frosted tealight holders...

I've never needed a reason to get crafty, but Christmas gives me the perfect excuse to unearth my craft box and start making pretty, shiny things.

When my boyfriend works late, I find myself sitting in front of the TV, not watching it, but usually internet shopping with the TV noise in the background for company. Last week it was Kirstie Allsopp keeping me company with the second series of her Handmade Christmas. 

Amongst Christmas wreath and gingerbread sculpture competitions, Kirstie did a tutorial for these super cute frosted tea light holders. Like most girls I know, I absolutely love burning candles and oils so this little craft had me beaming, excited to make some for myself. 

I bought a set of 55ml jars from Hobbycraft, some clear matt finishing spray and sticky back plastic. I cut out various shapes from the plastic, stuck them on the surface of the jars and spayed with finishing spray. After 2 coats and once dry I peeled away the plastic and popped a tea light into each one. 

These give such a beautiful ambient glow when lit. Here's how my little jars turned out...

hello again...

I've finally had an annual leave day where I've had absolutely nothing planned. Still, I've somehow made it to 6.30pm without even touching my blog. I think my 25th birthday brought with it a whole heap of laziness that I'm still trying to shake off...

It did also bring with it (albeit over a month ago now) some lovely gifts off my family and friends, one of which was Madeleine Shaw's amazing book, Get the Glow. 

I'm pretty much living off this book at the moment. There's something in there for every occasion, every meal and all recipes are made to promote wellbeing and the banishment of gluten and processed sugar. Not only is every recipe packed full of flavour, but I love knowing that what I'm making is good for me and won't irritate my Crohn's disease, or leave me feeling hungry. If you're looking to raise your health game in the diet department, or just want to try something new and boost your wellbeing, I highly recommend this book to you. 

I recently made these lemon and pistachio cupcakes which are gluten free, dairy free, and made only with natural sugars, so they're super guilt free and perfect for those after dinner cravings. 

You can find the links to buy Get the Glow online from her website here, http://madeleineshaw.com/book/get-the-glow/

GEO UP-CYCLED DRINKS CABINET

15 SEPTEMBER 2015

Sorry for what feels like a very long silence everyone. I've had a wild few weeks for various reasons, but things are back on track now and I've finally found a few minutes to show you a little of what I've been up to...

I saw this rather sorry looking drinks cabinet a few weeks ago and immediately saw a different future for it. I've spent my last few weekends working some magic with frog tape and a paintbrush. It took me a little longer than I thought, but here's what it looks like now...

As much as I've grown to love this little piece, we really don't have the room to keep it in our house. So, I'll be putting it up for sale! 

Please message me at hanaskill@hotmail.com or comment below if you're interested. I'll be listing it on Etsy shortly, but wanted to give my Bloglovin and Facebook followers first dibs! Thanks for looking everyone. Much love! x

FORAGED APPLE & BLACKBERRY BREAKFAST MUFFINS

31 AUGUST 2015

Despite spending the majority of the bank holiday weekend indoors for various reasons (the torrential rain being one of them!), I did manage to get out in the garden briefly with my mum on Saturday afternoon to pick some of the fruits I've noticed ripening over the last few weeks. It's a bit of a jungle at the bottom of our garden. We've got two apple trees and forest of brambles that have crept over from our neighbour's garden - annoying as they are, the blackberries they've produced are beautifully sweet. 

It might seem a little childish, but there's something so exciting about eating fruits that you've literally just picked. So, to make the most of our spoils, I whipped up a little batch of blackberry and apple breakfast muffins. I used the same recipe as for these healthy blueberry and apple breakfast muffins, but just changed the fruit and swapped the wholemeal flour for a mixture of spelt and rye to give a little more richness to the flavour.

 Give them a try, oh and let me know how you get on! x

TWO CATS...

21 AUGUST 2015

No, I'm not talking about animals, I'm talking about probably the best meal I've ever eaten, courtesy of Two Cats Kitchen. 

Previously a pop-up restaurant, Two Cats Kitchen now has a permanent home in the heart of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. Tucked away down a quaint little alley on Warstone Lane you wouldn't even know it was there, but as the foodies are starting to get wind of this place, tables are becoming increasingly difficult to get your hungry little paws on.

