DIY University Organiser Printables by 'DIY Home Sweet Home'

Hi guys, sorry for the very late post!

I am currently doing my A level exams right now and if all goes well then hopefully in September I will be going to university. I'm very excited about moving out and starting my own life independently, meeting new people and generally having the time of my life! However being independent means being responsible for your own time, finances, food etc. and that's why I wanted to create an organiser or planner to help me since I am not exactly the most organised person!

Anyway, I was scouring Pinterest for different ideas and free printables for creating your own planner; I could go out and buy one from a stationary store - some are very pretty - but also pricey and if I'm going to be living on a student's budget I better get used to not having the luxury of buying just anything. Also by making it myself, I can personalise it the way I want to and only include categories that are useful to me. So I came across this amazing blog:

diy home sweet home: Home Management Binder

It's great! There are many free printables for different categories of a planner including, lists, budgeting, meals, to do's and many more!

Also the graphics are very cheerful and colourful which I quite like!

I will be making my planner soon so will blog about the process, until then, stay creative!

DIY Harry Potter Wands!

Hi sorry it's been so long since my last post! I haven't really done anything creative that was worth blogging about...
But now I have! A couple of days ago I went to a Harry Potter Book Night in London, hosted by Waterstones. Dress up was optional and so I thought I'd make me and my friends some wands! I've seen a couple of  tutorials on Pinterest like this one by Grosgrainfabulous and this one by Sugar Bee Crafts. So I decided to try it out and see if it's as easy as it looks. First I tried making a wand with rolled up paper as a base, but I found it to be too flimsy also, it was quite hard to control the shape, so I decided to use chopsticks instead:

You will need:

• A Glue Gun (and gluesticks obviously :P)
• Smooth Chopsticks (or small sticks)
• Brown/Black Acrylic Paint
• Paintbrush

First thing I did was find some images as references, I was trying to recreate certain characters' wands, so I searched for some photos of their wands and used them as inspiration. Of course you can make your own design, but keep in mind that the glue isn't too easy to control so any really intricate designs you find or make will be hard to follow. I suggest you just go with the flow! If you've never used a glue gun before,  practice a bit first to get the hang of it.  Anyway once you have some sort of idea of what you will do, fire up your glue gun and shoot! 

You want the layers to be quite thick so don't be afraid to hold down the trigger and let the glue ooze out. You may have to build up the layers. 

It can get quite messy so put something down, also be careful of burning yourself, the glue is quite hot! So if you are under 12 maybe ask someone older to help you! Also gravity may ruin your design so once you have applied the glue try rotating the chopstick like a spit, not too fast and not too slow, this will keep the glue from dripping. If you're not to bothered about the texture, once the outer layer of the glue is dry but still warm, you can mold it, what I did was twizzle - is that a word? - the stick between my hands, this smooths out the glue and gives it an interesting shape. This is what mine looked like with the glue: 

Once you are happy with the patterns and the glue is all dry it's time to paint them! I used acrylic paint and did different shades of brown. You could also do different designs with the paint if you are feeling adventurous, I just used one colour.

Allow them to dry and then you are done! I am thinking of opening up an Etsy shop to take requests for certain wands, if you would like one please leave a comment on this post. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, until then stay creative!

Mini Cinnamon Croissants

Or as I like to call them, Little Puffs of Heaven! Seriously, though, puff pastry and cinnamon? Together?! MMMMH! 
I remember years ago, when I was living in Cyprus, my mum came home, from a trip to London for work, with British goodies. One of which were canned crescent rolls! It's basically a can that you twist (like a Chinese burn) and it pops open to reveal a roll of dough. When we unrolled it, it kind of reminded me of toilet paper :P in the sense that it had dotted sections that you tear off, only they were triangles. So what you do is tear off a triangle - gently - spread it with chocolate spread, butter, ham, cheese, whatever your heart desires! Then you roll it up, pop it in the oven and boom! Homemade croissants! Anyway my point is when I moved to London I was looking forward to finding them in the supermarkets, but apparently they are an American thing, I think. Good thing is though puff pastry works just as well and that's where I got the idea for these Mini Cinnamon Croissants!


You will need:

• Puff Pastry
• Brown Sugar
• Granulated Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Butter or Margarine

First you want to put about two tablespoons of butter or margarine in a glass or bowl and melt it in the microwave. Next you want to lay out a sheet of puff pastry on a flat surface and brush a layer of melted butter over it. If you don't have a culinary brush - I think that's what they're called - just drizzle the butter on the dough with a spoon and spread it with the back of the spoon.

Now combine 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and one of granulated sugar - you don't have to use both if you don't have brown sugar - and half a tablespoon of cinnamon in a bowl and stir.

 Next comes the fun part! Sprinkle the mixture over the the buttery dough. Make sure you have a thick, evenly spread coat.




Now you need a knife, preferably not a butter knife, it needs to be sharp enough to cut the dough without dragging on it. To make the croissants you need a triangle shape, it's easiest to cut the dough into right angle triangles. I cut my sheet of dough into 8 rectangles like so: 

And then cut the rectangles diagonally to create two triangles.

Now, starting with the wide end you need to begin rolling the dough towards the point, but roll along the diagonal edge and not the straight edge otherwise your croissant will come out lopsided. You must make sure that the point is always centred as you roll. Once you've rolled it you need to curve it slightly to make a crescent shape, now it should look like a croissant.

Little tip! Before you press down the tip, put a blob of melted butter then press it down, to make sure it stays down. 

Once you have rolled all your croissants, lay them on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper or foil covered with butter so they don't stick. Also make sure they are not too close to each other as they will puff up! 

If you have some melted butter left brush some over the croissants before you put them in the oven. This will make them go golden and keep them from tasting dry, it's not too important though. Now you need to bake them at 190 C/375° F for 15 - 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they should be a golden brown colour when done.

