One Crafty Mumma - Page 3 of 8 - Recipes, Tutorials and DIY projects by One Crafty Mumma

Crochet bunny basket

June 4, 2018

Over the weekend I crocheted up a bunny basket for a little friend of mine. It really only took a night to do, which is something that I love about crocheting – it’s much faster than knitting.

The pattern was a free one that I found on the Lion Brand Yarns website, I just omitted the bunny basket handle because I ran out of the coloured twine I was using. I also sacrificed the last few rows of the basket pattern, for the second bunny ear. It’s still a lovely sized basket though and will hopefully be nice for her to keep some Easter treasures in each year.

I haven’t really made anything Easter related in quite a few years now, so it was fun to whip this up. I used a coarse twine that I purchased recently and although it was a bit hard on my hands to crochet, I was impressed at how well the thick twine crocheted up. I bought some extra balls of it in other colours, so I might make a couple of little baskets and jar covers for my creative space down the track.

Now I’d better finish the dishcloth on my needles and cast on a new one for the week.

Mel x

5 free things to do at Lake Taupo, New Zealand

June 3, 2018

1. Street Art | Spend an hour or so weaving your way in and out of the amazing street art that you can find scattered around Lake Taupo.

2. Huka Falls | Visit Huka Falls and listen to the roar of the waterfall gushing over the 10 metre drop.

3. Aratiatia Rapids | Go and watch the floodgates open and see the water crash through the dam, it’s quite spectacular! The floodgates open between October to March at 10am, 12pm, 2pm + 4pm and there are two great vantage points to watch from. Make sure you wear a hat in the summer, as it’s quite open (and bubbling hot) while you wait.

4. Swim in Lake Taupo | It’s crystal clear and was a lovely warm 22 degrees while we were there in January.

5. Honey Hive | If you enjoy honey, then I’d definitely suggest visiting the Honey Hive. Entry is free and the shop is HUGE. You can sample honey, buy honey ice cream and plenty of other honey related products. There is also a glass enclosed viewing hive inside, which is quite fascinating to watch.

Weekend in Stockholm blanket : 100 crochet centres

June 2, 2018

Huzzah!

I’m feeling quite good about finishing the 100 crochet centres for the Stockholm blanket right now. I managed to get the last few done on the final leg of our holiday and am excited about being ahead of my planned schedule. I’ll probably have a wee break before I start on the next round though, mainly because I’m itching to cast on my first pair of socks with some yarn that I bought in New Zealand.

Now I just need to darn in all those ends.

Oh, yay!

Not really.

For those joining in, how is your blanket going?

P.S. All those curled edges on my centres will unfold once I do the next round.

Visiting Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand

June 1, 2018

Situated about an hour and 15 minutes drive from Lake Taupo is the beautiful Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand’s largest active volcano. We decided to do a trip to see the volcano, which is nestled in the Tongariro National Park and spent a really lovely couple of hours there, exploring the area. What I found really interesting was that the weather was so hot (for us!) sitting on steady temperatures of around 25 degrees for the last 3 weeks or so, but there were still many pockets of snow on Mt Ruapehu, which made for a really pretty sight.

Over winter the village at the top is a bustling ski village and during the summer months it remains open for visitors to walk and wander around. The chairlift also operates, so you can take that up to the top to soak in the views, if you like. I couldn’t quite get my head around the height drop from the chairlift, so the rest of the crew caught it to the top, while I walked up part of the mountain. Since I was wearing a dress and sandals, that was quite a feat in itself as the ground was quite slippery and loose. Coming down was even trickier, but I made it!

In the village at the top, there is a little shop that sells touristy souvenirs, ski clothes and a nice cafe where we enjoyed a hot drink and a snack. Half way down the mountain, there is also a tourist information centre, which is worth a look if you’re planning a visit – especially if you’re going to do some walks in the area and it also has some interesting information about the 1996 eruption of Mt Ruapehu.

On the drive back down we stopped to do a small walk to a waterfall and filled up our drink bottles in the icy cold water that was running furiously off the mountain. I’d love to go back in another season and do some day walks, it’s such a beautiful part of New Zealand.

Mel x

Sock therapy

May 31, 2018

Gosh I’ve been tired this last week and a half. I’m not sure why exactly, but I think it was a combination of two overseas trips in 2 months, plus Christmas thrown into the mix and then suddenly coming to a complete full stop at the end of January. I haven’t been able to get enough sleep this last week and today is the first time I feel like I’m awake properly, which also makes me wonder if I picked up a little bug on our trip back home.