Being the incredibly fortunate girl that I am, my gorgeous boy managed to get us a table (thank you to the couple that cancelled) to celebrate 6 years of pure purgatory in each other's company - I'm only kidding it's been beautiful really. 

The cuisine is called New Baltic. I'd never even heard of it before, and even the owners acknowledge that to describe it this way naively assumes that people would understand what Old Baltic cuisine is. I don't.  

I can't really do the description justice if I'm honest with you, but it feels to me that they've taken what would be considered as the  traditional Baltic/Russian dishes as a baseline and brought them into the 21st century with some very clever, yet subtle, techniques.

Basically, it was immense, and the service was impeccable. They knew every little detail of the 7 course tasting menu and it was clear that not only is food their livelihood, but their absolute passion. 

I'm not going to bore you with the details of every dish, but here's a whole load of pictures I took - they really don't do the quality of this food justice. You've got to try this place! 

NAKED CAKE

09 AUGUST 2015

Today was my beautiful mum's birthday, and for a change the British weather decided to behave exactly as it should in August and the sun shone beautifully to accompany the cake I'd made - a naked summer fruits cake.

Obviously a little patience with the fruit arranging is required here, but otherwise this recipe really couldn't be easier. I used the recipe for the sponge from Mary Berry's, Baking Bible, and it goes like this...

INGREDIENTS:

225g softened, unsalted butter
225g self-raising flour
225g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs

METHOD:

Grease and line two 20cm baking tins and pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius, gas mark 4.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with  mixer until completely combined and a smooth batter is formed. You can do this bit by hand if you don't have an electric whisk, but it's best to start with the butter and sugar, then move onto the eggs and then flour and baking powder to maintain a smooth mix. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and spraining back when prodded with a finger. Leave to cool completely before decorating.

To make this cake naked, you'll need some fruit and double cream. Whisk your cream until spreadable rather than stiff. Spread a thin layer of this cream on the base half of your cake. 

Cut the tops off  some strawberries and halve them lengthways. Line these up around the edge of your base cake. Pipe the rest of the cream into the middle of the cake. Top this with raspberries and blueberries and the top half of the cake. Fill in any obvious gaps around the edges with any remaining cream. 

Arrange the remaining fruit on the top and dust with icing sugar to serve. Enjoy - with tea obviously!

If you enjoyed this post please follow Chantilly Press on Bloglovin! Thanks. X

DIY: GEOMETRIC FEATURE LIGHT

28 JULY 2015

Now this is a DIY hack that I can't actually claim responsibility for. Well, I came up with the idea, Tom just got round to implementing it first! 

We've got a bit of a copper accent theme going on in our living room - just a hint here and there, nothing too serious - and we wanted to finish it off by replacing the old brass light fitting with something a bit more contemporary and fitting with the copper theme. I saw a tutorial months and months ago for a geometric icosahedron light fitting made out of copper pipe and I absolutely loved it. 

We went for something a little more simple than an icosahedron. I'm not sure if it has a name, but essentially it's a square bipyramid, slightly longer on the bottom than the top. We bought a funky, vintage-looking bulb and cord fitting from our favourite interiors shop, Liv's, and used copper pipe to create the geometric shape...

Tom used a pipe cutter to cut lengths of pipe and joined it all together with copper wire. Looks pretty cute don't you think? 

MIRROR MIRROR...

22 JULY 2015

So, we had a bit of a DIY weekend this weekend. I say that like we don't do this every weekend at the moment. Which we do. Because we're crazy...

But anyway, we finally got round to putting up our giant mirror in the dining room - one of the many finishing touches! I wanted to do something a little different and mount it on chains rather than directly to the wall. Here's how it looks now. I love, love, love! X

THE HIGH FIELD, EDGBASTON

16 JULY 2015

The bf and I decided to go out for breakfast on Sunday. Earlier in the week I'd driven past the cutest looking place in Edgbaston and we'd looked it up online to find the menu and opening times. So, we got up on Sunday morning and drove in the rain, looking forward to some tasty breakfast. We arrived, and it was shut. Massive bummer.

