We've discovered a new hobby...

Something new for me to bore my nearest and dearest about......we've discovered foraging! I love a bargain, well, who doesn't? A freebie is better still. I've taken the kids for some lovely walks around the village recently and I noticed that there was still a multitude of jem-like berries hanging from branches everywhere. I noted these places in my mind and went back with the girls to fill our baskets with lots of lovely fruit. This is a pastime I can see continuing for some years to come, it may well become part of our family history. We returned home with purple fingers, muddy boots, pink cheeks and a lovely collection of goodies; elderberries, blackberries, sloes, damsons, rose hips, haws and crab apples.  I was itching to have a go at making something with all this lovely stuff and along with the apples from our tree in the garden, there would be plenty to have a go at. First up was hedgerow jelly which was, I have to say, a great success. I have never made jam before so this was a new venture for me. Second batch I tried apple & rose hip jelly, not so successful, set a bit hard but may be suitable for stirring into hot herbal tea and suchlike. Third attempt was a few jars of apple, blackberry & damson jam which I was pretty pleased with. My little darlings enjoyed helping throughout the process but I made sure they were well out of the way when it came to boiling up the jam or jelly, that stuff boils like hot lava! These had already been earmarked as Christmas presents so I let the children help with the labels and lids for the jars to give a personal touch.

I pinched recipes and some very helpful tips from here -  The Cottage Smallholder

All in all, a wonderful new enterprise. The girls had a great time walking around with little baskets for collecting goodies. We talked about all the hedgerow plants and which berries were edible and which ones they shouldn't touch (very important!). I let them have one of my old nature books so they could try and identify things for themselves and they soon got into it. The children helped with washing the fruit, measuring out the ingredients, stirring the fruit whilst it was reducing to a pulp and finally they decorated the finished jars. They are so proud of what we've made and they can't wait to give these little pots of goodness out at Christmas to our friends and family. I have to admit, neither can I!

I shall have to put my thinking cap on now to come up with some more Christmas gift ideas that the girls can help me make.

More Retail Therapy

My blog seems to consist more about shopping so far than actually doing any craft. I can assure you that this is is not a fair representation of things to come (promise!). In fairness, both my little ones are in nursery today so I have been doing a little research whilst it's been quieter around the house.

I find arts & crafts shops a little on the expensive side normally but sometimes you just can't find what you want anywhere else and you just have to bite the bullet. I'm a huge fan of ebay for searching out things a bit cheaper, for example I managed to get a tube of green fabric paint for a couple of quid recently which may seem trivial but I would've spent that driving to my nearest craft store.

Anyway, whilst researching today, I noticed the lovely people at Hobbycraft will give you a £5 voucher just for signing up to their email newsletters, which I thought was jolly nice of them.
Hobbycraft are also offering free delivery of online orders over £30 and they now accept PayPal as payment.

So I did, and I now have £5 to spend (£25 minimum spend I think but that's easily done). I shall be using it to put towards a big bundle of goodies to keep us busy over the summer holidays.

Click below to get your voucher:

Resource Hunting Expedition Today

We're having a day off making a mess in the house today. As it's raining and I have access to the family car for the day (a rare treat!) I asked the kids if they'd like to go out somewhere and do something. After explaining to the eldest that it was ok to go outside in the rain she decided on Ikea. Or, as she refers to it 'The Blue Castle', which if you have seen the Coventry store with its giant blue sides and flags on the top, does resemble a blue castle, slightly, if the onlooker happens to be 4 years old. This may sound like a dull shopping trip with the inevitable visit to the cafe for a free coffee for Mum & meatballs for the kids but no...this is a RHE - Resource Hunting Expedition.

I admit, I quite like shopping. Only in the sense that I enjoy hunting out bargains. In the same way I enjoy car boot sales or charity shops, I walk around Ikea looking at things and then wondering how I can make them into something else with the kids. An example of this would be duvet covers - Ikea did have some wonderfully cheap duvet covers that were about £3 (not sure if they still do them? Guess I'll find out soon!) Great fun for the kids to do potato painting on with a good old fashioned spud and some fabric paint. Even if you dont want to make a duvet cover, at that price you could chop it up and make bags, cushions...anything you fancy. Will report back after the expedition.....

Found a lovely link on How to make your own potato stamper...