My laptop has remained shut since we arrived back and apart from the odd instagram, which I also shared across on my facebook page, I’ve had a really big break from the internet. It’s been really nice actually and I’m now feeling refreshed and energised to share lots of things in this space of mine again.

Whilst I haven’t been blogging, I’ve been making up for it by keeping my hands busy with yarn. On our second day back from New Zealand I knitted a bit more of my snake and on our third day back I started adding a second row of crochet to the Weekend in Stockholm blanket.

Then the fourth day came and I thought about checking my emails and writing a blog post, only I wasn’t feel the love for my laptop, so instead I cast on a pair of socks for my girl. I’ve named them her ‘ocean socks’ because she is my water baby, wanting to spend every spare minute of her time at the beach and they’re also the sweetest shade of aqua, which reminds me of the fun times we had swimming in the warm ocean at Paihia, on the northern island.

Socks are pretty fun to knit and I can’t wait to get these off my needles and cast on a pair for myself. I feel like these socks have been just what I need to get me through the last week or so, when I haven’t felt like doing much else. Sock therapy is what I like to call it.

Oh and while we’re talking knitting, did you want to see the gorgeous bundle of yarn that I bought when I was away? I have some serious knitting and crocheting ahead to do, let me tell you. The top row is sock yarn and the bottom row is cotton. I could have bought a lot more, but tried to only buy what I had in mind for specific projects, which is my new motto. The cotton is a mix of 10 and 8 ply and the colours are so lovely and vibrant, don’t you think?

Well, I have some fabulous guest posts to load, lots (and lots!) of emails to answer, creative pen pals to match up and many new ideas brewing in my head, so I’ll see you tomorrow! x

Week 2: Raindrop dishcloth + new pattern

May 30, 2018

This dishcloth making is going well and apart from having to really concentrate on every single row, the raindrop dishcloth is finished and I love it. There is something about knitting a super textured pattern that really appeals to me, it feels and looks so cool too!

Two dishcloths in two weeks feels pretty good and I’m looking forward to finishing my third too, a much simpler pattern with just two simple stitches (plain + purl) knitted up in a sequence that creates a lovely zig zag. I’m using a nice bright sunny 8 ply yellow cotton, with 4mm needles and the pattern is another freebie. You can find the ‘Zickzack’ dishcloth pattern HERE on Ravelry, or HERE on the Knit Picks website. If you’re using the direct link, just click on the ‘download free pattern’ button that sits on the right hand side of their website – this will bring up a printable PDF file for you.

I tried out the pattern and have repeated it twice so far. The pattern suggests a repeat of four, but I’m going to repeat it six times to create a nice sized cloth.

Don’t forget if you’re playing along on instagram, you can share your dishcloths using the hashtag #dishclothaweek – I’d love to see them! I’ll share another new pattern next Thursday, plus my completed cloth.

Mel x

Making time for myself #2 : Candles

May 29, 2018

Moroccan Rose | Winter Candy Apple | Vanilla & Fig

A new weekly series on the blog | Making time for myself | Candles

It’s official, I have a fondness brewing for candles and go especially weak at the knees for the soy variety, because they just smell so damned good. I buy really nice candles and then wait forever to light them, mostly because the nice ones are expensive and I feel like I’m getting more value for money if I leave them sitting on the shelf for a few weeks. Crazy right?!

So this week I’m making time for myself just like this:

Run a bubble bath.
Choose a candle & light it.
Turn off the lights.
Soak.
Relax.
Silence.
Go to bed.
Sleep.

Hoping you’ve found some time to yourself too.

Mel x

Making time for myself #1 : Books

May 28, 2018

A new weekly series on the blog | Making time for myself | Books

After reading and enjoying Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project, I decided to make this the year for my own mini happiness project, ensuring that I make more time for myself. A long time ago I used to soak in a bubble bath, paint my toes and pamper myself with mud masks and deep conditioning treatments in my hair. It was a weekly ritual that I loved, but then life started to get really busy with children and I’ve been ignoring all of this goodness for the last twenty years. It’s time to get back on track with simple pleasures and I’m not just talking about bubbles and masks either, although I do plan on indulging with these again from time to time.

