Simple Summer Holiday Sprinkle Cake

Whenever I think of this cake, I think of the summer holidays. I make this every summer when looking for easy baking to do with my two little ones. It doesn't require any fancy ingredients and is a perfect way to fill up an afternoon. Here's how to make...

You'll need -
110g/4oz Self raising flour
110g/4oz Caster sugar
110g/4oz Softened butter
1 tsp Baking powder
2 Large eggs
Juice of half a lemon (Half if its a fresh one, the whole thing if its been in the fruit bowl a while)

Pre-heat the oven to about gas mark 4. Grease and line a cake tin, I use a loaf tin.

Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter, baking powder, eggs and lemon juice. Beat everything together until light and fluffy, make sure the butter is a room temp before you start it makes a massive difference to the fluffiness of the cake.

Tip everything into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until the cake is golden and firm to touch - if you put a skewer into the centre it should come out clean.

Leave to cool.

I always do the icing by eye - add a few tablespoons of sifted icing sugar to a bowl and slowly add the juice of a lemon until its runny but not liquid.

I like to add my cake to a pretty plate before spreading the icing over the cake and adding sprinkles.

DIY - Jewelled Hair Clip

This jewelled hair clip DIY has been on my share list since March, with summer speeding away I thought it's about time I got it up here. It's a really simple DIY hair clip that uses up a craft stash and recycles old jewels creating a brand new piece to bedazzle. I only had a quick nap time to put this together so didn't take step by step photos but I did talk through how I made it on Instagram Stories (see jewel hair clip, in highlights). 

This is a super project for using up odds and ends - here I've mixed sequins with broken pieces of jewellery and jewels that needed a new home. I used a glue gun to attach everything to a simple hair clip (I used a plain one from Accessorize - they don't have the one I used online but this is a similar style). I started with the sequin leaves and then placed the central jewelled flowers and added everything else around it. If you don't have sequin leaves, you could cut leaves from leather or just stick to jewels for a smaller clip. 

If bright isn't for you it would work just as well with more dusky autumn tones or metallics. I've been busy harvesting strawflowers so would be really tempted to make a clip using dried flowers, perfect for any weddings coming up. 

Moodboarding - a wonderful creative practice

For the last instalment of my Summer Table I want to share how I prepared. A large part of me feeling more confident in my photography and styling is all down to the planning and preparation. An exercise that I spent my college years doing was creating moodboards, whilst I regularly pull boards together on a whim with stuff I have have close by as a creative excerise, using them to prep a project has enabled me to see how I want a shoot to develop with clarity rather than closing my eyes and hoping for the best! 

Moodboarding with real "things" whether they be magazine tears, objects, books or fabric swatches means that the final result is multi-layered and unique rather than relying on the algorithms of Pinterest and Instagram to produce almost identical images for "inspiration". Whilst they definitely have a place, I've spent many (maybe too many?!) hours on both these apps I find their perfect squareness can get into my head. For me the "journey" of finding what ignites my inspiration and having contact with physical items means I feel so much more connected to the final images and they become a true representation of the ideas and concepts I have in my head which in turn makes me stand behind them proud and with a confidence to say this is "me!"

Before shoots, I pull images and items that conjure up a feeling or have a composition, colour combination or an element that I want to include in my styling and photography. I start to lay everything out on the floor and layer and move things around until I am happy with everything. I then take a simple snap on my phone to serve as a reminder on the day and gather all the props in a big basket and write a list of anything I need to make/do. When it comes to shooting as I tend to work from my house, I work out where I will take the photos and when the best light is in that space. From there its a simple case of organising childcare (!) and letting my eyes and instincts take over. Sometimes the final images aren't exactly as I imagine them but they always contain the elements of my original inspiration. 

If you're not planning a photoshoot this weekend, no me neither! Moodboarding is a great way of taking time out for yourself and connecting visually with what you love. I often make them at the beginning of a new season when I want to visualise how my days will look and feel. I pull recipes and styling ideas for my home, colours I might want to add to my wardrobe or even plants to add to my garden. They are such a great activity to undertake, I've totally fallen back in love with them, have a great weekend. x 

You can find the rest of my Summer Table posts below. 

Party Under the Pear Tree a Celebration Table with Talking Tables

Classic Sponge cake with Eton Mess Filling

DIY - Ribbon and Cord Rustic Garland

Le Jardin du Marche, Ile De Re

Hello! If you are on summer holidays, I hope they are going well. I was so nervous about them but I'm leaning in to a slower pace of life and I have to say I'm enjoying it (so far)! 

I want to share this dreamy space with you today, if I was to describe my ideal shopping destination - Le Jardin du Marche would be it. Nestled on the outskirts of Ars-en-Re it is the perfect blend of rustic wood, blue skies, plants, my favourite roses (Eden 88, if you're wondering) and a whole lot of gorgeous Moroccan homeware. I love places like this - full of their own personality and full of inspiration to bring home. The lovely lady who owns it, kindly let me take some photo's whilst I visited. I hope they convey the spirit of the place and if you're passing make you stop off and explore - be warned you won't leave empty handed. 

