Shabby Chic Tricks....Kitchen/Dining Area

Please welcome guest blogger Jo-ann Fortune from Vintage Brighton.com who shall be writing two posts for my blog on a subject and style I love. In her first post for my blog Jo-ann shall be offering up cheap and easy tricks to help introduce a sprinkling of shabby chic style into your kitchen and dining area. Keep an eye out for Jo-ann's second post, which covers idea's for your living room and bedroom, and where also there shall be the fantastic opportunity to win a Jan Constantine Love cushion from John Lewis. So Jo-ann, over to you....

TABLE DRESSING....Wipe clean vinyl table cloths are not only practical but can help transform your kitchen or dining area at low cost. Look out for cute dog prints, vintage-feel floral fancies and Fifties' polka dots. And if you need a change of scene, simply swap the skin on your tables 

KITSCH 'N CAKE.... Whether you're queen of the home bake tea party, or just love a shop bought cupcake and cuppa, kitsch crockery is key to the shabby chic look. Collect old and new single colour pieces for a clean look - you can't go wrong with country-cottage white - or go eclectic with mix and match vintage style patterns and prints. Cake stands make the perfect showpiece in your kitchen, and when you're not entertaining can be used to hold sweets, keys or anything else lying around! They also make great jewellery stands.

GROW YOUR OWN.... Even the smallest flat can accommodate a herb box, and the introduction of live greenery in your kitchen will instantly soften a modern-day interior. As a general rule with shabby chic style, think vintage or re-worked rather than new, so dig out distressed plant pots with chipped paint, up-cycle pots with pastel paint testers or drill holes in old tins. You can also use taller retro receptacles as flower vases.

SCREW-ON STYLE.... Add fun shabby chic touches to tired chest of drawers, kitchen units or any old furniture with screw-on door handles. At only a few pounds each, you can try out different designs to help decide which one shall work for you.

 PAINT-BOX PRETTY.... Take a leaf out of Cath Kidston's book and update beaten-up chairs with paint tester pots. Sand down, paint the wood or metal supports in bright colour paints or pretty pastels and use these to inform the colour scheme of your room.            


Thanks Jo-ann for these useful tips and shall look forward to your second post highlighting shabby chic tricks for in the bedroom and living room.


X


Disclosure: In return for publishing Jo-ann's  guest posts, I received a shopping voucher for John Lewis.

Guest Post By Vanessa Kimbell....

The lovely Vanessa Kimbell whose charming recipe book Prepped! and is due out in May, has asked if she could share one of her delicious recipes with you and of course I adore chocolate so what a perfect recipe to share. Enjoy her post :0)

Chocolate Cookies In A Jar 

This year, more than any other year I am having to be careful about what I spend. I gave up my job to write a cookery book. More so than any other year I have also noticed that we don't really want for anything. I've enough handbags, scarves and perfume to last me quite some time. What I need though is for my children to understand the importance of giving something made with love, and not to have my usual melt down in January because I over spent in the name of Christmas festivities. Here is my simple, cost effective solution. This recipe is from the book Prepped. Dark, rich and melt in the mouth, these chocolate cookies are so easy you can have the mix out of the jar and in the oven in under 10 minutes - easy peasy ! So for me this is the prefect home made gift!

Makes 24
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Freezes yes

Ingredients
220g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
120g dark brown sugar
130g caster sugar
45g of cocoa powder
60g roughly chopped walnuts
150g chopped dark chocolate
120g soft butter
1egg

1. Sift the flour and add the salt on a bowl

2. Mix the dark brown sugar and the caster sugar together. Make sure it is well mixed as this stops the brown sugar clumping.

3. Layer the flour, cocoa powder and sugar into a 1L jar. Add the walnuts and chocolate to the top of the jar.

4. You can hand write a label to give the following instructions.

5. To make the cookies pre heat the oven to 175 / 300/ gas mark 4. Tip the contents of the jar into the food mixer. Add the butter and the egg and mix for 2 – 3 minutes, until the mixture is well mixed together.

6. Form the biscuits into walnut size pieces and pop onto a baking sheet.

7. Cook in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes. Remove and leave to harden for a few minutes, as the chocolate needs to set a little, before transferring on to a wire wrack to cool off completely. There is no doubt that these jars make super gifts. But if you keep one handy in the cupboard you can have cookies on the table in 20 minutes flat. You can substitute the sugar for any of the flavored sugars, Lavender, Vanilla, or cardamom to good effect. If you want to replace the chopped chocolate with raisins this gives a fruity and chewy finish to the cookies. The dark chocolate can be substituted for milk or white chocolate. I love to add a ¼ teaspoon of extra cardamom powder and use white chocolate drops at Christmas time.

Vanessa Kimbell

http://www.prepped.co.uk/
recipies@vanessakimbell.com


Thank you Vanessa. I think Vanessa's lovely chocolate cookies would be super also, when cooked, wrapped up in pretty christmas cellophane, a pretty bow and handed over as a sweet christmas gift. Hmmmm can't wait to have a go, and thank you for sharing.
 
X