Lavender Scones Recipe

In the midst of an English summer, when the sun actually does decide to shine, I really enjoy having a proper afternoon tea with cakes, biscuits and of course friends to share it with. One of my all time favourite delights is Lavender Scones with lashings of jam and cream. I'll leave you all to debate that most contentious of questions; does the jam go first or the cream? You can probably guess my preference by the photos, I ought to slip in here that the order I use is the same as dictated by the Ritz Hotel (well if it's good enough for the Ritz...)

What You'll Need

8 oz/225gms self raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking power
Pinch of salt
2 oz/60gms margarine
2 oz/60gms caster sugar
2 rounded teaspoons of dried lavender flowers
5 fluid ozs/150mls milk




Step 1

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the margarine until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Step 2

Using a pestle and mortar crush the lavender flowers and add them into your mixing bowl along with the sugar.

Step 3

Add the milk using as much as you need to form a dough.

Step 4

Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly with fingertips until the dough is smooth. Roll out to about 2cms thick and using a circular cutter cut into rounds.

Step 5

Place the rounds onto a baking tray and brush with milk. Bake in a hot oven 425-250F, Gas no. 7-8, 220-230C for 10 mins.

Scones are best eaten on the day they are made. They can be made in advance and frozen until required though. Enjoy!

On my next post I will draw and announce the winner of our biggest ever blog comp!

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Today I thought I'd share a fabric flower tutorial with you all, we've been making these for years and they are so much fun. This is a really useful little technique to know as the flower can be made into a badge, sewn onto a hairband or hairclip or anything else you can think of. You can also vary the size with eaze and the end result looks very impressive.

What You'll Need

Cardboard
Fabric for petals
Fabric for flower centre
Felt Fabric
Buttons and beads to decorate

Step 1

First you need to decide on the size you would like your finished flower to be. The one in the picture above is about 9cms across. Next draw a circle onto your carboard the same size as the flower and cut out.

Step 2

Place your cardboard circle onto your petal fabric and draw around six times (to make six petals). Cut out the six fabric circles.




Step 3

Fold each circle of fabric in half, with the right side of the fabric showing. Now you need to gather the raw edges of your petals, sew small running stitches along the side.





Step 4

Pull the stitches to form your petal. Repeat with the other five circles using the same piece of thread going from one to the next.





Step 5

Join the first petal to the last and sew firmly together to form your flower.

Step 6

Cut a small circle from felt or a woollen material that doesn't fray and sew onto the back of your flower.

Step 7

Now we need to make the centre of the flower. I chose a contrasting blue material for mine. Once again use your cardboard circle and cut out a circle from this fabric. Gradually sew a running stitch round the edge of the circle turning the raw edge to the centre as you go.

Step 8

Pull your thread so that the gathers end up in the centre of the circle.

Step 9

Place this circle with the gathers facing down so they can't be seen into the centre of your flower. Next you will need a button to secure it. Sew it right into the centre to hold everything together. At this point you can add beads or whatever embellishments you fancy.

Step 10

Now your flower is finished you can sew a brooch back onto the back if you like, or add it to a fabric hairband or hairclip. I think I may add one onto a bag I'm sewing, really the ideas are limitless. Have fun!

The Elegance Of Chandeliers

I absolutely adore Chandeliers, the way they hang from the ceiling, the way they glint as light hits them, the way they can ooze elegance into a room which previously had none. The larger and grander the better, at least that's true when I see them hanging in country houses etc. Of course most of us aren't lucky enough to own a home worthy of a handmade or antique beauty, but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate them. One of my favourite places to visit and see Chandeliers is Venice. But I am not talking about the crowded squares of San Marco or the usual tourist routes. To really appreciate Venice you have to walk away from your guide books and explore the hidden areas, the shops that only locals frequent. There are many antique/junk shops hiding down small alleys.

In one shop I saw the largest Chandelier I have ever seen, of course it's hard to depict scale in a photo, but believe me it was huge!

In another shop stood a large workbench with glass drops set out ready to mend broken chandeliers. The street was very dark, which made it hard to take photos, but the shop plus street was like looking into a past that most of us have forgotten, the real artists Venice.

 Of course you can buy chandeliers in any country in the world. Modern ones are usually wired for electric lights, which means they can be used daily. Have any of you purchased a bit of grandure and hung a chandelier in your home?

In London there is a beautiful tea room called Le Chandelier which aside from wonderful food also sells beautiful chandeliers.

Or perhaps scour the antique shops near you and buy up antique chandelier drops, I have seen these made into beautiful Christmas decorations, or pendants to hang in a window, the possibilities are endless. We have made some of our favourites into jewellery here.

Make Your Own Buttons!

