Autumn Wish List
1. Topshop mustard chunky cardigan
2. Alex Monroe bicycle necklace
3. Flying A New York elephant print scarf
4. Boden breton striped t-shirt
5. Ally Capellino red satchel
6. Boutique by Jaegar spotty dress
7. Liberty Barbour jacket
8. Cath Kidston fairisle hat
9. Topshop tassel loafers
With the weather officially changing and the leaves turning rusty, I can’t help but think about all the cosy and delicious things in the shops at the moment. Every year, at the end of summer, I start to get itchy for cooler weather fashion. It’s funny because when I was putting this collage together I looked back at last year’s autumn collage and realised that my taste really hasn’t changed that much at all. I seem to have a set autumn style that I stick with, large jumpers and lots of opaque tights.
Regular readers will probably have noticed that I am a real autumn nerd, I feel complete with a coat on and have an extensive collection of berets. However, I’m fining this autumn a little more exciting than most as I’m totally in love with the whole country look, nut brown leather loafers, waxed jackets, tartan skirts and chunky knits are simply bliss to me! Now all I need is a mansion in the country to enjoy it all in.
However I don’t have a masion in the country, nor do I live in the country at all, meaning I have to take it easy and mix it up a bit. Walking around Islington dressed like the Queen at her Balmoral Estate really isn’t going to work – country wannabe isn’t a good look. I think items like the Barbour Liberty print jacket is a good compromise though, the pattern is edgy enough to wear in the city, without being too twee . Now all I need to do is find an excuse to purchase it….do walks on Hampstead Heath count?
As much as I love autumn fashion, I’m not looking forward to the nights drawing in and loosing the light. I get so sad arriving and leaving work almost completely in the dark. Although every cloud has a silver lining and that is new produce, yummy autumn foods are back on the menu! Hearty pies, pumpkin, squashes, root vegetables, stews and hot puddings – yes! What is everyone else hankering for this autumn, anyone already baking up some great seasonal recipes? Please do share.
Dinosaur Cupcakes
I’ve been on a bit of a baking spree lately and these dinosaur cupcakes are my latest creations. Inspired by all the cool retro Christmas deers that people put on cupcakes, I thought I’d give dinosaurs a go. These cakes are actually pretty special as I made them as a belated birthday cake for Miles, as we were in Italy over his birthday. The little retro dinos were from an office supplies shop in my home town (Whitstable) and I accompanied them with some pink sugar. They look quite effective, in a new-rave 1990′s kind of way.
Miles being a former huge dinosaur fan loved them, and although not edible kept the dinosaurs on them until the very end. To make the cakes I always use the Hmmingbird Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe and then combine this with the Primrose Bakery’s buttercream icing recipe, as I think it creates a nice, firm icing.
This week has been so crazy busy, I’ve barely had time to stop, however there’s always time for cupcakes – even if I have been eating them at 10pm, when I should be brushing my teeth for bed! In other news, I’m really late to the party but, I’ve just discovered the joy that is Laura Marling. I also want to buy everything in the Boden and Hobbs NW3 collection – not god! I hope everyone’s had a great weekend? x
Happy Tape Cupcake Flags DIY
Step 1
Everything you’ll need below. Try to source cocktail sticks with flat ends. I managed to find mine in a specialist cook shop, I think they are indented for displaying cheese and pineapple creations – retro.
Step 2
Depending on the length of the flag you want to create, snip off your tape and lay the cocktail stick in the middle and try to make sure the two sides of tape are roughly even.
Step 3
Bring the two sides together, making sure they are smooth.
Step 4
You can cut the end of the flag straight, or you can take the ribbon approach and snip the end into non-fray points by folding in half gently and slicing out a V shape.
Final Product (remember to bake cake)
Pop the flag carefully into the tip of the pipped icing on your cupcake. If you are making a big layer cake you could use wooden BBQ skewers (cut to lengths) to make larger, more dramatic flags with happy tape – put into the cake a different heights. More pictures of the end product here.
I hope someone finds this helpful. I know they are not the most technical things to make, but for anyone not great at icing (like myself) they do detract and hide any pipping mistakes nicely. They would be great for a baby showers and general partys - not just weddings!
I hope you all have lovely week…
Happy Tape Cupcake Flags
It’s been a while since I talked cakes here on the blog, in fact I think this was the last time – and that was quite a while a go! So, with much of my crafty attention going on thinking about the wedding, I thought it would be good to start experimenting with some wedding-related crafts and happy tape cupcake flags was something I thought might work well – whatever your colour scheme! Happy tape is everywhere lately and I’m huge a fan, it’s brilliant for everything from wrapping presents and sealing greetings cards, to putting pictures up (mark free on the wall) and making flags! The great thing is that you can quite literally get every colour and pattern, I got my pastel colours from Present and Correct a long time a go and they are still going – 2 years later!
When I dreamed up making these little toppers I was actually inspired by all the lovely ribbon ones I had seen online, but alas I didn’t have anything thin enough, I also didn’t have graphic design skills to create and print my own – so happy tape was my solution! I think it makes a pretty good flag and is really sturdy. Simple pale pink cupcakes, with pretty pastel flags, on a stunning white tired cake stand could work nicely for a wedding (or my wedding) what do you think?
(P.S Yes, I’m crazily considering a way that I can somehow make my own wedding cakes, did anyone else do this, any tips on how to juggle this time-wise? Any advice is really, really welcome.)
Venice Bienale 2011
This is my last post on Venice, I promise.
Now, I’m not going to claim to know a lot about art, however I do enjoy a little dabble now and then. So when we were in Venice I couldn’t help but feel drawn to the Bienale as it was art that was right up my street, bright colourful and largely interactive. It was really nice to see art from across the world all in one place, I loved the experience of visiting each country’s offing in their own pavilion. My stand out favourites were from Korea, France and USA (I can’t say the UK, that would just be biased). We didn’t have a great deal of time to soak up all the offerings of the Bienale as we were only in Venice for 24 hours, however I think we got a really good feel for it and I would love to come back one day to see more (maybe when it’s not so hot). The Bienale is now in it’s 54th year and this time around it was curated and directed by the art historian and critic Bice Curiger. For anyone thinking of going I would say ‘go!’ because its a lot of fun and not at all reserved for those in the know about art. I love colourful things and tied to pick out the most colourful things that caught my eye at the Beinale – I couldn’t even tell you want they all are!
Aside from art, this week I’ve been spending a lot of time ogling over all the lovely new autumn winter collections out there. I say this from my air conditioned office, however outside it’s 30 degrees today – I’m almost wishing it code again so I can wear all the yummy things I’ve seen. I’ve also been buying a lot of shoes for the new season (this is odd as I’m not a shoe person at all). Interestingly I’ve seen lots of autumn/winter catalogs and promotional shoots all shot in Venice! I’m off to the rather swanky Ledbury for dinner tonight, I’m beyond excited! I’ll let you know how it measures up – have a great day.