DIY Confetti Bow

A while back I got slightly carried away in Hobbycraft and ended up buying a bag of confetti scraps only to be stuck racking my brains with what to do with it all. At the time I knew I *really* needed it, one of those situations. 

I downloaded a gift wrapping guide by Hello Sandwich some time ago and saw that she she made a sequin bow so, I thought i'd give it a try using the confetti. Needless to say I still have a load of confetti left so if you have any other ideas on what I can use it for, do leave me a comment!

To make the bow you'll need:

Scissors

Washi Tape or a Twist Tie

Sticky Back Plastic

Confetti (circles of coloured paper cut out with a hole punch would look awesome too!)

Cut a square of the sticky back plastic 18cm x 18cm and fold in half to make a crease.

Peel back one half of the sticky back plastic and sprinkle with confetti pieces.

Peel off the backing of the sticky back plastic and fold over your sprinkled side to sandwich the confetti between the 2 layers. This step is a bit tricky as everything wants to stick to places you don't want it to!

Fold your sheet of confetti plastic into an accordion and secure with washi tape in the middle to create your bow. Using a hot glue gun, stick your bow onto a freshly wrapped gift!  

Ta-da!

Guilt free chocolate goodness

A couple of years ago I started to follow the Paleo Diet. Now, while I actually quite liked it, as someone who wanted to train as a pastry chef, the two things just don't go together, but there are still elements of it that I follow and have added into my normal way of life. 

So the story goes - one night I was craving (which is nothing new) and feeling a bit irritable because I wanted something sweet (was more than likely a toffee crisp... usually is) and I started googling for paleo friendly cakes, sweets and desserts. I found Chocolate Covered Katie and her recipe for fudge babies. 

My best friend Zach, who was also following it at the same time, got a phone call from me along the lines of "Are these paleo? Am I allowed them? How many of them can I eat?" and his reply was something along the lines of "Fudge babies? What sort of name is that? They have dates in them? I hate dates!". The End. 

So anyway, I decided to make them and i've loved them ever since! I would describe them as soft and chewy balls of chocolaty goodness. I'm not gonna lie... the word balls makes me smirk. Such a child. 

Now, here's 2 keys points; If you think you don't like dates, remember that they are the basis of sticky toffee pudding. If you have a friend *cough cough* Zach *cough* who keeps insisting that they don't like dates and refuse to try one, be the good and caring friend that you are and force them to eat it. What happens, Lisa is right, Zach loves them, Zach revisits my fridge and eats a load. 

Secondly, and this is the difference between them tasting nice or tasting AWESOME - PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE! My GOD it makes so much difference and intensifies the chocolate taste and gives the more fudge like texture. Make that the golden rule and you'll thank me!

*Warning - highly addictive*

You'll need:

Food Processor

1tsp vanilla extract

2tbsp cocoa powder 

100g walnuts

250g soft pitted dates

Small paper cases

Small handful of tripple chocolate curls (optional)

Measure out all your ingredients and throw into a food processor. Blitz until everything starts sticking together, you'll know when it's done as it'll start coming away from the side of the bowl.

Roll into small balls and pop into a mini cake cases. My ball rolling skills started out a bit rubbish. Who can't roll a round ball?!

Top with a chocolate curl just because it makes them look prettier.

Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and enjoy! Easy! Worth noting that Zach also just described them as tasting like a cold brownie. I make him right on that one.

Craft Tools: Starter Basics

I thought i'd continue along this 101 series today and touch upon some craft tool basics. I can get a bit carried away when it comes to craft related gadgets so sometimes it's nice to take a step back and simplify things a little bit. Do I own a staple gun? Yes. How many times have I used the staple gun? Once. You know what I mean...? At the same time, there really is some small essentials which can  get you started crafting and can be used for lots of different projects. 

1. X-Acto Knife: A sharp, small, precision cutting tool for thick card and paper. An absolute must for anyone who wants to try paper cutting or wants a straight edge.

2. Cutting Mat: Seriously, buy one of these because a) if you use an x-acto knife on any surface, you're gonna scratch it and b) cutting on surfaces other than a self healing cutting mat will blunt your blade FAST. 

3. Scissors: My number one must have is multipul pairs of good quality scissors. Ideally you should have a pair for cutting paper and a pair for cutting fabric. As Martha Stewart says "Don't use your paper scissors, which will eventually go dull, to cut fabric as it will create pulls." I also recommend having a small pair of non stick scissors too, especially if you're working with anything that has a stick to it like washi tape. Plus, it's always handy to have more than one pair because scissors are notorious for getting lost... or is that just me?

4: Paper Creaser/Bone Folder: I was always a bit like, what's the point of this? Then I bought one and I "got" it. If you want a nice, crisp, clean fold to paper/card (we've all used our nail only to find our dry nail polish has magically transferred to the paper) it's worth picking up one of these. A set is usually under £2. 

5. Paper Punches: Available in SO many different designs, these are essential to any budding card maker or scrapbooker. Addictive to buy and use!

6. Eyelet Punch: The eyelet punch i've shown here is for paper and card, great for making your own gift tags for example, but you can also get a heavier duty punch to use on fabric and leather.  

7. Craft Tote: Not a tool as such but trust me, you can end up with so many crafty bits and bobs that having them all in one place makes sense. My only problem is I now need an even bigger tote bag! My favorite ones are made by Papermania. 

8. Rotary Cutter: Cuts a long straight line in fabric or paper. I find this useful when using felt to get nice straight edges which you don't always get freehand with scissors. 

9. Chain Nosed Pliers: Pliers and wire cutters are both needed for jewellery making. Chain nosed pliers are great for opening and closing jump rings and fiddly jewellery fastenings. 

Have you got any recommendations for crafty starter tools? What's your number one essential?