Super Quick Cosmetic Pouches

I hope you'll excuse this deviation from my usual food-based posts, but I've recently got back into machine sewing and wanted to share my latest creations. They make great gifts, are very cheap to make and take just one afternoon, or a couple of hours to make.
This particular design makes two large and two small purses from just two fat quarters of fabric - so that's a cost of around £2-3 for all four pouches, depending on the price of your material.

The patterns for both pouches are made from a single sheet of A4 paper (folded in half for the smaller one). I hope you can follow my picture tutorial and notes...

1. For the large pouch, take one sheet of A4 (letter-size) paper. Place a dinner plate at one end, so the edge of the plate is touching one short and two long sides. Draw a curve around the top of the plate.
2. Fold the paper in half and cut around the curve, then open back out.
3. Put your two pieces of material together and pin the pattern to them.
4. Cut around the pattern, then remove.
5. Place the wrong sides of the material together and pin all around, except for around 7.5cm/3" at one corner (see bottom right photo).
   
6. Sew all around (except for the gap) leaving a small seam allowance.
7. Turn the fabric inside-out and poke the corners out using a chopstick or dowel.
8. Iron to flatten the seams, being careful to press under the unsewn section.
9. Fold up to make an open envelope and top stitch close to the edge all the way around, including the unsewn section.
10. Finally sew on a press stud and press the purse one last time.  

To make the smaller pouch, simply fold a sheet of A4 paper in half lengthwise and use a large mug to make the top curve of the pattern. The larger purse is ideal as a make up bag or pencil case, whereas the smaller one is just the right size for sanitary products! I reckon a teeny one, half the width of the small one would be the perfect size for an asthma inhaler.

If you make these, do let me know how they turn out and post a picture on my Facebook page.

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The alternative to party bags

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I'm not claiming that this is an original idea, but I hadn't seen a decent tweenage/older kids alternative to traditional party bags until my daughter came back from a friend's party with a mug in her hand. It wasn't just any old mug... it was a mug filled with goodies and wrapped in cellophane, which looked great and went down well with 12 year old Miss Ony.

As it was Miss Kahonie's birthday pretty soon afterwards, I unashamedly stole the idea and made up 'party mugs' for her party guests.

The pretty mugs were a great buy from B&M Bargains at 79p each. To fill the mugs, I bought a bag of mixed mini chocolate bars (£2.99) and a bag of mixed wrapped sweets (£1.50), plus a pack of assorted hairbands and bobbles (reduced in ADSA to £2.00). The only expensive part was the cellophane, which I bought from Hobbycraft (£7.00 a roll) but that will last for a long time as I only used about 2M of the 10M roll. The total price per mug worked out at around £2.50, which I don't think is bad compared to the amount I've spent on total rubbish to fill party bags in the past!

You could easily adapt the mug idea for different friends and  family members and for almost any occasion such as Easter, Christmas, Birthday and Teachers'/Teaching Assistants' presents. Fill with items such as cosmetics, craft items, beads/jewellery, small toys, cooking equipment, tools, stationary etc. Add some home made Chocolate Truffles or Oreo Truffles, if you're not sure what to fill your mug with.

Fill other containers using the same idea...colourful pastic cups (from IKEA etc) cocktail glasses, sundae glasses, beer glasses, small vases etc, or really go to town and fill a hamper!

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The great gingerbread house fiasco

This is not my gingerbread house!

Once upon a time, there was a woman who went shopping with her friend in IKEA. After buying some things she never knew she needed, she popped into the IKEA food store before leaving. Whilst grabbing a bag of her daughter's favourite cinnamon buns, her friend waved a box in front of her. "I bought one of these last year" said the friend encouragingly. The woman took hold of the box and read the word pepparkakshus. She quickly realised that she couldn't read Swedish and turned the box over, to read the words Gingerbread House.

"Ooh" said the woman, smiling, "That'll be nice to make with the girls". So she purchased one in the midst of a wave of nostalgia which washed over her (she used to love imagining that a real Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house existed somewhere, when she was a child.) She subsequently realised that she should have been warned by the third syllable of the aforementioned Swedish word!

Some time later, the woman  and her children decided to have a fun afternoon making the little gingerbread house. They followed the instructions carefully and boiled up some sugar syrup for the 'mortar'. They managed to stick two sides of the house together and then tried to cement the next side on. Oh no! The sugar syrup had turned to toffee and was too hard to use.

Never one to give up, the woman made up some thick royal icing and piped it on to the edge of the gingerbread; It dribbled down the wall as she pressed the next section of the flat packed confectionery house to it. It stuck for a moment and then, plop, it fell down. She propped it back up with the help of the children who didn't want to get too near, as they sensed their mother getting a tad stressed. Determinedly, she piped more icing onto the next edge and managed to stick the foundations of a rather crooked-looking house together.

