• baking - crafts - handmade - London - Royal crafts

    A card fit for a Queen

    One of my favourite press cuttings, yes I’m old, is of me and my school friends with a card we made and sent to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer when they got married in 1981. Hey, we got our picture in the paper, my first taste of ‘fame’! Also in the family archive is a photograph of me and my sister sitting on the front wall of our old house. The wall had been painted for the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977 and my mum had stuck a poster up in the front window for the Royal Wedding. We were…

  • crafts - handmade - sewing

    Cross stitch pendant

    I’ve seen a couple of cross stitch pendants and thought they looked fun to stitch. The only place I could find them was from the workroom, a Canadian sewing shop, so I duly ordered a couple and waited for them to arrive. I was really pleased with the laser cut cross stitch pendants, both wooden, one with a scalloped edge and one circular, which measure just over 2″.   I wanted to stitch something to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee so I found some free Jubilee motifs from CrossStitcher. The motifs included a union flag (which I stitched for the God…

  • baking - gingerbread

    Brilliant biscuits for the Diamond Jubilee

    It’s been a while since I’ve come across any gingerbread biscuits worth writing about it. Whilst we were away in Devon we went to as Asda which was quite exciting as there are none near us in London. I was buying some snacks for our loong car journey home and found a box of gingerbread bites. The full name was Let’s Celebrate with 14 Gingerbread Bites and the biscuits were in the shape of a union flag – we’ve just finished them off whilst watching the Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant. We all really enjoyed the biscuits which had a lovely…

  • baking - handmade

    How to decorate Union Jack biscuits

    I’ve been having a bit of a bake-fest lately. The Jubilee has been inspiring me in lots of ways – sewing, baking, and even a letter to the Queen! Our holiday coincides with the Jubilee weekend so I’ve been making some treats we can all enjoy to get us in the mood. I thought some patriotic biscuits would be nice so made biscuits using the easiest biscuit recipe from my new Biscuiteers book. The biscuits are lovely with just the right crunchy texture and taste. I made a mixture of shapes, some crowns, flags and hearts. I decorated them using…

  • baking

    The Diamond Jubilee Victoria sponge

    This overcast weather is no good for my mood so I thought I would share some good news I recently received. Last week I found I was chosen from 130 applicants to be one of 25 Morphy Richards Innovator for the next 12 months! To be chosen I wrote a very silly post on my top tips for housework which they obviously enjoyed reading. Being a Morphy Richards Innovator means I will be reviewing some of their great products and giving feedback which will help them to develop and improve the products in their range to make running a household…

  • baking - Cath Kidston - gingerbread - London - Olympics

    Treats for your Jubilee party

    Have you noticed that there are an increasing amount of special Jubilee limited editions food products? I felt compelled to purchase a few of my favourite brands and must admit I’ve even been keeping the wrappers for the children’s memory boxes! The Jubilee and Olympics are big events in their little lives and even though they are too young to remember, I want them to have some unusual souvenirs to look back on. There are no official branded jubilee products, and products are not allowed to feature pictures of the Queen. So, as well as the commemorative stamps and special…