Torie Jayne

Lisbeth Dahl @ Top Drawer Spring 2012

2012-02-02T12:00:00.004Z

A few weeks back I showed you the gorgeous new treasures from one of my favourite Danish interior brands, Lisbeth Dahl, so of course I made a bee-line for them at Top Drawer!

The plush velvet cushions were beautifully beaded, the shimmery satin cushions delightfully embroidered and the pretty patterned cushions delicately pleated. The array of embellished photo frames looked wonderful clustered together on book shelves and the patterned and etched glass jars looked yummy filled with candy.

Have a sweet day!

Retreat Home

2012-02-01T12:00:00.007Z

Today on label love I wanted to show you a new label, Retreat Home, who I discovered at Top Drawer the other week. Their stand was one of my favourites, with its fake grass carpet adorned with a vintage bicycle, a metal bench piled high with the prettiest cushions, and vintage suitcases spilling with delightfully embellished cosmetic bags. To top it off, a pretty duck egg blue caravan called 'Whimsy'. It made my heart flutter, I just had to take a closer look. Oh, and the inside of Whimsy did not disappoint! She was filled with cute applique cushions, peg bags and aprons, and galvanised planters.

To see more gorgeous, inspiring shots check out their Spring 2012 Catalogue. You can also buy everything you see at their online store, Retreat Home.

Here's how the gorgeous collection looked at the Top Drawer Spring/Summer 2012 interior show:

The pretty caravan called Whimsy

Love this wall display with its array of shabby chic hooks, shelves and decorations!

Whimsy is not only cute on the outside, she is super cute inside!

So inviting!

Have a sweet day!

Gluten free Black Forest cupcakes

2012-01-31T15:30:00.002Z

I hadn't made cupcakes in ages and wanted to try something new for Christmas so I decided to use Black Forest Gateaux as my inspiration. Instead of the traditional layers of chocolate cake, cherry liqueur sauce and whipped cream I made chocolate cakes with a cherry liqueur sauce filling topped with whipped cream.

Gluten free Black Forest cupcakes (makes 24 cupcake size cakes)

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
100g Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate buttons
160 ml (2/3 cup) semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs
175g caster sugar
200g gluten free self-raising flour, sieved
2 tablespoons Hotel Chocolat organic cocoa powder, sieved
125g/4½oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F)
Line muffin tray with paper cases
Place chocolate and milk in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth
Beat butter, eggs, and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour
Stir in flour, cocoa, and warm chocolate mix until mixed thoroughly
Divide mixture among cases
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Place cakes on a wire rack to cool

To Fill & Decorate (24 cupcake size cakes)

What you will need

200g black cherries, pitted and pureed
60 caster sugar
½ tsp cornflour mixed with a little water to make a smooth paste
2 tbsp cherry liqueur
300ml/10fl oz double cream
Pink food colouring
Fondant snowflakes

Instructions

Place cherries, sugar, cherry liqueur and cornflour mixture in a small saucepan and, over a medium heat, stir until just boiling
Remove from heat and stir until mixture thickens, leave to cool
Using a cupcake corer, remove centre of cooled cakes
Spoon cooled cherry mixture into the hollow of the cakes
Whisk cream and pink food colouring until you have soft peaks in an even colour
Fill piping bag fitted with a star nozzle full of pink whipped cream
On top of the cakes, starting at outside edge, pipe a swirl of pink whipped cream
I decorated the top of mine with sprinkled sugar snowflakes and some with a fondant snowflake

Here they are on my Winter Wonderland dessert table:

Have a sweet day!

Lavender & Mint

2012-01-30T12:00:00.004Z

Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

I am so looking forward to Spring, as I hopefully will have finished all the organizing of my house. Then we can start to decorate the last room that we have not yet put our stamp on! I am currently radiating towards the Scandinavian influenced lavender and mint green colour palette as I love how fresh and pretty it looks.
From the pretty patterned bed linen to the shabby chic mint green cupboard and quirky polka dot wrapped gifts this is a look I could easily live with...

I also have to share with you the gorgeous mint cupboard and drawer in this pic from Danish stylist, Katrine Martensen-Larsen.

Have a sweet day!

Yvestown's pretty kitchen

2012-01-29T12:00:00.011Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you Yvestown's gorgeous kitchen with lots of pretty pops of colour, from the pink spot oven glove to the pale blue Smeg fridge and flower filled jug.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The gorgeous pastel kitchen accessories in My Kitchen
The pretty pale blue in The Kitchen The Cupboard and The Smeg
The cute floral print and delightful Kitchen Flowers
The green enamel pendant light in in-zinc

Have a sweet day!

Featured in Magie des Zuckers magazine

2012-01-28T12:00:00.001Z

Still catching up...

On Christmas Eve last year I got a lovely gift through my post box. The November edition of Magie des Zuckers, a German cake decorating magazine. To my delight, my Winter Woodland Christmas dessert table was on pages 4,5,6 & 7 and another double spread at the back of the magazine included some of my recipes from the aforementioned dessert table. My proud Mum kindly got one of her German friends to translate it for me and I blushed at the beautiful write up of my "magical", "doesn't leave anything to be desired", "dreamy" Winter Wonderland table. What an honour! Thank you Magie des Zuckers magazine for the fabulous feature!

Have a sweet day!

Mini gluten free dessert tower

2012-01-27T12:00:00.004Z

I loved how my mini gluten free dessert tower turned out this Christmas and it was so much more convenient than making five large desserts. For starters, they were much easier to store in the fridge and I never had any leftovers - just more pretty desserts!

On the top tier of my cake stand from Williams Sonoma were key lime pies. On the second tier were raspberry trifles, and on the inner bottom tier I put strawberry panna cotta. On the outer bottom tier, I alternated Summer fruit mousse with cherry cheese cake.

I can't wait to make another dessert tower for Easter!

Apollo spice jars from Higgins Hardware

Divine bakers twine in aqua, cotton candy and green apple from Sew Sweet

Have a sweet day!

Hotel Chocolat Review & Giveaway

2012-01-26T14:00:00.001Z

I was recently sent a Sealed with a Kiss box of chocolates to review from the lovely folks at Hotel Chocolat. I received a glamourous heart-shaped box full of 35 chocolates, from irresistible liquid caramels and melting pralines to ravishing truffles in beautiful hearts and smoochy chocolate truffle filled lips. My favourites were the new orange and purple striped hearts filled with a light strawberry truffle and a pinch of black pepper and the mellow vanilla filled swirl topped hearts.

Hotel Chocolat have got a great selection of Valentine's Day gifts this season from caramel sweet chocolate hearts to the prettiest pink champagne truffles. There is something to suit all tastes and budgets.

I am pleased to announce a giveaway of a Sealed with a Kiss box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat - worth £45!

To enter, please visit Hotel Chocolat and then leave a comment below this post letting me know what delicious chocolates you would like to give or receive this Valentine's Day. The giveaway ends on Thursday, February 9th 2012 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner on Friday, February 10th.

To increase your chances of winning this fabulous prize, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:

tweeting about this giveaway
blogging about it
following the Torie Jayne blog
following Torie Jayne on Twitter

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.

This giveaway is open to UK readers.

Good luck and have a sweet day!

Bombay Duck @Top Drawer Spring 2012

2012-01-25T12:00:00.007Z

Today on label love I wanted to show you the pretty tea and cakes collection from Bombay Duck. They are all so gorgeous that I can't decide which is my favourite collection. How about you?

Here's how the gorgeous collection looked at the Top Drawer Spring/Summer 2012 interior show.

The cake stand would be perfect piled high with pretty macarons

Love the little bird hiding inside...

Loving the dove grey French country-inspired mugs

Tweet! Tweet!

Have a sweet day!

Mini gluten free raspberry trifles

2012-01-24T12:00:00.005Z

I love trifle but, being gluten intolerant I can only have it if I or my Mum makes it. This past Christmas I made some mini raspberry trifles which I served on my mini dessert stand.

Raspberry Trifle (makes 7 mini jars)

Ingredients

7 amaretti biscuits (make sure they are gluten free)
3 1/2 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
21 raspberries
1 packet of raspberry jelly made up as instructions
1 pint of fresh custard
150 ml double cream
1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

Cooking instructions

Place an ameretti biscuit in the bottom of each jar and crush with the end of a wooden spoon until you have a flat surface
Pour 1/2 a tbsp of Ameretto into each jar
Place three raspberries on top of each crushed ameretti biscuit
Divide freshly made jelly between the jars, place in fridge until set
When jelly is set, pour cooled fresh custard over the jelly and leave to cool
Whip double cream with a pinch of sugar until you get stiff peaks
Fill piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with whipped double cream and pipe a star on top of each trifle
Sprinkle top of each trifle with toasted almonds
Keep in fridge until serving

Have a sweet day!

Spring Pastels

2012-01-23T20:00:00.000Z

Source 1,2,3,4

Last week I went to the Top Drawer interior show at Earl's Court in London. It was full of great stands full of all the new Spring products hitting the stores soon. I especially loved the abundance of soft, chalky pastel colours for every room in the house!

So this week on Inspirational Pins I wanted to share with you my current fave pastel interior shots from my Pinterest boards. From the gorgeous striped feature wall and pretty floral cushions in the living room to the stack of candy striped tins adorned with birds and fauna. A pastel pink Smeg fridge and lavender oven set against duck egg blue units and, last but not least, the candy coloured crockery set hanging on the wall.

Have a sweet day!

Printers Tray

2012-01-22T12:00:00.006Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you a selection of white printers trays full of pretty treasures.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The pretty aqua and birds in Project - Printers Tray (HYBRID PROJECT) by Vinnie Pearce
The printed background in Configuration Tray: Going for a Splodge - bead detail by Julie Kirk
The trinkets in Cabinet of Curiosities by Ranjini Malhotra and
The pretty Artist Printer's Tray - Wedding Themed by Ranjini by 7 gypsies

I love the one my Dad gave me which I painted white and filled with all my white, aqua and silver beads. I think I might need to get another one after seeing these gorgeous picks. Best place to find one? Ebay.