If you've taken a look at our jewellery then you probably know that we love buttons! We mostly use vintage finds, but sometimes we have a vision and we just can't find the right colour or size. If you sew or knit you may have found this problem as well. It's easily solved though by making your own buttons out of polymer clay. Here's how to make a simple round one:

What You'll Need

Polymer Clay (I favour Sculpey as it's very easy to mould)
Moulding Tools
A Needle or Cocktail Stick
A clean mat or work surface

Step 1

First you need to soften the polymer clay, the quickest way is to squash and roll it in the palm of your hands


Step 2

Roll a small ball in your hand, place onto your mat and squash lightly with your finger.




Step 3

Take your needle or cocktail stick and press sewing holes into the circle you've made.

Step 4

Admire your finished button. Bake it according to the packet instructions, remember it may need slightly less time as it's so small. Next try out a few more shapes using your tools. I like making hearts, diamonds, flowers and so on.


I keep all my handmade buttons in a cleaned out Bonne Maman jar (they're just too pretty to throw away!)

CSN Store Cupcake Review

You may remember me mentioning a couple of weeks ago that CSN stores had contacted me to ask if I would like to review some items from one of their stores. I was really excited about this, I didn't get paid to write the review but I did get to choose a few goodies to have a play with and I can now share the results!

What I Chose

I chose three items from the www.cookwarebycsn.co.uk store. There was a lot to choose from, but I finally settled on:

The Chicago Metallic 12 Cup Dainty Daisy Cupcake Tray

The KitchenCraft Ciroa Miniamo Cupcake Wire Tree

and The Rushbrookes Piping (Set of Ten)

Delivery

Each item came seperately and delivered by UPS. Delivery was also free at the time I ordered. I liked the fact they used UPS, I've always found them to be a careful delivery service and if you're out they'll try and leave it with a neighbour so you don't have to wait for redelivery or go and pick up your parcel from a depot.

Using The Items

This is what I received. The real review is about using them and not just admiring their pretty packagaing, although the wire cake tree box does look beautiful :)






First I decided to put the wire cupcake tree together. I've seen similar items before in places like Lakeland (quite a bit more expensive there though I think) but always wondered if they were either hard to put together or really wobbly. When I opened the box I was pleased to see only three pieces to make the tiers and a long metal rod with a screw either end and two metal tubes.

Basically you attach the rod with a screw into the base piece, slide a tube over, put on the second tier, slide the other tube over and screw on the top piece. No screwdrivers or much arm muscle required (which is a bonus as I have none!) I am happy to report that the assembled tree was very sturdy, I honestly thought it might be wobbly but no, it's really quite solid!

Next I decided to tackle the Daisy Cupcakes. I was a little apprehensive when I saw the moulds as the top of the cupcake is wider than the bottom. Techincally the tray is non stick, but as I've never had much luck with non stick I crumbled and brushed each cupcake mould lightly with melted butter, then spinkled over a tiny bit of plain flour (shaking off the excess). I filled them quite full to make sure they spread right to the top to make the petals.

They came out beautifully, petals and all! At this point I had to hold the children off from eating them all before decoration.

When they'd cooled I set about icing them. I'm not usually an icing bag fan, I prefer the syringe style icer so this was quite new to me. The set is quite small, with fairly large attachments, so not for fine icing work, but perfect for chunky cupcakes. You do have to fill the bag quite full, but then it's easy enough to move about. I did get the kitchen side in a glorious mess while I filled it up though :D The bag is also plastic lined so easy to clean.

Finally I thought I'd show you the finished effect. I should apologise here for the lack of Daisy Cupcakes, only the top tier survived, little hands couldn't resist and all the cute daisies were snaffled before I could take a pic. So they now take pride of place at the top with smaller cakes at the bottom.

I will definitely be using all these items again. If I had to pick a favourite though it would be the cupcake stand, it's so cute and can hold 23 cakes, perfect for a party! So www.cookwarebycsn.co.uk definitely get a thumbs up from me :)

Little Railway for Little (& Big) Folk.

Living in Derbyshire means I'm never short of a view, a hill and plenty of activities to take the children along to. My son absolutely adores trains, trams and all things moving. This weekend he made several requests for a weekend activity, one of which was to visit the Steeple Grange Light Railway. He's been there countless times, but the appeal of a mini railway never seems to fade.

There are two working lines at present which date back to the 1830s, one with an open carriage that stops by some rocks which still contain undug fossils! The second line has a covered carriage, you might need a shoehorn to get in but it's alright once your there. The amazing thing is that these trains were created to carry full grown and probably quite burly miners.

This year is the railways 25th anniversary and there's quite a few events on, this coming weekend is the Teddy Bears Specials Weekend 24/25 July, children can ride for free if they bring their teddies along for the journey. I think there will be a bear sale and bears along the route too.



