No-sew Easter table runner (from Pin to win!)

I have close to 4,000 pins on my many Pinterest boards. Most of them I have pinned with the hope that one day I will bake, make or recreate them.... but that day never arrives! Until now!

I pinned this table runner (which I love) a good while ago and today I decided to make it!  I wanted to give it my own spin (but you can get the original instructions here). So I made it with pretty spring-like floral fabrics, I am not going to pretend this a tutorial, it's more like vague descriptions and pretty photos, but hopefully it is clear enough to help you recreate it , if you want, and why not add your own spin. 

As it is no sew, I didn't hem the runner, just tell people that it is 'rustic'. My runner is 40cm x 190cm, I made it long enough so that there is a slight hang over each end of the table.

Begin by making the pom-pom tails. Trace the pom-pom maker template onto very thick card and cut out. Wrap wool around the ears. 

Tie a length of wool around the middle, take the pom-pom off the bunny ears and cut the edges. You may need to trim the pom-pom.

Choose your fabrics for the bunnies and iron them flat. I used bonda-web to attach the bunnies to the runner, it is also called wonder-web, but it may be called something different in other countries. It basically fuses two fabrics together. 

Trace the bunny template onto the bonda-web, I had six bunnies on my runner, but you could have more, or less. Roughly cut out around the design then iron the bonda-web onto the fabric. Peel off the backing and then iron the bunny onto the runner.

Finally use the glue gun to attach the fluffy tails.

You can right click on the image above to download the template as a jpeg, or download a pdf here.

Then add some flowers, fluffy chickens and gorgeous props and voila! a very pretty Easter table.

xxx

ps You can follow me on Pinterest here.

Happy Easter

A very Happy Easter to you all!

Christ has risen!

Today instead of chocolatey goodness I thought I would share some photographs of my garden.  It has been a glorious Spring this year, and my garden is looking so pretty.

My chive flowers from the fabulous Reilly and Moss are about to burst open!

The shell was a Christmas present made by my Dad.

Have a lovely Easter day.

xx

More Easter Inspiration

Egg and photograph by Fantasticakes

I love this idea for decorating Easter eggs, it's one of those "now why didn't I think of that?"   Such a simple, yet genius idea. Just take an Easter Egg add some fondant and voilà!

   I think the 'Gruffalo' one is my favourite, all three eggs and photographs above are by Jen's Cakery. 

Another gorgeous egg from Fantasticakes.

 If I find time hopefully I can make my own version for my Easter table.

Book Club Cake of the Month...March

This month we were reading 'The Breaking of Eggs' by Jim Powell.

It is about Fascism and Communism in 20th Century Europe, a part of history that I know a little about, but was interested to learn more. So I did enjoy that part of the story.  I also liked the fact that the characters in the novel while complex were still  sympathetic and likeable.  Don't you find that in much of modern literature many of the characters are truly repellent, mentioning no names... (The Slap!)?.

However, while we all found the book enjoyable, for some reason the story didn't stay with us, it had no real impact.  We marked it an average of 7.5, with those who had just finished it giving an 8 and those of us who had read it a few weeks before scoring 7.

We found that our discussion of the book wasn't the the most vociferous we have had, as we all pretty much agreed on everything, but, of course, we didn't sit in silence as the wine was flowing.

.

So now the cake!  Well there is no mention of any cake in the novel at all, can you believe it?  What are these writers thinking off?  The title refers to the saying 'you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs'.  So I googled omelet cake and they were all savoury, which may have been nice but you can't beat something sweet..

Then I remembered one year when I was a child and my Mum made me a special Easter treat.

So last Thursday I arrived at my friends house with a basket full of eggs.

They were very intrigued, and, when the eggs were turned upside down....they were full of ganache.  My fellow book clubers also wondered how I just happened to have a nest lying about...well, who hasn't?

You can blow the eggs but I just chopped off the end with a knife so there were no tell-tale holes on top. I also washed the shells in soapy water and then sterilised the insides with boiling water.

I make my ganache by using equal weight of chocolate (no more than 51% cocoa or it separates) to cream, ie.100g chocolate, 100ml cream.  Boil the cream and then add the broken up chocolate, stir and then beat until the chocolate has melted and the ganache is glossy. Pour or spoon the ganache into the eggs and place in the fridge to harden.
These would make cute Easter gifts, especially if you can find a handy nest to display them in.

xxx