FREE STUFF

GIANT PAPER POPPIES



These stunning giant flowers look fantastic in bunches and can be made to any size. They are great to use big as party decorations, or make in a smaller display for a table.
Using the templates below (enlarge them depending on the size of poppies you are going for) for each poppy cut out five petals from red card, two stamen from black card and two leaves from green card.


1. Concertina fold the petals lengthways about three-quarters of the way up. Make sure the center fold is in line with the slit and is a valley fold, in other words it folds inwards.

2. Flatten the petal folds out slightly. To make the petal 3D, overlap the base of the petal where there is a slit. Staple in place. Repeat for all the petals.

3. Staple three 3D petals together in a rough triangle, with two close together and the third slightly on its own.

4. Then staple the remaining two petals either side of the single petal.

5. To create the stamens, fold where marked on pattern and glue one to the other in the middle, make sure the stamens stalks alternate. Glue this to the middle of the poppy and gently curl the ends using a closed pair of scissors or your fingers.

6. Glue the stamen into the centre of the poppy. Then fold each petal out and curl at the top.


Spray paint your bamboo cane green and allow to dry. Score the leaves down the middle and with hot-glue gun fix them to the cane.
Attach the poppy head to the stem using strips of gaffer tape. Cut four strips of gaffer tape. Cut four strips and stick first three along the underside of the flower down onto the bamboo cane, then the final one wrap around the others to secure. Try to do this as neatly as possible.
For a magical finish, sprinkle with red glitter sleepy dust…




RAINBOW CAKE!



This cake is the perfect centrepiece to any party; make this for someone's birthday and take great delight in the surprise on their face when they cut the first slice! 


INGREDIENTS

For cake350g/12 1/2 oz, self-raising flour
350g/12 1/2 oz, caster sugar
350g/12 1/2 oz, unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large egg whites
200ml milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
3tsp vanilla essence
Violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red natural food colouring

FOR FROSTING AND DECORATION

400g/ 14oz, full fat cream cheese
100g/ 3.5 oz, unsalted butter, room temperature
250g / 9 oz sieved icing sugar
2 teaspoons lemon flavouring
Plastic side scraper
Jelly diamonds

You will need one or more 8inch round cake tins

Serves 8-12

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 355°F/ Gas Mark 4. Line the base of your tin with baking paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg whites one by one, then the vanilla essence.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add this in three parts to the butter mixture. Finally add the milk.

Divide the batter by 250g/ 9oz into five bowls, for each of your cake layers. Using a few drops of the natural food colouring in each bowl, evenly blend your cake layer colours.

Bake the layers, ideally 2 at a time for 10-12 minutes or until bouncy to touch. Allow to cool fully on a wire wrack.

TO ICE THE CAKE



Blend the cream cheese and the butter, mixing well so there are no lumps. Add the icing sugar, then the lemon flavour.

Place your bottom layer on a sheet of baking parchment, ideally on a spinning cake wheel, a large flat plate or a card cake base. Spoon a large blob of icing on top and smooth down. Repeat this for all the layers until you reach the top.

It is best to crumb ice the cake; this is an under layer of icing to catch all the loose crumbs and leave you with a better finish. Spoon your icing on top and spread evenly down the sides, using your scraper smooth the icing turning your plate or cake wheel as you go. Leave in the fridge for at least 30mins before you repeat the process for your final layer.

Finish with a circle of multi coloured jelly diamonds.




THE WONDERFUL WIZARDS HOT AIR BALLOON MOBILE



It makes a beautiful alternative to a mobile in a bedroom or if you make lots of them they can be a stunning aerial display over a wedding or party table. Here’s how you make it …

YOU WILL NEED

Various sheets of plain and patterned scrapbook paper: For the largest balloon, you will need enough sheets to cut 30 x 26cm diameter circles (the balloons work best if the paper is all of a similar thickness.)
Craft knife or pair of scissors
Pinking shears
Double-sided adhesive tape
Hot glue-gun or superglue
Coloured or metallic embroidery thread
Gems, buttons or paper shapes for extra decoration
Bradawl and cutting mat
Strong thread, such as a button or bookbinding thread
Large needle
Invisible fishing wire

TO MAKE THE BASKET

For the basket base, draw an 8.5cm diameter circle onto a sheet of paper and cut out with an extra 1cm all the way round. Score around the drawn circle with the blunt edge of a craft knife or pair of scissors. Make small snips into the outer 1cm, about 5mm apart, around the circumference of the circle to make little tabs. Fold these tabs upwards.
For the basket sides, cut a 30cm x 6cm rectangle from the same paper. For a decorative edge, use pinking shears. Place double-sided adhesive tape along one long and one short edge of the rectangle. Peel off the backing papers. Join the sides to the base by fixing the rectangle to the cut tabs of the circle, pressing down each tab. Once attached to the base, press the short edges of the sides together to secure.



To decorate the basket cut swag shapes from thin paper, score through the middle of the swag and pinch together slightly to give a 3d effect (the book has a template for the swag, maybe you should buy it here!). Using a hot glue-gun, fix the swags evenly round the basket so they just touch, about 1cm down from the top edge. At each point where two swags meet, glue a 20cm length of embroidery thread (these will attach your basket to yoiur balloon so make sure they are going upwards!). Cover the joins with a decorative gem, button or paper shape.


TO MAKE THE BALLOON

Cut out 30 – 40, 26cm diameter circles from various coloured and patterned papers. The more circles you use, the fuller the balloon will be. For smaller balloons, use fewer paper circles.

Fold each circle in half. Make two equal stacks of semi-circles. Place the two stacks next to each other to form a whole circle. For the stitching guide, measure and mark the points 4cm down from the top edge and 4cm up from the bottom edge of each semi-circle. Make another mark 2cm further in. Repeat at the middle.



Take one of the stacks and unfold the circles so they lay flat with the marked circle facing upwards. Using a bradawl and a cutting mat, make holes at each mark through all the circles of paper. (For the hanging loop, using a bradawl make a hole 1cm down from the top edge of each stack of circles.) Using strong thread and a large needle, stitch the circles together. Repeat for the second stack of circles. Place one sewn stack on top of the other and stitch together to make one big stack. Make sure the first half of the circles bend one way, then the second half bend the other way. Run a length of invisible fishing wire through the top hole. Suspend your balloon at a height
where it is easy to work with. The paper leaves will naturally fan out to create a sphere. Fix the basket to the balloon by stitching through a different paper leaf for each string. Spend time finding the right leaves so the basket hangs straight. You can temporarily fix the basket strings in place with glue dots whilst experimenting with different positions. If you want to add a tail then cut a length of thread and decorate with bows or bunting.



Hang from the cealing, have a little sit down and watch the balloon sway in the breeze…


If you’ve enjoyed this make, please feel free to share it but please mention Everything Oz, The wizard book of Makes and Bakes by Christine Leech and Hannah Read-Baldrey published by Quadrille when you do.

And if you want 48 other such lovely projects head over to Amazon.http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1849491186/?tag=everalicbook-21 Right. Now.