Have You Tried Spiralizing Yet? Zucchini Noodles In Cream Cheese... Yum!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, I just wanted to share a little culinary experiment that worked out really well x

Hi Honeys
I've been having the most fun with a new kitchen gadget and had to share.  The thing is though, in search of some mention of (or dare I hope recipes?) I typed spiralizing into a search bar and wow does it seem that I'm late to the spiralizing craze!

Oh well, better late than never I suppose 😊  I'm trying to cut carbs, having been diagnosed recently with diabetes, and the idea that I can swap out things like courgettes (zucchini) for pasta is just awesome.

After experimenting recently by making one of Hubby's favourite dinners, a lovely cheesy lasagne, using long slices of courgette/zucchini in place of pasta, I'm loving the idea and wanted to try other recipes.  I then spotted my new favourite kitchen gadget online (on sale too!) and immediately hit "add to cart"

Which brings us to spiralizing...

Our new spiralizer (a Kenwood electric one) was delivered, washed and set up.  I fetched two courgettes and a large carrot and away I went.  This was my first attempt...

So, now, having lots of lovely veggie noodles, the question was, what to do with them...

A Whole New Use For Those Hogwarts Ticket Boxes...

Hi Honeys
How are you today?  We've had a lovely, quiet week here.  I've even had time to work on some crafting projects, including the one I wanted to share today 😊

Do you remember a recent trip to Primark where I bought some quite wonderfully packaged, Harry Potter themed, fluffy bed socks?

I knew I had to do something with the fabulous little boxes the socks were packaged in and today I finally did 😊

I can't wait to show you how I've re-purposed them, why not grab a cuppa, and maybe a cookie, and meet me back here in a few minutes...

Fun With Air Dry Modelling Clay: A Smile Filled Afternoon Of Crafting :)

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend any products or stores, just wanted to share a fun new hobby :)

Hi Honeys,
How are you today?  It's been such a beautiful, sunny day outside today and, with the help of my trusty assistant, our furbaby Jade, I had the best day pegging out laundry 😊 

Well, to be fair, I did all of the actual pegging of clothes but Jade always keeps me company.  Jade is in charge of smiles and dropping her ball into my laundry basket to remind me to throw it for her 💗

Other than loving the beautiful perfect-for-laundry weather, I've been dipping my toes into the pool of a new hobby this week too.  It really has been such a lot of fun honeys and I thought I'd share it with you...

Have you ever tried modelling with air drying clay?  I have to admit that my knowledge of modelling is limited to many happy hours spent playing with Plasticine as a child, but of course that was a (very) long time ago 😊

Plasticine can obviously be re-modelled over and over again. Making it perfect to keep tiny humans occupied and happy during playtime. 

The same is only partially true with the air dry clay I've been using.  It can, of course, be rolled out and modelled into different shapes and designs repeatedly but over time it will begin to harden and set into it's final shape.

Because of this, it's important to only have the amount of clay required for the task at hand out of the packaging and to immediately seal the rest into an air tight container.

This is the clay I used honeys...

I bought it from The Works and, at £4 for a large kilo pack, it wasn't too expensive to be able to try out a potential new hobby.  They have smaller packs too for around £2 I think.  Having opened the pack and cut a piece off,  I then folded the packaging closed again and popped it into one of the ever-present-in-our-kitchen Istad clip seal bags from Ikea.

I then remembered a rolling pin I'd bought some time ago from Lakeland.  It's patterned, intended to be used when cake decorating, but I've never gotten around to using it and it was still sitting in it's packaging.   
   

I've now decided this rolling pin will be kept exclusively for clay modelling, it left such a pretty pattern on the clay.  Let's have a look at what I made shall we honeys?  Don't expect too much, remember I'm only a beginner and even though I adore crafting, I'm not lucky enough to be gifted in the way so many others are who have a natural talent.

Let's take a look...

Latest Little Hogwarts Smiles 🐍

Disclaimer:  I'm not being paid to recommend any products or stores, I just wanted to share some smiles x

Hi Honeys,
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far.  It was such a lovely day yesterday, our furbaby Jade and I pegged out some laundry 😊 It's still a little chilly in the wind but it was such a lovely day I didn't mind all that much and the winds dried my laundry in no time.

I have to dash to work soon but I thought I'd share a smile or two before I go 😊

Do you remember the bag my dear Hubby brought me home as a surprise recently?

Well, I had a thought.  I've noticed so many "attachments" to handbags recently, you know, items similar to the tiny gorillas attached to Kipling bags?  I've seen these little "bag charms" in lots of different designs. Some are made from beads, some from brightly coloured pom poms, there are large sparkly initials... lots of different designs. 

Wouldn't it be fun, I thought, to add a bag charm to my new bag?

Spring Arrives And Brings New Life To The Garden...

Hi Honeys
How has your week been so far?  Full of smiles and all good things I hope 💖  Yesterday, we had the loveliest rain.  It wasn't heavy, depressing rain (we've had more than our share of that over the winter months) it was more a series of short showers really, it was spring rain and it made the garden look so pretty 🌹

I was standing at the back door, looking out into the garden and spotted how much our much loved peonies had grown in just a couple of days!  Naturally, I grabbed my camera in the hope of being able to share a beautiful, Scottish spring afternoon 💗 

This really is my favourite time of year.  I adore spring honeys, I love to watch the garden wake up from its long winter nap, to see new shoots on plants and most of all to see our much loved roses come back.  I so miss our roses in winter!

Speaking of roses, our beloved peonies seemed to be enjoying the rain showers...

In no time at all they'll burst into colour as they do every year, a beautiful, deep burgundy shade of red...