DIY handpoured soy candles

                                

I have been really excited to share these with you: my handpoured and scented soy based candles! I have been making candles for a couple of months now, in the thought that one day in the near future I will have a stall at the local markets selling them with my best friends succulents. I have always loved candles but didn't love the effects wax like parrafin wax can have on the environment, so I found soy wax. Soy wax has a much cleaner burn and is made from the soy bean so it is all natural. You can make your own candles into motives, pillars, tea lights or in glass jars which are my favourite! I love the vintage feel candles have when they are in random jars and glasses. They just look amazing and add such a rustic vibe to your house. You can also have them scented any flavour you want, which makes them perfect for gifts as well. 

                          

The candles I made for this post are made in small glass bulbs which I bought online from a supplier called Aussie Candle Supplies. Also from here, I purchased the soy wax and cotton wicks. The many fragrances I have collected over the past few months have been from various places but there are so many out there, they aren't hard to find. I have found it is important to use fragrances rather than essential oils if you want a room-filling scent. 

 For these small bulbs, they only use about 150grams of wax each, which I melted down in an old saucepan and heated to 85 degrees. As it hits its peak temperature, I added my fragrance (vanilla, coconut & raspberry) and mix. Then its time to pour the melted wax into the bulbs. 

There are many different techniques to hold the wicks into place. You can use glue spots to keep them steady, use wooden chopsticks or even spoons. I find the using string secured with tape works the best as it doesn't result in crooked wicks like using a spoon can.

Once you have poured and secured, its important to let the wax dry for 24 hours before burning them. I decided to dress mine up a little bit for gifts so I used some left over fabric and twine. I was very pleased with the results!

                                 

 Happy Candle Making!

Friday Favourites

Today's theme is flats from Modcloth. It was so hard only choosing five!

1.

 'Heart to Miss' flats by Jeffrey Campbell on shop Modcloth

 2.

'We Really Mesh' on shop Modcloth

3.

'Anything you Tweed' on shop Modcloth

4. 

'Anniversary Party' flat on shop Modcloth. Also available in black.

5.

'Whisker Down The Lane' on shop Modcloth

I hope you enjoy the shoe candy as much as I did. Happy Friday!

 ♥ Katie Lou



Finals are over and now its time to bake.

Boy does it feel good to be back on here again!

I have been studying non-stop for the last week in order to prepare for my final exams and have had no time to do anything other than eat, sleep and study. Today is my first day exam-free and I have been dying to bake me something yummy, quick and easy! Because lets face it, all I want to do for the next week is stay in my pyjamas all day and catch up on all the television shows I have missed (ha ha!). Cookies were the obvious choice for me, as when you are low on supplies, money or time cookies are such a good solution as they cook in a matter of minutes.

                                                 Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients                                                                     Cooking time: 12-15 minutes

-180g unsalted butter, softened                                          Makes: 12 large cookies

-¾ cup (120g) brown sugar

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2 eggs

-2 cups (300g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

-1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted

-150g chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Add the flour and baking powder and beat until a smooth dough forms. Fold through the chocolate chips. Roll 2 tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper and press to flatten. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on the trays.



Happy Thursday!

 ♥ Katie Lou

Finds of the day.

It's been a sit under your doona with a nice hot cuppa' kind of day. 15 degree weather and miserable looking skies means its perfectly fine for me to do some online shopping.. right? I found so many fab things, I had to share.

I've been a fan of Princess Polly for a while now. Here are some of my finds from their website.

                                      

 Meow clutch by Princess Polly

Knot It necklace and Lime Tree earrings by Princess Polly

Hallelujah Playsuit by Princess Polly

Summer List Tshirt by Wildfox for shop Princess Polly

I have only recently discovered ModCloth thanks to Elycia at Love Elycia. It's full of the latest indie and vintage style clothing and has a huge online selection. Here is what I found.

Cat Eyeglasses By Louche on ModCloth

Picture This Sweater by Yumi on ModCloth

Pretty Possibilities by ModCloth

You Lucky Dog Sweater by Louche on ModCloth

You're Kitten Me Wedge by ModCloth

My final find was on Etsy by the shop My Cozy Mug Sweater. These are just too cute, I want to try making one myself.