Have a sweet day!

Decorating my bird cage cake

2012-01-21T12:00:00.014Z

Several weeks ago I shared with you my Christmas cake, shaped like a bird cage and then how to marzipan bird cage shaped cake. Last week I shared how I iced my cake, so finally this week I show you how I decorated it!

How to decorate bird cage shaped cake
Ingredients

Gluten free birdcage shaped Christmas cake covered in a layer of marzipan and iced
Royal Icing
Ready to roll white icing
Petal paste roses (instructions coming soon...)
Petal paste bird (instructions coming soon...)
Fondant snowflakes (instructions coming soon...)
Pink edible beads
Fondant holly leaves (instructions coming soon...)
Iced ring
Pink, green and white edible glitter
Aqua edible dust

Equipment

Rolling pin
Bakers twine
Pins
Piping bag fitted with small circular nozzle
Wooden cocktail sticks
FMM textured lace set

Method

To get your bird cage even, start by placing a length of bakers twine over the top of your cake and pin in place, so that you have divided the cake in half
Continue pinning bakers twine to your cake until you have segmented the cake into 12 pieces
Lightly push the string into the cake so you are left with small indentations and remove string entirely
Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top and knead white icing until soft and pliable. Then, using a rolling pin, roll into a long shape about 5mm thick, i.e. at least the width of the lace imprint and long enough to go round the cake

Push lace imprint into rolled out icing strip, continue until strip has imprint from end to end. Using a sharp knife, trim sides of strip, lightly brush cooled boiled water onto back of strip and adhere to bottom of cake. Trim off excess at ends
Make up royal icing as package instructions
Spoon into piping bag fitted with circular nozzle

Starting at the top of the cake, carefully pipe a strip of royal icing down one of the indentations in the cake
Continue until you have all of the cage spindles piped
Roll out fondant icing as before and cut a small circle out using a round cookie cutter, lightly brush the back of your fondant circle with water and place at top of the cake in the centre
Then roll a small ball out of white fondant icing and attach to the top of the cake using a wooden tooth pick

Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top and knead white icing until soft and pliable. Then, using a rolling pin, roll into a long shape about 5mm thick, that is at least the width of the lace imprint and long enough to go round the cake
Push lace imprint into rolled out icing strip, continue until strip has imprint from end to end
Using a sharp knife, trim sides of strip, lightly brush cooled boiled water onto back of strip and adhere to the top straight part of the cake. Trim off excess at ends

Brush edible white glitter on to spindles of cage
Continue brushing white edible glitter on to cage
Brush aqua cake shimmer onto blue icing
Work out the position of your petal paste bird and push bird foot into cake

Pipe a small dab of white royal icing onto the front of your fondant bird, line bird up with its foot and push into the side of the cake
Pipe a small dab of royal icing onto the back of the fondant roses and place them at the top and bottom of the cake
Pipe a small dab of royal icing onto the back of the holly leaves and place them at the top and bottom of the cake

Pipe a small dab of white royal icing onto the edible pink beads and place next to the holly leaves on the cake
Using edible glitters, dust roses with pink glitter and leaves with green glitter
Pipe a small dab of white royal icing onto the back of the snowflakes and place on cake
Attach iced ring to ball on top of cake and lightly dust entire cake with sieved icing sugar

Here it is on my Winter Wonderland table

Have a sweet day!

Miss Etoile @ Top Drawer Spring/Summer 2012

2012-01-20T12:00:00.014Z

Last week I showed you the gorgeous new treasures from one of my favourite interior brands, Miss Etoile. It was great to see their collection at the Top Drawer interior show in all its sugary, sparkly glory! I so need to get some of the gorgeous paper blooms and striped straws for my Summer soiree's.

Have a sweet day!

Ferm Living Spring 2012

2012-01-19T12:00:00.004Z

Today on label love I wanted to show you the gorgeous new treasures from another of my favourite interior brands, Ferm Living. I am loving the pretty chic colour palette of rose pink and shades of mint and teal. The signature geometric print looks great on trays, cushions and ceramics. The whimsical wallpapers look fresh and new, and the display boxes in an array of colours look great on the dove grey wall. I am coveting said display boxes and the stackable jars.

Cloudberry Living in the UK stocks a a large choice of Ferm Living, from wallpapers and cushions to the cute house wall shelves and knitted vases.

Here's how the gorgeous collection looked at the Top Drawer interior show this week.

Have a sweet day!

Gluten free mini key lime pies

2012-01-17T12:00:00.006Z

This past Christmas I served an array of mini desserts on my cupcake stand. For a touch of green I made key lime pies.

Gluten free mini key lime pies (makes 8 mini pies)

Ingredients

200g gluten free chocolate digestive biscuits
50g butter
325g sweetened condensed milk
60g sour cream
4 limes (zest of 3, juice of 4)
1 lemon (juice)

What you will need

Small glass jars

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 160 deg C, fan assisted (370 deg F)
Place digestives in a bag and crush by rolling a rolling pin back and forth over the bag until you are left with crumbs
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, remove from heat and stir in digestive crumbs
Divide crumb mixture between the jars and press down firmly with the end of a wooden spoon or teaspoon
In a bowl, whisk until combined the condensed milk, sour cream, lemon and lime juice and zest of 2 limes
Pour mixture over the biscuit bases in jars
Scatter the tops with remaining lime zest
Bake in preheated oven for 5 mins or until tiny pin hole bubbles appear
Leave to cool before placing in the fridge

Have a sweet day!

Pretty organized craftroom

2012-01-16T12:56:00.001Z

Source 1,2,4 and 3

I have spent the past week organizing all my trims and looking for cute ways to display them. So when I saw the great over-the-door storage on BHG I knew I had to have one, as it would be a perfect place to put all my pretty patterned tins full of my craft bits and bobs. Now I wait patiently for it to arrive, in the meantime I continue to wrap ribbons around my spools and fold my fabric into neat piles ready to display in acrylic drawers!

Have a sweet day!

Pretty Vintage Ribbon

2012-01-15T12:00:00.002Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you Such Pretty Things' gorgeous collection of vintage ribbons on wooden spools.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The floral jacquard and striped ribbon in Vintage Ribbon Spool Stacks
The pretty jacquard ribbon in French Ribbons
The gorgeous teal velvet ribbon in Vintage Ribbon Spools
The delightful pink velvet ribbon in Vintage Ribbon Stacks

Have a sweet day!

Icing my bird cage shaped cake

2012-01-14T12:00:00.003Z

Several weeks ago I shared with you my Christmas cake, shaped like a bird cage and then how to marzipan bird cage shaped cake. After putting off icing and decorating for as long as I could, I finally iced and decorated it just in time for Christmas Eve! Decorating my bird cage shaped cake coming next Saturday!

How to ice bird cage shaped cake
Ingredients

Gluten free birdcage shaped Christmas cake covered in a layer of marzipan
White, ready to roll icing
Icing sugar (confectioner's icing)
Wiltons teal icing colour

Method

Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top
Knead 500g of white icing until soft and pliable
Using a tooth pick, add a drop of food colouring
Knead icing until the colour is completely even

Roll icing into a round shape
Using a rolling pin, roll out icing, turning the icing so it stays in a rough circle and does not stick to your work top
Roll until about 5mm thick - I used rolling pin measures to get a super even layer of icing
Using a cake smoother, buff the icing until you have a nice, shiny, smooth circle big enough to cover your cake

Position cake onto cake stand or plate
Lightly brush cake with cooled, boiled water
Carefully lift up icing and place on cake
Very lightly run your hands over icing so it adheres to the marzipan
Using a sharp knife, cut off excess icing from bottom of cake

Have a sweet day!

Ribbon storage finds

2012-01-13T12:00:00.008Z

From left to right: The vintage looking divided wooden cotton reel box, a selection of brightly coloured yarns on vintage spools by House Doctor DK, old fashioned wooden ribbon spools, vintage looking wire storage box by House Doctor, with a traditional sweet shop design the Heritage Hill storage jar, large glass storage jar, large scale optic glass storage jar and a retro blue bobbin & binding made from sustainably sourced mango wood.

After Monday's post, Ribbon storage, I ordered some wooden spools from Jane Means and have been wrapping my disorganized ribbons around them ready to find a new storage place for them. If you too loved the pretty ribbon storage ideas from Monday you can find all the key elements above!

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Wedding Fair

2012-01-12T12:00:00.004Z

Mrs Scoops & Johanna Hehir

Vicky Trainor

Poppy

Last year my little sister got engaged and has asked me to be her wedding planner. What an honour! I, of course, accepted gleefully. Over the next year she has agreed to let me show you our inspiration; a few of the crafts and recipes we will be preparing for her special day. I shall of course show you all the details of the day afterwards!

First up, I wanted to share with you the much anticipated Vintage Wedding Fair, with 1940s singers and vintage updos, which is happening next month in Milton Keynes. Set in a quirky 14th century barn and organized by the fabulously adorable Mrs Scoops and Little Miss G, the event is sure to be stylish, fun and useful.

What can you expect? Well, to start with there will be Betty, the fifties styled ice cream van, from Mrs Scoops, who brings retro style and delicious ice cream to your event from pretty bunting-adorned Betty! The talented Nevie Pie Cakes, whose unique cakes are just too adorable for words. For all your Wedding stationery needs there's Vicky Trainor, whose vintage range is full of the most beautiful embroidered, appliqued invitations, table numbers and seating arrangement plans. For vintage crockery hire there's Magpie, who has a large selection of the prettiest crockery in a range of colours to suit all themes along with cut glass candle holders, glass bottles and linens.

On the fashion front there's beautifully stylish wedding dresses from London's leading bridal designer, Johanna Hehir. Oh, and on our must see list there's Poppy, whose illustrated bridesmaids dresses come with their own story book!

