Monday 31 October 2011

Future "upcycling" projects

So, as I mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the New Dress A Day blog. I'm almost finished reading through it (1 year = 365 posts, and I still have to go through the new blog that has special projects and tutorials).

In fact, every time I read it, I am itching to try it myself...

So on Saturday I decided to go for it and pay a visit to my local Kringwinkel (2nd hand shop). There I discovered treasures of vintage furniture for very low prices, that just needed a bit of TLC... But that wasn't what I was there for (and I came on a bike!).
The clothes section (what I did come for) had about a dozen racks, sorted by clothes type and color (hey, at least they're organized!).

So among the uglier-than-thou stuff, I did manage to find quite a few items with potential... So I went home with 10 pieces of clothing and 1 handbag (all for under 30e!!) hanging on the side of my bike:-)

Here's my stash:

The plan is to wash and then alter them, so they fit and look better (and I can strut around showing my handiwork;-) ).

Definitely won't be bored on those long winter nights...


Project Tablecloth

My tablecloth is complete! :-) I made it with the gorgeous "wine label" fabric I got at the Stoffen Spektakel, and burgundy-colored bias tape. 
Since the fabric was wider than I originally thought, I had quite a bit left, so I'm making matching napkins from the rest of it!!

Pic of the completed tablecloth coming soon...


Wednesday 19 October 2011

From 2nd hand to awesome!!

Haven't posted in a while, as I've been completely engrossed in a blog I found by accident. It's called New Dress A Day, and it's absolutely brilliant!!
Basically, this girl picks up clothes for 1$ at second hand shops/flea markets/garage sales, and with a sewing machine, scissors and sometimes some dye, makes them into something a lot nicer, that she then wears. Pure talent :-)

Needless to say, it's a great inspiration (and a really addictive read!), and I can't wait to try this myself when I'm a bit handier with the sewing machine :-)

Sunday 2 October 2011

Brood Pudding (Bread Pudding)

On Friday I discovered that the "healthy" biscuits I eat for breakfast on workdays have 450 kcal/100g, which is about as much as chocolate!!! Tiny shock of the day!!
So I decided to make cake for breakfast instead!! It feels decadent, but can't actually be worse calorie-wise (I'm talking about the wholesome straight-from-your-childhood home-made variety, not the colorful-and-sugary type...).

I was going to make my trusted "gâteau au yaourt" (yoghurt cake), but when I got home I saw a loaf of bread that was going to expire today. So I decided to go for a "brood pudding" (a Belgian classic that turns old bread into comforting yumminess).
It's the first time I'm making this, but I think it turned out pretty OK - I'm not sure if the texture is 100% right, but the taste is amazing!! And that's what matters, right? ;)

I used a recipe from broodpudding.be, and adapted it for the ingredients I had, that is:

- 300g multi-cereal bread
- 60g liquid margarine (margarine in a bottle for cooking and baking - I find that a lot easier to work with than a chunk of butter, although it doesn't smell great)
- 150g brown sugar (as part of this I used some cinnamon sugar I got as a gift from my sister, but you can just use plain brown sugar and add some cinnamon)
- 3 eggs
- a handful of sultanas
- vanilla extract
- a little honey



So this is how you go about it:

1. Cut or tear the bread into pieces and soak them in water (the original recipe said water, I'm sure milk would be better but I just didn't have any).
2. Mix the liquid margarine, sugar, eggs, honey and a dash of vanilla extract. Add the sultanas and mix some more.
3. Drain the bread, add it to the sugar mix and stir well. It doesn't need to be completely homogeneous but you shouldn't be able to see the bread color anywhere.
4. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
5. Butter a baking dish and pour the bread mix in it.
6. Cook for 60 min. A crust will form but it will still be pretty soft inside.

So here's what it looks like:


And it's yummy :-)