DIY make your own lampshade, no sewing required!

I've not posted for some time, almost a year, but that's what happens when you buy a house and get engaged - all your spare time ends up being used up either decorating or wedding planning!

Anyway, I thought I'd start off a new post with something I did this morning - make a lampshade for one of the bedrooms.

It took me about 30-45 minutes in total, and looks great - it was really straightforward and quite quick to do, and I'm fairly sure anyone could do it. 

I used some left-over material I had from making the curtains and bedspread (in the background), and thought this was a good way to both use up the material, and create a lampshade that would match the room decor.

You will need:

1. A lampshade kit or its components (I purchased a 20cm diameter drum one from NeedCraft, but you can purchase them online from eBay or other sites).
2. Material of your choice (or I suppose it could also be a drawing or artwork you like). Make sure it is not creased (you may want to iron it beforehand).
3. Scissors.

Method

Unfold the lampshade backing and place face up across the material. Cut the material into an (oversized) piece of material that you can easily manage (i.e. not too big).

Turn the material over, so the pattern you want to see on the outside of the lampshade is face down. Taking about 10 cm at a time, gradually peel off the protective sheet and press the plastic down onto fabric, brushing down and removing any bubbles or creases so that the fabric sits perfectly onto the plastic. Continue until the whole sheet is stuck to the fabric.

Using the scissors or a sharp knife, trim the material so that the edge around the plastic is neat. I kept about 5mm spare little down one of the short edges (I'll explain why below).

Bend along the long edges where there is a slight perforation (about 1 cm in, either side). You will hear the plastic snap as the perforation breaks. Slowly peel away the plastic strip both ends and discard. You'll be left with a strip of material either side of the plastic (as above).

On the side where the 5mm overhand of material is, use the double-sided sticky tape to stick down this small strip onto the back of the plastic. This will give you a neat edge on the finished product. Leave the protective strip on the sticky tape.

Next, add put a strip of tape all the way around the edge of the lampshade rims. The tape should be stuck to the centre of the rim, so that there is an overhang of tape either side. 

Do this for both rims.

Remove the protective strip on the tape, and stick the rim along the top of the plastic.

Do this with both rims at the same time. The tape is quite sticky, so go slowly and steadily.

Continue to roll the rims along the top of the plastic, and they will pick up the material.

When you get to the end with the tape, peel of the protective layer and stick the two ends together and press along it for a firm hold.

Fold the overhanging material over the exposed rim, the material will stick to the tape. Using the edging tool in the pack, push the material down into the crevice to neaten up the shade. Do this all the way around both sides of the shade.

After you've neatened up the edges, you should have the finished product. Fix to a ceiling rose or side lamp and Hey Presto! You've made your own lampshade!

See, I told you it was easy :)

Body lotion and lipbalm

I had a lot of beeswax and essential oils left over from my candlemaking experiment, which prompted me to wonder what else I could do with it which created a desirable homemade gift for Christmas. Which is how I developed the body lotion and lipbalm.

Personally, I love natural products that don't have added chemicals. I also suffer with dry skin and chapped lips in winter. The recipes below created something that was not only a good gift for friends, but meant I could test it first (and keep it if it didn't work!).

Lipbalm

The lipbalm was experimental, and I wasn't happy with the consistency the first time around (too hard) and the second time around it wasn't right either (too gloopy). Like recipes, consistency can be a matter of personal preference and how you tend to 'contain' your end product. I've noticed online that you can buy 'tubes' for handmade lipbalms/lipstick, so if you want a stick balm then a harder consistency will be better than a 'pot' balm, which is what I desired. The tweaking of the ingredients meant I had to scoop out the 'set' pot and reheat the mixture, adding a bit more oil or wax in small amounts until I'd found my perfect recipe. This means giving a definitive recipe is impossible, but a rough guide is as follows:

For about 10 small pots of lipbalm, you will need (all of which I sourced from eBay)

• Beeswax
• Coconut oil
• Sweet almond oil
• Essential oil (I used cinnamon bark oil as cinnamon is a natural 'lip plumper', not to mention smelling delicious)
• Optional: extra virgin olive oil, or other organic/extra virgin oil of your choice
• Some small pots (or tubes if you prefer). I used about 10 x 3g/6ml pots
• Bain-marie for melting the ingredients

 Method:

