Sponsor Teen Granny in January 2012!

As December comes to an end (sob), I also have to say goodbye to my lovely sponsors this month. December was my first month with sponsors and not only was it fun but it also introduced me to 3 blogs I had never seen before and am now a regular reader of. 

If you run a blog or a business and would like your button (advert) to appear permanantly on Teen Granny for the whole of January you can purchase a space for just £10 a month. As well as having your button up for the whole month I will also do a special blog post dedicated to my sponsors. Advertising on Teen Granny is a great way to get new, fun people reading your blog and I would love to have you on my page!

185x140 pixel size ad

1 Month (December) = £10

Your ad will be displayed at the top of the right sidebar

I will also do a whole post dedicated to my sponsors!

If you are interested please email scarlettcurtis@mac.com and I will tell you the easy details of how to sponsor me. 

January is going to be a great month for Teen Granny as I'm going to be doing lots of craft to get over the fact that Christmas is over! I was also given my very own pink sewing machine for Christmas so there will be lots of posts on my attempts into the sewing world. 

Happy 3rd day of Christmas.

Love Scarlett.

x

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake... OH YES!

That's right, your eyes are not decieving you, your stoumach is not grumbling for no reason, this is a salted caramel chocolate cake! The reason I was able to take a picture of it and it was not gobbled up straight away is because I have baked it for my godfathers son's birthday which is tomorrow (how are we ever going to wait that long). His mum told me his favourite cake type was chocolate but I have baked enough chocolate cakes this year and decided to make this one a bit funner.

I googled 'salted caramel chocolate cakes' and found this one by Hannah Obee. However the recipe is described as being a sophisticated chocolate cake and I know that little kids hate nothing more than a 'sophisticated cake' (corgette cake I'm talking about you). I decided to use the caramel topping for the Hannah Obee recipe but use this BBC Food recipe for the cake and ganache. I added salt flakes to the ganache to make it tie in with the caramel. I'm pretty sure this was the best chocolate cake recipe I've found so far. It's really easy and lots of fun and very moist (ew I hate that word). 

If your wondering why I have made such a scrummy cake for my godfathers son it's because not only is he a very lovely boy but also him and his family gave me this BEAUTIFUL wool for Christmas! It's god tiny crocheted flowers and bits of tinsel sewed into it! I'm so excited about making something with it, maybe a laptop or phone case? 

The whole baking experience was made even better by the fact that Sophie Hannahs 'A Room Swept White' has come onto audiobook! YAAAAAAAAY! I listened to it while was baking and I already love it. 

Being the overkeen baker that I am I actually took a video of the caramel boiling because I thought it looked so beautiful! 

I hope everyone is having a lovely 2nd day of Christmas!

Love Scarlett

x

A Merry Christmas Quilt

Ah! You have NO idea how hard it has been not to talk about this before! But I am so proud (a bit too proud actually) to finally be able to do a post of my quilt! I have been making this quilt for what feels like forever (but was probably actually a few months) to give to my mum and dad for Christmas. I wanted to blog about it so many times but due to the fact that my mum and dad are regular Teen Granny readers I thought it was best to keep it secret. 

The whole quilt making process began all because of the amazing person that is Cherry Menlove! Her blog is my absolute favourite and I was lucky enough to get to meet her a few months ago when she came over to talk to my mum. To my huge surprise she then sent me a box of the most amazing fabrics you have ever seen in your life and that was when I decided it was finally time to make my quilt. 

I used Cherry's How to Make a Patchwork Quilt Tutorial which is completely brilliant and useful and has tons of pictures. To say it was an easy process would be a bit of a lie but it was definitely not as hard as I thought. There are lots of steps so I made sure to just do a little every day instead of rushing it all and getting too frustrated. I picked a Cath Kidston spotty blue backing fabric which I love and used a very nice thick wadding on the inside. 

My mum and dad loved it which was in the end the whole point and I'm so proud of it I sometimes just go upstairs to look at it and give myself a little pat on the back. On the day when I finished it I was so happy I just lay down on top of it on the floor for about half an hour. 

As you might suspect Posy is a big fan of the quilt as well. I had to keep chucking her out of my room whenever I was working on it as she would try to chase the ends so I think she sees it as her rival for my attention. 

