ReCraft - A Review

Hello there my lovely readers! Today I'm bringing you a review of a new crafty book, ReCraft by Sara Duchars and Sarah Marks.

ReCraft is a book designed to teach you "how to turn second-hand stuff into beautiful things for your home, family and friends". In the rather lovely introduction Sara and Sarah are described as both growing up around crafts - be it knitting, crochet, sewing, tailoring, you name it! They definitely sound like my kind of people :) - before starting their own crafty business together: Buttonbag. Buttonbag puts together gorgeous crafty kits for children, and from their love of making something out of nothing ReCraft was born. The main idea behind the book is to make you think "What can I turn this into?" rather than "What do I need to make this?" with great emphasis on experimentation and allowing yourself to be creative. This is an idea that I adore, the whole thought of making something beautiful from nothing is very seductive, so I couldn't wait to see what the book had in store!

The book is divided into five sections, all containing different projects aimed at all of the various people in your life: Toys, Baby Stuff, Family, Friends and Home. I'm probably not the best judge of the first two sections as there are no babies in my life right now, However I can definitely see the appeal of the stuffed animals, particularly as each one was made from secondhand clothes, talk about a money saver! You wouldn't even need to pay for stuffing as the book suggests using finely cut up old socks, what a great idea! I could see many of these projects being very useful come Christmas time for anyone with small children in their lives. But the sections of the book that really interested me were the Friends and Home section.

Some of my favourite ReCraft Projects

There are some really great projects in the Friends and Home sections of the book, all of which I could see myself making as gifts for others or just as treats for myself. I particularly loved the book handbag (like all those designer ones out there but for a fraction of the price!) and the Dachshund draft excluder, who could resist such a sweet thing?! The pictures in the book are beautiful and you really will want to fill your home with these lovely creations, I know that I do.

I would say that more experienced crafters may find some of the projects a little basic. There are sections of the book describing basic sewing techniques and tools that would be fairly useless for the keen seamstress or home-crafter, however I still feel that this book is worth a look to more than just the beginner because of the message it puts across. ReCraft inspires it's reader to make the most of their raw materials, whatever they may be, and create things that are both unique and useful. It will help you to work outside the box when it comes to crafting - I am already planning a whole host of homemade Christmas gifts inspired by this book, as I feel now that I will be able to create things that are beautiful but still work within a budget! 

I think ReCraft is a great book, perfect for the new crafter but with a lot to offer even the more experienced among us, and it should definitely be one of your go to books when it comes to making Christmas gifts this year!

(In the interest of full disclosure this book was sent to me for review, but I hope you trust me enough to know that my opinions and non-biased and are my own)

A Practically Perfect Sunday

Yesterday was a blissful Sunday, my day off from theatre-land, so I decided to spend the day doing only things that I love. So I cooked, baked, sewed, knitted and found myself watching and re-watching episodes of Downton Abbey (seriously, who knew TV could be this good? I'm hopelessly addicted...). More on the sewing and knitting soon, but for now I want to focus on the baking.

You may remember from this post that I was lusting after a copy of The Vintage Tea Party Book, and, lucky old me, I was given a copy from my beautiful Sweetheart for my Birthday and I just couldn't wait to try some of the recipes out! Now as I am currently staying away from home and without all my fancy baking aids I decided to keep things simple and try a fairly basic recipe, and luckily this is also one of my very favourites: Scones.

I adore scones, seriously I cannot get enough of them, they are a solid favourite of both myself and my Sweetheart so I thought it would be in everyone best interests for me to know how to whip some up, so a-whipping-up I went. And of course I couldn't choose whether or not to try savoury or sweet scones, so I decided to make both :) it was definitely scone o'clock in my digs yesterday!

I used two of Angel's marvellous recipes, her basic scone recipe for the sweet scones, and then I adapted her brie and walnut recipe for the savoury - I used cheddar cheese and bacon instead. And my goodness my lovely readers, these scones are an absolute dream! The recipes were very clear and simple to follow and the scones that were produced were nothing short of divine, even if I do say so myself. I was very popular indeed with my housemates, let me tell you :) I have made scones before, but they were no where near as light and fluffy and tasty as the ones I made today, this is definitely going to become my go-to scone recipe. I must admit that the rather rustic finish of these scones may not be to all tastes (I could just hear Mary Berry from The Great British Bake-Off telling me off for lack of consistency in their size and shape - has anyone else been watching that? Another brilliant programme, and very addictive too!) but I enjoyed the fact that I could simply shape these scones myself, plus they're so yummy I didn't mind that they looked a little rough around the edges. I mean, just look at them...

The Savoury Scones (Cheddar Cheese and Bacon)

Scones are my friends!