We can't wait to go!

All details on the event can be found here on Facebook, so save the date!

Have a sweet day!

Miss Etoile Spring 2012

2012-01-11T14:00:00.002Z

Today on label love I wanted to show you the gorgeous new treasures from another of my favourite interior brands, Miss Etoile. I am in love with the gorgeous candy coloured paper blooms in the Spring/Summer 2012 catalogue. I also have my eye on the labelled jars that I could use for organized storage and lots of cute bird decor!

Have a sweet day!

Mini gluten free gingerbread houses

2012-01-10T14:00:00.001Z

At the end of last year I made a large gingerbread bird house to sit on my Winter Wonderland dessert table and a bunch of small ones to give as gifts. I now am in love with mini gingerbread bird houses as they look so cute and those that received them as gifts seemed very pleased! I might have to start making mini gingerbread bird houses for all the holidays: I think they would be a cute Easter gift filled with mini chocolate eggs!

Gluten free chocolate gingerbread mini bird houses x 4

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
600g gluten free plain flour
3 tsp xanthan Gum
7 tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Cooking instructions

Heat oven to 180 deg C
Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan and, on a low heat, stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat
Place the flour, xanthan gum, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a food mixer
Slowly add the melted butter mix to the flour mix and beat until well combined
Roll dough out to about 8mm thick on to baking paper
Cut out four fronts, then cut small circle out of fronts
Cut out four backs
Cut out eight roofs
Cut out eight sides
Cut out four birds
Slide cut pieces still on the baking paper on to baking trays
Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or until firm to the touch, turning the tray half way through cooking
Leave to cool for a few minutes, then re-cut around edges to neaten
Leave to completely cool

Decorating the Bird House

Ingredients
Roll on icing
Icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Royal icing
Pink candy melts
Blue candy melts
Pink pareills
Blue sugar crystals
Teal food colouring
Teal edible glitter
White edible glitter
White candy sticks cut to 2cm long

Equipment
Rolling pin
Sieve
Icing bag fitted with small star nozzle
Paint brush
Bird cutter

To decorate

Dust icing sugar onto a hard clean surface and roll out coloured icing to 2mm thick
Cut out bird in icing using bird cutter
Dampen back of cut out bird and stick to top of bird cookie
Brush front of iced bird with water and sprinkle with glitter, leave to dry

Dust icing sugar onto a hard clean surface and roll out icing to 3mm thick
Cut out base of house components in icing

Brush water onto back of cut-out icing component and place on top of corresponding gingerbread piece. Repeat until all gingerbread house side pieces are iced
Lightly dampen the front of the iced houses and sprinkle in white glitter, leave to dry

Melt pink candy melts as instructions
Paint candy melt onto front of roof
Liberally sprinkle with pink pareills, leave to dry
Using a sharp knife, angle the inside edge of the roof so it is 45 degrees

Paint melted candy on to inside of front
Push side of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets
Brush candy melts around inside of hole in front of house, and along outside edge
Push blue candy melt over hole

Brush melted candy on to the inside of the back piece
Push sides of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets
Brush melted candy on to the top edges
Push roof of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets

Brush melted blue candy on to the entire gingerbread house base piece

Set house on base
Immediately sprinkle with aqua sugar crystals before candy sets
Using a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, pipe small stars along the top of the roof
Pipe a small star on one end of a candy stick and attach to front of house, just below hole

Pipe a star on to back of iced bird cookie and attach to front of house
Pipe iced stars along sides of bird house and along front and back edge of the roof

Sieve icing sugar onto roof, to give the house a snowy look

On my Winter Wonderland dessert table

Have a sweet day!

Ribbon storage

2012-01-09T14:00:00.000Z

Source 1, 2-5

The Christmas decorations are all packed away and I can't wait to start re-styling my house for Spring. But before I do I have to get my house in order! Which means organization, organization, organization!

Today I am sharing with you some cute storage ideas for ribbon from the Danish brand, House Doctor.

Have a sweet day!

Hotel Chocolat Giveaway Winner

2012-01-08T22:30:00.000Z

My contest ended yesterday and I just picked a winner using random.org and I am delighted to announce the winner of the Hotel Chocola giveaway is...

Virginie, of the delightful blog That Cute Little Cake.

Please e-mail me your details.

Congratulations Virginie, you will receive a box of The Seasonal Sixty Tin of Chocolates.

Thank you to all of you sweets that entered, to my loyal followers and new friends.

Have a sweet day!

Stylish colours

2012-01-08T12:00:00.001Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you a stylish colour palette from Souvenirs du passé récent, whose stylish photo stream is gorgeous. To see more of Isis's gorgeous treasures visit her big cartel store, Thé Dansant.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The wonderful styling in Pear-Rhubarb-Cranberry compote
The cute gift wrapped gift in Untitled
The gorgeous pink jelly mould and Le Creuset mini casserole dishes in Kitchen snobism I
The delightful looking Port wine jelly pudding I

Have a sweet day!

Chocolate snowflake mousse

2012-01-07T12:00:00.005Z

A few weeks back my sister and I made some delicious chocolate mousse that went down a treat! To fit in with my colour scheme on my Winter Wonderland dessert table I made aqua chocolate snowflakes filled with a rich, velvety chocolate mousse. I will definitely have to make these again, maybe in pretty egg form for Easter!

Chocolate snowflake mousse (makes 6 snowflakes)

Ingredients

300g double cream
Pinch of caster sugar
300g 70% dark chocolate drops
100g white chocolate drops
Aqua chocolate colouring (must be chocolate colouring as regular food colouring will cause chocolate to seize and ruin)

Snowflake mould from Target

Cooking instructions

Melt white chocolate and stir in food colouring.
Pour coloured white chocolate into moulds and, using a brush, coat sides of moulds in chocolate and leave to set.
Place cream in a bowl with a pinch of caster sugar and whip until soft peaks form.
Melt 200g of dark chocolate in the microwave on a low heat or in a double boiler on the hob, continuously stirring so as not to overheat.
Stir melted chocolate into whipped cream until you have an even coloured mousse.
Spoon mousse into chocolate coated snowflake moulds and place in fridge to firm.
Melt remaining 100g of dark chocolate and coat the top of the mousse with dark chocolate to seal in mousse.
Place in fridge to set.
Turn out snowflake filled moulds just before serving.

On my Winter Wonderland Dessert table

Have a sweet day!

Living pretty accessories

2012-01-06T12:00:00.006Z

From left to right: Shanghai tall shelves, Dear Prudence picture frame, Domino, The Book of Decorating, Anorak Kissing Horses Cushion, Hawthorn etched coasters, Christian Lacroix cut velvet cushions, small glass drop jar, Bergius Heather blanket, Four Drawer Papillon Cabinet

With the January sales now on I have been looking around the Internet for some bargain home accessories, checking my must-haves and happily window shopping away! I love how I can do it all from the comfort of my home! Inspired by Tuesday's post, Living pretty Modern, I found all these gorgeous living room accessories in a colour palette of white, lavender and turquoise. The best bit? They are all currently on sale with up to 50% off!

Bought any bargains in the January sales?

Have a sweet day!

The Tolix Stool

2012-01-05T12:00:00.004Z

Via Decor 8, Sukkertøy for øyet and Johanna

Last May I showed you the gorgeous design classic, "The Tolix Chair" designed by Xavier Pauchard. Today I wanted to share with you the Tolix stool. I am so in love with the pretty pastel ones right now and love how they brighten up these spaces. Such a pretty design classic that has stood the test of time! The peppermint powder and white barstool are on sale from Cult Furniture right now!

Have a sweet day!

Lisbeth Dahl

2012-01-04T12:00:00.004Z

Today on label love I wanted to show you the gorgeous new treasures from one of my favourite interior brands, Lisbeth Dahl. The new Spring/Summer 2012 catalogue is full of so much eye candy, from the cute pastel coloured birdcages, to the perfectly pretty printed glass jars, to the array of beautiful patterned tea towels. There are, of course, the usual to-die-for cake stands in ornate glass and metal, and boudoir inspired glass perfume bottles.

Have a sweet day!

Living Pretty Modern

2012-01-03T14:00:00.000Z

I love how my living room looks at this time of year, but as the 6th of January grows nearer I will have to put away all the Christmas sparkle and I have a feeling my lounge will have that certain lacklustre feel to it!

So, I thought I would kick start the year with my Living Pretty Modern mood board. I am loving the fresh colour palette of white, grey, lavender and duck egg blue. The array of prints, patterns and textures which make it look super stylish. Oh, and not forgetting all the glamourous highlights like the beaded chandelier, ornate mirrors and light-reflecting glass furniture. I feel a little living room re-style heading my way!

To see more of my Living Room inspirational pins check out my Living room ideas board on Pinterest.

Have a sweet day!

Happy Sparkling New Year!

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000Z

via forget me knot weddings, The Collection Event Studio, hello, friend, and The Inspired Bride.

Wishing you all a sparkling, happy New Year! Thank you all for making 2011 here on Torie Jayne so special!

Instead of making New Year's resolutions that I inevitably break or never complete I have decided to just remember these lovely quotes. How about you?

After a lovely holiday I shall be back tomorrow with my usual pretty finds, inspiring interior boards, new craft ideas and a host of gluten-free recipes but until then...

Have a sweet day, lovelies!

Beaded Garland

2011-12-30T12:00:00.001Z

Catching up.....

Today I am sharing with you another quick and easy Christmas craft idea: a beaded garland made of miracle beads in colours to match my Winter Wonderland Christmas.

What are "miracle beads"? They are plastic lucite beads where the core is finished in a mirrored silver plate which is then coated in multiple layers of vibrant lacquer. Light passes through the multiple layers of lacquer and is then reflected back through the lacquer due to the mirror-like properties of the plating. The reflected light radiates a glowing illusion of shimmery depth. I just love them so!

Beaded Garland
Tools and Materials

Miracle beads
Duck egg blue thick thread

Have a sweet day!