We had the most wonderful, lovely Christmas EVER! (although I'm sure everyone elses Christmases were just as lovely). We spend Christmas every year with a huge group of our friends so there were 30 of us around the Christmas Lunch Table. I wore a huge purple tutu all day and as you might be able to tell from these pictures I got a new camera which I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

I've been snapping away on it all day and took this picture of our Christmas tree and this one of a very grumpy looking Posy. My favourite bit of the day was that whenever the dog came onto the screen in Downton, Posy would run around the house barking and trying to find the beautiful white dog to play with... she never found him. 

I was also given the big responsibility of making our Christmas Cake! I made Nigellas Chocolate Christmas Cake and used an ice cream cone covered in icing to make the tree on top!

I hope everyone had an amazing christmas too and that Boxing Day is going well so far! 

Lots of Love Scarlett. xx

p.s. I set Cherry a little snowman to say thank you and to my delight she put it on her blog!! YAY!

3 DAYS TO GO - Posy's Stocking

One of the biggest things of my year has been my puppy Posy. Since getting her in June she has made me so happy that I couldn't not spoil her at Christmas :) I've bought her lots of little treats and toys but for her biggest present (which she wont care about AT ALL) I decided to make her a stocking!

I had no idea how easy and fun making a stocking would be. All I did was cut out 2 sock shapes, hem the top edges, sew a big P on one side and them sew them together. 

I have hung the stocking up on my (extremely messy) bunk bed and let's hope that Father Christmas remembers to fill it up. 

Posy got very bored while I was making it and decided to have a little nap. We are staying in the country for Christmas and you know how they always say don't buy a white jumper because you'll get it dirty, well the same applies for dogs. Posy is FILTHY! She keeps pawing at my legs wanting a cuddle but whenever I pick her up shes soaking wet and full of mud. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas Eve Eve Eve.

Merry Christmas.

Scarlett and Posy. 

A Little Bit of Knitting Insperation

Well not only is today a special day because its 4 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS! But it is also my half birthday!!! (which I forcefully make everyone celebrate each year).

I'm going to do a post with lots of Christmassy things I have been making a little later on (once me and mum have finished the Christmas Cake) but for now I thought I would post these pictures to inspire everyone with the Christmas Knitting.

@louisefcampbell tweeted me the link to these photos from the Mochimochi Land Blog earlier and I really couldn't not post them!

I hope everyone is having a lovely day, I'm off to eat some Half-Birthday Cake :)

Love Scarlett.

6 DAYS TO GO - Twit-Knit Club Christmas Pattern

Gah okay so it's 1:30am which means it's technically tomorrow and there's only 5 days to go till Christmas but for the sake of stretching out this blog I'm gonna say there's still 6 days. 

This isn't really a proper pattern because it's so easy but even so here is my pattern for my very own Knitted Paper Chains! 

I made these a few days ago because I love knitting things that should be fragile but then you can knit them and make them last forever! So far I've made 2 and I'm going to try and make a lot more before Christmas. It's a really fun and easy project for even the most begginer of knitters and crocheters and if you like it please tell me.

I have written up the patterns for both knitting and crochet.

Ok so here's the pattern:

Crochet:
1. Chain 30.
2. Single Crochet 3 rows, cast off.
3. Make as many of these as you need for your paper chain.

Knitting:
1. Cast on 4 stitches.
2. Knit until your strip measures roughly 15 - 20cm, cast off.
3. Make as many of these as you need for your paper chain.

Once you have made the right amount (I made 10 for each paper chain), sew your paperchain up by sewing one into a circle and then linking them up and joining the ends together. I don't really know how to word this but it seems pretty self explanatory if you look at the picture! Just leave a comment if you have any questions.

Merry Christmas,
Love Scarlett.

7 DAYS TO GO - Twit-Knit Club Update!

Well, I think it's safe to say that Christmas Twit-Knit has so far been a HAYUGE success. Yup it's actually been such a big success I had to add 2 whole new letters to the word huge. It appears Christmas and Knitting go as well together as Mince Pies and Mulled Wine and every time I get a new picture of what everyone has been making I want to immediatly stop what I'm knitting and copy them! 

To mark Twit-Knit Club Christmas as a big moment I have actually come up with my very own pattern! It's very very simple and silly and easy but quite exciting. To try to stretch out my Advent Calendar I have decided to keep it secret for now and post it tomorrow. For now let's take a look at the AMAZING knitting everyones been doing!

I made this little santa which now lives permanantly on my desk to spur me on during Christmas Craft!

@addiebabe made these beautiful knitted Christmas cards! It's such a creative idea, I really want to try some. 

@bakebakegirl made this ADORABLE Robin! It's face is so amazing.

