DIY Bullet Journal Divider Tabs

I've got a standard set of Staples Arc dividers but there's just the five sections and I need at least seven.  

My bullet journal is colour coded.  I've cut a strip of each colour 2cm x 5cm.  Each strip is folded in half and the corners rounded.

I've labelled them with letter peel offs.

And stuck them to each of my section cover pages with two bits of tape.

It's nice to have my colour coding so visible on every page.  Hopefully these dividers will be sturdy enough to last a while.

Coffee and Walnut Cake Recipe

This is a wonderfully moist cake with the perfect texture, crumbly and dense but not too heavy.  It's definitely flavoursome - too flavoursome for me in fact, I'm not a fan of coffee cake.  Hubster is a fan, a huge fan, this cake was made for his birthday.  Thankfully he loves it, he's eaten most of it all to himself as it seems our Smalls agree with me.  

Ingredients:

8 Eggs

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

450g Self Raising Flour

450g Golden Caster Sugar

850g Butter

800g Icing Sugar

200g Walnuts

5 Dessert Spoons Coffee Powder

Tools and Materials:

Method:

Get the cake tin laid out and really well greased with non stick cooking spray.

Mix the eggs, flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and 4 spoon fulls of the coffee.

Get it well mixed.

Then pour half of the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Cook at 180 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes.

Turn the cake out to cool.

Re-arrange the cake tin and re-coat it with non stick cooking spray.

Pour the other half of the mixture into the cake tin.

Cook at 180 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes.

Turn the cake out to cool.

Here's my cooled cakes ready for decorating.

Next mix 800g icing sugar and 400g of butter with a dessert spoon full of coffee.

Beat well.

And spread evenly over the cake.

Crush the walnuts and sprinkle them over the top of the cake.

Like so.

Visit to Kings Gardens, Southport

An impromptu trip to the beach today.  Little Miss got one look at Kings Gardens as we passed and it became abundantly clear that we weren't going to be seeing much else of Southport on that day!!

There's a slid of course

and some quite innovative structures.

And of course a big sandpit.

It's an unusually large adventure playground.

Bribery was needed to get Little Miss to leave.

There's a lake.

And it's as hort walk to the beach which is very shelly - lol, it's covered in lots and lots of broken shells so not great for Little Pickle who's still crawling.

We somehow ended up back at the park on the way home - I'm equally impressed and concerned by my children's negotiating skills.

There was lots more to see and do in Southort, a water park, model railway and a newly refurbished pleasure beach with is free entry so better for younger kidos (I hate the thought of paying for a theme park when I know they'll only go on a few rides).  We'll come back again and see more another day, maybe even stay for a while in the summer.

Burda Sewing Pattern 6911 Entwined Front Top in Black Velvet

I love this pattern, it fits and feels like a comfortable t shirt but the entwined front add a luxuriously glamorous touch that looks fab on a bigger bust.

The pattern is a bit tricky to follow, but I took my time and double checked each step and it came together perfectly.

Tools and Materials:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Fold and press back neck edge strip wrong sides together.

Pin to back.

Clip curves, fold to inside and press.

Top stitch in place.

Pin, sew and serge centre front seam.

Finish edges of self facing and fold along marked line, pinning in place.

Finish edges of seam number 1.

And now it gets confusing . . .

Fold right front along seam 1 and pin, sew and serge in place leaving the slit indicated on the pattern.

Then pull the left front through the slit.  Eeek!!

Fold the sew the front left as for the front right.

Pin, sew and serge side and shoulder seams.

Pin, sew and serge sleeve seams.

Then set in sleeves.

And hem with a twin needle.