There are also some wonderful wildflowers all along the track, I loved this purple field scabious. I had to show you the pic below, it really reminded me of the Railway Children :)

Final note, I'm so pleased your all so excited about the blog comp :) not long to go now, but still time to enter here if you haven't already

Mum's Chocolate Biscuits / Cookies

My Mum has made gorgeous biscuits for as long as I can remember. When I was little everyone in my school knew about them and I could swap them for all manner of goodies, although I rarely relinquished them. Friends, neighbours, everyone seemed to be aware of them and they were requested at every event and gathering. We even had American tourists tell us they were the first proper 'cookies' they had tasted in the UK.

The somewhat humorous secret behind these amazing biscuits? That everytime Mum made them they turned out differently. She frequently lost or forgot the recipes and she had a 'throw it all in the bowl' approach to baking. But apparently this is the secret that alludes so many.

One of the all time favourites had to be her chocolate biscuits, these are so quick and easy that I had to share this not so secret family recipe with you all.

You'll Need

4oz butter or margarine (I use stork)
4oz granulated sugar
1oz custard powder
4oz self raising flour
1oz cocoa

Step 1

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix! Preheat oven to 150C, 300F, Gas Mark 2.

Step 2

Use hands to roll into small balls and place apart on a lined or greased baking tray. Mark the top of the biscuits with a fork.

Step 4

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.


Step 5

Try not to eat them all at once :) See I told you they were easy!

Make Your Own Kilt Pin Brooch

I was trying to think of a new tutorial to share with you all and suddenly I thought of making a kilt pin brooch! We have sold these in the past, now we only make them for fairs or commissions and they were always very popular, I have had my own one permanently pinned to my jacket for years.

You'll Need
A Kilt pin or large safety pin
Ribbons
Lace
Tape
Cord or string
Buttons
Beads
Anything else you fancy for decoration :)


Step 1

 Make a rosette from tape or ribbon. First cut a piece of ribbon about 12 cms long and fold in half wrong side out. Sew the two ends together and then sew a running stitch all along one edge. Pull the cotton tight to make a rosette.


Step 2

Narrow tape or ribbon can be attached by folding in half and then putting the two loose ends through the loop and pulling tightly.

 Step 3

Attach some thicker ribbon by folding over the pin and sew with a running stitch. It looks good if some of the ribbons overlap.We have also added waxed cord here, pushing a bead on and knotting underneath looks great and adds a bit of sparkle!

Step 4

Next we sewed lace flowers and the ribbon rosette we made earlier in place.

Step 5

Finally attach some buttons by sewing through all the layers to keep everything firmly in place. Trim the ribbons, cord and lace to make a good shape. Then stand back and admire your work!

Don't forget there's still time to enter our comp :)

Competition Time & Celebrations!!

It's been an exciting and busy time here at Angel Eden recently. First of all we won the Dorset Cereal Blog Award and I can't thank you enough for voting for us. Secondly the blog now has over 100 followers :) I love it when you leave me comments and send me emails with your thoughts, it's great to know you actually enjoy the nonsense I pipe out.

Our other big news is the slow introduction of our new textile accessories line on the webstore. Some of these are completed some are still in the testing process, but it's a very exciting time and we can't wait to add this string fully to our bow. Hopefully the first items will be online tomorrow!

So it seemed that a competition was the only appropriate way to really celebrate and say thanks. This will be our biggest ever giveaway and I'm very excited to announce it.

There will be a grand prize winner and one runner up. The grand winner will receive this prize worth more than £45!! It includes our popular solid silver cupcake pendant, this has been designed and handcrafted by us. The winner can also choose the length of chain they wish the pendant to hang on.

You will also receive one of our brand new (fanfare please) 'Treasure Pockets'. The pockets are hand embroidered using recycled fabrics, vintage buttons and lined with vintage French Linen. You can keep whatever you like in these. The cupcake pendant fits in beautifully in it's box. I keep my mobile phone in mine to stop my keys from scratching it. Customers at the open weekend were buying them to hold gifts, to use as purses and so on. So whatever you really treasure, this is the home it deserves. As each is individual you will never see exactly the same pocket twice.

Your prize will come to you wrapped in the recognisable Angel Eden packaging. We are happy to post internationally so everyone is free to enter.

The runner up will receive a £10 voucher to spend in the Angel Eden webstore.


How to Enter

Entering couldn't be simpler. Become a follower of this blog by clicking one of the links in the right column (if you are already just mention this) and leave a comment here.

Additional Entries

For an additional entry if you're on twitter you can retweet the competition (just let us know) for an extra entry.

For yet another entry you can visit our brand new facebook page (link to the left) and 'like' us, just comment there and you can rack up three chances to win!

Prize Allocation

All entries will be placed into a hat (more if you have two or three entries) and a name pulled out. The winner will be contacted by email (make sure you leave this in your comments).

We will then pull a second name out who will receive a £10 voucher to use in the Angel Eden webstore!

The competition ends midnight on Sat 31st July. Good Luck!