1. Heat water in a saucepan ready for the bain-marie.
2. In the heatproof mixing bowl, add one 1oz (28g) stick of beeswax (chopped or grated, to fasten the melting process), 1oz of coconut oil, 1oz of sweet almond oil.[Note: so long as there is a ratio of 1:2 on wax to oil, you can mix the oils to your preference, adding any other oil you may wish]. Melt, but don't boil, in the bain-marie.
3. Turn the heat off once melted, stir in several drops (2-3) of your chosen essential oil and stir.
4. When the mixture is cooler, but still runny, pour into your chosen containers and leave to cool. [Note: you may wish to do one first to check the consistency once cooled and either add more beeswax (if too runny) or more oil (if too solid)].
5. Leave to cool overnight and then put the lids on and package for friends/put in your handbag. Your lipbalm is ready to go!

Body lotion

This is basically like a large version of the lipbalm, but a little oiler, and with a different essential oil. I usually use body butter or plain coconut oil as a moisturiser as I suffer from very dry skin, with a touch of eczema and psoriasis. I also love swimming and chlorinated pools really add to the process of drying the skin out. A really absorbant moisturiser is therefore really important for me.

The ingredient list for the body lotion is exactly the same as the lipbalm (above). However, I switched from cinnamon essential oil to tea tree for its antiseptic qualities. When making for a friend I added rose oil for that really fresh girly smell. The only difference between the balm and the lotion is the wax:oil ratio, as the end product is oily but still quite viscose.

I've also taken this product on holiday as a treat for my skin following a day in the sun/at the beach when your body is crying out for some moisture. A tub of it is also in my gym bag. However, one thing I would say is that it's quite oily so a little goes a long way. At home I tend to put it on before bed and slip into my pyjamas, leaving it on my skin overnight to really soak. However, if you're applying it in the morning, I'd leave it to soak in for a few minutes before you put your clothes on or you risk it absorbing into your clothes before it has the chance to do it's thing to your skin.

Method (for approx 3 x 150ml tins)

1. Heat water in a saucepan for the bain-marie.
2. In the heatproof mixing bowl, add one 3oz (85g) stick of beeswax (chopped or grated, to fasten the melting process) to 9 oz (250g) of oil. I used 5 oz of coconut oil, 1 oz sweet almond oil and 3 oz extra virgin olive oil. [Note: the wax to oil ration here is 1: 4] Melt, but don't boil, the oil/wax mixture in the bain-marie.
3. Turn the heat off once melted, stir in several drops (10-20) of your chosen essential oil(s) and stir.
4. When the mixture is cooler, but still runny, pour into your chosen containers and leave to cool. [Note: as with the lipbalm, you may wish to check the consistency of the lotion when cooled and add a bit more oil or wax to meet your desired consistency.
5. When cooled, put the lids on and you're done!

For ideas on base oils or essential oils to use in your product, see my page discussing oils here.

Something different... home-made candle

It's been a while, and I've been storing recipes and blog items in my head or on my PC but not having found time to put virtual pen to paper.

For Christmas 2013, I decided to make candles and beauty products for the female contingent in my gifting circle. The idea came about because one of my friends only buys organic produce (including beauty products) and for another I thought about buying her a "candle making" set, but then realised she probably didn't have the time or would enjoy the activity as much as me. So, buying the ingredients myself and creating my own product was much better idea!

All of the base ingredients for the candle, body lotion and lipbalm were virtually the same, but required adjustments to the quantities (you don't rub candles on your skin, do you?). The consistency for the lip-balm took a few attempts (re-melting, adding more oil, leaving to cool and testing) but I got there.

I chose to use soy as my wax (with beeswax, for one) because it's environmentally friendly and produces a clear burn. Apparently it's carbon neutral, so you can't complain that your candle habit is adding to your carbon footprint! I chose to make a beeswax candle in my old honey jar because beeswax is another clear burning wax which produces a slight honey and pollen scent when burning. Beeswax should also burn brightly without a drip.