Winter Wonderland Dessert Table

2011-12-25T12:00:00.001Z

Wishing you and yours all a Merry Christmas!

Gift wrapped

2011-12-23T12:00:00.003Z

How are your plans for Christmas coming on? I am slowly but surely getting there, fingers crossed....

I have wrapped my presents in a combination of four printed rolls of wrapping paper using double side tape so no tape is visible, tied them up with velvet and raffia ribbon and trimmed them with gift tags and candy canes.

Winter bird stripe gift wrap, pink velvet ribbon

Winter bird print gift wrap, tree print wrap, pink paper raffia, cut outs used as gift tags

Winter bird stripe gift wrap & tag

Way of the birds gift tags

Have a sweet day!

Pretty Pinecones

2011-12-22T12:00:00.005Z

This has to be one of the cheapest, cute decorations I have made this year. Just simply collect pine cones from your local woods, park etc. wash them in soapy water and leave to dry. Then paint them in shades of colours to match your Christmas decor. I also PVA glued a few and sprinkled them in coarse glitter to give them an icy effect.

Have a sweet day!

Christmas tree card holder

2011-12-21T12:00:00.001Z

Yesterday I showed you my upcycled wooden Christmas trees, today I am sharing with you my upcycled Christmas tree photo holders that I did the same thing with. I am using them to display my Christmas cards.

This brings me nicely on to the gorgeous Christmas cards from Portuguese graphic designer, Filipa, from Kids and Babies design. Filipa wrote to me a few weeks back to ask if she could use my Winter Wonderland colour palette as her inspiration. Of course I said yes; I loved what she did for her cards and she kindly sent me a set.

After working for several years in some design studios and publishers, Filipa decided to create a personal project, the "Kids & Babies Design", a printable party shop where you can find, among other things, vintage and shabby chic custom design partyware and personalized party printables. All her pieces are unique, customized and inspired by their recipients and made to order.

Have a sweet day!

Wooden trees

2011-12-20T12:00:00.002Z

A couple of years ago I bought some cheap craft wooden Christmas trees that I painted white and with the pots in bright colours to match that year's Christmas colours. This year I have up-cycled them by painting the pots in colours to match my Winter Wonderland theme and covering them in coordinating glitter.

Wooden trees
Tools and Materials

Wooden trees, How-to step by step

Start by painting the entire tree and pot in white undercoat paint and leave to dry. Carefully, with a small paint brush paint the pot in a colour and leave to dry. Coat painted pots in PVA glue and liberally sprinkle with coordinating glitter. Gently tap tree to remove excess glitter and leave to dry.

I loved how Citrus and Orange had styled her beautiful deer, the colours are so pretty! She inspired me to paint my wooden plaque in duck egg blue and sit my same beautiful deers atop it. With my glittered wooden trees in the background, and some needle felted acorns in the foreground.

Have a sweet day!

Needle felted acorns

2011-12-19T12:00:00.007Z

Last year I collected lots of acorn cups and never got around to doing anything with them. So this year I decided to make needle felted acorns with them, which I have hung on my Christmas tree and used them in my Christmas displays. I used the same colours as my needle felted roses.

Needle felted acorns
Tools and Materials

Equipment

Needle felted acorns, How-to step by step

Start by lightly washing your acorn cups in soapy water and leaving to dry. Liberally coat them with PVA glue and immediately sprinkle on glitter and leave to dry. Gather a small ball of roving together and start to needle punch it, turning and twisting it as you punch so you keep it in a small ball.

Roll the felted ball in your hands to get the shape you want and continue needle punching the roving till you have a small, tight, felted acorn shape. Using a hot glue gun, place a small amount of glue on the inside of the acorn cup and push felted ball into the glue. Fold your ribbon strips in half and, using the hot glue gun, add a dab of glue to the top of the acorn cup. Push ends of ribbon strip into glue before it dries.

Now hanging on my tree...

Have a sweet day!

Hotel Chocolat Review & Giveaway

2011-12-18T21:30:00.000Z

I was recently sent The Classic Christmas Gift Basket to review, which was filled with Tiddly Reindeer milk chocolate, Cinnamon Almonds, Orange Nice Spice Puddles, 6 Alternative Mince Pies and Winter Liquid Chocolat. After sampling all the chocolate goodies, I am now keeping the rest for my Christmas Eve party.

The reindeer are super cute and are a lovely solid milky chocolate, perfect for the little ones to have with a glass of milk as a Christmas treat. For the grown ups, I will be serving the delicious alternative mince pies, that are milk chocolate cups filled with praline and salted caramel, and mugs of hot chocolate made with the heavenly liquid chocolat which has been given a winter twist with orange, chilli and spices. The Puddles are large, subtly spiced milk chocolate buttons with the warming flavour of orange and chilli and they will be served in mini latte cups. In mini bowls I plan to serve the caramelized Californian whole almonds dipped in milk chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. A chocolatey Christmas alternative to tea and cakes!

I'm also so pleased to announce a giveaway of The Seasonal Sixty Tin of Chocolates from Hotel Chocolat, worth £50!

To enter, please visit Hotel Chocolat and then leave a comment below this post letting me know what delicious chocolates you would like to give or receive this Christmas. The giveaway ends on Saturday, January 7th 2012 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner on Sunday, January 8th.

To increase your chances of winning this fabulous prize, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:

tweeting about this giveaway
blogging about it
following the Torie Jayne blog
following Torie Jayne on Twitter

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.

This giveaway is open to UK readers.

Good luck and have a sweet day!

$100 Shopbop giveaway winner

2011-12-18T21:00:00.000Z

My contest ended yesterday and I just picked a winner using random.org and I am delighted to announce the winner of the Shopbop Giveaway is...

Purple Larkspur, who would like to put her voucher towards the Alexis Bittar liquid collar. Please e-mail me your details.

Congratulations Purple Larkspur, you will receive $100 worth of store credit for Shopbop.

Thank you to all of you sweets that entered, to my loyal followers and new friends.

Have a sweet day!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-18T12:00:00.008Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you my Flickr mosaic, "It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!", all of which I have shared, or will be sharing here on Torie Jayne. Now I must dash, as I still have plenty to do!

So, in case you missed them....

Have a sweet day!

Dee Puddy Seasonal accents

2011-12-17T12:00:00.010Z

Today on label love I am sharing with you some lovely seasonal accents from online store, Dee Puddy. How cute are the little family of deer?

Have a sweet day!

Hand made felt tea bags

2011-12-16T12:00:00.002Z

For Molly's birthday I made her some felt iced gems after seeing the pattern and instructions in Mollie Makes Magazine. I loved how cute they were and they looked adorable on her mini tea set. But something was missing... tea bags of course! What Brit eats biscuits without a cup of tea! So, I came up with my own pattern for mini felt tea bags. I have made some more to hide in my handmade Christmas crackers and advent house for Molly this Christmas.

Hand made felt tea bags
What you will need:

White felt
Brown felt
White embroidery thread
Pink spot ribbon
Double sided fabric tape
Pattern printed off on paper

Equipment

Instructions
Start by printing out patterns and cutting them out. Then pin two pieces of white felt together and place bag pattern on top, and carefully draw around outside edge of pattern using a water soluble pen. Using pinking shears, cut around outside edge of rectangle. Then lightly dampen the pen marks on the felt with water so ink disappears and leave to one side. Place tea pattern on brown felt and draw around outside edge of pattern using a water soluble pen. With a sharp pair of scissors, cut out tea piece from brown felt.

Unpin white felt bags and place brown tea felt piece in between the two pieces of white felt, pinning to secure. Using a needle threaded with white embroidery thread, hand stitch a rectangle around outside edge of teabag, starting at the centre of the short side. Finish by back stitching a couple of times at the end and then cut thread leaving a 7cm long tail.

Next, cut a piece of ribbon 2cm long and back half of it with a strip of iron-on double sided tape. Peel off backing tape from ribbon and place end of embroidery thread tail over backing strip. Fold ribbon in half and lightly iron to seal together.

Have a sweet day!

Snowflake hair clips

2011-12-15T12:00:00.002Z

I loved making the snowflake hair bobbles to put in my advent house for cute Molly: they were so quick and easy to do! I had quite a few snowflakes left and thought they would look sweet on pretty hair clips so I bought a bunch of glittery pastel hair clips to stick them to.

Snowflake hair clips
Tools and Materials

Snowflake hair clips, How-to step by step

Using a hot glue gun, place a small dab of glue on the end of the clip, immediately stick a felt snowflake to the glue and leave to dry. Cut out a small rectangle of pretty card and, using a ribblet punch, punch holes in centre. Clip hair clips to card by threading through holes in card.

Have a sweet day!

Cox & Cox seasonal treasures

2011-12-14T12:00:00.007Z

Today on label love I am sharing with you just a few of the gorgeous festive finds on Cox and Cox. I am in love with the sparkly mini snowflakes and the cutwork tree is so pretty and stylish.

Have a sweet day!

Strawberry Panna Cotta

2011-12-13T12:00:00.003Z

I loved how the Eton Mess dessert was served in mini glass jars at the Next press event, which gave me the idea of making mini desserts for Christmas that I could use to fill my cupcake stand. I want an array of desserts, in a selection of colours, to match my dessert bar. For a pretty pink I am going for strawberry panna cotta! Now I just need to work out how I will decorate the jars?!?

Strawberry Panna Cotta (makes 4 mini jars)

Ingredients

300g double cream
30g sugar
1 gelatine leaf soaked in water
1 tbsp vanilla essence
90g strawberry puree
30g sugar
1 gelatine leaf soaked in water

Cooking instructions

Place cream and sugar in a small saucepan and gently bring to the boil
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla paste
Add the gelatin leaf into cream mixture and stir until gelatine dissolves
Pour mixture into jars and leave to set in the fridge

Place strawberry puree and sugar in a small saucepan and gently bring to the boil
Remove from heat and add just the gelatin leaf into strawberry mixture and stir until gelatine dissolves
Pour over the top of the chilled panna cotta and leave in fridge to set

Have a sweet day!

