Snow Globes

Oh the weather outside is frightful but snow globes are so delightful! Here’s how to make your own.

You will need:

A clean jar with a tight fitting lid
Polystyrene (from packaging for instance) or plasticine
Glue (we used a hot glue gun but you could use any strong waterproof glue instead)
Adornments for your snow globe (little plastic or resin figures and plastic leaves work well, whatever you use needs to be waterproof)
Glitter*
Water (it’s worth boiling the water first to make sure it’s sterile)
Glycerine

*Most glitter is made of plastic which can end up in our oceans if it gets washed down the sink so please be very careful to dispose of any spillages in the bin rather than down the sink. If you’re buying glitter you can now buy environmentally friendly plastic free glitter.

Step 1.

Decide whether the lid will be at the bottom of the snow globe or the top. Ours had to be at the top as it is curved so would have fallen over if we’d had it at the bottom. You also need to with make sure that your decorations fit into the jar!

Step 2.

We began by cutting a circle of polystyrene from some packaging the size of the bottom of the jar or slightly smaller than the lid if you’re going to have the lid at the bottom. If you’re using plasticine then make a ‘lump’ of plasticine to fit the bottom of your snow globe.

Step 3.

Fix your decorations into the polystyrene/plasticine. We used hot glue to make sure everything was very securely fixed, make sure all of your decorations are firmly attached so they don’t come loose when you shake the jar.

Step 4.

Fix the polystyrene/plasticine to either the base of the jar or the inside of the lid. Again, make sure it’s really secure so you can shake it without it coming loose.

Step 5.

Now we add the glitter!

Step 6.

We can now add the water, as our decorations were glued to the bottom we could fill the water up leaving about a 1-2 cm gap at the top. If you’re decoration is in the lid then you need to remember to put less water in so there’s space for your adornments. Add a spoonful of glycerine, this will help the snow move about rather than sitting on top of the water.

Step 7.

Re-attach the lid, using glue to make sure the seal is permanent. Give your snow globe a shake and watch it swirl!

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Flapping Parrot Puppet

Don’t get in a flap if you’re looking for something to do. Have a go at our flapping parrot puppet instead!

You will need:

Coloured Paper or Card
Bird template
Felt tip pens or coloured pencils
Pencil
Scissors
String or thread
Needle
Paper fasteners

Step 1.

Print out our template (or draw your own) and use it to draw a body and two wings onto the coloured card. Cut these pieces out.

Step 2.

Decorate your parrot! We used felt tip pens but you could collage different materials (like feathers) onto it if you wanted or add wiggly eyes.

Step 3.

Attach the wings to the body using the paper fasteners. You might need to use a needle to make a guide hole.

Step 4.

On the back, thread a piece of string through the edge of each wing. Make sure the string is long enough to hang below the tail.

Step 5.

Attach another piece of string to the head as a hanging loop.

Step 6.

Hang your parrot up and pull the string to make the wings flap down.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Diwali Paper Lanterns

Diwali is the Indian Festival of Lights and celebrates the victory of light over darkness and goodness over evil. To celebrate this festival we’re going to show you how to make a paper lantern.

You will need:

Black paper or card (we used a sheet of A4)
Coloured tissue paper
Glue stick
Scissors
LED tealight candle (don’t use a real candle!)
Ruler
Pencil

Step 1.

Using our template as a guide, draw out the lantern onto the card. The lantern has three sides and a base but to make it simpler you could make it without the base.

Step 2.

Cut the lantern out, making sure to leave tabs to glue the base and side together. We used a craft knife to cut the shapes out of each section but you can just use scissors.

Step 3.

Put glue around the edge of each cut out shape and then attach pieces of tissue paper across the cut out areas to fill it with colour.

Step 4.

Put glue on the tabs and stick the lantern together.

Step 5.

Pop an LED tealight candle in your lantern and admire your hard work. Happy Diwali!

Origami Diwali Boat

What is Diwali?

Diwali [or deepawali] is the Indian festival of lights, usually lasting five days and celebrated in the Autumn, in the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika, mid October to mid November.

