What I want to recycle next

I have a tshirt and 4 placemats that I need to do something with. Suggestions? I also have a lot of mdf and ply wood etc to play with.

I warn you - I have a staple gun, and a hot glue gun, and a sewing machine, and I'm not afraid to use them.

I'm going to use the placemats in something, and I have a heap of cork rounds that I want to decorate for the walls that are blank, cream, dull and ENDLESS in this house.

I also have wall plugs so I can hang some of the heavier items. Three have had the glass in them broken after falling off the wall, so I need to replace that glass as well. I used one frame for my FIL's 60th birthday gift:

Wantage and todoage

I am big enough to work out the difference between "need" and "want" so here is a list of things I want (and won't go out of my way to buy but keep coming back to wanting):

• Knitpicks interchangeable needles - I have some Denises but I dislike them as the plastic flexes when you use them
• Jigsaw so I can cut things up - I have a heap of mdf that I want to make things out of.
• Steam mop for the floor of doom (big house = lots of floors).
• SLR camera
• cutting board for sewing
• overlocker
• body form
• this pattern:
  

Things to do around the house:

• Decorate the purple table some more. I'm working with Eve to develop some decals for the table and it is so exciting!
• Make some new curtains for the back area.
  The walls are painted in Pantaloon which is a yellow based paint and the curtains are a revolting gold colour and they clash and they are BORING so I want to update
• Make some foot pooffs for the placing of feet on. Chez Larsson has inspired me to change some of our milk crates into foot stools.
• Tie backs for the curtains in the kitchen. This will involve improving my crocheting skills though.
  
  
• Sort out superannuation
• Harrass the gym to refund my personal trainer $$
• Go to Hobart, Melbourne and Bendigo!!!! Which is where I am at the moment btw...
  
• Organise the spare room for our housesitter
• Paint the chest of drawers that currently hold my stash
• Finish Sabrina
• Paint the little chest of drawers that holds our IT stuff
• Paint the mdf bookcase that I've had for since 19mumblemumble - I'm thinking white
  

Flowers and tools

Why is it that every new hobby I want to start, or interest I have, requires me to buy new tools? Yeesh. I've started some gardening and now I consider it probably necessary to replace the watering can that is cracked at the bottom, and with cake making I feel that I would like things to make decorations with. And to learn to make pretty flowers like frangipanis.

It comes back to priviledge in my mind, something which Kate at Craftastrophies has had me thinking about more recently. So many things with crafting come with priviledge, a surprisingly difficult word to spell. Here are a few:

• Access to skills through books, internet, shops and so forth - I don't have to find an artisan to teach me, or work it out for myself.
• I can read. I have experience with the technology associated with accessing information. That makes it very easy to just decide, on a whim, to learn how to do something.
  
• I have time to do these things - it is not taken up acquiring energy, water, healthcare, education etc.
  
• I also have money to do what is basically entertainment - it's certainly not a crucial life skill.
  
• It is socially acceptable for me to do what I want with my time, money and self, and it is not dictacted by my gender, class, caste or religion.

Cake stands and so forth

I found a great post the other day for a cake stand making tutorial and wanted to archive it here for future reference. I have been working on my cupcake recipe and wanted to write that out here too! With some photos for decoration.

Basic vanilla cupcake recipe
125g butter (I use salted butter bought in a block)
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp Queen vanilla bean paste with vanilla seeds
1 1/2 C self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 C milk
1T milk

Have the butter at room temperature then beat it with the sugar until it is paler than originally. Add the vanilla (you can use 1 tsp vanilla essence instead) and one egg and beat well. Add the other egg and beat some more. Remove the beaters and grab a spatula.

Sift in 3/4 C of flour with the extra self raising flour. Add half the milk and mix gently through. Add the remaining flour and fold in gently. Add the remaining milk from the 1/3C and mix in. The mix should hold a peak but not be too stiff - add a smidge more milk if you need to get it to "plopping" consistency.

Half-fill cupcake liners in your patty pan and bake at 180-190C for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on them - they are done when slightly golden brown on top. Remove from over, remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

Some notes on ingredients:

• I'll never ever go back to imitation vanilla essence. If you're going to bake, please use the best you can find. I love the paste I've linked to and while it's expensive, I use 1/2 the recommended amount for a recipe and it gives such an amazingly real, vanilla, homemade flavour. It also adds extra liquid to the mix which tends to keep the crumb happy.
• Use the best ingredients you can find. Cake making is about making love in little patty cases so don't scrimp on it. I use generic sugar, but I do use the best flour I can find at the time.
• Play around with patty liners and pans. I like the stiffer paper ones rather than the really cheap thin ones. I also love love love individual silicone ones that you remove afterwards - great for mini bite sized ones! I tend to fill 12 of the paper cases and then use the rest of the mix in the silicone cases.
  
• Use good eggs. I use free range ones locally produced and bought. I find that battery hen ones are pale, insipid, and watery. Yuk.
  

Icing: Ok I'm not the most sophisticated cake maker and decorator yet. But I love making them and icing them. I colour my icing because it adds something extra to the whole experience. My basic icing recipe:

1T salted butter
a dash of lemon juice
a dash of hot water
icing sugar
food colouring

Put the butter in a small bowl. Add a heaped teaspoon of icing sugar and mix in. Add a few drops of lemon juice and mix in. Add more icing sugar and mix in. Add a dash of hot water and mix well. Taste. If it's not sweet but it buttery, add more sugar. If it's sweet and only sweet, add more lemon juice. If it's too lemony, add a smidge more hot water. Colour and apply.