Oat and Dark Choc Chip Cookies

It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow in the UK. Now, to me, it’s one of those annoying, commercialised events where you feel obliged to give something so as not to seem like a terrible daughter and there’s no shortage of mass produced tat available for purchase this weekend. To be honest, it’s way easier to pop to the high street (or the nearest petrol station) and buy a bunch of over priced flowers or a twee little knick-knack and that’s usually exactly what I end up doing, but this year it’s different.

We recently discovered these fantastic oaty chocolatey cookies which are both simple to make and easy on the pocket. We’ve already munched our way through a fair few batches (all the while telling ourselves that oats are really good for you), so it seemed like a good idea to bake some for our mums. The recipe comes from an excellent cook book that I picked up for a fiver in The Works – it’s called The Busy Mum’s Cookbook and contains a wealth of yummy things.

To make these cookies you will need:

100g or 4oz butter

150g or 5oz light brown muscovado sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g or 5oz jumbo oats

pinch salt

75g or 3oz plain flour, sifted

200g or 7oz dark choc chips

1. Prehat your oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas 5. In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and sugar until it’s pale and creamy. Next beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Fold in the oats, salt and flour then stir in th choc chips.

2. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet (I get about 9 to a sheet and do two batches). Bake for around 12-15 minutes until pale golden, then remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. They can then be stored in an airtight container.

To make them more gifty, I popped them into a cellophane bag and tied it with ribbon before putting them into a pretty cardboard box with a lid. I reckon the cookies cost about a pound per batch and the box was three quid.

Perhaps the best thing about this make is that the ingredients are easy to come by so it’s not too late to whip up a batch for your mum today!

Jean Genie

I had an unfortunate incident last week. I crouched down to get something from a low cupboard and heard an almighty ripping sound. On closer inspection the previously tiny tear in the knee of my jeans had split right across leaving a raggedy hole of the type which doesn’t suit a (almost) 38 year old woman.

Anyway, I was about to chuck them, but then saw sense and realised that there would be loads of ways of recycling them, so that’s what today’s post is all about. A kind of round up of uses for old denims.

Perhaps the most obvious way is to turn them into either shorts (easy, just snip of the legs ) or a skirt (trickier, but still straightforward). At least this way you still have something to wear.

If you’re not so bothered about that, then the world’s your oyster so how about making a tote bag, a rag rug or some handy little storage pot things. No? Then maybe a pair of denim slippers, a coffee cup holder or a cushion cover?

Little scraps and oddments are best for trinkets like corsages, hair clips, hanging decorations, coasters or stuffed toys whereas the back pockets can be perfect for purses, bags, wall storage hangers – really anything that requires a ready made sleeve or pouch.

It’s probably worth pointing put that you’ll need a sturdy needle on your sewing machine for most of these makes, by the way.

Once I started googling ‘uses for old jeans’, I found myself a bit overwhelmed by the possibilities. To be honest, some of the ideas were totally naff but others were brilliant. All I need to do now is decide what to do with mine. Of course, I could just patch up the hole or relegate them to ‘mucky job wear’ status, but that’s a bit dull, right?

Tell me more…

Getting into the Olympic Spirit

Now, unless you’re a right miserable git (or live in London and are about to have your daily life turned upside down), you can’t fail to be at least a bit excited about the impending Olympics. We are here anyway. We applied for tickets months ago when they were first released but we weren’t successful, so we quickly resigned ourselves to watching it at home and getting into the spirit of things from a distance.

Our first real brush with the hoopla happened a few weeks ago when the torch relay came to town. We were lucky aas the weather was gorgeous and York was one of the places where the torch ‘rested’ overnight, so there was a huge free concert at the racecourse which culminated in the torch been carried in by Harvey Smith on horseback.We do things in style here in Yorkshire, you know.

M took this from her vantage point on G’s shoulders!