The festival is widely associated with Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity and it celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is also a harvest festival, and is different from many other Indian festivals in that there is no fasting, but instead feasts celebrating the seasonal bounty.

Other traditions include cleaning or decorating homes, prayers and rituals and one of these is lighting Diyas. Diyas are small oil lamps, that are often floated on the Ganges river, during Diwali they represent enlightenment, knowledge or wisdom. Floating on a river these appear like little boats.

So we thought making a floating boat for our origami instruction would be perfect coming up to the festival. This year is between the 12th and 16th of November.

Microwave Vegetable Curry

We thought as Diwali is approaching it would be fun to share this family recipe for you from Helen T. Diwali differs from other Indian festivals as it includes feasting and the giving of sweets in stead of fasting. You can read more about Diwali in our Origami Diwali Boat post here.

You can use any veg you like in this vegan & lactose free recipe. We used: sweet potato, carrots, baby peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, baby corn, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. We added a chilli for spice also.

Ingredients:

1 onion roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1 inch of root ginger minced

A mixture of veg you like roughly chopped

2 tbsp of curry powder OR the mixture of spices below

1 can chopped tomatoes

500ml vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

1tbsp plain flour

Spice mixture:

Toast 1tsp caraway seeds, 1tsp fenugreek seed and 3 cardamom pods, grind the caraway and fenugreek together in a pestle and mortar and use 1tsp in the spice mix.

¼ tsp salt

4 or 5 grinds of black pepper

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp asafoetida / hing

Served with Greek yoghurt, fresh coriander, flaked almonds and a garlic naan — Finished Curry

Method:

Add onion, garlic and ginger to a 3 litre microwave casserole dish with 1tbsp oil. Cover and cook for 3 minutes on high.
Add all your spices and the flour, stir well and cook for a further 2 minutes on high.
Add your hardest vegetables, ie potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes on high.
Next add all your other vegetables except the softest [ie mushrooms, tomatoes, courgette and spinach], add your stock, chopped tomatoes and a squeeze of tomato puree. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes on medium.
Add your soft vegetables and cook on medium for a further 10 minutes.
Check your veg with a knife to see if they are cooked. Every microwave is different, so add time if you need to.
Enjoy with rice, naan breads or just on its own!

Remembrance Day Poppy Origami

Here at Heathlands we are very proud of the support our members have given to the poppy appeal over the years. For many years now we have staffed the poppy appeal table at our local ASDA but due to restrictions this year we cannot. So instead we are making poppies to sell here!

Here are our origami instructions for you to make your own poppy at home. We will update the post with a video when it has been loaded to YouTube.

You will need:

x1 15cm square of red paper

x 1 10cm square of black paper

How to make it:

1. Fold your red paper in half lengthways in both directions and then again diagonally. Four folds in total. Repeat this with your black paper.

2. With your paper in half diagonally, fold in the widest points to match the top points. Again repeat this for the black piece.

3. Insert the black piece of paper into the red as above, taking care to make sure all the folds match.

4. With the closed folds facing towards you and the open end away, turn up each flap, folding it to the middle. Repeat this, turn your work over and repeat again on the other side.

5. Fold your work in half from top to bottom, so the top point meets the bottom.

6. Open this fold out so that the top layer goes up, the next layer turns outward and the bottom layer remains down.

7. Flatten out your poppy and turn back the points of the petals and points on the centre to “round” the flower off.

And your poppy is complete!

Firework Scraperboard

Remember remember the 5th of November; gunpowder, treason and plot! This week we’re sharing a fun craft you can try at home to create a beautiful firework picture.

You will need:

Thick card (we used a bit of old mountboard)
Wax crayons
Black paint (we poster paint)
Washing up liquid
Brush
A knitting needle or similar pointy thing

Step 1.

Cover your card with your wax crayons, we did lots of patches of different colours. Make sure you get a really thick layer of colour down.

Step 2.

Mix a little bit of washing up liquid in with your black paint. Paint a thick coat of this mixture over the top and then leave it to dry.

Step 3.

When the paint is totally dry use the knitting needle (or similar pointy implement) to scratch designs into the paint, revealing the colours below. Try making different types of mark to represent different types of fireworks.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Rats Tails!

