Have you been doing some kawaii baking during the weekend? Check out Kitchen, a cute compedium of lovely Japanese blog recipes. Compared to Home Baking School, Kitchen is translator friendly and easier to understand. :)
Mel (Day to Day) and Tamar's (A Collection of Thoughts) pour on some happy times with their online craft magazine aptly titled Teapot. It's a cute, crafty and inspiring online blogmag that is filled with wonderful craft stories, projects and yummy goodies to make and bake.
Visit Teapot to read the 2nd issue online or subscribe to receive Teapot in your inbox.
These are just some of the cutest, sweetest things that I'd love to add to my craft stash. What are your cute crafty finds as of the moment? Please share!
You can also enhance your crafting experiences by alternating it with learning all you can. More and more are going to school online, either casually taking some classes with interior design online schools , or finishing their bachelor degree online. Either which way learning brings more fun to crafting.
The sweet, folksy character that we all love in craftland is here to stay! Recently a popularity contest between Matryoshka and Petite Poupee was held at Babalisme blog to select the printable theme for June. As much as I adore the charming Petite Poupee, Matryoshka still emerged as the runaway winner. Sorry Petite Poupee, I'm sure someday your time will come. It will take time before you can dethrone Le Grand Dame Matryoshka.
I love rainy days! Splashing on puddles just gives me that sense of wondrous childhood joy. Check out these sweet rainy day inspired goodies to make rainy days brighter and fun!
I just revisited my favorite butter cookie recipe to create a beary sweet treat! Hand cut deco tape flags and mini clothespins add a cute touch to the cello cookie pouch.
Ahh, summer! Nothing is more relaxing than a glass of cold lemonade and relaxing on the deck with your favorite stitchery project. Check out these cute and free embroidery patterns to make your summer the craftiest and most relaxing ever.
Let's try a bit of kawaii baking! Home Baking School is a sweet place to start. I found this website via La Petit Foret (thank you Susie!). The website is written in Korean but stuff are quite easy to explore as recipes include step by step pictorial guides and videos. Check out the recipe library here.
Unfortunately, Babel fish doesn't do a good job translating this website. Thank God I know how to read Hangul so looking up the ingredients in English via romanized Korean is quite easy. For starters we can make some 게 구 리 만 주 (Gaeguri Manju) or Frog Manchu Cake.
Frog Manju Cake
Ingredients:
188 grams condensed milk
1 egg yolk
188 grams flour
5 grams baking powder
600 grams red bean paste
For directions follow the step by step guide here.
Take a peek at Japanese artist Nana Takahashi's adorable illustration work and blog. I love her illustration style which really translates well to today's kawaii stationery aesthetic. Check out her portfolio here for pure eye candy delight.
Welcome to the first day of Handmade Summer Craft Days! From today until the end of July I will be sharing my summer inspired arts and crafts projects and even throw in bits of drink and food recipes.
Let's celebrate blue skies ahead!
Clothesline Bunting Handmade Card
Materials:
Fabric scraps
Miniature wooden clothespins
5" x 7" blank tent card
Jute twine
Alphabet rubber craft stamp
Fabric ink
Glue gun and glue stick
Directions:
1. Using an alphabet rubber stamp and fabric ink, handstamp letters onto small pieces of bright fabrics to spell out your greeting.
2. Cut out fabric into mini buntings. Clip each bunting individually to miniature clothespin. Attach buntings to piece of jute or natural twine.
3. Apply glue to the back of clothespins and attach to the surface of the 5" x 7" tent card. Decorate ends of the mini bunting clothesline with tiny buttons.
4. Your handmade card is ready! Write away your summer greetings!
Say goodbye to store bought biscuits. You can make your own homemade biscuits for your little tea party! This recipe for Breton Biscuit or French sable cookie is from Joy of Baking, a really wonderful site full of kitchen tested recipes.
Breton Biscuits are normally round but I make mine square coz I'm umm, square just like that!
Ingredients:
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Egg Wash:
1 large egg and 1 tbsp water
Directions:
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Do not over mix the dough.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough a few times to bring it together, and then divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least an hour).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Remove one portion of the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch (1 cm) thick. Using a lightly floured 2 inch (5 cm) round fluted cookie cutter, cut out the cookies, placing them on the prepared sheet. Place the baking sheet of cut out cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 -20 minutes to chill the dough. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the egg with the water for the egg wash. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and brush the tops with the egg wash. Then, with the tines of a fork (or I like to use the end of a toothpick), make a crisscross pattern on the top of each cookie. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for about 12 - 14 minutes (depending on size of cookie) or until golden brown around the edges.
Cool cookies on wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Hello June, hello summer! Make it your sweetest summer ever with these adorable DIY crafts and ideas. Do watch out for my Handmade Summer Craft Days special next week. Happy summer!
Our ability to be surprised is the measure of our aliveness.If we are numb, if we take things for granted, then we are dead; but to those who are alive to life's surprises, death lies behind not ahead. To live life open to surprise, in spite of all that is dying around us, makes us even more alive.
Hooray for Tildee! Now there's a one-stop place for creating and sharing tutorials. I love the clean, clear and user friendly interface of this site. Every tutorial you write comes with its own unique URL making sharing even easier on blogs or social networking sites. I can't wait to use Tildee for my next crafty tutorial!
How cute are these Korean cello cookie and bread bags? They make my plainest looking cookies look so très chic! I really find the French Asian bakery aesthetic very cute.
