Personalised Keepsake Boxes

Hi Everyone

Let's talk Keepsakes!  What lovelier way to store all your memorabilia and personal keepsakes than in a personalised box, which in itself is decorated to reflect personal favourite characters, flowers, hobbies and special colours.

A few years back, I was approached by a friend, with a plain wooden box and asked if I could do something with it, so that it could be given as a gift to a special family member.

I hadn't thought about doing something like this before so, as with most things in my life, I said yes and then set about learning how to do it justice.  Here is that first ever Keepsake box, one of many now!!

"Beatrix Potter"

Of course that opened up the floodgates and since that very first box I have produced a variety of different boxes all unique to each recipient.

"The Construction Box"

I was amazed at the list of things people stored in them but I think the most important thing in all of this is that each one is totally unique and I have found them to be especially popular for people keeping memories of past and present loved ones for the younger generation.  Photo's, medals, remnants of teddies and special baby clothes, premium bond certificates and collectors stamps and coins.  Letters are a good one, full of sentiment and truths, personal love letters, timeline letters being left to a surviving child or friend.  

"Alice with an Environmental Twist"

I remember last Christmas racing against a deadline to produce 4 boxes all for the same family so with a general theme but each slightly different.  I personally loved the Steampunk, Clocks and Watches theme and had a lot of fun putting them together.

Painting and Decorating

It's always worth remembering that if you are using a light coloured paint, there is the risk of bleed-through from the wood so I always use a Shellac Based Primer which will prevent any tannins from the wood bleeding through.  I would suggest something like Zinsser Primer which is not particularly nice to apply and will need a light sand between coats but it is good and I use this on my furniture as well, because of it's reliability.  I purchase a lot of my painting supplies from My Paintbrush Decorating Supplies, they are always so prompt and very helpful if ever you need advice.  

I tend to use a variety of paints depending on what shade or colour I am trying to achieve but my go-to's are Vintage With Grace and Dixie Belle All In One, both these brands give a fantastic coverage and the depth of colour with just a couple of coats is great.  If you are going for a blended look then the Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint is great for achieving this effect.  If you are local to East Sussex you could try the lovely Angie the owner of Fantissimo, who has a great range of paints and products available in her incredible shop.   I have included the links where you will be able to find local stockists near you.  To be honest a tester size pot is more than adequate to complete a box so if you want to attempt your own box then don't waste money on buying full size tins of paint.

For decorating I use a mixture of Decor Transfers, WoodUbend Mouldings and huge amounts of Re-Design with Prima Moulds that I make up myself using resin, my favourite Resin is Amazing Casting Resin which turns white and cures in 10 minutes (N.B. or less, you need to work quickly! always be totally prepared before mixing).  

Moulds, Transfers and WoodUbend

More recently, I have been learning how to produce my own Decor Waterslide Transfers which are incredibly simple to make, even if they are a bit fiddly.  I particularly like this idea as you are able to reproduce images and wording from any source and print them yourself using just a simple Ink Jet Printer.  

(I will cover making Redesign Moulds, using WoodUbend and Transfers in other blog posts at a later date, contact me if you would like me to cover anything else to do with the boxes.)

At present I am working on an Alice In Wonderland Box.  I particularly love this design and I love the gorgeous colour "Bewitched" by Vintage With Grace which goes amazingly well with the colours in the Dixie Belle Transfer I am using.

A work in progress!

I honestly had no idea how this would grow and at one stage I said I'd never do another, they really are a mission of mercy.  But here I am still painting yet another!

If you would like to purchase a Personalised Keepsake Box then click this link Drewsan Home and we can discuss what colour and design you would like.

If you have any questions or want to comment please pop it in the comments sections and I'll happily get back to you.

All the best

Nicky 😊

PANCAKE DAY!

 Hi everyone

How could I not enjoy a few pancakes on Shrove Tuesday 2023!! Of course I couldn't, so I have prepared a few little videos and bits of info for you to enjoy while you're munching your way through your own yummy pancakes later.

For today's recipe I have chosen to cook American-Style Pancakes which are my favourite and very simple to make.  I thought I would share with you my recipe and show you how to make your own, I am really happy to be using my Thermomix this year which I will be blogging about in a few weeks time, don't worry though you can still follow my recipe with a normal food mixer or hand whisk and the results will be just as delicious 😋

Menopause Tip:  If like me, you are powering your way through the Menopause, then any opportunity to add a measure of collagen to my diet is a great benefit, so I replace a small amount of the flour with my Correxiko Marine Collagen (unflavoured) and you would never know!

Also - There is a fabulous offer of the Lisa Snowdon Glow Box available at Correxiko sponsored by their brand ambassador Lisa Snowdon, still running at the moment, so be quick if you are interested in trying out the Correxiko Marine Collagen, as the Glow Box is filled with loads of products, information and a fantastic recipe book all for the incredible price of £59.00 (Usually priced at £120.00).

Lisa Snowdon Glow Box - Correxiko

Recipe and Method - American-Style Pancakes

Ingredients:

50g Unsalted Butter, plus extra for frying.

300g Milk

2 Medium Eggs

30g Sugar

200g Plain Flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder (15g)

1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt

Preparation:

(If using your own mixer or whisk just replace Thermo Instructions with your own method of whisking till light and airy)

1.  Place butter in mixing bowl and melt (2 min/70℃/speed 1).

2.  Add milk, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt then mix (10 sec/speed 5).

3.  To cook pancakes, heat 1/2 tsp butter in a frying pan over a medium heat.  For each pancake, pour in a ladle of batter and cook for 1-2 minutes or until bubbles appear on surface.  Flip pancake over and cook for a further 1 minute.  Transfer pancake to a serving plate and cover to keep warm.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve hot.

Utensils:

Measuring cup, hob, frying pan, fish slice, ladle.

Serving suggestion:

Lemon and Sugar, Maple Syrup, Honey, whipped cream, chocolate, caramel sauce, fruit/berries!! 😋

A brief history of Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)

Traditionally the feast day before the start of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday.  Lent lasts for 40 days and finishes at Easter.  The name Shrove Tuesday originates from the Anglo-Saxon Christian tradition of going to confession and were "Shriven" (absolved of their sins). The ringing of a bell called the "Pancake Bell" was rung to call the people to confession and is still rung today.

The need to use up ingredients such as eggs and fats before beginning Lent was probably why the delicious pancakes, that we still make today, were derived.  A pancake being a thin, flat cake made of butter, eggs and flour and fried in a pan.  The traditional English pancake is very thin and served immediately with syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar or any other fruits and toppings that wet your appetite. 

The tradition of "tossing/flipping" the pancakes was begun at the same time to prevent the cake burning. 

"and every man and maide doe take their turne, and tosse their Pancakes for feare they burne." (Pasquil's Palin, 1619)

The ingredients for the traditional Pancake are symbolic and of significance to represent this time of year:

EGGS - Creation | FLOUR - The Staff of Life | SALT - Wholesomeness | MILK - Purity

In the UK we love a pancake race and this forms an important part of our  Shrove Tuesday Fun!  Generally, gatherings are organised, often in fancy dress, to race each other up and down the streets while tossing their pancakes.  The idea is to cross the finish line first with your pan and pancake in tact!!

Well I hope you have enjoyed the blog, it would great to hear your comments, recipes and pancake race news below or just say hello, thanks for joining me.

All the best

Nicky 😋