Yes, you read that right! Rats tails. This is a delicious snack for bonfire night, to accompany, in our house at least, jacket potatoes and chilli!

If you don’t like spicy food you can substitute the chillies for sweet baby peppers.

Ingredients:

Large green chillies

Cream cheese

Streaky smoked bacon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius or gas mark 5.
Half your chillies or peppers and clean out the seeds and pith.
Fill with cream cheese.
Wrap filled chillies or peppers with bacon.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes and enjoy!

Terrifying Tassels!

Do you remember a while back we shared a post showing how to make tassels? We thought we’d re-visit that idea to make some terrifying Halloween decorations!

You will need:

Yarn (white for ghosts, orange for pumpkins)
A piece of cardboard (ours was about 17 x 7 cm for the ghost and 9 x 7 cm for the pumpkin)
Scissors
Felt scraps
Glue (PVA or fabric glue is best)
Yarn or thick thread

Step 1.

Cut your cardboard to size, the length of your piece of cardboard determines the length of the tassel.

Step 2.

Begin wrapping your yarn around your cardboard.

Step 3.

Keep wrapping! The more wraps you have the thicker your tassel will be.

Step 4.

Cut a piece of yarn or thread and slide it under one half of the wraps. Tie the wraps tightly together at one end. Leave the ends of the yarn you’ve used to tie it up to hang the tassel up with

Step 5.

Cut the wraps at the opposite end of the cardboard.

Step 6.

Cut another piece of yarn and use it wrap a section of the tassel about 3 cm from the top to make a head.

Step 7.

Cut eyes and a mouth from the felt and stick them onto the ‘head’ to make a face.

Step 8.

Hang up your spooky creations and enjoy!

Hallowe’en Pumpkin Soup

This warming soup is spooktacular for hallowe’en night. It’s also lactose and gluten free! If you can’t get a pumpkin, you can substitute with butternut squash.

Ingredients:

1 medium or large pumpkin depending on how many you are cooking for

1 white onion

2 carrots

1tsp salt

1tsp ground ginger

1tsp ground cinnamon

Vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp olive oil

200ml coconut milk / lactose free cream

Method:

Finely dice the onion and start to gently fry with your olive oil in a large soup pan.
Prepare your pumpkin by removing seeds, ect and skin, dice and add to the pan.
Peel and dice the carrots and add to the pan. Keep stirring as you fry and add your spice, cook for around 5 minutes.
Boil a kettle and add water to the pan, so that the vegetables are covered by 1-2 inches of water. Simmer for 1/2 an hour.
Blend your soup using a food processor or stick blender.
You can add coconut milk or cream for a little luxury and if you’re feeling fancy, why not try a spiders web like in the picture!

Rag Wreath

Here’s a really simple but effective way of making a wreath using strips of fabric and knots. By changing the colours and materials you use you can make wreaths for all seasons!

You will need:

Fabric (we had several pieces in coordinating colours)
Cardboard
Scissors
Plates or similar to use as a template, one smaller than the other
Pencil

Step 1.

First we’re going to make the ring for our wreath using the cardboard. Use the plates to draw two circles, one inside the other, and then cut out the cardboard ring. Our ring is about 4 cm wide.

Step 2.

Cut or rip your fabric into strips about 2 cm wide and then cut into pieces about 20 cm long. Leave one strip long enough to use as a hanging loop.

Step 3.

Take a piece of fabric and tie it around the cardboard ring. Use a double knot so it’s nice and secure.

Step 4.

Keep tying pieces of fabric onto the ring until it is full. Use the longer piece of fabric to make a hanging loop (tie it on.)

Step 5.

Give any extra long bits a trim to tidy it up. You could also add some extra embellishments such as buttons or feathers if you’d like.

Hang it up and admire your hard work!

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Pickled Cucumbers

This is a very nostalgic recipe for me. I remember my Grandad pickling the cucumbers that he grew in his greenhouse and now I do the same. It’s a taste from my childhood like no other.

