Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs

I read this blog post on dyeing eggs using fruits and vegetables and natural foods and so I thought I would experiment to see where they would lead.
In Australia most eggs are brown, so in order to strip the eggs off of the brown pigmentation, you simply boil the eggs in white vinegar till the brown comes off, or if it doesn't, you will see that it becomes a slippery film and you can just rub with your fingers under cold running water, it rubs off easily to reveal white shells.
I hard-boiled my eggs in water before I did the brown-pigmentation-stripping because that way you don't risk the eggs breaking.

I have to say I had so much fun experimenting. Some of the eggs turned out a bit speckled because I didn't leave them in the fridge overnight, I only left them in for a few hours; but that's part of the experiement, and I like the speckled/uneven look as well.

I set them up with some egg cups with tealight candles and egg shells, and a genuine abandoned bird's nest with sugar-shelled choc eggs in a glass cloche pedestal set, all so very eggy themed!

More pictures........

How about some pictures with roses?

And this was supposed to be a post on Easter Eggs Natural Dyes Experiment! I do love playing with roses, don't I? 

That's all for now. Till next time. Have an awesome Easter, dear friends.

Roses and a Laugh!

Hi, dear friends, would you like more roses today?
I'm so glad our roses season are quite long here and they flower 9-10 months of the year!
I've had this pitcher and bowl set for ten years, I bought them seperately and thought they would look great together, they are pretty and rosy. You can click on the pictures to see them more clearly.

Please pardon me, I'm playing with my camera again.

On another note, I go here when I want a laugh. (I've added it to my "Other Lovely Inspiration" sidebar) I get so inspired by the beautiful pictures as well. Hope you'll enjoy the site if you don't already know about it.
Enjoy the rest of your week, till next time, dear kindred spirit.

Peanut Butter Cookies and Kids Boutique

G'day, lovely readers and bloggers, The weather here has been simply Perfect!! Yes, Perfect with a Capital P. We're fortunate our living room has ceiling to floor windows on two sides of the walls, so even when I sit inside, I can open all those curtains and let the sunshine in. Love it. It would be hard for me to live in a dark place. Sometimes my children would think of something I've cooked or made in the past and haven't made for a while and would remind me it's time I did again. These Peanut Butter Cookies were one of those things. They are extremely easy to make. The recipe I use does not use any flour, you can either use crunchy or smooth peanut butter. I used smooth here. Hope you'll try them and enjoy them as much as I did. Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup (260g) peanut butter
3/4 cup caster sugar (or a bit less would be fine)
1 egg, beaten lightly

(1) Combine ingredients in medium bowl.
(2) Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. (Go ahead, use your fingers!) Place cookies about 5cm apart on baking paper lined oven trays, flatten slightly with a fork.
(3) Bake in moderate oven (180 degrees C) about 15 minutes or until browned lightly. Stand cookies 5 minutes before lifting onto wire racks to cool.
**Remember, the longer you bake them, the crunchier they get. So if you like them softer and more chewy, it's alright to bring them out of the oven just before they brown. They will look a bit too soft to handle at first, but give them some time they will harden up.These cookies are so yummy, especially if you like peanut butter. I know at our house, we do! Now I'd better treat myself to a couple of them with a pot of tea before they get completely devoured by ravenous members of the family, wink** I also want to mention how a lady from The Vintage Village. com blessed me by aknowledging my blog in one of her posts. You can read it here. She has an online boutique called Cameo Kids Boutique which sells children's clothing, accessories and unique gifts items made from recycled vintage linens. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you go and check it out, here . Absolutely gorgeous things! To Felicity Anderson: Sorry for my oversight and haven't answered your question till now. The answer to your question is in the Comments part of that post. Thanks.

Friday Show and Tell

Friday has come round again so quickly, Show and Tell always reminds me of the time when my kids were much younger, in the first few years of their schooling, they used to have to take something from home to school to show and tell. By the end of the school year, they would be scratching their heads trying to come up with something new and fresh to take and show the class. But Show and Tell is nonetheless a wonderful way kids learn public speaking, curb their stage fright, (if any) and show their thought processing skills. Well, fortunately with our Show and Tell, I'll have neither public speaking nor stage fright to worry about, and I don't think I'll run out of things to share either. Today I'd like to show you some vignettes I created with roses and some simple props I used from around the house. These oil and vinegar set and the white coffee mug are some of my favourite things. I just love the style! The candlesticks are old old ones which were painted white and distressed, excellent props for adding interest! This potpourri pouch is a gift from my sister, it usually hangs on one of our door knobs. So precious and pretty! These fabric hearts were given to me eons ago by a dear friend, I've since had to change the cord as the old one broke, I replaced it with a string of pearls. Little birdies like this one is simply gorgeous! And a Scabiosa for you to say adieu and happy weekend. Please visit Kelli at There's no place like home to see other show and tells, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Roses used here: Jude the Obscure (apricot), Radio Times (pink) and non rose Scabiosa (lilac perennial)