The following week I took K to her weekly gym club class. This is a fantastic community gymnastics centre in the heart of York. It’s a charity which was set up several years ago by a local man named Stan Wild. Now in his seventies I believe, Stan was selected to be one of the torch bearers here and was kind enough to bring the torch into the centre for children to have their photos taken with it. Result. K and I got in on the act.

You can rely on me to be pulling a silly face in a photo

Earlier this week, I was at work in the pre school when one of my neighbours turned up to do a mini Olympics session with the kids. She’s working as a steward at the games and came in decked out in her full official kit – quite impressive it was. She set up a little obstacle course (sadly this had to be indoors due to the inclement weather) and then dished out medals at the end. It was lovely.

On a more sedentary level, G and I have been enjoying the hilarious Twenty Twelve on the BBC. Way to Go!

Now, with the start of the school holidays just a few days away, my thoughts are turning to ways in which we can get involved and keep the kids busy at the same time. This is what I’ve come up with so far:

Medals wall chart  to keep a tally of who’s winning what.

Make an Olympic torch and have your own torch relay or opening ceremony! This is the sort of thing M will luuurve.

Make cardboard medals then all you have to do is organise a backyard olympics and you’re away. You could also make medal biscuits.

Make olympic flags to wave when supporting your team or bunting to hang around the house and garden.

I suppose the main thing really is is to just be part of it and use it as an opportunity to make memories with your kids. What are your plans for the next few weeks?

Magpie Monday

I was at our local shops earlier purchasing a few mundane Monday morning essentials and I popped into what I consider to be the best charity shop in the area. I often have a nosy around here on my way back from shopping, but I don’t always buy anything. Today, however, my eye was caught by a large piece of stripey fabric. Unsure as to its purpose, I grabbed it and unfolded it. Well, I think it must be a tablecloth fit for a very large table (it’s easily big enough to cover our dining table twice over). It’s a lovely, heavy, cottony linen and the colours are really bold and warm. On top of that, it only cost three quid.

When I got home it dawned on me that this would make a nice find for my inaugural Magpie Monday post. My mind’s already ticking over as to what I might do with it. I think I may cut it in half and use one part as a tablecloth and perhaps turn the other half into cushion covers for our dining chairs. Might even be enough left for some napkins. Love it!

Button Hair Clips

The finished clips

Paraphernalia

Let me begin by telling you how much I adore buttons. I love how they can update a boring cardi or make a pretty birthday card or whatever. A few years ago, I bought a large tin of vintage buttons on Ebay. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever got from there. Somebody was selling them, I’m guessing, as part of a clear out of an old lady’s house and it was a real collection. I can’t imagine ever running out of buttons whilst I’ve got that tin to keep me supplied. Anyway, I digress slightly.

Today’s post is a very simple make for this month’s Pinaddicts Challenge. I saw these gorgeous handmade clips and repinned them immediately. So cute and so do-able.

You’ll literally need nothing more than some flat backed buttons, a few plain hair grips (I used ones I bought from Ebay which have the little round metal disc for attaching findings – cost about £1 for 10) and a hot glue gun. I don’t think I need to tell you much more than that!

A Pinteresting Make

I’m a Pinaddict. There, I’ve said it. Seems I’m not alone though. The  lovely Kerry at Life, As I Know It  has set up a kind of support group where we can be loud and proud. It goes by the name of the Pinaddicts Challenge and actually encourages sufferers to be proactive and go ahead and bloody well create something, rather than just poring over other people’s lovely makes.

So, here’s mine. It’s one of the first things I pinned and it’s pretty simple. To make one you’ll need:

An old photo frame

Some pretty wrapping paper

Day Labels

Glue

Scissors

Dry wipe marker pen

Now, remove the back board part of the frame and cover it in your chosen paper – I used a glue stick to stick it down. Next, glue on the day labels. Finally, Re-assemble the frame and you should now have a lovely, blank weekly meal planner (or any other sort of planner come to think of it). Write out your menu in dry wipe pen and Bob’s yer uncle.

Materials

Cover the board

Glue on the day labels

Et voila!

Thrifty Thursday: Cheap & Cheerful Messy Play Ideas (oh, and a linky too!)