Ingredients:

15 – 20 baby cucumbers or gherkins

Fresh dill

White vinegar / pickling vinegar

Salt

Sugar

Brine solution:

2 parts vinegar

1 part water

2 tsp of salt

2 tbsp of sugar

You may need to adjust the salt and sugar if your batch is large

Method:

Sterilise 4 to 5 medium sized jars. You can do this by boiling them in a large saucepan for 15 minutes. Allow them to cool or remove with tongs VERY carefully.
Make your brining solution in a saucepan and put on a high heat.
Trim the ends off the cucumbers and slice as desired. We did both discs and spears.
Add to your sterilised jars with 5-6 sprigs of fresh dill.
Once your brining solution has come to the boil, transfer to a jug and cover the cucumbers. Seal straight away.
Pickles will be ready in around a week but will store for up to a year!

Paper Cat Frieze

How would you like a frieze of cats to decorate your house with? Here’s how to make your own!

You will need:

A long strip of paper (ours was about 15 x 85 cm)
Scissors
Pencil
Felt tip pens or coloured pencils

Step 1.

Fold your strip of paper into a concertina. Our concertina folds were about 10 cm wide. Don’t worry if you end up with one end a bit short, you can just trim this off. Leave the concertina folded up.

Step 2.

Draw a cat onto the top fold, you can use our template as a guide to help you. Make sure that part of the cat ‘joins’ on each folded edge, this is what will hold the frieze together.

Step 3.

Cut the cat out, make sure not to cut through all of the folded edges!

Step 4.

Open up your frieze and decorate each cat.

Step 5.

Hang your cat frieze up and admire your hard work!

Halloween Origami

As Halloween is fast approaching we thought we would do a bit of a crafting and making extravaganza!

So here we have not one but three Halloween themed origami folds!

Our video tutorials can be found below.

Origami Ghost!

Origami Pumpkin!

Origami Bat!

Susan’s Windfall Soup

As I am starting to get windfalls from my pear tree I decided to try and use them in a soup
for a change. Windfall apples will work just as well! This is such a delicious warming recipe.

Ingredients:

Salt (half teaspoon or to taste)
Black pepper (half teaspoon or to taste)
Finely chopped garlic (heaped teaspoon or to taste)
Vegetable stock cube
Ground cumin (half teaspoon or to taste), dried sage or basil can be used if preferred.
1 onion chopped
1 Butternut squash peeled diced
4 pears peeled and diced
( any slightly sad veg leftovers can also be added to use up, carrot, courgette, celery, radish
etc.)

Method:

I don’t bother with all this sautéing in oil malarkey, as it just adds calories, but you can if you
really feel the need.
I prick the squash with a fork then microwave on full power for 3 minutes, watch out as it
will be hot but is a lot easier to peel.
Put everything in a large pan then add enough water to about 2cms (half inch) below the
top of the veg, give it a stir. Bring to the boil, stir again then leave it to simmer for 20 mins
or until the veg are just cooked.
Blitz with a food processor, liquidizer or one of those fancy hand held puree/blender’s.
It can b course and lumpy, or smooth and silky, depending on your preference.

Serve and enjoy!

Felt Leaf Coasters

Another autumn inspired craft for you this week: some seasonal coasters for your cups inspired by autumn leaves.

You will need:

Felt in autumnal colours
A large leaf (to make a template, or use ours!)
Paper and pencil
Scissors
Embroidery thread in autumnal colours
Needle
Pins

Step 1.

Using your leaf as a guide, make a paper template that is leaf shaped and big enough to put your cup on.

Step 2.

Pin the paper template to your felt and cut out two leaves. We used different colours for each side of our coaster.

Step 3.

Stitch the two leaves together with running stitch, we stitched lines to look like the veins in leaves.

Step 4.

Make yourself a nice cup of tea and test out your coaster!

Origami Puppy

This origami fold is a little more complicated than previous activities we have done, but the extra work is definitely worth it!

This week for our paper folding, we thought it would be fun to make a little decorative friend. All you’ll need is a piece of square paper and two googly eyes.

To make your own cute puppy friend follow video and the instructions below:

Weetabix Cake

We’ve had lovely feedback from our Easy-peasy Chocolate Cake. So we thought we’d share another great and simple cake recipe with you all. This recipe uses cups as measurements. We quite literally use a coffee mug to measure!

