DAPHNE'S DECOUPAGE EASTER EGGS

Good Morning to you,

Oh dear me, I know, I'm a little late this week, but oh so glad that I have finally managed to catch up with you. 

As you know, this blog is predominantly a cookery blog, with a few other things thrown in for good measure. Sewing, a little home life, travel and the occasional shopping trip.

.... but one thing I have never shared with you.... is crafts.

That is until this week, when I mentioned on my Instagram account, that I was going to create a little Easter something on Ivy, Phyllis and Me! which at the time, felt like a very good idea.

.... and it was, except I hadn't taken into account the time element.

So Thursday came and Thursday went.... and the craft was not finished.

Friday arrived.... and finally on Friday afternoon I managed to  finish my creations.

.... and here we are, on Saturday, with something to share with you.

Now please don't misunderstand, it was not that I did not enjoy making these decoupage Easter eggs, I had just forgotten how long the process took.  I have not made these little Easter Eggs for about 35 years.... honestly it has been that long. 

I used to have fun making these with my daughters when they were little girls. So the length of time it took to make these Easter Eggs, completely slipped my mind.

But now that I am here, I think I had better hurry up and show you how I made these cute little Easter Eggs before another day passes by.

SUPPLIES

YOU WILL NEED

TO MAKE

DAPHNE'S 

DECOUPAGE EASTER EGGS

6 egg shaped polystyrene balls

Pair of sharp scissors

Paper napkins with an Easter design

6 pencils

PVA glue

1 small paint brush

coloured ribbons ~ 1cm in width

and cut into 15 cm lengths

6 pins.

HOW TO MAKE

DAPHNE'S

DECOUPAGE EASTER EGGS

Cut the napkins into 4 cm squares ~ I found it took 6 squares per layer.

Push the pencil about 2.5 cm into the centre of the rounded end of the polystyrene egg. 

This keeps the egg in place whilst you are

gluing the napkin pieces to the egg.

Brush the egg with a thin layer of glue.

Place the first piece of napkin onto the glue

 and brush with the glue brush. 

Don't worry if glue is showing on the napkin, because the glue is clear when it dries.

Continue until the whole egg is covered.

  If you find there are parts of the napkin 

which don't adhere, brush a little more glue onto the napkin.

Repeat with another layer of squares, so that you have 2 layers.

On the 3rd and final layer, tear pieces from the napkin, because you want the edges to be blurred, without

 any lines showing.

When finished layering, add another layer of glue over the finished egg.

Place the pencil with the egg still attached, into a jar and allow to dry.  

Repeat the process with the rest of the polystyrene eggs.

 When each one is finished, place into a jar and allow to dry.

Leave the eggs to dry overnight.

The next day, remove the pencils.... they might need a little tug.

If you find that small pieces of serviette have come away with the pencil, don't worry, you can brush on a small amount of glue and cover the space with a torn piece of napkin.

Place the eggs into egg cups with the hole facing you.

Fill the hole with glue.

Fold your first ribbon in half and pop both ends into the glue, push to make sure they are secure.

Do you see my mistake, I placed the ribbon in the hole with both pattern sides facing me.  Luckily I noticed this in time and corrected my mistake.

I left the mistake, because I felt 

it was easily done and anyway,

it is best for me to be honest

and highlight my mistakes,

which you will then avoid.

Continue to add ribbon to the rest of the eggs.

Leave the glue to dry overnight.

Whilst the eggs are drying, tie the ribbon into bows

then,

the next day, attach the ribbon with a pin as I 

have done in the photograph.

then hang your Easter eggs onto Pussy 

Willow branches

or

if you are lucky enough to have a Forsythia bush

growing in your garden,

then cut a few sprigs and bring indoors.

When I used to make these Easter eggs with

my daughters, I always used

Forsythia, because

it was the first yellow bush to

flower at this time of year.

Add any little Easter Eggs

which you might have
along with a large bunch of Daffodils.

.... and there you have it .... a lovely Easter table decoration.

Now I have to tell you, I did make a bit of a mess, which isn't like me, but I was so wrapped up in what I was doing, that I didn't notice bits of napkin dropping onto the floor.  Not to worry it was easily swept away.

This was so much fun and I really think your children or grandchildren will have as much fun making these Easter eggs.  What I enjoyed was the unexpected results which the design on the napkins created.  The eggs did not turn out as I imagined, but that is the joy of crafting. I loved what I created.

.... and will I be making anymore.... absolutely.  I think I will be 'doing away' with my bought Easter eggs and creating more of my own.

I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Oh and just before I leave you, my featured post this week is Easter Simnel Cake.... a delicious cake which I make each year at  Easter time.

Take care and I will catch up with you next Thursday.

As always,

EASTER SIMNEL CAKE

Good Afternoon to you,

EASTER WEEK

'See the land, her Easter keeping,

Rises as her Maker rose.

Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,

Burst at last from winter snows.

Earth with heaven above rejoices;

Fields and gardens hail the spring;

Shaughs and woodlands ring with voices,

While the wild birds build and sing.'

Charles Kingsley

I love it when Easter arrives, because I know, in the not too distant future, my garden will be full of colour once again. 