Gingerbread Crayons

2011-12-12T12:00:00.009Z

I made lots of pretty hair bobbles and hair bands to put in my advent house for cute Molly, and lip balm for my sisters. I also wanted to make some cute gifts for my adorable nephew, Samuel, so I decided to make some chunky gingerbread shaped crayons. I did not have any old crayons so I bought a new pack but you can use old bits too.

Gingerbread Crayons
Tools and Materials

Crayons
Gingerbread mould (pg 4)

Gingerbread Crayons, How-to step by step

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Start by removing all the paper from the crayons and chop them into small bits. Fill your mould with the crayon pieces and place in the oven for 15-20 mins until wax is melted (you can add more bits of crayon through the melting process so the moulds are completely full). Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Then push out the crayons and they are ready to use.

I think they look a bit like jelly babies?!?

Have a sweet day!

Delicate...

2011-12-11T12:00:00.011Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some gorgeous delicate details from prouaPolkovnik, whose gorgeous photo stream I discovered this week whilst looking for gingerbread cookie photos. To see more of Kadri's beautiful photos and crafts visit her blog Polkovniku Butiik.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The pretty wrapped candles and cute crochet flowers in Romance
The adorable piped cookies in Homemade Gingerbreads
The pretty iced Homemade Gingerbreads
The gorgeous buttons in Romance

Have a sweet day!

Decorated Gingerbread by Annie Rigg

2011-12-10T13:02:00.000Z

This week I'm reviewing Decorated Gingerbread by Annie Rigg, from illustrated lifestyle publishers Ryland Peters & Small and CICO Books. Annie Rigg has been baking since her early childhood and has spent the past seven years as a freelance food stylist and writer. She currently has five books in print and her work has featured in numerous bestselling magazines. Before this, she cooked for Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, to name a few, whilst on tour. I chose to review this book as I love making gingerbread houses for Christmas!

The book is split into four main chapters, starting with the basics which includes spiced gingerbread and chocolate gingerbread recipes. How to make, tint, pipe and flood fill cookies with royal icing.

Next up is Cute, which is full of cookie ideas children will love, like the shaped teddy bears, kooky clowns and scotty dogs. Then there is the Pretty section, which includes the scattered sprinkle cupcake cookies, pink love hearts and autumn leaves.

Last up is Festive, which shows you how to make my favourite snowy village scene with candy glass windows. Decorative stars, ornaments and the prettiest snowflake cookies.

The Decorated Gingerbread by Annie Rigg is a cute hard back book book full of sweet gingerbread cookies. At a recommended price of £9.99, I think this hardback book is a good buy as it is has some great tips and sweet cookie ideas.

Some of my favourite shots:

Snowflake cookies

Snowy village

Christmas wreath cookies

Cupcake cookies

Please note that my opinions are my own and I am not paid for these reviews (apart from receiving a free book, of course!).

I really must go and start this year's gingerbread bird house!

Have a sweet day!

Snowflake soaps

2011-12-09T13:56:00.000Z

I wanted all my gifts in my Advent house to be hand-made so after making sparkly strawberry lip balm, cool mint lip balm, snowflake hair bobbles and clips, reindeer hair clips and gingerbread crayons I only had a few drawers left to fill. I went for peppermint, snowflake-shaped, glittery soaps and made a few extra snowflake soaps for my Christmas crackers!

Snowflake soaps
Tools and Materials

Snowflake soaps, How-to step by step

Start by chopping up the soap base into small pieces and placing them in a microwavable jug. Place the jug in the microwave and heat for two minutes on medium heat, the soap will start to melt. Continue heating the soap, checking on it frequently until it has all melted. You can now carefully add any fragrance, colour, or glitter you require. Stir carefully so as not to make bubbles. When you are happy with the colour/fragrance etc., carefully pour into the moulds and leave to set. Push the soap out of the moulds and wrap in cling film to keep fragrance in.

*Please note that if you make a mistake or it sets too quickly you can re-melt at any time.

After wrapping my soaps in cling film I wrapped a strip of washi tape around the outside to add prettiness.

Have a sweet day!

Mini glittered bird cages

2011-12-08T12:00:00.010Z

I have had my white wooden bird cage pendants for over a year now, sulking at the bottom of my craft trim box. So, as I rifled through my trims looking for bits and bobs I could use in my Winter Wonderland crafts I rediscovered them. I gave them an overhaul with some paint and glitter in my Winter Wonderland colour palette and threaded my favourite crush, bakers twine, through them so I can hang them on my Christmas Tree.

Mini glittered bird cages
Tools and Materials

How-to, step by step

Carefully paint the bird in duck egg blue, the leaves and branches in teal, and the flower in pink on both sides and leave to dry. Then carefully paint the duck egg blue painted areas of the bird in a thin layer of glue and sprinkle liberally with mint glitter, tap gently to remove excess glitter and leave to dry. Repeat for each of the other colours, choosing a glitter colour to match the paint colour underneath. Make sure to leave each coat to dry before continuing with the next colour. Cut a length of bakers twine and thread through hole at top, knot ends and trim off any excess from the ends.

Have a sweet day!

North Rock Gallery

2011-12-07T12:00:00.000Z

From left to right:
Jewellery storage tree, sparrow key ring, oak tree tray, mushroom shaped sponge, fairytale bird soft toy , ceramic bird, toadstool pen, apple blossom and wild berry candle, owl beaker, red hare print, twig colouring pencils

Today on label love I am sharing with you North Rock Gallery, which I was recently introduced to. It's a great online boutique full of gorgeous Scandi-chic interior pretties, Nordic inspired art and a host of gorgeous woodland inspired decorations.

Northrock Gallery was opened in May 2009 by textile designer maker Suzanne and her landscape and architecture photographer boyfriend Mark. Located in the Shetland Isles, Scotland, they sell well known Scandinavian brands such as Sagaform, ISAK, Rice DK, Blafre, Pluto Produkter, and Maileg, as well as some stylish British brands such as Orla Kiely, Mini Moderns and Bold and Noble.

In 2010 they launched their web shop to help them reach a wider audience, where they sell a large selection of the products available in store online and are currently expanding the artwork available to buy online, selling the work of several of the artists who's work they exhibit in their gallery.

Have a sweet day!

Samsung G Series Three Door Refrigerator Review

2011-12-06T13:36:00.002Z

I was recently asked if I would like to review a G Series Three Door Refrigerator from Samsung but having recently fitted a new kitchen into my home, as much as I loved the idea of this refrigerator, there was no way it would fit in my kitchen. On the other hand, my recently engaged little sister and her fiance are renovating their new home.

I immediately went and checked out this cool sounding refrigerator on Samsung's website. It looked so shiny, stylish and chic, boasted so much space inside and to top it all it had an ice maker! I thought it would look great in their kitchen! After ringing my excited sister, they checked over their kitchen plans and after taking the measurements into consideration they agreed it would be a perfect fit. It would also come in very handy as I'm chief wedding planner and will need plenty of space to store all the sweet treats myself and their friends and family are making for their special day.

So this past weekend I went down to visit her and her fiance in Devon. We spent Saturday trying out recipes I would like to make for my Christmas dessert table (recipes coming soon!) and planning out ideas for her wedding, which I will be sharing with you here over the next year!

We thought this was a great opportunity to put their shiny, sleek new refrigerator through its paces. My sister and I made panna cotta, gluten free key lime pie and chocolate mousse in mini glass jars, and chocolate raspberry cupcakes. All of the items easily fitted on the shelves and we didn't get in each other's way as we moved things in and out of the refrigerator due to the huge opening. The storage space is amazing due to the thin wall insulation technology which gives you extra space inside. As the desserts set we played about with the height adjustable balconies inside the door and everything fitted so well, from the tall bottles of soda to the mini milk bottles and the clever can dispenser that you can angle for easy can removal.

We loved the G Series Three Door Refrigerator. Not only does it look fabulous but Samsung have really pulled out all the stops. With its LED lighting it makes even the corners bright! It is roomy and can be configured in so many ways by using the foldable, flippable and slide out shelves. It has two fresh-safe, large vegetable drawers that provide the optimal humidity level to preserve vitamins and nutrients in fruits and vegetables. The water and ice dispenser is state of the art and provides continuous filtered water and crushed or cubed ice at the touch of a button. The water and ice dispenser is also tall enough to fill jugs and has its own lighting. The healthy water filter system ensures that water and ice from the refrigerator will always be clean and fresh.

Thank you Samsung, we love it!

Have a sweet day!

Sparkly print squirrel

2011-12-05T12:00:00.013Z

I loved how my polka dot print deer and pretty wooden birds turned out but I didn't know what to do with my wooden squirrel. I eventually settled on a printed squirrel, glittered to the max!

Sparkly print squirrel
Tools and Materials

Wooden squirrel
Water tester pot of paint
Tilda design card - Winter Bird or printed card (230gsm)
PVA glue
Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter
Scissors
Small paint brush
Pencil

Sparkly print squirrel, How-to step by step

Start by carefully painting the sides, using a small paint brush, of the wooden squirrel in duck egg blue paint and leave to dry. To get a perfect fit on the printed card, place the dry wooden squirrel on the underside of the printed card and carefully trace around the edge of the squirrel with a sharp pencil. Flip squirrel over and place next to previously drawn squirrel shape, to avoid wastage, and trace around the other side of the squirrel. With a sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut out the squirrel shapes from the card and place to one side. Brush PVA glue onto front of the squirrel and firmly press the corresponding card shape onto glued front then leave to dry. Once dry, repeat with the shape for the back of the squirrel.

Brush PVA glue onto front of squirrel in patches and immediately sprinkle with glitter before the glue starts to dry. Tap squirrel lightly to remove excess glitter. Continue until front of squirrel is completely covered in glitter.