@goldenblades91 made all these incredible tiny jumpers. Except at the moment they seem to spell MERIRMHR. 

@JennyJHoward made these beautiful white bells.

this is @kateeroberts cat all snuggled up with her tiny stocking. 

@louisefcampbell made the cutest little mummy and baby Robins. 

@Mhairigirl made the most amazing knitted Christmas Pud. I can't believe how cute this is!

@ohdeerlette made these tiny and brilliant christmas toys. 

@threadznshreds made these sweet little robins.

and @vikki_butlin made these incredible penguin decoration!

I hope everyones been having as much fun with this as I have and that it's helping make everyone feel more Christmassy! If I've forgotten to post a picture you've sent me please just tweet me and I will add it immediatly.

Merry Christmas,

Love Scarlett. 

10 DAYS TO GO - Pimp your 2012 Diary.

If there is one thing I love more than knitting, movies, my dog and all the other things I have said that I love, its notebooks, and diarys, and planners and basically anything in that section of Rymans. Theres something about notebooks that just turns me into an overexcited 6 year old whose just been given a Barbie. I love them! Starting my diary at the beginning of the year is one of my favourite things in the world so I thought I would get a head start and decorate my 2012 diary now. It's such a fun thing to do and I reccomend it to anyone who is as notebook crazy as me (I can't imagine thats a huge portion of the population)

I chose a Dodo 2012 Acad Pad for this years diary because I can use it as my personal diary and my homework diary which is very useful.

Someone told me to look at their facebook which had loads of photos of someone who had made the inside of her diary last year look SO cool so I can't wait to get started on mine!

I decorated mine with Pink Masking tape which you get from Paperchase and is amazing for any kind of scrapbooking, card making type things. I also used some sticky back Cath Kidston paper to make little hearts and then printed my initials off from the computer and stuck them on the front so everyone knows its mine! 

I know that decorating my diary isn't exactly the coolest thing I've ever done but it's very fun and I would reccomend it to anyone who is dredding going back to work in 2012!

Merry Christmas.
Love Scarlett. 

13 DAYS TO GO - Yummy Scrummy Caramels

Ok I've probably said this before about recipes but this time I'm SERIOUS! This. is. the. best. recipe. ever. The recipe by Jamie Cooks It up! is for Rich and Buttery Caramels and you can find it HERE.  They are the single most delicious things ever invented and the easiest recipe!

Every year I make fudge but I always use condensed milk which means I don't need a sugar thermometer. The recipe for these just looked too yummy to resist so I decided to overcome my fears and try it! But it turned out it didn't even need a thermometer anyway! Jamie has a brilliant tip to work out when the caramels are ready and it worked perfectly. 

If you've ever been to Melt the chocolate shop, these buttery deliciousnesses (new word) taste almost exactly the same as there wrapped caramels and my little brother even said they were better (proudest moment of life)

                                       

I made them last night while watching X Factor and although the recipe is very quick it does take a while to cut them up and wrap them so Little Mix was a great distraction. Using a tip from Jamie I used a pizza cutter AND scissors to cut them into chunks and this was probably the hardest bit. But still not very hard!

These will make the best present for ANYONE and I would reccomend you make them now! 

Love Scarlett. 

14 DAYS TO GO - Mug Cosy

You know that point in your Chocolate Advent Calendar when you get really hungry and eat the next 5 days chocolates in one helping and then feel very sad and mournful for the rest of the week? Well I'm afraid that moment has come on the Teen Granny Advent Calendar. I apologise greatly for not having kept up with it but half way through my many Christmas crafts I realised I had coursework and christmas presents to deal with so now might not be the best time to be up at 3 in the morning making snowmen. But I am back! And although I may not be as regular as I was at the beginning I shall still be doing a countdown to the wonderful miracle that is Christmas. 

Todays post is about... MUG COSYS! 

(Check out the Christmas Pyjamas) 

Mug Cosys are the most brilliant things for many a reason:

- they keep your tea warm

- they make sure your hands don't get burnt (you need those hands for knitting and unwrapping presents)

- they look lovely

- instead of having to wait for your favourite mug to come out of the machine, you can just slip your cosy off and on and make every mug your favourite mug!

I've been making LOADS of these recently and once again, if your  a realation of a friend of mine PLEASE FORGET YOU EVER READ THIS! 

I found the crochet pattern here on ravelry but used a snazzy velvet button instead of a wooden one. 

I hope you like my mug cosys and are feeling very festive this lovely Sunday. 

May your tea forever stay cosy!

Love Scarlett.