How to: Dip Dye Denim Shorts

Hey lovelies,

So with my holiday coming up (the one that I'm now actually on) I decided to get a bit creative and taking some inspiration from Kirsty at Bows and Belles and her dip dye denim shirt post, I decided to re-vamp my old and unused denim shorts. They were pretty plain, dark denim and I never wore them so I had nothing to lose if it didn't work. I did it all for free as I just used what I had at home and have to buy anything so it was a really cheap and easy process which only took a couple of hours.

Firstly I cut my shorts as the hems were originally rolled up, so I unpicked the stitching and snipped away until they were at the length I wanted. I then folded the shorts in half and put a clip coat hanger on the shorts at the top so that they were level all the way across the bottoms.

I then filled a sink bowl with two bottles of Domestos bleach ( I did try one but it wasn't enough for how high I wanted the dye to go) and placed the shorts in the bowl so that just under half was immersed in the bleach.

I left them soaking and went back to check on them every 15 minutes or so to check their progress. Altogether it took about 1 hour 50 minutes to get them the white shade I wanted at the bottom. After about 1 hour-ish, it went a light blue which did look nice but I wanted it a bit lighter so left it.

As soon as they were white enough, I placed them in another bowl in the sink and ran cold water all over them before putting them in a bowl of cold water and white vinegar. I used a whole bottle of this to stop the bleach dying and running and then I put them in the washing machine for two washes.

Once they were dry I cut them up a bit more and using a nail buffer I rubbed over where I had cut to give it a bit more of a ragged-y look and hey presto, brand new looking shorts that are much more fashionable than they previously were and for free as all of the bits I needed were already at home.

The finished result...

What do you think of my new shorts? Is this something you'll try at home?

Love 

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How to: Giant Birthday Cupcake ♥

Hey lovelies,

So yesterday was my lovely mamas birthday and next week is my twin sisters birthday too, so as a little joint/early for my sisters treat I thought I'd make a giant cupcake birthday cake. I've seen them in lots of bakeries yet have never actually tried one but I found a mould in a catering shop so I thought I'd give it a try with my boyfriend. Finding recipes for a cupcake that big turned out to be quite difficult as each one seemed to say different amounts and the mould didn't have any instructions on it, so we ended up making it up a bit as we went along and working it out as best we could for ourselves, but luckily it worked and was deeeelish!

Unfortunately I haven't got pictures of every stage because some we got a bit ahead of ourselves and just carried on, but there are a few for you to check your progress :)

What you will need to make the cake we made:

A Giant Cupcake Mould 

250 grams of Self Raising Flour

250 grams of Unsalted Butter

250 grams of Caster Sugar

5 Eggs

4 tablespoons of Milk

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Buttercream fondant icing 

Pink (any colour of your choice) food colouring.

Cake decorations

Piping bag

Preheat oven to 200'c

Step 1: Cream the butter and caster sugar together until a smooth paste is formed

Step 2: Add one egg at a time with a little bit of flour and beat

Step 3: Add 1 tspn of Vanilla Extract and fold in the rest of the flour

Step 4: Add milk and continue to fold until the mixture is more smooth and liquid-y and easy to pour into moulds.

Step 5: Equally distribute the mixture into the top and bottom parts of the mould and place the bottom mould into the preheated oven first for 10 minutes, as this is slightly thicker and needs more time.

Step 6: After 10 minutes, place the top mould into the oven for 35 minutes.

Step 7: Icing - If you're cheating a little with the icing, like us, then pour the buttercream icing into a mixing bowl and add a few drops of food colouring, adding more when required in order to get the colour you desire.

Step 8: When the cake is ready, leave to cool before taking out of the moulds.

Step 9: Using a serrated knife, slice the bottom mould where it has risen, to make a flat surface for the top mould to sit on. Do this for the top mould as well, so that the top sits comfortably on the bottom.

Step 10: If you wish, you can add some of the buttercream icing to 'glue' the parts together like we did.

Step 11: Using a spatula, evenly coat the base of the cupcake in the buttercream icing so that all of it is covered.

Step 12: For the top, using icing in a different colour (or the same if you prefer), pour the icing into a piping bag and ice the top layer in whatever pattern you wish.

Step 13: Decorate the cake using flowers, hearts, sprinkles or whatever takes your fancy and carefully take off the messy icing plate to make it look neater(or just wipe the edges). Now share with the world and enjoy :)

         

Such a simple recipe for something that looks really complicated. I'd say the whole thing takes about two hours though with the decorating being so precise so quite a lot of time and effort is required. :) Happy Baking.

Have you ever made this before? Do you think you'll be attempting this yourself at home? 

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