You will need:

Ingredients:

2 Weetabix crushed
1 cup of Self-raising Flour
1 cup of dried fruit [sulphites] you can pick, we used sultanas, glace cherries and chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup of caster sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees.
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Grease and flour a 1lb loaf tin and pour in mixture.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Allow to cool for as long as you can stand it and enjoy with a cup of tea! We like to butter it too…

Ingredients in bold are allergens

Origami Frog

To coincide with our special activity book edition, kindly supported by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, we thought we’d share this lovely frog / toad origami fold.

This one is a little bit trickier as the folds get quite dense. But we’ve made a video to coincide with visual instructions to help you out. Both can be found below:

Autumn Nature Garland

The seasons are changing and we’re now officially in Autumn so we thought we’d share a seasonal craft idea with you. This week we’ll show you how to make a garland for your home to celebrate the new season.

You’ll need to head outside and collect a few bits and pieces for this craft; leaves, pine cones, feathers or whatever catches your eye! There are lots of beautiful colours around at the moment so take some time to enjoy your surroundings. Remember to always be safe and careful when collecting things and if in doubt leave it alone!

You will need:

String or Twine
Thread
An assortment of natural objects you’ve collected such as leaves, pine cones, feathers and so on
Scissors

Step 1.

Spend a bit of time looking at what you’ve collected and organising your collection, you might separate things by colour, shape or just choose to mix everything up. Lay your collection out in a line, try laying them out in different arrangements so you can decide how you’d like your garland to look.

Step 2.

Cut a piece of string or twine a bit longer than you want the garland to be. This will form the base of your garland.

Step 3.

Use the thread to tie each of your objects onto the string. Try and have the objects hanging down at slightly different lengths for a more natural look. Leave a bit of string clear at each end of the garland.

Step 4.

Use the clear ends of the string to hang your garland up. Admire your hard work!

Gluten / Lactose Free Plum and Rhubarb Crumble

This delicious classic dessert is warming and seasonal. Plums are perfect this time of year and rhubarb is still plentiful. We served with ice cream, but custard would be awesome too!

We’ve made this recipe using the cup quantity method, just like our Easy Peasy Chocolate Cake!

Ingredients for filling:

2 cups plums halved and de-stoned

2 cups rhubarb roughly chopped

⅓ cup of gluten free flour

⅓ cup of brown sugar

Ingredients for crumble topping:

⅔ cup of gluten free oats

½ cup of dark brown sugar

¼ cup of gluten free flour

3tbsp set coconut oil

1tbsp vegetable oil

1tbsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp sea salt

Flaked almonds to decorate if wanted

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C
In a medium pyrex dish or deep oven pan, gently combine the filling ingredients.
For the crumble topping. Combine all the ingredients, rubbing together until it is crumbly!
Sprinkle it over the filling and bake until the crumble topping is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Around 40-45 minutes.
Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Ingredients in bold are allergens.

Flying Dove of Peace

To celebrate the United Nations Day of Peace (21st September) here’s a simple flying dove for you to make.

Did you know that Pablo Picasso was invited to design an emblem of peace in 1949 and he chose to create a simple drawing of a dove, based on a picture given to him by fellow artist Henri Matisse?

You will need:

White card
Pencil
Black pen
Scissors
String
Print out of our template

Step 1.

Print out our template (either onto card if you can or onto paper and stick the paper onto the card.)

Step 2.

Fold the card in half so you have the dove on one half and a plain A5 rectangle. Cut out the dove, including the slit in the back. This is easiest if you lightly fold the card and snip into first, like in the photos. At this point you can draw on some eyes and a beak if you’d like to.

Step 3.

Fold the other half of the sheet of card into a concertina, like you’re making a fan. Each section should be the same width as the slit in the back of your dove. Fold the concertina in half to make two wings.

Step 4.

Carefully slide the concertina through the slit in the dove’s back. Bring the two wings together and thread a piece of string through each side. This will hold the wings together and allow you to hang your dove up.

Have fun and don’t forget to share your beautiful peaceful doves with us!

