My process of card making for my Etsy shop to produce unique cards from original engraving prints. Over the last couple of months I’ve been putting my time into creating original products for my Etsy shop which will be up and running soon. I’ve had a lot of fun creating eco-printed silk scarves and hand-made…
Making in Portugal
Preserving our harvest – DIY sun-dried tomatoes
How we have been sun-drying our cherry tomato harvest. To preserve our tomato harvest I’ve been sun-drying some of our cherry tomatoes. It’s been a very hot summer over here, so we have been hiding from the sun between noon and 4pm. Our garden has also been suffering in the heat, but our tomatoes have…
Eco-printing silk with flowers and leaves
Making wonderful unique eco-print silk scarves from flowers and leaves. This summer in our area of Portugal the flowers have been stunning, but sadly they don’t stay for long. Wandering through our garden and fields where lots of wild flowers grow always makes me eager to do more eco-printing, and my favourite is to eco-print silk…
DIY winter rosemary wreath
It’s been cold and rainy in Alentejo today so I decided to cheer up the house by making a simple DIY winter rosemary wreath. I love using rosemary for all sorts of things. The rosemary I planted a couple of years ago is doing really well so I decided to make a DIY winter rosemary wreath…
Creating an outdoor shade for the terrace.
We created a simple but effective outdoor shade for our terrace, with a bit of imagination and work! It’s been a seriously hot summer so far here, with temperatures getting up to 45°C. One of the big drawbacks of our house is it sits on an exposed hillside and we get full sun from dawn to…
DIY facial recipes
There’s nothing quite like taking the time to pamper yourself. These homemade facial recipes are so quick and easy to prepare, there’ll always be time to relax! In the summer my skin can really suffer from the high temperatures and dry atmosphere, so it’s important to give it a treat every now and then. Out…
Make a pretty periwinkle wreath
How to make a pretty and simple periwinkle wreath. Our garden is still a work in progress. When we arrived here it was completely wild and unkempt. We’ve been getting it into some sort of shape over the past few months; clearing the terrace outside the house, weeding and replanting the flower beds, cutting back the grass…
Homemade orange cordial recipe using no citric acid
A simple recipe to make delicious orange cordial from fresh oranges. This is my orange cordial recipe using no citric acid. We are still dealing with a glut of oranges over here. Despite making quite a few jars of old fashioned english marmalade, I still had a lot left over. I decided to try my…
DIY fabric Owlies
Make these wonderfully simple and very sweet little DIY fabric Owlies. Last year I wanted to make some fun Christmas decorations for a craft stall, and came across images of these lovely chaps on Martha Stewart’s website. Unfortunately I couldn’t access the DIY fabric Owlies tutorial so I had a go at making my own…
Super simple melt and pour orange and jasmine soap
Making melt and pour soap, scented with orange and jasmine essential oil, is incredibly simple. I love scented soaps, and used to enjoy buying nice soaps in the UK. However, shopping opportunities are very limited around us here. We have 3 small local stores within about 15 minutes’ drive, or we do the hour car run to…