Pineapple Upside Down Cake

We have developed a slight obsession lately with pineapple upside down cake.

It started when I wanted to make a nice cake to take to a friends for dinner back in January. I thought it would be nice to have something fruit based that was a bit retro. My mind immediately went to upside down cakes and pineapple flavour was my first choice. I followed the recipe found over at Smitten Kitten - which is a fantastic food blog - the only catch was we didn't have any dark rum so I used alcoholic Ginger Wine instead!

It turned out a huge success and I have been making this pineapple with ginger wine cake every other week ever since. And tonight, when I have had a long cold day at work amongst objects and dust, a slice of warm cake with cream really brings me back to life.

Mmmmm......
xx

Tutorial: Covering a Container with Odd Sized Paper

This is a very simple and quick project for you today. I find it very useful to keep containers to store all my bits and bobs in, but it is always nice to decorate them and make them a bit more fun. One of my birthday presents was wrapped in a gorgeous orange paper which I couldn't resist keeping. I also picked up a really nice size container from work (which originally held coffee). The problem was that the paper I had was too tall for the container and did not wrap all the way round. Even if I cut the paper the pattern would not match up along the join. Hmm...What was to be done?

Well, I have a solution for any one out there with the same problem.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Container
• Paper of your choosing
• Ruler
• Scissors or a guillotine
• Glue (PVA or a decoupage glue)
• Brush

METHOD:

1. The first thing to do is measure the height of your container.

2. You then need to cut your paper to this measurement so that you should have a strip that wraps part way round the container.

3. Using the left over bit of paper measure out and cut another strip of paper at the same height. You should end up with 2 bits (or possibly more) of paper that are the right height for the container but the pattern does not match up probably when wrapped around.

4. Take your guillotine or scissors and start cutting strips of the paper. You can keep them all the same width if you want a uniformed look but I went for different widths and mixed it up a bit.

5. You should end up with a pile of strips of paper.

6. Next, start sticking your paper to your container. Using the brush paint on some glue and pick strips of paper at random. Once you have covered the entire container leave the glue to dry.

7. To help seal everything in apply a coat of glue over the top of the paper. If you are using PVA it would probably be worth while watering it down a little bit to help give you a nice even coat.

And your container is covered and ready to be used, even though your original paper was not the right size. Mine is all ready to keep my scraps of ribbon in. A very useful little tip I think.
xx

Lots of Love for Bouf

Ahhhh! I have found a great new site that has SO much stuff that I want to buy!!

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

This is the perfect thing for your Monday evening - internet shopping! You have to check it out - head over to www.bouf.com - but why, oh why, did I not find you before my birthday?
xx

New Item Friday

I only have one item for you today but it a beauty!

I believe this glass vase dates from the 1970s. From the little I know about how these vases are made, I believe the pattern around the main body is unique for each vase. It is a stunning piece and so colourful.

For any in the Bristol area I will be at Ashton Gate Stadium at the Bristol Flea market this Sunday. I have chosen a particularly lovely selection of items for this Sunday so please come and visit us.
xx

Retro Kettles

Our kettle broke. My lovely retro kettle that I got at a bargain price. I'm very sad.

But this means I can go electrical appliance shopping!!! (Can you tell I'm a little too excited about this) I love looking for the perfect appliances for my home. I hunt the Internet looking for the perfect economy rating and style that fits within my budget.  I have to say, kettle designers are really starting to come up with some fantastic options out there, and I thought I would share my top choices with you.

LEFT SIDE: 1 . 2 . 3 . 4

RIGHT SIDE: 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 

I feel any of these would blend into a retro styled home seamlessly, and a lot of them come in a range of different colours, but which to choose? This is the part I am not so good at - making a decision....

....Can I have a different one for each season??
xx

Restoration: 18th Century Table

I completed this restoration project last year but haven't had a chance to tell you about it. This table posed a bit of a challenge for me. The table top had suffered some severe water damage which had almost completely removed the gilded surface. The sides of the table had also become heavily chipped and scratched.

When approaching the treatment of this table I had to look at the tables construction, which was wood covered in a layer of gesso and the top gilded. I also had to bare in mind that the client only had a limited budget and needed the item ready in a short amount of time, as they were giving it to a friend.

After much consideration I chose to retouch the damaged areas to blend them in to the surface so that they did not stand out. This way would take less time than regilding the surface, the appearance of the table would look better and all treatment would be reversible if the new owner ever wanted to have the full treatment carried out.

Firstly the whole table needed cleaning. Whenever I have a new item to clean I always carry out cleaning test on the surface. For these particular surfaces distilled water was effective at removing any dirt but did not remove any of the paint layer. From these tests I concluded using rabbit skin glue and water colour paints to retouch the surface. They are both soluble in hot water, so if the treatment needed to be reversed, water could be used without removing any original paint. I started by sealing the areas of exposed gesso using rabbit skin glue. I then retouched the gesso areas using water colour paints mixed with more rabbit skin glue. When I retouch I try to paint the area with a neutral colour that blends into the background, this way your eye is not drawn to the retouched area but on close inspection you see it is not the original surface.

Thankfully I managed to complete the treatment in the given amount of time and I think the final result has a subtle effect, which is exactly right. The owner was pleased so it was a good job all round.

When retouching anything historical it is always good ethics to apply the '6 foot 6 inch' rule. From 6 feet away the object looks complete and undamaged, from 6 inches away you can see which areas are original and which have been retouched.
xx

Tutorial: Crochet Tea Cosy

Today's tutorial actually comes from a great book that I got for Christmas.

Granny Chic by Tif Fussell and Rachelle Blondel not only has fantastic inspirational images but wonderful projects for you to try at home. There are a couple that definitely caught my eye straight away and I thought (rather over ambitiously) that the Crochet Tea Cosy on page 92 should be my first project......this was probably not the best idea, as you will see later.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Yarn in various shades
• 4mm crochet hook

METHOD:
This is only a brief method, just to give you an idea. For the full method I would recommend buying the book - it  really is rather lovely!

1. Chain 82 stitches using a 4mm crochet needle. I attached my chain at the end to create a loop but I'm not sure if this is right!
2. You then want to work you way along the chain creating 3 treble crochet clusters, leaving 2 chains in between each cluster.
3. You want to continue building up lines of treble crochet clusters along the chain but you need to leave a gap at opposite ends of the loop for your spout and handle to fit into. You should end up with about 11 rows.
4. At this point you need to close the holes you have created for the spout and handle and start decreasing the size of your loop. 
5. I may have got this bit wrong but I think you decrease by creating single treble clusters and double treble clusters (does that make sense?!) one after the other, and when you do the row above these, you can skip the gap in between them (basically treating them as a 3 treble cluster).
6. You keep going decreasing the clusters and you should eventually reach the middle and all you need to do is tie off the loop.
7. Neaten any loose threads.
8. Finish off with a nice pom pom on the top.

You may ask what my attempt looks like.....I'll show you, but promise not to laugh....

I made a couple of mistakes. First of all I only had a 5mm crochet needle. I am also not the best crochet-er, I can do a granny square but I think maybe this was a bit beyond me. I also improvised slightly towards the end when things weren't looking quite right. But I think it looks charming for a first attempt.....it could always be a hat?

Good luck with yours and let me know how you get on.
xx