Candle

You will need (all of which I purchased from suppliers on eBay)

• Soy candle wax
• Waxed wick and wick holders (if you purchase unwaxed wick, you will need to melt some soy wax and place the wick in the melted wax for a couple of hours to soak and for the wax to soak into the wick)
• Wick bar (I drilled a small hole into an old ice-cream stick - you basically need something long enough to go across the width of the container 
• Containers (you can use old tea-cups, pretty tins, glasses, old jam jars - anything is a vessel). I used lidded metal tins for the fragrant candles and an old honey jar for my beeswax candle
• Essential oil of choice (I used cinnamon bark essential oil)
• Optional: beeswax, candle wax dye
• A bain-marie (well, a pot of boiling water with an oven-proof dish over it in which to mix the wax - I used a metal mixing bowl over a saucepan)

Method:

1. Heat the water in the bain-marie until boiling.

2. Add the wax to the oven-proof dish and place onto the saucepan. The amount you need depends upon the size of your container. As a rough guide, I used 1.5 times the amount of the size of the container (using the container as a scoop). The amount used can be 100% soy wax, or a mixture of beeswax and soy at your preferred ratio. You want the wax to melt completely but not boil.

3. As the wax is melting, add any dye you want at this point and stir until the colour is evenly distributed. Without wanting to state the obvious, the more dye you add, the more intense the colour of the candle.

4. While the wax is melting, knot at one end and feed a piece of the wick through a wick holder and cut to about 2 inches (5 cm) above the height of the container.

5. Take the wax off boil and add a few drops (no more than 5) of the essential oil to the mixture and stir.

6. Drop a small amount of wax into the container and use it to set the wick holder to the base of the container. Thread the top part of the wick through a wick bar to keep the wick in place in the centre of the container (the candle will burn best if the wick is centred). You may want to tape the wick to the wick bar to stop it moving when you're pouring the wax.

7. Pour the wax into the container, keeping the wick upright through the centre (as much as possible). The wax should not be higher than about 1/2 inch (1cm) from the top of the container, which accounts for the melting wax when you burn the candle.

8. Leave the candle to cool, preferably overnight. As it solidifies, it may shrink in volume slightly. If you have any left over wax, you may want to re-heat and top it up. [Note: you can make multi-coloured candles in this way, by building up layers of different coloured wax, leaving the wax to cool between layers, much like you would a jelly].


9. Once cooled, trim the wick to about 1/2 inch (1 cm) from the top of the candle.

10. Hey presto! Homemade candle!

For notes on the use of oils and essential oils, see my page here

Sorbets and Ice-Cream

I don't have an ice-cream maker,  when I read a magazine which feature recipes for gorgeous sounding ice-creams and sorbets I'm always disappointed that the instructions require an ice-cream maker.

I've nothing against purchasing one, but for me I think it'd be a gimmick purchase that would soon gather dust. So, I set about experimenting with some recipes I'd previously come across, and created 3 gorgeous ice-creams/ice-cream style eats. Two of which are almost entirely fruit and are great for those who are on a diet but want something for a dessert.

The first I discovered when I subscribed to Olive magazine. Or perhaps it was my friend's Good Food Magazine - either way, we got pretty excited about the idea of making ice-cream from a banana! It's so easy, and ready immediately!

Banana "ice-cream" (serves 4)

6 bananas (chopped into 1-2 cm rings, and frozen)
4 tbsp milk (* or a soya/almond/coconut milk, for taste or diet specific)

Take the bananas from the freezer, throw them into a blender/food processor and whiz with the milk. The bananas take on the consistency of soft-scoop ice-cream. You could add a little bit of cinnamon, or some honey, or peanut butter - anything that tastes good with bananas. Serve immediately.

EDIT: I've since realised you can do this with virtually any fruit, and to make it suitable for specific diets or intolerances, try using soy milk or an alternative (I've used Alpro Almond Milk). For a quick tropical ice-cream, I used frozen pineapple and some coconut milk. Adding a splash of rum to the mixture, I created an instant pina colada!

Coffee No-Churn Ice-Cream

This is something which caught my eye on Nigella's Nigelissima, and it seemed pretty easy so I thought it was worth a try. Again, simple ingredients and it didn't take long at all...

284ml condensed milk
300m double cream
2 tbsp espresso powder (I used 2 tbsp of Millicano, sieved, instead)
2 tbsp espresso liqueur (I used a 'single serving' sized Tia Maria)

It couldn't have been simpler - simply whisk all the ingredients together until you get soft peaks, and then fill an airtight tuppaware container. Because of the alcohol it doesn't set completely solid, so you can serve it straight from the freezer.