Rose Wednesday - Black Forest and Roses

For Rose Wednesday this week, I'd show you roses and something sweet. It was darling hubby's birthday last weekend and I made him my version of Black Forest and Cherry Cake.So in my "good" blogger style, I should take some photos of it, shouldn't I? However, in my bad blogger mode, I managed to forget a photo with candles on the cake without everybody in it. When you have cake, you have to have tea or coffee! Teacups and saucers with roses on them make drinking tea so much more.......aesthetic, poetic, romantic.........you name it!Couldn't do without fresh roses, could I? Got the roses to pose for me, And the little homemade wreath............ It's Jubilee Celebration (the rose's name) fit for a Queen, I mean a King,......... I mean it was birthday celebration fit for hubby darling..............(All these roses, teacups and saucers and wreath was just me playing with the camera though, hubby and children looooved the cake, haha!) Please don't forget to mosey along to Jan and Tom's Place to visit her and some other treats on Rose Wednesday. Happy Rosy Day to you! Alright, the recipe of the cake, here it is:
You'll need:
1 packet choc cake mix (370g)
1 and 1/4 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 can Pitted Black Cherries
1 tablespoon caster/baker's sugar
1 tablespoon corn flour
600ml Thickened Cream or Whipping Cream
A handful of white choc and and two handfuls of milk choc melts (Use good ones)

(1) To make chocolate cake: I cheated with White Wings Moist Choc Cake Mix this time, you can use any brand choc cake mix. Bake according to manufacturer's instructions but add 1 and 1/4 teaspoon of cocoa powder into the mix to make it taste more real and chocolate-y. Pour into two baking paper lined round (20-23cm) cake tins in equal amounts. The time of baking required will probably be half of the instructed time because of the smaller portions. You'll need to keep checking them. They are done when skewer inserted comes out clean or centre is firm when touched.
(2) To make Cherry Filling: Drain the can of cherries, keep the juice, cut cherries in halves, set aside. Put juice in a small saucepan, add the caster/baker's sugar and corn flour, stir till well mixed. Cook over moderate heat while stirring till it thickens and appears shiny and like jam. The longer you stir the thicker it gets. Turn off heat as soon as you get to the consistency you want. The consistency should be not so runny that it'll run down everywhere when sandwiched between the cakes. Cover to cool.
(3) Whip the cream.
(4) To assemble the cakes: Simply put one cake on whatever you'd like to serve it on, spread the cherry filling on top (use all of it), then arrange the cherries neatly(not too close to the sides) on top of that (use all of them too). Put the other cake on top to make a cake sandwich.
(5) Using the whipped cream, cover the whole cake, you can be creative here and pipe the cream on if you like. I simply scooped the whipped cream on with a tablespoon to achieve a more relaxed look. (6) To make shaved choc: Stand a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with boiling water, stir milk choc till it melts. Spread melted milk choc out onto a baking tray (don't use non-stick tray) evenly like a sheet. Repeat with white choc and spread white choc on another tray or on top of half of the milk choc. Let it cool and when it's hard enough, scrape out choc with an ice-cream scoop and sprinkle onto the creamed cake. Mmm! Divine!

Reflection and Award

Windows and mirrors can give you surprises sometimes. To see something face to face and in real life is something, but to see something reflected onto a piece of glass then onto a mirror on the opposite side of the glass is truly something else. Here is the mirror.......... Now let's zoom it in a bit...............A bit more...........And a bit more..............Here are the glass doors on the hutch of the kitchen dresser....... I was pleasantly surprised by this sight one day when I noticed it. But hang on, that mirror is not facing the garden at all, how did it get the view? The answer is this view below is facing the glass doors on the hutch of the kitchen dresser, so the mirror is reflecting off what is on the glass doors and Bingo!- Garden in the mirror! I love noticing small details like this. I've also been honoured with this award by Jan at Jan and Tom's Place, thanks heaps, Jan. I've actually got it for around two weeks now, but haven't had the opportunity to attend to it. The rules are I need to list 5 things I value and 5 things I don't. Here are the 5 things I value: (1) My relationship with God/The privilege of being a child of God (2) My relationship with hubby and children and family (3) My relationship with my church family and friends (4) Forgiveness and righteousness through the blood of Jesus (5) To be appreciated The 5 things that I don't value: (1) Any mockery of God and Jesus (2) Slandering (3) Unruly behaviour - e.g. people carrying on after drinking alcohol and taking drugs (4) Complaining (5) Jeolousy and hatred Now I'd like to pass this award on to Mama Bear from Love Bears All Things. Hope you are all going to have a wonderful week. Till next time!