Brush PVA glue onto side of squirrel and immediately sprinkle with glitter before the glue starts to dry. Tap squirrel lightly to remove excess glitter. Continue this process until entire squirrel is glittered. Leave to dry.

Tip
I hold my squirrel over a clean small plastic pot when sprinkling with glitter to catch any excess glitter so it can be reused.

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Amethyst

2011-12-04T18:00:00.000Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some pretty treasures from Vintage Amethyst. To see more of the gorgeous finds that she sells in her home and gift boutique visit Vintage Amethyst.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites:

The ever so gorgeous vintage style cakestand
The adorable birdcage memo holder
The pretty heart pail candle holder
The stylish retro style tins close

Have a sweet day!

$100 Shopbop Giveaway & Diane Von Furstenberg dresses

2011-12-03T12:00:00.020Z

Clockwise left to right:
Jovie maxi dress from Joie dresses
Tibi Farrah dress from one shoulder dresses
Akari dress and Jafartha dress from Diane von Furstenberg dresses

I'm so pleased to announce a giveaway of $100 worth of store credit for Shopbop, which you can spend on anything, and it's open to readers worldwide!

Shopbop is a premier online shopping boutique for the fashion-savvy female. Carrying everything a woman needs for her wardrobe, from dresses to denim; swimwear to shoes -- Shopbop has over 200 different designer labels such as Marc Jacobs, Superfine, Catherine Malandrino and Antik Batik. Shopbop has become recognized by consumers and the media as an excellent one-stop fashion resource. Unique site features, such as styling tips, look books and season trend previews are highlights on this easy to navigate site.

To enter, please visit Shopbop and then leave a comment below this post letting me know what you would spend your store credit on. The giveaway ends on Saturday, December 17th 2011 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner on Sunday, December 18th.

To increase your chances of winning this fabulous prize, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:

tweeting about this giveaway
blogging about it
following/subscribing to the Torie Jayne blog/twitter

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.

This giveaway is open to readers worldwide.

Good luck and have a sweet day!

Snowflake hair bobbles

2011-12-02T12:00:00.019Z

After decorating my Winter Wonderland advent house, I started making hand made gifts to go inside the little drawers. For when my cute little niece Molly visits, I have made some pretty snowflake hair bobbles.

Snowflake hair bobbles
Tools and Materials

Small hairbands in pink, white and aqua
Felt snowflakes
Hot glue gun

Snowflake hair bobbles, How-to step by step

Using a hot glue gun, place a small dab of glue at the join on the outside edge of the hairband, immediately stick a felt snowflake to the glue and leave to dry.

Have a sweet day!

Glittered snow bird house

2011-12-01T14:39:00.000Z

After decorating my Winter Wonderland bird house, I loved it so much I bought five more! I have finished two of them which I am sharing with you today.

Glittered snow bird house
Tools and Materials

Mini wooden bird house or mini wooden bird house
White undercoat paint
Pink Clematis, tester pot of paint
Water, tester pot of paint
PVA glue, tacky glue
Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter
Scissors
Small paint brush
White glitter
3mm double sided satin ribbon, cut into 18cm strips
Tilda Bird brads
Hot glue gun

Glittered snow bird house, How-to step by step

After removing the rope loop from the top of the house, paint the entire house white and leave to dry. Then, carefully paint the roof and top of the tower in aqua and leave to dry. Turn upside down and paint base of house in pink colour, leave paint to dry. Once the entire house is painted and dry it is now time to glitter.

Brush PVA glue onto the entire house so you have a nice even coat, then immediately sprinkle with coarse glitter before the glue starts to dry. Tap house lightly to remove excess glitter and leave to dry. Make the ribbon into a loop and knot ends, threading ends of loop through top of house and hot glue gun the ribbon in place. Brush PVA glue along the top of the roof and on the peak of the tower, then immediately sprinkle with white glitter before the glue starts to dry.

Using a hot glue gun, glue the back of the brad and stick over the hole in the front of the house.

I can't wait to decorate my Christmas tree!

Have a sweet day!

Winter Wonderland Advent House

2011-11-30T19:14:00.001Z

When I saw the wooden advent house on Panduro Hobby's site I just had to buy it. The only problem was that time was getting on so when it arrived at the weekend I quickly got on with decorating it in time for tomorrow! Once I had painted the house and filled it with the pretty patterned drawers I fell in love! This is something I want in my house all year round; I think it would look great in my craft room and is an ideal place to store my bits and bobs! I decided to go for little glittered number labels that could be removed after Christmas instead of my original idea of numbered stickers.

Winter Wonderland Advent houseTools and Materials

Wooden advent house
White undercoat paint
Tilda design card - Winter Bird or printed card (230gsm)
Tilda design card - Flower Garden or printed card (230gsm)
Pink Clematis, tester pot of paint
Water, tester pot of paint
Washi tape
PVA glue, tacky glue
Scissors
Small paint brush
Mint glitter
Small tags
Glue pad
Number stamps

Advent House, How-to step by step

Remove the drawers from the house, and carefully pull out the handles that are glued in. Paint all sides of the drawers in white paint excluding the already painted white front, and leave to dry. Then paint the inside of the drawers in a colour and leave to dry (I painted mine in pink, duck egg blue and teal).

Cover the exterior of the drawers in strips of patterned washi tape and trim off any excess with a craft knife. Brush a thin layer of PVA glue over the top of the washi tape to seal it and leave to dry.

Place the drawer front onto a sheet of printed card and trace around edge. Cut the traced out shape from the printed card, leaving a 7mm border around edge. Brush PVA glue onto the front of the drawer and stick in the centre of your rectangular pattern piece and leave to dry. Brush PVA glue onto sides of drawer front and fold card over each edge, hold in place for a few seconds until card begins to bond. Trim off excess card at corners. Using a sharp pair of scissors, punch a hole through the card to the pre-existing hole in the drawer front. Dab the end of the drawer handle in PVA glue and push into hole. I covered mine in 24 different patterns.

Place the house on its back and masking tape around the edges of the roof to get a clean painted edge on the roof and chimney. Paint two coats of duck egg blue onto the roof and the top of the chimney and leave to dry.

Lay the tag on a flat surface and rubber stamp a number to the front using a glue pad. Liberally sprinkle the tag with glitter, tap to remove excess and leave to dry. Repeat rubber stamping until you have 24 number tags.

Tie the tags to the drawer handles and trim off any excess string. Place drawers back in the house in a random number order.

Fill with gifts like the hand-made cool mint lip balm

Hand-made sparkly strawberry lip balm

Have a sweet day!

Candy filled stars

2011-11-29T12:00:00.001Z

I love hanging candy on my Christmas year and this year is no exception. I loved how my candy filled Easter eggs turned out, so I bought some plastic stars and filled them with juicy pear, vanilla, bubblegum and blueberry flavoured Jelly Belly beans to match my colour palette.

Candy filled stars

Tools and Materials

Plastic craft stars
Jelly Belly Beans
2mm satin double faced ribbon in pink
2mm satin double faced ribbon in duck egg blue
Narrow pink Washi tape
Narrow duck egg blue Washi tape
Scissors

How-to, step by step

Wash and dry the plastic stars before you start. Fill half the plastic star with as many jelly beans as you can, and carefully push the lid on top. Starting at the top of the star, wrap washi tape round the closed sides and trim off any excess. Thread ribbon through the two holes at the top of the star, and knot ends together.

Have a sweet day!

Hand-made cake stands

2011-11-28T12:00:00.008Z

I love cake stands and have collected quite a few over the years, from pretty pastel pressed glass ones to scalloped edge china ones, all in a variety of sizes. I also made a decorative china cake stand a while back using a cup and plate.

For my Winter Wonderland dessert table this Christmas I wanted a pink one to put my bird cage Christmas cake on and two duck egg blue cake stands for my Gingerbread bird house and bakery tree. So when I saw these mini wooden pedestals from Lacoli and McAllister, I decided to make my own using a wooden candle stick holder and a small wooden bread board. Now I just need to finish my Christmas cake and start designing my gingerbread bird house!

Hand made cake stand

Tools and Materials

Wooden candle stick holder
Round wooden bread board
Undercoat white paint
Bathroom and kitchen paint in duck egg blue
Martha Stewart multi-surface gloss paint in poodle skirt
Wood glue
Paint brush

How to, step by step

Remove metal candle holder from top of wooden candle stick with a pair of pliers and discard. Carefully paint entire candle stick holder and chopping board in two coats of undercoat white paint, leaving an hour in between coats, and leave to dry. Then paint entire candle stick holder and chopping board in two coats of coloured paint, also leaving an hour in between coats, and leave to dry.

With the chopping board placed upside down on a firm surface, use a pencil to mark the centre of the underside of the chopping board with a cross the width of the top of the candle holder. Apply a thin layer of wood glue in a circle over your cross. Place candle holder upside down and place over glued circle and press firmly down. Remove any excess glue with a damp cloth and leave to dry. Voila! A cake stand to match your decor.

Have a sweet day!

Nevie Pie Cakes

2011-11-27T12:00:00.006Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the gorgeous hand painted sweet treats from the talented Natasha of Nevie Pie Cakes. I just adore her work ! To see more of her beautiful baking check out her blog Amelie's House.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

The gorgeous deer in woodland gingerbread house
The beautifully painted Woodland Cookie
The pretty pattern in Advent ring
The ever so cute owls in Hooty Street

Have a sweet day!

How to marzipan bird cage shaped cake

2011-11-26T12:54:00.001Z

Yesterday I shared with you my Christmas cake, shaped like a bird cage. Today I am showing you how I marzipan it. I decided to place each cake section on a 15cm diameter, 2mm thick cake board so that when it comes to serving it I can cut manageable slices instead of very thin long slices. I am pretty happy with the results and definitely found my new rolling pin measures gave me a more even layer of marzipan. Next up is icing it! Not looking forward to that.....