Direction details here 

DIY - Ribbon and cord rustic garland

Time for another instalment of my Summer Table - let’s make! This ribbon and cord tassel garland really pulled all the elements of the table together and I’m happy to report it wasn’t hard to do. I started making it one afternoon whilst my babes were pottering in my craft room not with the intention of using it for the table but when I started gathering all the details, it just worked. I’ve written over the last year or so about using up my craft supplies and this project really used up my ribbon stash and started to make a dent a ball of string that I acquired from an old work colleague (thanks Carmen!). Before buying new materials I really encourage you to look at your supplies, is there fabric that could be turned into ribbon or something you’ve been saving for best that really needs it’s chance to shine? The time to use it all is right now! All the steps are below, happy making! 

You’ll need - cord or string and lots of different colour ribbons. I've had this thick string for a while but a 6mm natural macrame cord would also work. 

Step 1. Cut a long length of cord/string for your base. Mine was about 5m long (the final length was about two metres), the length will be determined with where you can attach the ends to create a taught length to fix the ribbons too. Tie each end of the string to a fixed point so that the cord can be held tight when you add the ribbons. I attached mine to hooks on either side of my craft room but tying between two chair backs or fixing to a door handle and chair could work too.

Step 2. Cut lengths of coloured ribbon approx.50 - 60cm long - don't worry if they are not exactly the same length as you'll be giving everything a trim up at the end. I choose a warm colour palette of pinks and yellows, mixing as many different textures of ribbons as I could.

Fold your ribbon lengths in half, place either behind or in front of the main cord, tuck the ends through the loop, pull tight-ish over the main cord to hold in place. Keep going until you have filled about two metres of cord covered leaving space for the neutral cord (this final length will depend on where you are hanging the garland). 

Step 3. Cut lengths of cord approx 50 - 60cm and loop them in between the ribbons. To make it look more wild I unravelled the cord at the ends.  

 Step 4. Trim so all the ribbons and cords are the same length. Hang and enjoy!

Recent work for Bear and Bloom

This year I’m definitely feeling the shift in my confidence and mindset towards my creative work. I’m trusting myself so much more and learning to trust the flow of life has me where I need to be. As much as possible I’m toning down the noise that says you should be doing things in a certain way (although it still catches up with at times) and really listening to my instincts when it comes to how I should work. A big part of this shift has come from collaborations, I’ve loved teaming up with ladies who inspire me so much and make my work so much better.

One such lady is the immensely talented Victoria, who runs the magical Bear and Bloom. She hand paints all her own prints and with some clever work in photoshop layers them to create to the most fantastical prints. Designed for little ones I think they work just as well for adults - mixing animals, mermaids and painterly blooms. My brief for this work was to style some bedroom nooks that the wallpapers could be added too later on. It turned out better than I could ever imagined and it was such a pleasure to work with such a genuine and talented soul, there is so much copy and paste creativity out there - a true original is hard to find.

Take a look at the Bear and Bloom shop and Instagram feed to see the final images - so good! 

If you want to work/collaborate with me don’t hesitate to get in touch - I’d love to hear from you.

Traveling - Ile de Re with two small children

Our two week holiday to France feels like a lifetime ago but I really wanted to share all about our trip as when I was searching for information I couldn't find much on the beautiful island of Ile de Re. As information was short we didn't really know what to expect when we drove over the bridge from La Rochelle but we were greeted by blue skies, soft white sandy beaches and the prettiest French towns I've ever seen. We had eight days on the island which seems a long time but we learnt on this holiday that pacing ourselves leads to a more enjoyable experience. We drove from the UK, catching the ferry from Dover and breaking the journey up with an over night stay in Alencon and then travelling onto our favourite Glampsite for a few more days . There was so much to see and do we're definitely planning a return trip as we only scratched the surface of what Ile De Re has to offer. There is so much to cover from favourite towns and best beaches to what worked for us as a family with young children, I've broken it all down below...

Beaches - The beaches on Ile De Re are some of the best we've ever visited, they are the kind of beach you expect to fly around the world to see, instead of driving from the UK.  Our favourite beach was Plage Trousse Chemise (above pics) at the very top of the island. We visited on a cloudy day and had the whole place to ourselves - we paddled in the sea, collected shells, played mermaids. It was idilic, there was also a toilet and good car park which helped. 

Our other favourite beaches were Plage Gros Jonc, near Les Portes-en-Re - it was great for swimming and had a loo. Plage du Peu Ragot at Couarde-Sur-Mer - it had a loo and a snack bar and a brocante! Plage de la Basse Benaire at Sainte-Marie-de-Re - it was wild and had a loo, if you're cycling, cycle to the beach don't park in the town. 

Personally we'd give Plage des Gollandieres at Le-Bois-Plage-en-Re as miss, there were too many english people for us and the toilet didn't work! 