A close-up on the yumminess

These are so tasty that they need nothing more than a bit of butter and you're good to go. Delicious both hot and cold, and I know because I ate them both ways yesterday :)

The Sweet Scones (plain and classic)

Hot out of the oven, just waiting for their good friend jam :)

A close up of the golden goodness

These scones were melt in the mouth pieces of scone heaven, quite probably some of the best scones I have ever eaten, and believe me I have eaten my fair few! This recipe is amazing, everyone should use it right now, go forth and make scones!!

Considering that this is my first try of some recipes from The Vintage Tea Party Book I am completely blown away with how easy, clear and delicious the recipes were, I cannot wait to get back into the kitchen and try out some more of them! This book is fast becoming a firm favourite with me and I really couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Scones anyone? 

Now if you'll forgive me I have to dash because I do believe I can hear some little scone-sounding voices calling from the kitchen. They seem to be saying "Eat me! Eat me!" and I suppose it would be rude to ignore them...

Nom nom nom...

Bye for now!

Birthday Month: Perfect Presents - Brilliant Books!

Hello there lovely readers, a very happy Friday to you all!

Today's Birthday Month post deals with some of my favourite things in all the world, books! I think that books make gorgeous presents, particularly nice big beautiful ones filled with glossy pictures, so I searched the internet far and wide for my favorites. I have decided not to include novels that I'm longing for because there would be simply too many! Instead I have stuck to general crafting/vintage pretty goodness as I'm sure you'll all like these genres as much as me! So let's get started shall we? :)

1. The Vintage Tea Party Book

The Vintage Tea Party Book

I have mentioned this book previously on this blog and I have to say that the more I find out about it the more I want a copy! It includes everything you could possibly want to know about creating your own vintage tea party, recipes, hairstyling tips, makeup methods, you name it this book has it! Plus the illustrations look absolutely stunning, and the whole style of it is right up my alley. A big thumbs up for this yummy book :)

2. Tea with Bea

Tea with Bea

Now I haven't really heard anything about Tea with Bea, I came across this book whilst searching online and just really liked the look of it. Plus I have tasted Bea's of Bloomsbury cupcakes and they are divine, so any opportunity to make my own would be brilliant! This book contains recipes for a selection of cookies, cakes, tarts and cheesecakes and is stuffed with beautiful pictures, I think it's well worth a look :)

3. Pie Minister

Pie Minister

Anyone who knows me well will know that I adore pies, cannot get enough of them, and I have been searching for a pie recipe book for such a long time, and lo and behold one has been released and it looks amazing! Recipes include chilli con carne pie, I mean, come on! Who wouldn't want to give that a go?! This has the potential to be my favourite recipe book of all time ;)

4. Queen of Crafts

Queen of Crafts

I've heard a lot of buzz about this book, Jazz Domino Holly is definitely a force in the crafting world, having throughly jazzed up the WI in her area, apparently it's now the place to be! This book contains information on pretty much everything a crafty girl could want to know about, knitting, sewing, quilting, baking, preserving and kitchen gardening, it all sounds good to me! I think this book would introduce me to new things, which would be awesome, plus I'm loving the colour scheme :)

5. Embroidered Effects

Embroidered Effects

Well, let's be honest, this book was a complete no brainer for me! After my Pin Up Embroidery adventures I realized I had started an obsession that needed to be fueled, and this book looks perfect. It contains over 30 iron on transfers and loads of ideas for embroidery projects. Plus that fan dancer design on the cover is very me!

6. Underwear, Fashion in Detail

Underwear, Fashion in Detail

This is a book that I have been lusting after for some time, it takes underwear through the ages and takes a really intimate look. The pictures come from the huge V&A collection so you just know it's going to be stuffed with gems. As someone who is obsessed with lingerie and wants to try out making her own at some point I can safely say that this book ticks all my boxes. The amazon description of this book says, 

"From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters"

and for me that's like a verse of "My Favourite Things" from the Sound of Music! Big love for this book :)

7. Dior, 60 Years of Style

Dior, 60 Years of Style

Now let me start by saying that the chances of me ever owning this book are slim to none, firstly because it costs an arm and a leg and secondly because of it's the size of a small country so no one seems to stock it! But my goodness it's a beautiful tome. It deals with (roughly) the last 60 years of fashion and progression in the Dior couture house, from one of my all time favourites, the Dior post WWII "New Look", right up to modern day. I think this would be one of those books that you treasure forever and you would love it for a lifetime. Swoon.

So there you have it, my pick of the beautiful books of the moment, although of course the lovely thing is that beautiful books are produced everyday so there's always something new to enjoy and lust after! What are your thoughts on these books? Have you read any of them? Do you have any beautiful book recommendations that you'd be kind enough to share? If so leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you! 

Happy Friday to you all, I hope you all have wonderful Weekends :)

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 Don't forget to enter my Birthday Month Giveaway, you have until the end of the month to enter! You could be the proud owner of your very own Pin Up Girl! Check out this post for all the details :)

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