What I am talking about is enjoying the simple things in life, like exploring my surroundings and doing little bits and pieces to make my week full to the brim and boiling over with happy. I’m kicking this off by pulling out those books that I’ve been meaning to read for the last 12 months and making time for myself to sit, be still and just read.

Hidden away in my chest of drawers, is the full set of the Harry Potter books and I plan on reading them all. After that I’ll be back to ask what you’re reading and loving, but if you can’t wait until then and are simply bursting to tell me about a really, really good book right now, please do share. I’ll squirrel away the names in my journal for a rainy day.

Be sure to pop back tomorrow too, as I have the gorgeous Amy from Eat Pray Workout popping in to share how to find motivation when you’re feeling down. I first met Amy in Dubai, after she won the trip to come along and travel in part with the Bloggerati group. Guys, she is SUPER lovely and the post that she’s created for tomorrow is really inspiring, I know you’re going to love it.

Have a great day!
Mel xx

Lolly cake recipe

May 27, 2018

Kia Ora lovely people. My name is Leonie and I live in Hamilton, New Zealand.

{Visit Leonie’s blog here}

I have been an avid follower of Mel’s blog for years and more recently we have been pen pals. I was super excited to meet Mel and Bella in real life recently when they visited Hamilton, New Zealand. I loved showing them around the Hamilton Gardens and Mel has written a fabulous post about it too. All Mel’s posts about our little country and how much they enjoyed their visit here, has made me feel pretty proud to call New Zealand home.

Mel has invited me here today to share a fun recipe that us Kiwi’s really love, Lolly Cake!

We have been using a recipe from the back of a packet of Eskimo Lollies we bought many, many years ago… so here goes (and some ideas for substitutes).

Lolly Cake recipe:

Ingredients:

120g butter
½ tin sweetened condensed milk
1 packet of Malt biscuits (in Australia, Arnotts make Malt 0’Milk), crushed
1 packet of Eskimo lollies (in Australia you could use banana lollies or Fruit puffs)
Dessicated coconut to coat

Melt the butter with the condensed milk in a saucepan (or in a bowl in the microwave).
Crush the malt biscuits either in a bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor.
Chop up the Eskimo lollies (or your substitute).
Combine the melted butter, condensed milk mixture with the crushed malt biscuits and chopped Eskimos.
On a piece of gladwrap, shape the mixture into a log (we make two logs from one mixture)
Sprinkle with coconut and roll to coat it.
Wrap in the gladwrap and pop in the fridge until its set.
Slice and try not to eat it all at once!

Want to follow along with Leonie? Here are the links you’ll need:

Week 1 : Leaf Lace Dishcloth + a new pattern

May 26, 2018

It felt good this week to cast the first dishcloth off my needles and master the leaf lace pattern. There were a couple of hiccups along the way, like when I was reading the wrong row at one stage and that time that I zoned out and just kept purling the entire way across the row, but I got there and you know what, this pattern wasn’t hard at all.

I decided to gift this to one of my sisters, because she turned another year older earlier in the week and I wanted to pop a little something handmade with her gift. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and super love the texture of the leaves in the pattern.

Casting off the dishcloth, meant casting on a new pattern for this week. After a lot of searching online for something that caught my eye to try, I found the delightful raindrops dishcloth and decided to give it a whirl. The pattern is listed as ‘easy’ on Ravelry, but it nearly gave me a slight heart attack when I read that I needed to K1, P1, K1, P1 & K1 into the same stitch. I’ve never done something that complicated into the one itty bitty stitch before, but apart from being a bit fiddly towards the end, it was actually quite okay!

I knitted a few rows to try out the pattern before sharing it, incase you’d like to make one too. If you’re on Ravelry, then you’ll find the pattern HERE and if you’d like to bi-pass that, you can go HERE and then click straight onto the big button that says ‘free pattern’ – this will direct you to a PDF, which is perfect for printing.

The raindrops dishcloth pattern is created with a 10 ply, but I’m using lovely 8 ply that I bought in New Zealand, called Exotic Jeans, with 4mm needles. The yarn is a mix of cotton and acrylic and came in the most gorgeous array of colours – I was good and only bought three balls of it though. This dishcloth will turn out a bit smaller than the leaf lace one, but not ouchy small, so it should still be a nice size.

Don’t forget that if you’re playing along too (I know lots of you are!) and are also on instagram, you can use the hashtag #dishclothaweek to share your creations.

Happy knitting,

Mel x

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