How to marzipan bird cage shaped cake
Ingredients

Gluten free birdcage shaped Christmas cake
Marzipan
Apricot jam

Method

Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top
Knead 500g of marzipan until soft and pliable, and roll into a ball
Using a rolling pin, roll out marzipan, turning the marzipan around after every few rolls so it stays in a rough circle and does not stick to your work top
Roll until about 5mm thick. I used rolling pin measures to get a super even layer of marzipan

Place half ball cake onto cake board
Get cake level on board and fill in any gaps by pushing marzipan into them
Gently heat jam in microwave
Brush jam over entire cake

Carefully lift up marzipan and place on cake
Very lightly run your hands over marzipan so it adheres to the jam
Using a sharp knife, cut off excess marzipan from bottom of cake
Place to one side

Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top
Knead 500g of marzipan until soft and pliable, and roll into a sausage shape
Using a rolling pin, roll out marzipan, turning marzipan around after every few rolls so it stays in a rectangle and does not stick to your work top
Check it will fit the height and circumference of your cakes (the height of my two cakes was just about the size of my cake smoother)
Roll until about 5mm thick

Place each cake on to a cake board and stack on top of each other
Gently heat jam in microwave
Brush jam over entire cake
Carefully lift up marzipan and place on cake. Very lightly run your hands over marzipan so it adheres to the jam

Using a sharp knife, cut off excess marzipan from top and bottom of cake
The ends will overlap, so using a sharp knife cut a straight line down through both layers of marzipan and remove excess marzipan from either side of your line
Using a cake smoother, smooth ends together so that join starts to disappear
Place marzipan half ball cake on top of marzipan stacked cakes and gently smooth marzipan at bottom of half cake to marzipan at top of the stacked cakes

Have a sweet day!

My birdcage shaped, gluten free Christmas Cake

2011-11-25T12:00:00.010Z

This Christmas I am planning on a making a birdcage-decorated cake to sit on my Winter Wonderland dessert table. To get the shape I need, I have baked two 15cm (6") round cakes and half a 15cm (6") ball cake. Below you will find my recipe for a rich fruit cake that is gluten free.

Fruit cakes are ideally made at least a month before you need to decorate and eat it. They should be fed regularly and left to ripen. I feed mine every week.

Gluten free Christmas cake (makes one 15cm (6") round cake)

Ingredients
225g (8 oz) currants
90g (3.5 oz) sultanas
90g (3.5 oz) raisins
650g (2.5 oz) chopped glace cherries
50g (2 oz) cut mixed peel
3 tbsp cream sherry
50g (2 oz) chopped almonds
175g (6 oz) plain gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
pinch of salt
150g (5 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
150g (5 ounces) soft brown sugar
3 medium eggs
grated zest of half a lemon
grated zest of half a orange
3 tbsp brandy

Cooking instructions

Place all dried fruit and mixed peel in a bowl, pour in sherry and mix well. Cover with a clean cloth. Leave for 12 hours or overnight so fruit can absorb the sherry
Preheat oven to 150 deg C (300 deg F)
Grease and line tin with baking parchment
Wrap newspaper/brown paper around tin and secure with baker's twine
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture turns a pale colour
Beat in eggs slowly on medium speed
Sieve flour, salt and spices into the mixture and mix slowly on low speed
Fold in soaked fruit, almonds, lemon & orange zest until well mixed
Pour mixture into tin, level with spatula
Place sheet of grease proof paper on top, and make sure to leave a small circle missing from centre
Bake for 3 hours and 15 minutes on middle shelf
Place cake on a wire rack to cool
When cake is completely cool, remove cake from tin
Pierce cake several times with skewer
Pour 3 tsp of brandy over the top of the cake (feeding)
Wrap in baking parchment
Wrap in foil or store in an airtight container
Feed at regular intervals over the next few weeks

Cake tins are available in my store on page 2.

After at least a few weeks comes the fun part - decorating it!

In case you missed it, here's last year's Winter Woodland Christmas cake with full instructions on how you can create it yourself.

Have a sweet day!

Hand-made cool mint lip balm

2011-11-24T12:00:00.012Z

On Tuesday I showed you the sparkly strawberry lip balms I made for my Christmas cracker gifts. They'd be great for the gals, but I also needed something for the lads so I made cool mint lip balms with a white leaf atop.

Christmas gift : Cool mint lip balm
Ingredients

2 tablespoons of white beeswax pellets (1/2 tsp for leaves)
4 tablespoons sunflower oil (1/2 tsp for leaves)
Few drops of cool mint flavour oil
Teal food colouring

Packaging

6 small acrylic pots
P1 address labels
Self adhesive clear film
Aqua washi tape

Equipment

Mini leaf mould
Pipettes
Microwavable glass jug
Microwavable small glass jar
Metal spoon
Scissors
Sharp knife

Cool mint lip balm, How-to step by step

Start by placing the beeswax pellets and oil in a glass jug and heating in the microwave on low to medium power until the beeswax pellets have melted. Remove jug from microwave and stir with a metal spoon. Using a pipette, add a few drops of mint oil. Add a tiny amount of food colouring to jug of liquid. Stir mixture with metal spoon and continue adding colouring till you achieve desired shade and colour is even. Using a clean pipette, transfer lip balm to pots.

In a small glass pot, melt half a teaspoon of beeswax with a teaspoon of oil in the microwave until beeswax pellets have melted. Add a drop of cool mint oil and stir with a metal spoon. Then using a clean pipette, fill leaf mould with lip balm. As soon as the lip balm turns white, use a sharp knife to remove excess from back. Wait a minute then turn out leaf on to top of aqua cool mint lip balm. Repeat until all cool mint lip balms have a white leaf atop. Leave to set for one hour.

Wrap washi tape around each jar to secure lids. Double click on the artwork above, which will open it up in a new page, and print onto a sheet of P1 address label. Cut a rectangle of self adhesive film large enough to cover all the labels and adhere to printed labels. Carefully, using a sharp pair of scissors, cut around edge of labels then remove backing paper from the labels and attach to bottom of cool mint lip balm jars.

See hand-made strawberry lip balm here, with fully illustrated photos.

Have a sweet day!

Camel & Yak Winter 2011

2011-11-23T12:00:00.008Z

Today on shops I love, I bring you the latest gorgeous goodies from one of my favourite stores, Camel & Yak. A great place to find fabulously bright and colourful gifts like the bird hooks, melamine cups in an array of colours and gorgeous tins of bunting.

Have a sweet day!

Hand-made sparkly strawberry lip balm

2011-11-22T12:00:00.016Z

This year I want to make my own hand-made Christmas crackers to match my Winter Wonderland colour palette and theme. This got me thinking it would be nice to fill them with hand made gifts. The gifts would have to be small enough to fit inside the crackers and ideally match the theme. So, I decided to make pink coloured strawberry lip balm with a smattering of pink glitter. To fit in with my theme, I added a vanilla flavoured mini deer shaped lip balm piece which I placed on top of the strawberry lip balm. I finished them off with a pretty printed label I designed that I covered in clear film to protect and to make it shiny. The jars were sealed by wrapping them in pink washi tape.

Christmas gift : Sparkly strawberry lip balm
Ingredients

2 tablespoons of white beeswax pellets (plus 1/2 tsp for the deer toppers)
4 tablespoons sunflower oil (1/2 tsp for deer)
Few drops of strawberry flavour oil
Edible pink glitter
Lipstick shavings

Packaging

6 small acrylic pots
P1 address labels
pink washi tape
Self adhesive clear film

Equipment

Mini deer mould
Pipettes
Microwavable glass jug
Microwavable small glass jar
Metal spoons
Scissors
Sharp knife

Sparkly strawberry lip balm, How-to step by step

Start by placing the beeswax pellets and oil in a glass jug in the microwave. Heat on low to medium power until the beeswax pellets have melted. Remove jug from microwave and stir with a metal spoon. Using a pipette, add a few drops of strawberry oil.

Gradually add lipstick shavings to the jug of liquid. Stir mixture with metal spoon and continue adding lipstick shavings until you achieve desired shade and the colour is even. Using a clean pipette, transfer lip balm to pots.

In a small glass pot, melt half a teaspoon of beeswax with a teaspoon of oil in the microwave until beeswax pellets have melted. Add a drop of strawberry oil and stir with a metal spoon. Using a clean pipette, fill deer mould with lip balm. As soon as the lip balm cools and turns white, use a sharp knife to remove excess from back. Wait a minute then turn out deer on to top of pink strawberry lip balm. Repeat until all strawberry lip balms have a white deer atop. Leave to set for one hour.

Wrap washi tape around each jar to secure lids.

Double click on the artwork, which will open it up in a new page, and print onto a sheet of P1 address label. Cut a rectangle of self adhesive film large enough to cover all the labels and adhere to printed labels. Carefully using a sharp pair of scissors cut around edge of labels then remove backing paper from the labels and attach to bottom of strawberry lip balm jars.

Have a sweet day!

Pink and Turq Christmas decor

2011-11-21T12:00:00.004Z

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing with you my inspirational pins for a Winter Wonderland Christmas. Today, its all about pink and turquoise Christmas decor. To see more inspirational pins for a Winter Wonderland Christmas, check out my board on Pinterest.

Christmas paper wreath by Homelife
Christmas decorating by Fabulous Fifi
Pretty in pink Christmas decorations, Christmas wall decor ideas, Loving letters by BHG
Modern glamour by Southern Living

Have a sweet day!

Beautifully Wrapped

2011-11-20T12:00:00.002Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some beautiful packages in lovely neutrals from some of the most creative people on Flickr. I can't wait to start wrapping my gifts!

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

The flower in Compai's {earth friendly} gift wrapping ideas by Justine Blakeney
The chunky wood tag in LEH Project by Iro {Ivy style33}
The pretty stickers in Gift wrapping... by Iro {Ivy style33}
The ever so pretty garland in Paper Lace Gift Wrap Set by 3GIRLS+ a goat

Have a sweet day!