I took these to the 'cocktail party' I had with my friends and they loved them - I think :P Anyhow, these really are delicious! And even nicer hot! Hope you enjoyed this post, until then, stay creative!

Chocolate Bar Birthday Wreathe - DIY

So it was my friend's birthday this week and just like any other normal person, she loves chocolate!  I have various pins on my Gifts board of tutorials for 'candy bouquets' or 'chocolate birthday cards' and I wanted to make something similar for her. I went to the supermarket and bought multipacks of different chocolate bars and then I remembered that I had a Styrofoam ring at home which I bought last Christmas but never used. So I decided to make a Chocolate Bar Birthday Wreathe!

You will need:

• 12 chocolate bars - they can be different ones
• A Styrofoam ring
• Hot glue gun
• Toothpicks
• Glitter and glue or Paint
• Ribbon/Random sweets (optional)

Now first you want to cover the Styrofoam ring, as it may show through. You can either paint it, wrap it in ribbon (make sure it's not too thick) or do what I did and coat it in glue and sprinkle it with glitter :D It's hard to go wrong with glitter! I used silver with a touch of red:

Once it is dry you need to decide how you  will arrange the chocolate bars. As I had 3 Crunchies, 3 twirls and 6 Kit Kats, I decided to go: Crunchie, Kit Kat, Twirl, Kit Kat, Crunchie and so on. And I used 12 chocolate bars to arrange it like a clock so it is symmetrical, of course if your ring is bigger or smaller you may need more or less. This is how I laid mine out:

Now it's time for sticking! Okay so at first I tried to just hot glue the chocolate bar on but it was not strong enough and this is what happened:

Not good! Especially if there will be the weight of 12 chocolate bars on it!So I had to think of a different way: Toothpicks! I cut the toothpicks in half and hot glued on one half - pointy side up, obviously - to the bottom of each chocolate bar, like so:

And then you simply start placing them on! I added another dollop of hot glue before pinning the chocolate bar on, just for good measure. Make sure you know exactly where you are placing each chocolate because once you have pinned it, it will be quite hard to move! Anyway this is what it looked liked once I had stuck all the chocolates:

I wasn't quite sure about the gaps in between, I felt that it needed to look a bit fuller. So this is where you can use a little imagination, you could stick some ribbon, feathers, anything decorative in between the gaps, or nothing at all if you feel it looks fine, it's entirely up to you! Personally I would have liked to have had some mini chocolate bars, or small sweets, but I didn't have any and it was too late to go and buy some. So I raided my little sisters draw and found 12 small sweets or lollipops to stick in between the gaps. 

I didn't use toothpicks here because the sweets were small and light. So my friends, here is the finished project:

I'll admit it's not the most neat and uniform looking wreathe but I don't think it matters too much, just the sight of all that delicious chocolaty sweetness I think will put a smile on anyone's face!

It was kind of hard to wrap, in the end I just sort of bunched some wrapping paper around it and popped and ribbon bow on top:

My friend loved it, it's a great gift for anyone you love who loves chocolate! Good luck and let me know in the comments if you try it out, until then, stay creative!

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D.I.Y. Edible Glitter - Pintest

Okay so my friends and I are planning a cocktail party, and by cocktail party I mean a small group of people messing around with mixers and grenadine and juices... trust me it's not as fancy as it sounds! Anyway while searching Pinterest for exciting cocktail recipes I noticed that some of the prettiest cocktails had edible glitter in them or around the rim. I then came a across a pin with a recipe for edible glitter by The Dessert Lover. 

However when I clicked through to the link there was no post or tutorial, there were only brief instructions in the description of the pin which were: 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring mixed, bake 10 mins in oven on 350* to make edible glitter 

Now I followed these instructions and mixed blue, with a tad of green food colouring (to make turquoise) with sugar, spread it on a plate and placed it in the oven for 10 minutes on 180°C:

Now I must say that the image that I saw on the pin (top image) was deceiving as it is actual real sparkly glitter and not edible glitter made with sugar, so when I took the plate out of the oven I was dissapointed. The colour that I added had evaporated, so I would recommend adding maybe 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons of food colouring. However, after stirring it several times, I noticed that the sugar had gained a beautiful shimmer, that shines in the light. It was quite dark but I managed to take a few photos:

Although it does not resemble glitter I think it will look lovely around the rim of cocktail glasses or sprinkled on cupcakes as it adds a lovely shimmer! Also since the colour was bleached, it kind of reminded me of snow which makes it the perfect addition to Christmas cupcakes, cookies, cocktails or cakes!! Good luck if you try it and let me now how you decide to use it! Until then, stay creative!

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Christmas Bells are Ringing...

Well they are in my head!
I love Christmas, I love seeing the shops filled with Christmas decorations, the streets decked out in twinkly lights and that general feeling of joy in the air.

I also love thinking about what presents to buy for my loved ones, I pride myself in being observant and knowing exactly what everyone likes; that my sister will love that perfume or my mum will think that hat is gorgeous. I strive to get the perfect present for everyone. And then after the Christmas shopping is done, comes the second best part: Wrapping! I absolutely LOVE wrapping presents!!! Every time I pass the gift section in shops, with rolls of decorative paper, spools of ribbon, sparkly gift bags, it fills me with excitement! Is that weird? It probably is, I'm a weird person, but I don't care, I love wrapping presents! Anyway the best part is giving the presents and seeing the person's face when they open them, I know Christmas isn't about presents but making someone happy, and showing them that you love them, that's one of the things I love about this holiday.

Moving on, Christmas calls for DIY decorations, creative gift and card making and festive baking! Feel free to check out my Christmas board on as I will probably be making things from here, to blog about!

Until then, stay creative!