Autumn Leaf Rubbings

As the weather is changing, we are thinking about the turning of the seasons at Heathlands. The leaves are changing colour and starting to fall, the nights are drawing in and its becoming chilly.

Today we have been making patterns and pictures using leaves and crayons. These rubbings can also be made with textures around your home, think about coins, baskets, keys or even cutlery!

Below are written instructions and a how to video:

You will need:

Paper
Wax crayons
Leaves

Step 1

Collect your leaves. Try to get ones that aren’t too dried out as they will crumble. If your leaves are wet, dry them off.

Step 2

Place a leaf under your paper with the bottom, textured side of the leaf facing up.

Step 3

If your crayons have paper wrappers on them, take them off and pick a colour. Turn the wax crayon on it’s side and rub the crayon over the paper where the leaf is with pressure.

Step 4

Repeat step 3 with different leaves and different colours and fill your paper.

Lactose Free Coconut Scones

These scones are made with coconut milk but you could also substitute with your favorite lactose free milk as well. We thought almond milk and cherry or how about oat milk and cheese? Just remember to omit the sugar in a savory scone!

Ingredients:

225g Plain flour

12g GF Baking powder

112g Vegetarian margarine / soya spread

50g Unrefined golden caster sugar

120ml Coconut milk

Desiccated coconut to decorate

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C and line the baking tray with parchment.
Sieve flour & baking powder and then rub margarine in to get a fine crumb.
Add sugar to coconut milk and whisk.
Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix until you have a soft dough.
On a floured surface, roll the mixture out to around 1 inch thick and cut out with a scone cutter of your choice.
Wash with spare coconut milk and dust with desiccated coconut.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a rich golden colour as ovens vary.
Enjoy with lactose free topping of your choice!

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This delicious take on a Sunday dinner classic is vegetarian and gluten free! You can garnish as you see fit, we served with croutons [not gluten free!], but you could add some chucks of cheese or even some crispy fried onions.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion finely chopped

½ cauliflower roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 gluten free stock cube

150g of mature cheddar cheese

Method:

Add a little oil to a large saucepan and gentle fry the onions for a minute.
Add the cauliflower and garlic and gently fry for 3-4 minutes.
Cover with boiling water and add the stock cube. Simmer until the cauliflower is soft.
Blend with a sick blender or in a food processor.
Stir in your cheese until melted and serve!

Origami Water Bomb!

We’re back with another origami instruction for you all. This week we are learning to make a origami water bomb.

Paper Airplane

We are back with another installment of our paper folding activities!

This week we’ve made some durable paper airplanes. These are made with standard A4 paper. You could even “up-cycle” a piece that’s already be printed / drawn on and no longer in use. Or why not decorate your paper before you fold?

Our YouTube video shows you how to make your own plane or you can follow the instructions below.

Happy flying!

Bats!

To celebrate International Bat Night this weekend (29th-30th August) here’s a post showing you how to make your own bat.

You will need:

Cardboard tube (such as a toilet roll inner)
Black paper (we used 2 x A4 sheets)
Glue (glue-stick is best but PVA is fine)
Pencil
Scissors
Wiggly Eyes

Step 1.

Cover your cardboard tube with black paper. If you prefer you could paint or colour it in.

Step 2.

Squash one of the ends in on itself to make your bats ears, use our pictures as a guide.

Step 3.

On the other piece of paper draw and cut out your bats wings. You can use our template as a guide or draw your own.

Top tip: If you fold your paper in half then you only need to draw one wing, just make sure the middle of the wing is on the fold.

Step 4.

Glue the wings to the back of your bat and the wiggly eyes onto the front.

Have fun and don’t forget to share your bats with us!

Gluten Free Orange and Almond Cake

At Heathlands we pride ourselves in seeking out and perfecting recipes for individuals with allergies. This is one of those recipes, developed by our amazing volunteer David.

*** Please note that this cake includes NUTS

This surprisingly light gluten free cake is packed full of flavour and definitely worth the extra time needed to make it.

