no bake rolo slice

Here's a quick and easy slice that keeps 

well but doesn't last long once

they know what it tastes like!

One 200g block rolo chocolate

A tube of 200g condensed milk

250g pkt plain biscuits crushed

1/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup butter

150g extra plain chocolate 

and 2tbsp copha for icing

Gently melt the butter and condensed milk.

Break the rolo chocolate into pieces 

and add to the butter and milk.

Stir over low heat until smooth.

Add to crushed biscuits and coconut

and mix very well.

Press into a slice pan and refrigerate.

Melt the extra chocolate and copha

and pour over cooled slice.

Pop it into the back of the fridge 

to hide it until it has set.

This slice is rich but lovely with a cuppa!

oops dickhead

Yes there has been a lull in blogging.

I have been doing a few things

but since I have lost my camera again 

I can't show you.

How does a person who lives in a house

the size of a shoebox possibly lose things?

I did finish painting a cupboard though

here is the before...

and the after

I had to pinch these from instagram

because of my camera issue but as

soon as this is resolved I'll

be back to show you some more things.

Thanks for visiting!

so you want to be a hooker?

It's just starting to get cool here 

and the blankets are coming out.

I have made quite a few crochet blankets 

and it never really occurred

to me that not everyone can crochet until a friend

recently asked me to teach her how to make a blanket.

I can't follow a crochet pattern and I don't know 

the right names for the stitches so I thought I'd do a little 

roundup here of basic crochet tutorials 

I have found on pinterest.

This is a no nonsense series of tutorials and videos created by

Anneliese of The Aesthetic Nest. 

Another one with videos from Tamara Kelly at Moogly.

When I started crocheting there weren't any videos 

to learn from but now I've watched a few researching this post and they are the way to go if you 

can't have someone in person to show you.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

Stay warm xxx

and sew life goes on

I haven't really been interested in clothes since my teens.

My sisters and I all sewed our own clothes in those days

but then you get older and have kids and sometimes you're

flat out getting out of your pjs let alone getting dressed up.

Now my kids have moved out and I'm a single

lady once again my interest in clothes has

been rekindled maybe because I actually

go out now!

I have miles of fabric to work with and 

I'm not buying anymore!

My collection of patterns is growing

and I even have a dedicated pinterest board for clothing.

Do you sew your own clothes?

The time has come for me to stop thinking

about it and just start sewing!

Stay tuned.

the fabric carrots are here

The fabric carrots will now be housed

here on my new blog.

Nothing has changed, they are still very cute!

See! Still darn cute!

Using the measurements here (in inches 'cause I'm old )

 make yourself a cardboard template.

Trace around scraps of doubled green and carroty colours . 

Stitch and trim .

Turn and stuff .

Turn under a small hem at the top and tack around .

Pull the thread to gather and  secure 3 leaves by stitching through all layers .

Add a bit of ribbon or ric rac and ta da something that won't make the Easter Bunny fat !

the dressmaker

I don't watch a lot of movies because I'm

usually watching crappy tv series on dvd.

When The Dressmaker came out I really

wanted to see it at the pictures but

by the time I thought about it again 

it was already on dvd.

Anyway I had to buy it.

In 1950s Australia Tilly the dressmaker

played by Kate Winslet

returns to her tiny hometown to right the

wrongs from her past.

As she tries to reconcile with her mother

played by Judy Davis she falls in love

while transforming the fashions of the town.

Although the whole movie was a bit disjointed

(just my own opinion)

It was fun and very Australian and come on 

now who doesn't want to see Liam Hemsworth

without his shirt on!

I liked it enough to do a blog post about it

so I really must have liked it.

Have you seen it?

It's very reasonably priced on dvd so

I do recommend you grab one maybe 

to play while you're sewing?

I'll give it a rating of 3/5.

Australian Heart Foundation

We could all go on for ages about Valentine's Day

being American blah blah blah.