The nesting boxes, which George made, will soon be filled with nesting birds, which is always exciting and today I wandered around my garden, to see what, if anything, was growing. To my surprise, I noticed the tiniest of leaves forming on some of the roses, also my honeysuckle is beginning to make headway. I also have Bluebells pushing through the soil ..... not much longer to wait before I have a riot of colour in my garden.

.... and what a treat it will be, when I am able to sit in the garden once more.  To be able to turn my face towards the warm spring sun and enjoy the feeling of warm sunshine on my face. I cannot wait, 

..... I just need to be patient for a little while longer.

I mentioned last week that I was making an Easter cake today,  so I thought I would share with you a cake, which I often make at Easter time,

and one which George loves..... a Simnel Cake.

Simnel Cake, is a traditional Easter cake, but I am not sure if it is made so much nowadays. The ingredients included in the cake, are ingredients, which were forbidden during Lent.  The twelve marzipan balls represent Christ's twelve apostles, some say eleven marzipan balls should be added to the cake (excluding Judas) and others feel that thirteen should be added to include Christ.

Originally Simnel cakes were made for Mothering Sunday. Working children  would be given time off to visit their mothers, taking with them, the gift of a Simnel cake.

I am looking forward to making this Simnel Cake as I love tradition and I love old recipes which I can tweek and enjoy today.

So it's on with the pinnie and the music I am listening to is,

the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald. Ella's voice is beautiful and I can listen to her sing at any time of the day.

Because it is Spring, enjoy,

'Spring is Here'

and

'The Lady is a Tramp'

and

'My Romance'

While I listen to 'With a Song in My Heart' I will gather my ingredients together.

INGREDIENTS

YOU WILL NEED

TO

MAKE

AN

EASTER SIMNEL CAKE

The Cake

225g self raising flour

225g unsalted butter

225g dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

200g glace cherries

100g currants

175g sultanas

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of flour to toss the cherries

The Topping

100g marzipan

1 tablespoon of apricot jam

Pre-heat the oven to 160C

You will need a 20cm cake tin

and 

some parchment paper.

HOW 

TO

MAKE

AN

EASTER SIMNEL CAKE

Butter and line 

a

20cm cake tin

with parchment paper.

Sift together

the

flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger

and

salt.

Set aside for the moment.

Cream

the

butter and brown sugar

until pale in colour.

This took 5 minutes using

my KitchenAid.

Whisk the eggs together

and

gradually add

a quarter of the whisked eggs

to the butter and sugar

and then

a tablespoon of the sieved flour.

(This prevents the mixture from curdling.)

Mix the ingredients together.

Continue in this way until

all the eggs have been added.

Then,

gently fold in the remaining  flour.

Fold in the

currants and sultanas.

Place a tablespoon of flour

into a dish.

Cut the glace cherries in half

and

toss the cherries in the flour

(this prevents the cherries from 

sinking to the bottom of the cake)

then

add

the cherries

 to the mixture.

(Not the surplus flour)

Make sure all the ingredients
are 
incorporated.

Spoon the mixture
into the prepared cake tin.
Make sure the surface is even.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes
or
until the cake is thoroughly cooked.
I use a cake prodder to make sure the cake
is cooked.
 I start checking the cake when it has been
baking for 1 hour 15 minutes.
If the cake browns too quickly, place
some parchment paper or tin foil
on top of the cake to prevent it from browning
even more.

When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven
 and cool in the cake tin
for 15 minutes.
Then
remove the cake from the cake tin
and
place on a cake rack to cool.

While the cake is cooling,

Remove a quarter of
the marzipan from the block
and set aside for the moment.

Roll out the remaining marzipan.

Using the base of
the cake tin as a guide,
cut out a 20cm circle 
from the marzipan.

With the remaining
marzipan
and using your hands,
roll out 12 marzipan balls.

Set aside for the moment.

When the cake has cooled,
brush the top of the cake
with apricot jam.

Place the 20cm circle of
marzipan on top of the cake.
Arrange the marzipan balls
around the outside.
I brush a little of the apricot jam
 at the base of each
marzipan ball.
This helps them to stay in place.

..... now you have free reign
to decorate the cake 
as you wish.

I think I have mentioned before that I collect old cookery books and I noticed in many of the 1950's cookery books, much more marzipan was added to the cake. 

I discovered that half the cake mixture was spooned into the cake tin, then a circle of marzipan was rolled out and placed on top of the cake mixture, then the rest of the cake mixture was spooned on top of the marzipan. The cake was then baked in the usual way. After baking, the top of the cake was still decorated with a circle of marzipan and marzipan balls.  

The other interesting thing I noticed, was once the top of the Simnel cake had been covered with marzipan, the cake was placed under a grill, so that the marzipan and the marzipan balls were brown in colour.

So if you fancy an alternative, there are another couple of options for you to try.

My Easter cake is ready and all that is left for me to do, is to make some chocolate cupcakes for George's nephew, as he prefers cupcakes to chocolate Easter eggs.

..... if cupcakes are what he wants, then cupcakes he shall have.

Have a wonderful Easter and I will see you next Thursday.

This week I will be joining,

Miz Helen's Country Cottage