I liked the texture of the ice-cream, but I personally felt it left a slightly strange lining on my tongue, which I think was from the frozen condensed milk. I can't quite explain it. It wouldn't stop me from making it again though!

However, in my bid to find the best ice-cream that didn't require a blender, I stumbled across a Mary Berry recipe which created the best ice-cream I've ever tasted (except for the delicious ice-cream you find in Tuscan gelaterias!). It's a simple recipe, which created the most perfectly light and creamy ice-cream. My parents and brother didn't believe I'd made it (and were only convinced because I served it from a re-used tuppaware container that didn't always contain ice-cream!).

No churn ice-cream

300 mls double cream
4 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar

Optional extras: fruit puree (made from blending the fruit of your choice in a blender/food processor), 3 tbsps of chopped dark chocolate (or melted chocolate to swirl in),  3 tbsp of raisins soaked in 50ml rum, vanilla extract/vanilla pod, a chopped chunk of stem ginger with some of the syrup... the list is endless!)

Whisk the double cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (as if you're making meringue). Slowly add the caster sugar to the egg whites, so that the mixture retains its stiff peaks but becomes glossy. Once all of the sugar has been added, dollop in the whipped cream and the eggg yolks (I added one at a time) and whisk the ingredients again until they are all combined. The trick with this recipe was to retain as much air as possible, so you don't want to over-whisk it.

I added a tsp of vanilla essence and some chopped cystallised ginger, as I wanted a vanilla ice-cream but with some sweet ginger chunks to complement the theme of my dinner. Pour the mixture into a container and freeze.

To serve, take the ice-cream from the freezer and leave at room temperature for about 5 minutes, then scoop and enjoy! I'll be experimenting further with this recipe to see how I can adapt it to feature other flavours.

Mango Sorbet

If you're not a fan of ice-cream, or you need something with fewer calories (as is often the desire of women like me who want a pudding, but don't want the guilt!) I strongly suggest getting your hands on some kesar mango pulp.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a multi-ethnic area, so tins of mango pulp and coconut milk are in abundance, which is great given my preference for spicy asian cuisine.

For this sorbet, you need:

850g tin of kesar mango pulp (or 2 large mangoes, peeled, stoned and blitzed in a food processor)
90g caster sugar

The process is simple - blend the mango (or pulp) in a food processor with the caster sugar. Once blended, pour into a container and place in the freezer.

I was keen to add a slight kick to mine, so I added one chopped and de-seeded finger chilli, and about 1 tsp of grated root ginger before I blitzed it in the blender - the pieces of chilli and ginger got much smaller and more dispersed. I then grated in some fresh lime zest.

Once frozen, take out of the freezer and spoon it back into a food processor and blitz again until smooth then replace in the freezer. This avoids any ice-crystals forming in the mix and makes for a smoother, tastier sorbet. Because of the chilli, ginger and lime, it served as the perfect dessert after a curry.

The final product of my mango sorbet and ginger ice-cream:

 

Chai Tea Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Not only do I love chai tea (see previous entry), but I like adding it to anything going!

I recently had my parents to visit, and wanted to make a loaf cake for afternoon tea, but I didn't have enough eggs. Instead I scaled down the portion sizes and made 15 cupcakes instead.

Still delicious, and in handy bite-sized servings!

Chai cupcakes

150g self raising flour 
150g caster sugar
150g margarine or butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp instant chai tea mix (OR 2 tbsp instant tea, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, add cupcake liners to cupcake tin or moulds.
2. Whisk eggs with caster sugar until creamed.
3. Add flour and  margarine and whisk together.
4. Add the spices and continue mixing, before adding the milk gradually to form a smooth batter.
5. Add a large dollop of batter mix into the cupcake liners (to fill around 2/3 of the cupcake liner).
6. Bake in the oven for around 20 to 25 minutes, until springy to the touch.

They're delicious as they are, but I decided to make a cream cheese frosting (I'm a sucker for that!)

Cream cheese frosting

200g butter (room temperature)
200g mascapone
150g icing sugar

Optional: 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp grated root ginger, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Method:

1. Whisk all the ingredients until evenly blended.
2. Add the optional extras if you want an extra bit of zing.
3. Once the cupcakes have cooled, either pipe or use a palette knife to top the cupcakes.

Voila!