Easter Decoration - Easter Witch for the Window

Next weekend it is Easter and for this post I made a fun Easter Witch decoration to hang in my kitchen window :)
In Sweden some people celebrate Easter the Christian way in remembrance of Jesus Christ's passion, death and resurrection. However, in recent times, the Passover for the common man have lost much of its religious content and has become a secular family celebration were old folklore, ancient Nordic traditions and Christian traditions are all mixed.

"Easter witch" is according to old Swedish folklore, witches who traditionally fly on brooms to Blåkulla, the Brocken, on the night before Maundy Thursday to feast and then return on Easter Sunday. According to Wikipedia, ever since the early 1800s it is common in Sweden that children dress up as Easter witches, knocking on the doors in the neighborhood wishing everyone "Happy Easter" while giving away homemade cards and drawings. In exchange they get some candy or pennies. 

In Sweden we also put birch twigs in a vase and decorate it with colorful feathers (the twigs are initially connected to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, and the palm leaves sprinkled in front of him on the ground).

        
When I was a little girl my mother made a little Easter Witch like this and I remember it very well always wanted to make one for myself one day. Well this was the day - or days - because it took me about three days to make it from start to finish. 

I will not make a tutorial for this doll but I will give you all the parts you need to make it. You will need:

• Pantihose for the head
• Cotton wool for the head filling (my doll's head diameter is approx. 5cm)
• Needles
• Yarn for the hair (Put four of your fingers together and wire the yarn around them. Sew the upper loops to the head. Cut the lower loops to get single threads. 
• Sewing thread for eyes, mouth and freckles
• Fabric for the dress (the fabric I used you can find at Fabric-World or in Sweden at Ohlssons Tyger)
• Fabric for the headscarf (a triangle) and the apron
• Fabric for the body and arms (my doll's body is approx. 10cm *5cm)
• A branch (about 20-30 cm) for the broom handle
• Small twigs for the broom bristles cut in 7 cm length 

Green Short Sleeve Blouse

I found a lovely fabric last week, a green one with tulips called "Tender Tulips" from Soft Cactus. It is a really happy pattern that makes me think of spring and summer and because it is so nice I thought long and hard what kind of pattern I would use to make the best out of it. I thought of a skirt at first but then it might be nice with a blouse... Finally I decided to make a blouse and I found a pretty blouse pattern in Burda Style 5/2014. The model is quite straight in the waist area and it has some wrinkles on both right and left chest and on the back. It is a cute model and I will definitely use this pattern again! :)
As usual I started to follow the pattern instructions step by step but when I got to the neckline I had trouble understanding the instructions. I read it over and over again (maybe I had a bad day or maybe I was just tired) so I gave up and skipped the instructions and did my own thing haha! I think it turned up pretty well and I actually think it is my best work of sewing I have ever made! Hurray!

Lemon Cake with Raspberry/Blueberry Jam and Vanilla Custard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELICA'S HANDICRAFTS - ONE YEAR HAS PAST!

Oh, I can't believe that the blog turns one year this weekend! It has been a wonderful year and I have blogged about many new projects. This year has made me realized that I actually can finish things and not just start them! As you probably have experienced this year I try to do different projects from week to week so you readers get variation. I hope you have enjoyed the past year's posts and keep coming back and always feel free to give me a comment :) As a birthday present for the blog I have started a Instagram profile today named angelicashandicrafts where I will start posting pictures of projects and other things regarding the blog - I hope we meet there!

For this week I made a birthday cake for my blog, I wanted to make it in many layers and I wanted to make all the parts by myself and not use any semi-manufactures.
The cake contains three layers of filling; two layers of homemade blueberry/raspberry jam and one layer of homemade vanilla custard.

Lemon Cake with Blueberry/Raspberry Jam and Vanilla Custard

Garnish
5 dl whipped cream
Red food coloring
Sprinkles

Homemade bluberry/raspberry jam
250 grams frozen raspberries
250 grams frozen blueberries
1 deciliter sugar
Sheet of gelatin (optional)

1. Let the berries thaw and become soft in a sauce pan on medium heat while stirring. 
2. When the berries are soft you can use a spoon or a masher to crush the berries.
3. Add sugar and let the jam simmer for about 15 minutes.
4. If you want you can add gelatin sheet, follow the instuctions on the package.
5. Put the jam into the fridge to cool completely.

Vanilla Custard
2 deciliter milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

1. Put all the ingrediets, except for the vanilla sugar, into a sauce pan.
2. Whisk until you get a smooth batter.
3. Heat on low to medium heat while you continue to whisk constantly until the custard is firm and fine in texture. The custarn must not boil!
4. Stir gentley and add the vanilla sugar.
5. Let the custard cool and keep it in he fridge until making the cake.

Lemon Cake (make TWO of this!)
3 eggs
2 deciliter sugar
1 deciliter wheat flour
60 grams potato flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Juice and grated lemon zest of 1/2 lemon

1. Put the oven on 175 Celsius.
2. Grease and bread a spring form diameter 20 cm.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar until the batter is light and white.
4. Mix flour, potatoflour and baking powder and then stirr it into the egg batter.
5. Add the lemon juce and the grated lemon zest into the batter. 
6. Pour the batter into the spring form and bake in the loer part of the oven for about 40 minutes (but use a test stick to see when it is dry.
7. Let the cake cool in the form and then take it out and let it rest on a grid.

Assembly the cake
1. If the two lemon cakes are rounded on top, even out with a knife. Cut both cakes in two so you get a total of four cake layers.
2. Put the first cake layer on a cake stad or a plate and spread half of the blueberry/raspberry jam on it.
3. Add the next cake layer and spread all of the vanilla custard on it.
4. Add the next cake layer and add the rest of the blueberry/raspberry jam on it.
5. Add the final cake layer.
6. Whip 5 the cream and add a few drops of red food coloring to make it pink.
7. Use a spatula to spread a layer of pink cream all over the cake.
8. Use a piping bag to make decorations on top and cover the cake with sprinkles!

Tip: I made the jam and the vanilla custard the day before I made the cake - good to divide the various stages and not do everything at once!

Eye Mask

Sometimes I think it is difficult to fall asleep when it is not completly dark in the room. The issue is quite small in the wintertime because here in Sweden it can be dark from 15.00-09.00 but now when spring and summer is coming it will be a bigger issue - at least for me. One thing I have discovered these past few years is a sleeping mask that covers the eyes making sure all light is getting away from the eyes. The mask helps me to relax and makes it easier to fall asleep. For some time now my eye mask has been ready for the trash can because I have used it so much and today I finally made a new one of some left over fabric :)

I used my old mask as a model for the new one and I will give you my steps to the final result by drawings.

I used a patterned fabric with cute flowers for the outside and a solid black fabric for the inside closest to the eyes. For the edging I used white satin ribbon (approximately 3 cm wide) to make the finish a little more glamours :) The stripes around the head is stripes of white cotton fabric.

You will need:
1 piece 21cm*10cm patterned fabric
1 piece 21cm*10cm black fabric
2 cotton fabric stripes 3cm*40cm
1 satin ribbon 3cm*45cm
White thread

Fold the long edges of a fabric stripe into the middle of the stripe and iron it flat. Fold the stripe in the middle on the long side and iron it again, see picture below:

Use this technique for both the cotton fabric stripes and the satin ribbon.

Here is the pattern you need for the eye mask. Print it or draw it by hand. Make sure you get the right measurements.

Make sure the black fabric is thick enough so the daylight does not get through.

Let the front sides of the both fabrics face eachother.

Turn the mask inside out and iron it flat. Fold satin ribbon all around the edges and sew it into place.