I hope everyone else's day was as productive as mine (haha!). Happy Wednesday.

♥KL

Chocolate lovers :: chocolate whoopie pies!

Today I made chocolate whoopie pies and boy are they delicious. It's the first time I have ever tried them and they are SO easy! Why did I wait so long? Here's the recipe I followed by Katrina Woodman for Taste.

Whoopie Pie Ingredients                                                   Difficulty: Easy
125g butter, softened                                                         Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
3/4 cup caster sugar                                                           Makes: 22 whoopies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract                                 
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup Nestle baking cocoa
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
extra cocoa powder, to serve

Frosting cream Recipe

300g butter, softened

2 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted

1/2 cup Nestle baking cocoa

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 4 large baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl.

 

Add half the flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir to combine. Add half the buttermilk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk until just combined.

Drop level tablespoons of mixture onto prepared trays, 5cm apart, allowing room for spreading. Bake, 1 tray at a time, for 10 - 12 minutes or until puffed and cooked through. Stand on trays for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining trays.

Make chocolate frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat butter, icing sugar and cocoa together until pale and fluffy. Sandwich level tablespoons of frosting between cakes to make 22 whoopie pies. Serve dusted with extra cocoa powder.

Happy Baking!

♥ Katie Lou

Super cute (and easy!) DIY mini succulent garlands

I have been dying to try out my own DIY project on something I have seen a lot over the past couple of months on some of my favourite websites like Etsy and Pinterest: garlands. 

My mum gave me some succulent cuttings from her garden on the weekend and I decided to try it out and make 'mini garlands' for my little succulent collection from things I already had lying around the house. They are so simple and easy to make, and I think they look fab!

Here's what I used:
- left over fabric I had lying around the house (because I was only making mini garlands, I didn't end up needing much at all!)
- wooden skewers
- a bit of thread
- glue

Here's what I did:
- dependent on the height of my succulents, I cut the wooden skewers down to my preferrable size. I have placed them just on the inside of the pot in the dirt to keep them stable and so I can remove them when I water these bad boys.
- next I cut a piece of thread approximate to how long I thought I would need, with a little extra for tying it around the skewers.
- by now, I had two wooden skewers placed in the dirt with thread tied between the two. Now for the fun part! I went through my favourite fabric scraps and cut out little triangles (making sure I had folded the fabric in half before cutting, for when I place the triangle on the thread).
- I used items I had at home and without buying anything else, so I used some glue to keep my triangles together. If I were to make these again, I would buy a needle to sew the triangles together onto the thread. Wah-lah! They are done.

These took me about 30 minutes to make all three. How easy is that? I didn't follow any particular instruction set, I just used what I had and how I knew they were made and went with it! I think they are the best kind of DIY's, when you see something you love and make it your own! What do you think of my creations?



Garlands are becoming more and more popular for Weddings, Birthday Parties, Baby Showers and even just to hang in your rooms. Here are a few of my favourites and where I got my inspiration from.

Vintage Bunting by A Fete Beckons on Etsy

Shabby Chic by Berry Ala Mode on Etsy

The Bella Garland by LePetite Fest on Etsy

Lovely Summer Picnic by Mara May on Etsy

Bunting by Vintage Green Limited on Etsy

I'd love to make some of these full sized garlands too so I think a visit to the fabric store is required, yippee!

Happy Monday,

♥ KL

Lazy Saturdays

Yesterday I spent some time at my mum's place catching up and enjoying a sunny, but COLD autumns day. Boy, oh boy, was it cold! I've recently discovered how to do panoramic shots on my phone so I couldn't resist taking a shot of my mum's backyard.

This was taken from her back verandah. It's one of my favourite places. The trees provide so much shade and amazing shadows everywhere it can be magical.  

My sister owns a cat named Bane. She rescued him as a stray and absolutely spoils him rotten. He is about one year old now and has recently been taking little walks around the yard. He's an inside cat and this gives him a chance to eat some fresh grass (which we cat lovers all know is the best way for them to get up those disgusting furballs.. gross!) and a little bit of freedom.

It was nice to spend my Saturday doing nothing but photo-taking, cat walking and spending time with my family. Happy Saturday!

♥ KL