So many cosy things...

This FREEZING cold weather is making me want to snuggle up inside and make these lovely things...

1. An oh so cosy poncho/coat by Felicia A Paris. I don't think I would ever take it off.

2. A free pattern to warm your tootsies

3. This beautiful quilt by Camille Roskelley over at Simplify

4. These super cute tights for my niece, tutorial over at Made by Rae

Happy blogiversary!

Umm, so I missed my first anniversary of blogging - does that make me a bad blogger?! Please forgive me little blog of mine, my mind has been elsewhere of late - namely cramming for job interviews and planning my {actual} anniversary - which was yesterday...happy anniversary to my wonderful husband! But, hey, this has been a fun year filled with more crafting than any year before it.

I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and share the most popular posts from this last year...so here goes:

1. Lace Overlay Top

 So this tutorial is by far the most visited on this little blog...I love this top and it's so versatile!

2. Transferring ink to canvas

A super easy way of putting your favourite quote onto canvas

3. Ribbon and chain bracelet

A really cute bracelet to brighten up any outfit :)

4. Bow belt and hair accessory

This was part 2 of 'two bows, two ways' posts. I love the colour of this belt, I like to team it with a simple black dress!

Here's to another craft and cake filled year!

Sometimes you just need cake NOW...

I had high hopes of my use of my free time since our move. I imagined a metamorphosis into a domestic goddess, filling our home with the aroma of fresh bread daily and waking to spotless surfaces. It turns out moving to Cambridge hasn't changed my detest of washing up or my skills at procrastination. Instead of baking that bread I have watched far far too many CSI and Ace of Cakes episodes (although I'm going to classify the latter series as 'research').

I also thought it would mean I would never run out of cake again, With all that free time I thought I'd be baking away. However, I have no idea how...but it happened. I wanted cake. I went to the cupboard. IT WAS EMPTY. Let's face it, we all have cake emergencies. times when you need that fix way sooner than it takes to whip up a beautiful victoria sponge...and definately sooner than it takes to wait for the cake to cool before icing... I decided a long way back that I'm happy to settle for slightly melted icing :)

That's why everybody should have a staple fridge cake recipe to hand. I grew up with chocolate praline cake...it should be illegal for a cake to be so utterly delicious with so little work. But if even this super quick cake is taking too long for your liking, whack it in the freezer to set the chocolate in minutes. come on, we've all been there.

Ingredients
4oz / 110g butter
2tbsp golden syrup
2 heaped dsp drinking chocolate
2 handfuls sultanas
8oz  / 225g digestive biscuits
9oz / 250g milk chocolate, melted

1) Crush the digestive biscuits to your desired texture. I don't crush it right down as I like to have some crunchy bits in my cake...but that's really up to you. Set to one side.

2) Melt the butter and syrup in a pan. Make sure you lick any remaining syrup from the spoon (this is a very important step).

3) Once melted stir in the drinking chocolate, biscuits and sultanas. Mix until well combined.

4) Press into a greased 11" x 7" tin and pour the melted chocolate over the mixture.

5) Refrigerate until set.

This is a great base from which to experiment, why not change up the sultanas with different dried fruit...or add in some fudge for a less innocent snack :)

Happy Wednesday!