She was just pressing the last 2 pieces of wall together when ...Craaackk, the window-bearing wall of the gingerbread house snapped in two. "Oh bother" said the woman  (OK, she said something slightly different!) and the children fled from the kitchen, in the same way that Hansel and Gretel had wanted to flee from the wicked witch's house.

Determined not to let a stupid pile of sugar and flour get the better of her, she angrily stuck the broken pieces back together with icing and crossly proceeded to top the house with the two roof pieces, and yet more icing. Just at the critical moment, the woman's husband walked through the door, shouting a cheery "Hello!" in her direction. "Get. Out. Of. The. Kitchen!!!" growled the woman, glaring at him, whilst taking her hands off the roof for a second or two.
She turned back to the house, but it was too late; the roof pieces slid down like an avalanche, pulling the walls apart with them. The gingerbread house was no longer! In a fit of rage, the woman smashed up the house into little pieces. There was no going back now, the house was well and truly derelict!

After calming down for an hour or so, the woman  decided to make something with the gingerbread smithereens. She thought about making a cheesecake, with a gingerbread crumb base, but then decided to make tiffin*, which has well documented powers of soothing stressed mums!

By the way, the woman 's friend later admitted that a similar fate had fallen upon her the previous year!

THE END...almost!

*Here's my tiffin recipe (obviously use crushed gingerbread instead of digestives!). The tiffin actually worked out really well, apart from being, well...maybe just a tad too gingery! I think it would have been nicer if I'd used half gingerbread and half digestive biscuits. Pin It

Vegetarian Mincemeat

I'm not usually a big fan of mince pies, as I find them too sweet and too pastry-y. Despite this, I decided to have a go at making my own vegetarian mincemeat last year as I wanted to give some away in home made hampers, and found that it tasted gorgeous (even if I say so myself!).

Makes around 3 jars

• 350 g/12oz 'normal' dried mixed fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, peel)
• 100g/4oz chopped 'posh' dried fruits (any combination of apricots, cranberries, dates, cherries, prunes etc)
• 200g/8oz peeled, cored and grated apples (cooking or eating are fine)
• 100g/4oz vegetarian suet or chopped block butter
• 150g/6oz soft dark brown sugar
• 50g/2oz chopped nuts (not peanuts or cashews) 
• Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 4 tbsp brandy or orange liqueur

Put all of the ingredients into a large pan and and stir well.
Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Allow to cool in the pan and then stir well.
Mix in the brandy/liqueur.
Spoon into sterilised jam jars, cover with wax discs and seal the jars.
Store in a cool dark place for upto 3 months. Pin It

Cinnamon Apple Sauce Decorations

These cinnamon apple sauce Christmas decorations are fun to make with the kids and smell amazing...don't let them eat the mixture though! I was sceptical that this recipe would work, but it really does. You can buy cheap, large packets of cinnamon from the 'world foods' section of large supermarkets...look for East End or TRS brands.

• 2 cups home made or bought apple sauce
• 2 cups cinnamon powder (you might need more)
• 4 tbsp PVA, white glue
• 1 tsp fine silver or gold glitter

Mix everything together to make a dough. If the mixture seems too wet, add more cinnamon until you have a cookie-dough kind of mixture.
Flatten the dough on a sheet of grease-proof paper, to around ½ cm thick.

Cut out gingerbread men or Christmas shapes using cookie cutters.
Use a drinking straw to punch a hole in the top of each shape.
Leave in a warm place to dry over night, turn the next day and repeat until they are hard - alternatively put on a baking tray in a very low oven, for several hours.
Once dry, decorate with glitter glue and thread with ribbon to hang.

Not edible!

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Homemade vegetarian Christmas hamper ideas

I've been making my own vegetarian food gift hampers for the past few years. They always go down well as the recipients always appreciate the thought and effort that has gone into making them.

Home made gifts are not only a great budget option, but are also an incarnation of the saying "It's the thought that counts". After all, how long does it take to pop into Boots and pick up 3 uninspiring gifts for the price of 2, compared to making a jar full of aromatic chutney and a box of mouthwatering chocolate truffles? Even Kirstie Allsopp's at it, and I'm sure she's not short of a penny or two!

Packaged nicely (try Hobbycraft for jam pot covers and cellophane), these recipes make great home made gifts for friends, family and teachers too!

Hamper recipes:

Apple & pear chutney
Aubergine chutney
Marmalade
Mincemeat

Pickled cucumber

Pickled onions/Pickled cabbage

Cherry & almond fudge

Chocolate ganache truffles
Mini mocha cream biscuits
Oaty florentines

Oreo truffles
Tiffin

Limoncello liqueur

Also see my Vegetarian Christmas Day Menu

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