Red Velvet Cupcakes

My first attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes…

Didn’t go too badly considering I didn’t have enough food colouring; had to use red wine vinegar instead of white; and kind of messed up the consistency of the icing… But no complaints so far from those who have sampled the wares ;)

Used THIS RECIPE from the BBC Good Food website and have finally figured out why they are called red “velvet” cupcakes – the batter, if mixed according to instruction, is smooth, thick and silky – just lovely!

Personally, I prefer a lighter cupcake (these are quite cake-heavy) but the sponge and cream cheese icing combo are just amazing, so all in all a winner!

For anyone keen to give them a try – it looks more complicated than it is, I promise – go for it, happy baking!

Free printable poster for baby/kids room

Just got back from picking up a print I designed for Baby Bird’s room – got the idea off Pinterest, adapted the wording, mixture of fonts and colours. Have framed it in a large white frame we picked up at IKEA a while ago and I’m super chuffed with how it’s come out. Makes a great addition to baby’s neutrally decorated room and thought I would share it as a free printable for those with kids, or even for those with an inner child who might still appreciate the sentiments ;)

Drop me an email at ands.barras [at] gmail.com to request one or more of the following options:

A4 – white text on brown background
A3 – white text on brown background
A4 – brown text on white background
A3 – brown text on white background

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – River Pageant & Battersea Park Festival

If anyone in London is looking for something fun and exciting to do to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee along with the rest of the UK – look no further! A friend emailed me today with a link to this: Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant and Battersea Park Festival

“On Sunday 3rd June 2012, over one thousand boats will muster on the River Thames in preparation for Her Majesty The Queen to take part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The formal river procession will be between 2pm and 6pm, starting upriver of Battersea Bridge and finishing downriver of Tower Bridge. The boats will muster between Hammersmith and Battersea and disperse from Tower Bridge to West India Docks. It will be one of the largest flotillas ever assembled on the river.“

Pack a picnic, muster up some mates, find a spot along the river and enjoy the start to a very exciting Summer with the Olympics only 6 weeks away from the Jubilee long weekend.

Check out the website for more event info – we’ll definitely be making an appearance if Baby Bird is co-operating and if we feel we can manage the crowds! Cant wait x

{pics and quote from website}

No longer a Threading virgin!

Had some time to kill on Monday before an appointment and was walking past a beauty salon in Earlsfield where my friend often goes to get her eyebrows “threaded” – what is that you may ask – read here… I’ve seen people doing it in the middle of shopping centres before (cringe), but haven’t quite gotten round to trying it myself, so I thought “why not”…

{image}

WOW! Can’t even tell you how amazing the end result was! Admittedly, it was quite painful but I’m told that it gets better and that the first time is the worst – even so, the speed, accuracy and cost of it far outweigh the mere seconds of pain you have to endure for perfectly groomed brows.

Anyone in the SW London vicinity keen to give it a whirl, Sahana Hair & Beauty on Garratt Lane in Earlsfield requires no appointments for their eyebrow threading, so just walk in – AND it only costs £3.00 a pop!

I’m a convert – no more plucking for this Bird :)

Finally get what LMFAO means!

Okay – I’m not usually one to use ‘text speak’ but LMFAO has taken on a new meaning for me when that is what I literally did at 6am this morning after clicking onto a funny webpage…

Couldn’t sleep, so resorted to my favourite method of entertainment, playing on le iPhone… Checked out Facebook (as you do) and saw that a friend (Keith Moore,  writer of blindsiderugby.com blog**) had commented on some link or whatever, and curiosity killed the cat while I discovered a gem!

Well – thank you Keith, and whoever it was that posted the link to you wall – that was seriously the first time in my life that I have Laughed My Fucking Ass Off (sleeping hubby next to me not impressed with pre-dawn guffaws though…)

Here it is people – admittedly some (particularly the first few) are pretty lame, but there are some real goodies in there, keep scrolling…

50 People You Wish You Knew

My personal faves include:
15. Free Shrugs
21. Hilarious Bassets
26. Smiling dog – seen this one before but it killed me this morning – love a good dog photo
29. Booze smuggling – gotta be in SA right?!
47. Sports fan

** Keith is somewhat of a comedian himself at times and had me ROFL’ing (?!) with THIS POST on his blog, thoroughly enjoyable, love the use of yet again another brilliant dog pic ;)

Film: The Hunger Games

A quick one on The Hunger Games movie – just watched it – didn’t know ANYTHING about the plot or film etc before I  went and have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how drawn in I was right from the beginning.

It’s a very interesting (and disturbing!) idea/storyline – quite uncivilised/barbaric in some instances, but combined with futuristic intelligence… More info on Wikipedia here for those of you who dont want to wait to find out more.

Great cast – definitely recommend watching it if you like movies with a Sci-Fi edge, but those that arent too far-fetched – my only regret is not having read the books first! Hear they are brilliant and highly addictive, might still have to give them a go…

How To: Clothes Dividers / Organisers

Found this tutorial online for how to make clothes dividers – primarily used for organising clothes in a baby’s cupboard, but useful for other things too I’m sure (well, the OCD among us will definitely think of something!)

Made a couple for use in Baby Bird’s room but used slightly thicker corrugated board, which is  harder to cut, but I prefer the more rigid feel. Also used some scrap wallpaper samples instead of scrapbooking paper – reckon you can use anything you want though, a nice thick wrapping paper would do fine too. Also stuck my paper to the card with double-sided tape instead of spray glue (less mess)…

Here’s the final product:

And, the dividers in action:

Happy crafting :)