It’s Thrifty Thursday again (I have no idea where the last week went) and today’s post is packed full of fun messy play activities to keep the little ‘uns busy. I used to be a reception teacher and now work part-time as a pre-school teacher, so I’m no stranger to mess. Without a doubt, the best messy (or malleable as it’s known in educational circles) play uses everyday items which are usually cheap as chips. Could even be chips. Now there’s an idea…

Anyway, here’s my list:

Play dough (cooked) – cook the following in a large pan over a low heat, stirring continuously: 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup salt, 2 tbsp cooking oil, 2tsp cream of tartar, food colouring, 2 cups water. Remove from the heat when the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. You could add glitter or dried pulses or whatever you like if you want to add texture.

Old fashioned soap flakes

Shaving foam – make sure it’s fragrance free and designed for sensitive skin. Wash off after play.

Dried and/or cooked pasta – spaghetti’s great, especially if you add a little oil and food colouring

Cornflour mixed with water – fantastic fun to see how it solidifies and then liquifies.

Tinned baked beans (no really) – never done this one myself, but know colleagues who have

Ice cubes – particularly good on a hot day. Why not make an arctic role play game with polar bears and penguins too?

Potting compost – bury plastic insects for digging out purposes.

Sawdust/bark chippings

Sand mousse – basically sand, food colour and washing up liquid whisked up together

Jelly

Now, unless you’re really laid back (sadly I don’t fall into this category), you may want to do some of these activities either outdoors or on a big plastic sheet!

Anyway, before you go off and start a batch of play dough, why not link up your own Thrifty Thursday blog post? Thrift power!

Handmade Felt Hearts

In deference to good old St Valentine, I’m cheekily reblogging this easy craft (I first posted it back in December in the guise of Christmas decs). I originally pinched this make from Kirstie Allsopp’s Craft book, but to be honest, it’s a very simple, basic technique and you don’t need a book to tell you how to do it (that’s where I come in).

Anyway, these babies are so pretty and homespun looking that I’ve been making them left, right and centre. Best of all though is that I’ve probably only spent about a fiver and made around ten of them so far. 50p for such a lovely gift is thriftiness itself!

So, here’s what you need for around ten hearts:

0.5m red felt

2m (ish) thin ribbon (I used 5mm width)

Wadding

White embroidery thread

20 small buttons (two per heart)

10 beads (1 per heart)

And here’s what you do:

First make a simple heart template (freehand is fine). I drew mine on greaseproof paper. Cut it out and then pin to a piece of folded felt. Cut out (you should now have two heart shapes from the folded fabric). Next, measure approx. 20cm of ribbon, cut and fold in half. Place vertically inside the two felt hearts so that the loop sticks out at the top and the ends stick out at the bottom. Pin the ribbon in place between the hearts. You can now use a neat running stitch to sew round nearly the whole outer edge of the hearts just leaving a small gap into which you can stuff a little wadding to pad the shape out nicely. Continue to sew up the remaining edge. Finally stitch a pretty button onto each side of the decoration and thread a bead onto the ‘tail’ part of the ribbon. Tie to hold in place. Et, voila.

These make a great half term craft activity for slightly older children (i.e those who are capable of wielding a needle) or a lovely handmade alternative to the usual Valentine’s tat.

Thrifty Thursday: Homemade Christmas Cards

Now’s the time to start making homemade cards. M and I spent a lovely hour or so doing just that last Sunday. I bought a pack of 50 blank cards and envelopes for about £6 from Ebay. Everything else came from M’s craft box including last year’s old cards. I would suggest it might be handy to also have: glue sticks, metallic gel pens, scissors which cut a fancy pattern, sequins, gems and glitter. If you google ‘homemade christmas cards’ there are lots of ideas which you can nick. Otherwise all you need is a bit of imagination So easy, so cheap and so much fun!

Jewellery Box Cake!

This is the cake I’ve been slaving over for M’s birthday today. Instructions to follow next week. Happy birthday M!