Sharpie Flower Pot

 The Sharpie mug. They've been all over Pinterest and the crafting blogosphere for some time. So I had a thought, what about a Sharpie flower pot? I had this plain white flower pot:

I decided to give it a make over. I drew triangles with my Sharpie all over it:

Then I popped it in the oven at the hottest temp it would go and cooked for 30 minutes. I turned the oven off and left it in until it cooled.

That's it. This is great because some people have been complaining about the pen coming off in the dishwasher but I don't put my flower pots in the dishwasher all that often so it'll stay on. Yey! Zoe xx

Homemade Lemonade

The first time I had homemade lemonade I was in America on the 4th of July. I was at a barbecue and I remember drinking it and thinking, 'I have to learn to make this.' This is how I make it, but I like it REALLY lemony, so you might want to add more sugar than me.

 I use the juice from 4 lemons, 125g caster sugar, 1l fizzy water (or still if you prefer) and ice. The method is so simple. I heat the juice and the sugar in a saucepan until all the sugar dissolves. Then I take it off the heat and, once cooled, pour in the water. I used slightly less than 1l of water for this batch but add as much as you think tastes right.



















It  is so refreshing to have this on a hot day so its perfect for this week. Long may the sun shine so we can drink more of this tasty stuff. Enjoy it! Zoe xx

P.S Comments are now working properly, so if you'd like to add a comment to any post, go ahead!

English Paper Piecing

English paper piecing is a traditional technique used in patchworking, it is often used with hexagons or other isometric patterns (ones with 60 degree angles instead of 90 degrees). I am slowly working my way through a small hexie quilt for my daughter. I'd really like it to be finished before the winter so she can have an extra layer in bed when it gets colder. I thought I would share the very simple method although I am certain you can find many other tutorials for this around.

All you need is paper, fabric scraps, paper hexagons, a pin, scissors and needle and thread. The fabric needs to be cut into hexagons slightly larger than the paper. You pin a paper hexagon to the back of a fabric hexagon and then tack them together with a running stitch. Once you have two hexagons, you stitch along one edge while they're right sides together. Then you add more in using the same method. Once you've sewn enough together, you press them and cut out the paper. I haven't reached this stage yet, as you can see all my paper hexagons are still sewn in.

I have randomly chosen hexagons here but here, here and here are other examples of how you can arrange shapes and fabrics with this method. I'm looking forward to showing you the finished article. (Although this took me quite a while so I wouldn't bank on it being finished by winter.) Zoe xx