On the map the beaches look close to the towns but they are about a 15 minute walk if you park your bike in the centre of town, fine if you are just with adults but with little ones and no pram and a whole lot of beach stuff the distance makes things hard work. It's also worth noting that there aren't many places to get drinks or snacks at any of the beaches, it keeps them gorgeous but with little ones it just means additional prep and more to carry! With children under five I'd say drive to the beach and cycle to towns, don't try to do both.

Above, the beach and brocante at Couarde-Sur-Mer

Towns - Each town seemed more beautiful than the last, the island became a blur of grey, green and turquoise shutters each one becoming a favourite. Not realising the size of the island we stayed in the capital Saint Martin de Re, it was lovely but not really us with two small children. If it was just Dan and I or a weekend with the girls it would be perfect - a picturesque harbour, bars tucked away in courtyards and amazing definitely not child friendly shops. It was also incredibly expensive, we knew it would be but totally under estimated by how much, it was also really a really hard place to even pick up basics like milk and cereal. It's definitely worth a visit as the more we were there the more we liked it but it wasn't the easiest place to settle as a family. Our accommodation was good but not worth sharing -we didn't consider camping as an option before we went but after exploring, it's definitely something to put out there. 

Our favourite town was Ars-En-Re it had a good mix of shutters, shops, a harbour and a fab market with a gorgeous vintage carousel. The overall place had a much calmer vibe and is well placed to get to the beaches at the north of the island. If we come back we'd definitely stay close by or in Les Portes en Re although we only saw the outskirts, it seemed a great little town with a more 'arty' feel that seemed to suit us. 

For Children - My two are happiest when we keep it simple - a morning at the beach, an afternoon in the pool we did however come across some real gems. There was the prettiest park in the world to the right of the harbour (if the the harbour is in front of you) in Saint Martin de Re, it was so clean, spacious and the light was just dreamy. Also in Saint Martin de Re there was a vintage train and carousel which they loved, I'm not sure what time it opened/closed but we went early evening and managed a few loops on the train before it closed. There is also a vintage carousel at the market at Ars en Re with a children's entertainer, the ride goes on for ages - three goes and I reckon you could cover the market.  For an ice cream La Flotte was my favourite town, smaller than Saint Martin the queues were shorter and the streets were quieter for a wander, ice cream in hand. 

If I'm talking about children's activities then I have to mention bikes - bikes are a big thing on the island. Dan cycles everyday so he didn't find them a hassle where as I did. Once we got going on the cycle paths it was really easy to cycle around the island but I found they added extra pressure to the holiday. They were fun and it was amazing to cycle through vineyards and fields full of poppies with swallows swooping but if we go again I would only hire for a few days and just cycle rather than combining with a trip to the beach. If you have older children that can handle a ride by themselves ignore my advice and cycle everywhere! Our favourite cycle path was heading up out of Saint Martin along the coast and then down towards Couarde. 

Shopping - In many ways it was lucky that Stanley and Milly were with me on this trip because I could have gone craaaazy with shopping. If I were to describe my style as a road trip from the UK to Morocco via Paris, Ile de Re had the French Moroccan part nailed. In Saint Martin there are two main streets leading down to the harbour full of gorgeous French boho goodness, wander and you'll find plenty to make your heart flutter. I'm not sure of the shops name but in it I came across the delicate wire work of Astrid LeCornu - so beautiful, I'm dreaming of a wire wreath someday. In Saint Martin tucked away in the walls of the city there was an amazing concept store called Magasin de la Republic, expensive but really inspiring. My favourite of all was just on the outskirts of Ars en Re - Le Jardin du Marche was all I could ever want in a shop - Moroccan homeware and beautiful plants (theres a post to follow so will share more soon). 

I have to talk about Brocantes, there seemed to be plenty about and I managed to visit two  - the site Brocabrac was so useful in finding Brocante days. Just add the dates and town you're visiting and the closest markets will pop up (Ile de Re falls under area 17 on the list). Due to space/bike restrictions I kept my purchases small but if I had a house to refurb and a van, I'd be well stocked! 

The hardest part of the trip for us was finding good food options, although we were staying in a self catered apartment - it didn't lend itself to staying in. Most restaurants opened for food at seven but with two young children it felt late and dinner was often a hastily eaten affair, with a sound track of Peppa Pig. To be fair even if we were to eat at 5 in the UK I think we would be still be rushing but these things are important to mention when travelling with young ones. 

For us as a family we really look forward to our summer travels, with lack of time together one being one of our biggest stresses having shared experiences away from the everyday is so important. As parents its time catch up, learn and grow - being out of the comfort of normal roles and routines can bring its own challenges but working through them and finding our flow makes everything worthwhile. Seeing the world through Stanley and Milly's eyes, watching them discover the world and develop their own take on their surroundings is one of the best feelings and I feel so incredibly lucky that we get to take them us.

If you're looking for a gentle adventure close to home then I really recommend Ile De Re, it feels like a beautiful secret but one I don't mind sharing. Happy Summer! x