Ingredients:

2 Oranges washed & chopped in pieces, skin & pith as well as flesh

5 Eggs separated into yolks and whites

200grs Unrefined golden caster sugar

225grs Ground almonds

Decoration Flaked almonds and icing sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C and line 2-3 loaf tins with paper.
Place chopped Oranges in pan with a little water. Cover and stew gently till soft and liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool. Liquidise in processor or use a small stick blender (Whatever you have).
Whisk egg whites till stiff then gradually add half the sugar to create a meringue.
Whisk egg yolks with remaining half of caster sugar till pale and thick.
Gradually whisk in the pureed oranges to the egg yolk and sugar mixture then fold in the ground almonds.
Gradually fold in the meringue.
Now gently add the mixture to the lined loaf tins. Level the tops, sprinkle on flaked almonds and bake.
Cool on drying racks.
Remember, if necessary cover. Oven time always varies dependent on the oven but look for 40mins to 1hour.
Enjoy! We like this with a cup of tea.

Cress Heads

Cress is a very fast growing plant and is great in salads, sandwiches or as a garnish. Why not make a funny face to grow your cress in?

You will need:

Paper pot* or empty yogurt pot (or similar container)
Permanent marker
Cotton wool
Cress seeds
Water

*You can find a video we made showing you how to make a paper plant pot on our YouTube channel.

Step 1.

Use the permanent marker to make a funny face on your pot. Mark made these designs inspired by emojis!

Step 2.

Fill the pot with cotton wool and slowly add water until the cotton wool is damp, not soaking.

Step 3.

Sprinkle the cress seeds over the surface of the cotton wool and give them another spritz with the water.

Step 4.

Place your pot in a warm, light place such as a window sill and wait for the cress to germinate! Keep the cotton wool damp, the seeds should start sprouting in a few days.

Step 5.

When the cress seedlings get to a few centimetres long then you can snip them off and enjoy them in a salad or sandwich.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Gluten Free Ginger Cookies

These gluten free biscuits are a delicious sweet spicy treat. The recipe will also work perfectly well with normal plain flour.

Ingredients:

350grs Self-raising flour [gluten free]

Pinch Salt

200grs Caster Sugar

1tsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Bicarb of Soda.

115grs Margarine

90grs Golden Syrup

1large Egg beaten and warm

150grs Crystallised ginger coarsely chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C.
Line a baking sheet with silicon paper or bakers parchment.
Sift flour with salt, sugar, ground ginger and Bicarb of Soda.
Melt margarine gently with syrup. Cool gently.
Pour butter and syrup over the dry ingredients. Add the egg and 2/3 of crystallised ginger. Mix thoroughly.
Divide into 30 small balls, place well apart on trays and gently flatten.
Press remaining crystallised ginger into flattened balls.
Bake 12-15 minutes until light golden in colour.
Cool for one minute to allow cookies to firm up. Remove to cooling wire and leave to chill completely.
Enjoy!

Ingredients in BOLD are allergens.

Button Necklaces

We love our very large collection of buttons at Heathlands! We’re going to show you how we’ve used some of them to create lovely necklaces.

You will need:

Buttons
Cord or strong thread
Scissors

Step 1.

Cut a piece of cord the length you’d like your necklace to be, remember to make it long enough to go over your head once it’s finished! Our cord was about 65 cm long.

Step 2.

Tie a knot about 5 cm down from one end, this will stop all your buttons sliding straight off!

Step 3.

Start threading your buttons on like beads. You can cover your whole cord with beads or use knots to separate groups of buttons.

Step 4.

When you’re happy with your button arrangements tie the two ends of your cord together and try your necklace on.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us your makes!

Origami Boat

Here is our latest origami video for you to make a cute little boat. All you need is a square piece of paper.

Pom-Pom Ice cream

These pom-poms are fun and easy to make and you can use different colours to make them look like different ice cream flavours!

You will need:

Yarn
Card or paper, cream coloured if you have it
Cardboard
Scissors
Brown Felt tip pen
Glue stick

Step 1.

Make your ice cream (pom pom!)

Cut a squared off ‘U’ shape from your cardboard.

Step 2.

Wrap your yarn around the ‘U’ until it’s nice and thick.

Step 3.