The thing is I have never gotten into the whole deal

but some do and to each their own.

I've gathered up a few hearty crafts that

can be for Valentine's Day. 

Or not.

Pretty Little Button Heart Canvas from here.

Crochet heart pattern from here.

Jigsaw heart from here.

The most important link you'll find 

here today is this one.

So if you are undecided about Valentine's Day

but want to do something good for your heart

it's easy to make a donation.

Heart disease kills one Australian every 27 minutes!

Personally I think my donation is more important

than flowers and chocolates.

once upon a time

there was a girl with too many craft supplies.

I can't resist crafty bits and I have accumulated

so much stuff so I'm trying very hard

to use some of it to decorate my home.

I have no idea why I bought so many doll 

bookmarks but I did and I think they're cute.

Anyway I glued a whole lot of them to a plain canvas

and hung it on my bedroom wall.

I'm very happy with how it turned out and

now I'm on a mission to use up more

stuff that I've been hoarding  saving.

confetti salad

One of my favourite dishes to take to parties

over the summer is rice salad.

It is so quick and easy not to mention delicious!

It's a great way to use up salad vegetables and everyone loves it!

It is also very colourful so I may just call it

Confetti Salad!

You will need -

One packet of Tilda brown basmati rice and quinoa.

You may of course use your own brown rice but this stuff is amazing!

Follow the directions on the packet.

While the rice is cooling chop your vegetables.

I use cherry tomatoes, cucumber, shredded rocket or spinach

and grated carrot.

When the rice has cooled throw in the vegetables and

a handful of sultanas and a some pinenuts or flaked almonds.

A small can of sweet corn adds more colour.

Now in a cup add a tablespoon of olive oil,

a teaspoon of minced garlic and about a 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce.

Mix your dressing through your rice salad.

This is ready to eat straight away but it's even nicer 

if you can sit it in the fridge for a bit so the dressing

soaks into everything.

Don't worry though all the crunchy bits stay crunchy!

Just in case you were wondering no this is not

a sponsored post for Tilda rice , I just really do love it!

hello my old friend

It's been such a long time since I've used my faithful old Janome.

Such a long, long time.

I must be starting to feel a bit better because 

I pulled her out and set her to work.

It's slow going but getting there.

The first stitches made me sigh in happiness.

A new life surely deserves a new dress made out of 

lime green, stretchy, crushed velvet!

book or movie first?

One of my new year resolutions for 2016 is to read more.

I love reading but have found in the last few years

that I get nowhere near enough reading done.

I get distracted by blogs and facebook and

instagram and damn you pinterest!

I've been on good reads for a while now and have 

joined the challenge to read 12 books this year.

The good thing about this challenge is you set your own limit.

Are you a reader?

You are welcome to find me on good reads and join the challenge too.

Simply Shellie rounded up and reviewed this list of books

becoming movies in 2016, great job!

Did you like to read the book before the movie?

welcome to a confetti life

                           Confetti - small bits of coloured paper thrown at celebrations.

                                      Welcome to A Confetti Life!

 If you came over from my old blog you'll know that some changes were needed and they say a change is as good as a holiday!

I missed the blogging community but I felt my old blog was part of my old life.Yes it could have just been revamped it but I really wanted something fresh and new.
Sometimes we just need to move on.

My new blog will be a bit more personal a bit more random a bit more fun! Well let's hope so anyway.

It will be about books and words and crafts and cooking and creating and decorating and anything I feel like doing really.
Posts may be published every week or twice a day or once a month, see I said it's random.
I'll keep my old blog up for a while maybe.....maybe not.......

Anyway....thanks for finding me here xxx

I promise this blog won't all be about confetti but I found 

this tutorial for confetti hearts and thought it was gorgeous.

With Valentine's Day rocking up quickly they would be

a sweetheart of a thing to make.

I'm thinking a nice big one for a wall hanging.

Find the the full tutorial here at Elizabeth Banks.com.

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