Original gift - Vintage Playing Cards

2011-11-19T12:00:00.009Z

Looking for an original, design conscious gift? Look no further!

I had been looking for a gift for my sister, who is the proud mum to my adorable nephew Samuel. When the sweet folks at Vintage Playing Cards offered me the opportunity to review one of their creations, I jumped at the chance and asked for the word "SAMUEL". I love it and my sister was delighted with her stylish gift, hanging it in Samuel's new room.

The name is spelled out in individual cards sourced from a 1930s spelling game. The cards are double mounted with cream and black, and presented in a stylish black wooden box frame. I love how it is very sleek and timeless and I am sure Samuel will love it when he is older. A real conversation piece that had 'Gramps' telling us all how the 1930s game was played! So, today I am sharing it with you as a great gift.

As well as bespoke names, they also do vintage playing cards framed clocks that spell out ‘time’ and ‘tick tock’ and a VPC teatime range of stylish clocks made from vintage china. They also have a vast collection of stylish greeting cards that feature vintage playing cards. My favourite for Christmas is the Deers under the Tree greeting card made from an original art deco playing card depicting deers under a tree.

Have a sweet day!

Gift Guide - She ❤'s Fashion...

2011-11-18T12:00:00.007Z

Holiday help is here once again! Today is a collection of gift ideas for the gal who loves fashion.

Bang on trend this Fall...

1. I am loving the rosy sepia tones of the on-trend python curse scarf in 100% wool, featuring two frayed trims and a hand painted print snake-like pattern. 2. For subtle, preppy glamour, wear this metal bow fabric hair clip over your ponytail. 3. On my wish list is this vintage looking corsage and stone beaded bando to add some daytime glamour to my hair!

4. 'P-Helio' taupe ballet flats. Flats? Tick! Patent? Tick! Cosmetic colour? Tick! These shoes tick all the boxes and would look great with skinny grey jeans. 5. For chilly days, the skin-tone flattering cream scarf adds bags of snuggle factor to a wintry day. Wear to add warmth and a textural edge to a sleek winter look. 6. Work some cute chic into your off-duty look with the addition of a chunky knitted beanie hat. With a cable design and broad, ribbed turn-up, topped with a fluffy pom pom it comes in a flattering shade of cream with pinkish undertones to highlight a rosy winter glow.

7. Essie nail polishes in glamour purse, lady like, and power clutch are all from the Fall 2011 collection and update the nude tones of last year. 8. The diamante feather clip in tonal colours with delicate feathers and eye catching faceted beads will add some vintage glamour! 9. Top of my wish list is the 'And Mary' cutout swallow leather purse, made from super soft, Italian leather with a cut out swallow design in gold. Beautiful almond colour and birds: a match made in heaven!! 10. A practical, chic and glamourous metallic shopper is perfect for shopping trips.

11. So you don't miss important dates with the girls for cocktails and cupcakes, get the Swatch soft carnation watch . 12. This tough but pretty real leather honeycomb metal cuff is overlaid with a chunky gold honeycomb bracelet. Wear with girly dresses to toughen up your outfit! 13. The plated chain Maya necklace with glass drop details from All Saints would look great with a white tee and jeans for some girly rock chic! 14. Keep your travelcard in style with these metallic oyster card holder. You could use them for credit cards or business cards, too...

Happy shopping!

Image sources: Style.com, Lado Alexi, The Berry, Sarah Silver

An Iconic gift - Dualit toaster

2011-11-17T12:00:00.003Z

If you're looking for an iconic gift for one who is near and dear, then this Dualit toaster could fit the bill. It comes in a range of colours and finishes to suit any kitchen decor and is perfectly practical and kind on the environment; all parts are repairable or replaceable - you don't throw a Vario toaster away! The 2 slice Vario toaster gives you full control, allowing you to make perfect toast.

Vario toasters feature Dualit's award-winning, patented ProHeat technology to increase the life and toasting efficiency of the elements. The Ice Blue one above is £104.90 from Go Electrical

Utility room with pastel accessories

Retro kitchen

Modern country kitchen

Happy shopping!

Gift guide - Bathing Beauty...

2011-11-16T12:00:00.022Z

Today's gift guide is for the bathing beauty.

Bathing beauty...

1. I just adore the delicate print of vintage flowers, birds and bird cages on the pretty packaging of the Lolita luxurious botanical hand cream in the scent of flowering Willow and Lotus with traces of Orchid, Rice flower and warm Coconut milk mixed with notes of Mandarin and Jasmine petals. 2. Inject a splash of colour in to your bathroom with the hard wearing resin rainbow free-standing mirror in bright pink, ideal for applying make up! 3. Oh, how I love the pink Portobello glass cabinet with distressed finish from Nordal; so pretty and useful.

4. I love the birds of paradise cotton robe from Pip Studio; such a cute print! 5. The bottles of Paul & Jo nail enamel in poodle pink come in lovely vintage styled bottles and would look great on a dressing table and on your nails. 6. My absolute favourite candle in the world is the Tocca Cleopatra candle and I have several dotted about my home, as the scent is divine and I adore the pretty duck egg blue labels.

7. A great stocking filler is the designer Paul Smith pale pink toothbrush, which is stylish, pretty and practical! 8. My favourite go-to place for loungewear is Hush, so these Winter bloom pyjamas are on my wish list. They come packed in pretty boxes and the pyjama set, which is made up of an oversized shirt with scoop hem and a wide leg low rise trouser, comes in a matching drawstring bag. Perfect for lounging about in on chilly nights.

9. The Savon Pur wild soap is made from pure vegetable content and this classic wild rose soap is traditionally created using natural ingredients with no use of colouring agents. The bright pink wrapping paper of this soap can even be folded into sea-orientated origami, making it a perfect gift! 10. Keep your soaps tidy in this sweet blue, round soap dish.

11. I have the birds of paradise towels in my cloakroom and always get lots of compliments, so for that reason they have made it to my gift guide. 12. Another great bathroom brightener is the beautifully packaged organic shea butter Lucia soap in sea watercress and chai tea from Canada. 13. Finally, make your bathroom feel super luxurious with this powder room print shower curtain.

Happy shopping!

Gift Guide 2011 - She bakes...

2011-11-15T12:00:00.017Z

Holiday help is here again! Today I am showing you my perfect stylish yet practical gifts for bakers, all in candy colours!

She bakes...

1. I love the quirky tea cup cake moulds, perfect for cute cupcakes. 2. The magnetic retro timer means you will always know when it's time to check on those cakes a-baking in the oven! 3. The whimsical Russian doll measuring cups are so cool you will want to leave them on display in your kitchen. 4. What a pretty pink can opener, a great way to add a splash of colour to your utensils jar!

5. I have this oak spice rack for 6 jars hung on my kitchen wall with the tiny flip storage jars full of pretty cupcake sprinkles; I love how it looks. 6. Kitchen Aid Pro set of 3 mixing bowls in pink 7. I just bought these floral scales because they look good enough to hang on your wall, and you'll be pleased to know they can be, as each one is also designed with a digital 'time of day' clock function.

8. The prettiest sieve on the high street and a snip at 90p! 9. I love these melamine serving spoons ,perfect to serve your pretty coloured macarons on! 10. A traditional icing pen with nozzle - fill it up with lots of icing and keep your hands steady! 11. Just because ice cream sprinkles will be so much more fun with these melamine short spoons.

12. This bright, happy melamine bowl set - Naughty Green from Rice DK is so practical with their plastic lids and they stack inside each other for storage. 13. Loving the reusable silicone muffin cases in the prettiest ice cream shades, and a snip at £2 for 12! 14. This funky sky blue silicone wooden spatula, because bakers can never have too many spatulas! 15. For grating oranges and lemons, this pale blue stainless steel grater is perfect for cake bakers who use citrus.

Baking supplies storage

Happy shopping!

Gift Guide 2011 - She sews...

2011-11-14T12:00:00.010Z

Holiday help is here! Over the next few days I will be sharing with you my favourite gift ideas of the season. The best part is that you don't have to leave the comfort of your home as they are all available online. From stocking fillers to finding that elusive gift you know you have seen on a blog but can't remember where!

She sews...

1. The Crochet kit in a book tin is a wonderful printed tin gift set that is a perfect introduction to the traditional art of crocheting, full of all the supplies you need to make a colourful patch cushion. 2. We have all seen the beautiful ribbons wrapped around bobbins this year in blogland, and this white ribbon holder from Tilda is a pretty yet practical way to store them. 3. Every seamstress needs a tape measure and this tea roses tape measure from Cath Kidston is pretty neat.

4. I love my polka dot, duck egg embroidery scissors for crafts on the move; they came in pretty handy as I was stitching my felt birds on my train journey to work! 5. The mini book pink pin tin is so super cute you would want to keep it on display in your craft corner. 6. This ever so pretty Summer blues tin set is on my Christmas wish list as I think they would be perfect to store my craft bits and bobs in and will add print and colour to my open shelves.

7. Wooden bobbins are the perfect way to store ribbons, so why not buy some gorgeous ribbon and wrap them around the bobbins to give as gifts! 8. & 10. The sewing needles and embroidery needles that come in candy coloured pebble holders mean you always have the right needle for the right job. 9. The pink Flamingo pin cushion is a fun, quirky addition to any sewing basket.

11. For those who love an enamel tin there's the House Doctor sewing kit tin at only £6! 12. Who doesn't love some kitsch pom pom trim in their lives and this blue pom pom ribbon from Sass & Belle comes wound on cute card. 13. The pretty Rose tape from Japan is perfect for the washi tape lover!

Happy shopping!

Call me Cupcake

2011-11-13T12:00:00.008Z

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the gorgeous white dessert table from the very talented Linda of Call me cupcake.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

The gorgeous labelled jars in Candy
The beautifully piped Red velvet cupcakes
The exquisite glass cake stand piled high with Vanilla macarons
The delicate Lace peony cake

Have a sweet day!