As we sulked on our way back to the car though we walked past The High Field. We saw a couple eating in the window who looked like they were enjoying themselves, and so thought we'd take a chance on this unknown place and see if it could satisfy our shattered breakfast expectations.

From the moment we walked through the door I knew this was my kind of place. The decor was fresh and more than a little bit quirky, and the staff were super friendly and attentive.

The attention to detail was really impressive. From the uniform table settings, sheepskin seat covers and fresh flowers in vases, to the makeshift Lyle's Golden Syrup sugar bowls and sweet little side-dish of smarties with our pots of tea, I can tell that there is no expense spared to make the dining experience here comfortable and enjoyable.

We ordered the pancakes with maple syrup and bacon, and the eggs Benedict with smoke salmon to share. Oh. My. God. We were not disappointed. Feast your eyes on these babies...

The pancakes were amazing, and the eggs Benedict were quite honestly the best I've ever had. The portions were massive too! Definitely a must visit if you're a breakfast fan! X

MOJITO POPS

11 JULY 2015

 A slightly different summer-inspired recipe for you all now: mojito pops! Perfect for enjoying in the garden in this hot weather we're having.

This is just a classic mojito cocktail recipe frozen in ice lolly moulds.

for the perfect mojito...
4cl white rum (Bacardi)
3cl fresh lime juice
6 mint leaves
2 tsp sugar
soda water

Crush the mint with the sugar, rum and lime juice and dilute with soda water to taste. Pour into ice lolly moulds (mine were £2.50 from Sainsbury's) and put in the fridge to set, preferably overnight. 

I hope you enjoy these fun little adult treats! Let me know what you think. X

THE LITTLE THINGS...

5 JULY 2015

Hi guys, there have been quite a few things making me smile lately. It's funny, I find now that I'm looking for stuff I can put in this post, I seem to find more things that bring a smile to my face than I ever realised! It just goes to show that the little things do really slip past you unless you take the time to consciously appreciate them...

1. DATE NIGHT...
We hadn't been on a date night for ages, so last Friday's spontaneous cinema date was soooo nice. We saw Spy which was hilarious and I had one of my favourite treats of all time - Fentiman's Cherry Tree Cola! Oh, and who doesn't love any opportunity for a we're-going-on-a-date-night car selfie?

The walk back to the car was also really pretty - there's something so calming about being outside when the sun has finally set on warm summer's night...

2. BLUE...
Our cat, Blue, is just the cutest thing in the world. He is supposed to be a house cat but we let him out for the first time this week - there's only so much I can take of his pawing at the kitchen window and pathetic mewing at the birds outside. With us spending so much time gardening at the moment, it almost seemed cruel to leave him locked up inside. 

I was terrified he would run away or towards the main road and we'd never see him again. As it happens, he barely ventures outside the garden, preferring to just stay with us when we're out there. If he does wander out of sight he comes when he's called, so it's a win-win really, I just feel bad that we didn't let him out sooner!



3. MORE NEW PURCHASES...
I know I've already featured the ladder shelf, but it is my favourite thing is the house at the moment. It's filling up so nicely now! The most recent purchases we made were the two rectangular terrariums and the candles to fill them, all from Liv's - quite honestly the best interiors shop I've ever been in and my go-to when I'm looking for something a bit unique. Oh, and the staff are amazing and it's on our doorstep too!

4. NATURE...
It's usually spring that has me in awe of nature's beauty, but this year it's proving to be summer. My peace lily - a gift from my Mum when we bought the house a year ago - has just opened it's second flower, and these sunflowers I bought for my new vase are just so beautiful!

5. FAMILY TIME IN THE HEATWAVE...
I'm lucky that I get to see my family every week and spend quality time with them, but that time just seems to feel a bit more special when there's gorgeous sunshine and long evenings to spend it in. 

We went to Digbeth Dining Club on Friday night which is always a great night...

...and we had a BBQ with my Mum and Dad on Saturday night (#meatoverload) which ended with this gorgeous sunset. Happy times. x