How to make a jewellery organiser part two

Following on from this post here, we have been making an organizer in the Martisanne household for my many necklaces and bracelets , again I can't take the credit for these, the idea is from this from here
All you will need is a pole or two, I use two hanging rails from an old wardrobe, kept as you never know when they will come in handy to upcycle, and for each pole you will need two hooks , one for each end of the pole , the hooks we used were about £1.50 for a pack of two in our local hardware store.

The hooks we used were a little small so we opened them up to allow the pole to be a little looser fitting resting in the hook.

Screw your hooks into the wall, where you want your pole to go, one at each end, slide your bracelets and necklaces onto the pole(s)and rest your poles on the hooks, and you have a necklace/bracelet holder.

Diy jewellery organiser

This is a perfect way to store your necklaces and bracelets to keep them tangle free and you can see exactly what you have.

What have I been sewing now ?

With the house elves safely settled back into school , I have had a little bit of time this week to get creating for my shop, if you follow me on Twitter you might have noticed me jumping up and down announcing opening a new shop, so there are now two places you can purchase Martisanne handmade goodies, you can click on the tabs at the top of the screen to be transported to my Etsy shop as before, but look there is a new tab for my new shop my Zibbet shop yay twice the handmade fun.

Some of the items available to purchase in My Etsy store are also available to buy in my Zibbet store , but there a couple of new goodies that I have been sewing this week that are only available in my Zibbet store so far .

A few weeks back I purchased a length of gorgeous satin feel balloon print fabric that just screamed celebrations, birthdays, Christmas PARTY TIME !!!
I just couldn't make up my mind what to do with it, but with the school holidays over with I started thinking about Christmas, I know I know but us crafters always have to be one step ahead of you buyers you know.
So I decided to create these little money wallets/gift card holders, a gift card just fits snugly inside , perfect for any gift giving and here they are

Handmade gift card holders

Gift card wallet

You can purchase them in my Zibbet shop

Also around the same time I purchased the balloon fabric, I also bought three beautiful lightweight fabrics in shades of blue and purple, they all looked so
pretty together I bought all three, and have waited as to what to do with them , as I have so many ideas for new designs I couldn't decide what to do with them, to procrastinate or not to procrastinate, so I just got on with it and put them all together in a pretty patchwork cosmetics purses.
The lovely little crochet bonnets on them I had already just waiting for the right project and I think this is it

Available to purchase in my Zibbet shop

 

Again this is available to purchase in my Zibbet shop

I am off for more procrastination now perhaps a little sewing thrown in, have a great week and pop back next Tuesday to see what I have been up to.

Never fails quick chocolate party cake recipe

I wanted to share with you a never fail really quick chocolate cake recipe, my children always want it for their birthday tea cake and any other events in between, I have tis recipe written out in my favourite recipes file, but I am not sure where it came from originally, I know I didn't invent it and that is as far as I can go with the source I am afraid. This recipe is quick, easy and never fails so here goes , you will need the following:

Cake
8oz caster sugar
3 eggs
4oz plain flour
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
4floz milk
1 tablespoon of butter/margarine about the size of an egg

Frosting
3oz butter
6oz icing sugar
3 table spoons cocoa powder


Heat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade and line 2 x 8 inch sandwich tins with baking parchment , preparation and all that business.

Next place your milk and egg sized blob of butter or marg whichever you are using in a saucepan and place on a low heat.

Melt butter in the milk

While your butter is melting place your eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl

Beat eggs and sugar

Beat until smooth and creamy

Add in your flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and mix well

When your butter has melted in your milk and the milk is starting to froth around the edge

Melted butter and milk

Pour the milky mix into your mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix well



Chocolate cake mix finished

Distribute evenly between your sandwich tins

Chocolate cake mix placed in tins

Throw your filled sandwich tins in the middle of your pre heated oven for approximately 18 minutes or until springy to the touch and cooked through, insert a skewer to check if comes out clean it is cooked,

Finished chocolate party cake

Leave to cool , and when they are cool you can make the frosting, this recipe gives enough to sandwich between the two cakes, a spreading on the top and some in the bowl to lick afterwards.

Sieve your icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and add the butter or marg

Chocolate buttercream recipe

Beat it all together squashing the butter into the powder, you have to work hard at this it seems like there isn't enough butter for a while, be patient, you want a spreadable consistency but not so thin it slips off the top of the cake, you may have to add a very tiny touch of water to thin it .Spread it on one of your cakes and plop the other on the top and spread some more of the frosting on the top.

Place the chocolate buttercream in the cake

Iced chocolate party cake

I add chocolate buttons to the top of the cake sometimes or smarties or grated chocolate, they stick nicely to the buttercream.
I cannot vouch for how long this cake will keep as we have never got past day two.

Helpful Hints

I though I would share a few helpful hints I have found through the years of making and eating endless cakes

1) I don't buy self raising flour , I always buy plain and add the appropriate amount of baking powder to convert it to self raising, I am sure there are some puritans that will tell me I shall burn in bakers hell for this , but I like space in my cupboards and don't want weavels from having endless bags of flour

2) Cocoa powder I just use standard cheap as chips cocoa powder, none of this 70% cocoa solids , if you like that kind of thing that is fine, but I am yet to hear my five year old proclaim that her cake does not have a high enough cocoa solids content, I am not entering the Great British Bake off I am cooking for my family.

3) I use whichever butter or marg I have to hand again not entering a baking competition, my family will devour the cake if I am using cheap marg or expensive butter, maybe we just have no class .

4) I have also cooked this cake by doubling the quantity and baking in a roasting tray lined with baking parchment , spreading on the frosting, or just a plain icing, cutting into squares and open freezing then sealing in freezer bags and they are brilliant for picnics or lunchboxes, once defrosted. This cake is also great in the winter without the frosting and served with hot custard.


Enjoy your cake

How to make a DIY jewellery organiser for next to nothing

Following on from my cherub hunting for the soon to be new theme in the Martisanne bedroom, I have been pondering for a while the problem of my jewellery and this really falls into two parts, I need it displayed so I can easily see what I have and secondly I need it stored in such a way as it does not take up more surface space, so I started googling and came across this awesome idea here so I set about making an earring display myself.
Being a bit of a hoarder it did not take long to source the required items, I had a large pine picture frame that had long since lost it's glass and plenty of leftover chicken wire from making our chicken run, my trusty silver spray paint and every diyers staple a heavy duty staple gun (lame joke I know).

First place your picture frame over your chicken wire and cut your chicken wire just slightly larger than your frame to allow room for stapling, I used wire cutters for cutting the chicken wire.



Jewellery organiser supplies

Now staple your chicken wire to the back of your frame ,using a heavy duty staple gun taking care to ensure the wire is stretched tight and not baggy

Staple wire to the frame

Now clip off the excess chicken wire carefully with your wire cutters so that it does not show at the front of your frame

Clipping excess wire from frame

I wanted my jewellery organiser silver so I sprayed it with my silver spray paint

Painting the diy jewellery organiser

And here you have it , a brilliant way to organise and display your earrings, just hang them off the wire, as I mentioned previously I can't take credit for the idea I originally found it here but wanted to share my making of my own earring display, jewellery organiser.