card I have in my stash, and kept with pure white to accentuate the "chalk board" lettering.

Crochet Elephant Snuggie for Baby

I recently need a gender neutral present for a new born baby, and I wanted it to come together quickly and easily, but still be cute!

I used this pattern, and once I'd got my head round the granny square part it came together nicely! The grey and turquoise are both Stylecraft DK, and the white and cream are from my stash. I will definitely be making more of these, hopefully with different animals!

Star Wars Revan Birthday Cake

When I asked my husband what he would like his Birthday cake to be, he immediately said "Revan!" I was hardly surprised since our world seems to be revolving around Revan at the moment, with my husband having just started writing his first Star Wars novel, Revan's Rebirth!

I winged this cake more than I want to admit, but I am thrilled with how it came out! I used this marble cake recipe, but the vanilla batter is coloured bright red! I used Renshaw's grey and poppy red icings to cover the cake, and then added shading using gel food colouring - liquorice black and dark brown - and a paint brush, and finished it off with a layer of antique silver shimmer dust! I think it really captures the worn metallic look.

Crochet Giraffe

I think anyone who has been in the blogging world of crochet over the last 18 months has seen this giraffe pattern... Well, I too fell in love with it, and knew it would be great for my nephew's 1st Birthday :)

I often try to stay away from the pink for girls and blue for boys, and focus on fun, bright colours. I was pulled towards this colour combination, a bit wary of people's opinions... But my husband pointed out that they were actually quite appropriate for a giraffe! I just had my heart set on orange and grey.

I love how the colours worked out in the end. In fact, I just love this little guy! The temptation to keep him for myself has been strong ;) I added some cream stripes randomly into the orange and gry, and I think it breaks it up and adds some character.

I also gave him a plaited tail - I thought he needed it! When referencing this pattern I couldn't find many views of the back of him, or what he looks like stood up, so I've included these shots below:

Crochet Owl

I'm not sure when I came across the Jip the Owl pattern originally, but I found it in my crochet patterns folder on my desktop recently, and couldn't resist making it as a little gift for a friend.

Did I mention I am currently obsessed with pairing grey with bright colours? Had you guessed?!

The stitching on the owl's tummy is done with embroidery floss and a strand of sparkly thread.

The legs have pipecleaners in them to make him a bit more poseable, and the tale acts as his support.

I actually made the wings a little bigger than the pattern. The entire owl is made in double knitting wool, and I just felt the original wings were a bit too small proportionally.

 

I think he's a fine feathered friend!

Felt Needle Case

When I saw this tutorial over at Sum of their Stories I couldn't resist giving it a try as a little gift for a friend.

There is a pattern with the tutorial, but it didn't quite fit my need for precision accuracy, so I drew my own. I used a 7cm square, and added half ovals to each edge to make the basic shape, and created a rectangle for the needle holder centre like the one in the tutorial.

I also added the rectangle and the button attachments before blanket stitching it all together, so that all the excess stitching would be hidden.

I really like how clean the finish is, and I love the grey against the bright turquoise. I'm a bit obsessed with grey atm! I think the only thing I might change next time is the button loop - it is 6 strands of embroidery floss, and I am concerned that over time they will split and become tangled. Having pre twisted or plaited them may have been better... But it came together quickly and affordably, and I love the finished product.