Tie a piece of yarn as tightly as you can around the middle of your yarn wraps.

Step 4.

Cut each end of the yarn wrap, as shown and then give your pom pom a trim!

Step 5.

Make your cone!

Use the brown felt tip pen to draw a grid of squares onto your paper. We used a piece of A4 paper which we then cut in half so we could make two cones.

Step 6.

Roll your paper into a cone shape, using a bit of glue to secure it, and then trim the top.

Step 7.

Put your ‘ice cream’ into your ‘cone’ and you’re done!

Have fun and don’t forget to tell us how you got on!

Gluten Free Rosemary Crackers

These simple crackers are a tasty treat with all cheeses and gluten free!!!

This recipe will also work with standard plain flour.

Ingredients:

200g Gluten free plain flour
3tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
1 Handful of fresh rosemary, de-stalked & chopped
50g Sesame seeds
1tbsp Garlic power
2 Free range eggs
1tbsp Water
+ Good quality rock salt or sea salt to sprinkle

Method:

Preheat oven to 190° and line baking sheet with silicone paper or bakers parchment.
Whisk eggs and olive oil together in bowl.
Prepare and weigh off all dry ingredients [except salt] and combine in food processor.
Slowly add egg and oil mixture, then water until a ball of dough forms within the food processor.
Turn out dough and knead well.
Split in half and roll out dough onto a liberally flour dusted surface very thin. Perhaps 1/8inch thick if you can manage. Sprinkle on salt and lightly press it into dough.
Cut out with desired shape and place on baking tray.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes depending on oven, crackers should be bubbling and slightly coloured.
Cool on racks.

Ingredients in BOLD are allergens.

Origami Hearts

This beginners origami activity is only takes a minute to make and is a lovely decoration for cards or how about putting them in a window?

Below are simple picture instructions as well as a video you can follow along with.

Happy folding!

Stained Glass Effect Cards

These stained glass effect cards are created using tracing paper and felt tip pens and look really effective displayed in a window.

You will need:

Tracing paper
Felt tip pens
Window cards (cards with a window already cut in or make your own!)
Pencil
Scrap paper (to practice your design)
Glue stick

Step 1.

Place the ‘window’ of your card on top of your scrap paper and trace the window shape. You can then practice your design in this shape, you could repeat this several times to make several designs. Simple designs that you can divide into colourful sections work best, have a look at our examples to give you some ideas.

Step 2.

Put your ‘window’ on top of the tracing paper and using the pencil lightly trace the shape of the window.

Step 3.

Place your design (on the scrap paper) underneath the tracing paper, matching it up with the window shape you traced. You can now use this as a guide to copy your design onto the tracing paper, use the pencil to lightly trace the design.

Step 4.

Use the felt tip pens to colour in your design, try to choose strong bright colours for the best results.

Step 5.

To really make it look like stained glass you can outline each colourful section with a black pen.

Step 6.

Cut your completed stained glass window out, leaving about 1-2 cm border all the way around.

Step 7.

Put some glue on the border of the tracing paper and glue it into the window of the card.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

How to Make Paper Beads

Making paper beads is really easy and a good way to use up bits of decorative paper or pretty magazine pages.

You will need:

Paper (magazine pages, patterned paper or anything you want to use up)
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue
Stick or something similar to roll your beads on.

Step 1.

On the back of your paper use the ruler and pencil to mark out strips. The wider the strips you mark out the wider your bead will be.

We made marks along the top and bottom of our paper and then joined them up with the ruler and pencil to make our strips.

Step 2.

Cut out your strips.

Step 3.

Place a strip of paper face down in front of you and cover it in glue, leaving a small section (about 1-2 cm) at the top un-glued.

Place your stick on this un-glued section and then begin rolling the strip of paper around the stick.

Keep rolling till the end of the strip then slide the roll off the stick. You’ve made your first bead! Keep going and make some more.

Step 4.

You can try this technique with triangles as well as strips of paper. Why not make a few of each type of bead?

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Pressed Flower Pictures

There’s so many beautiful flowers around at the moment but they don’t last forever! Here’s an activity to help you preserve some of your favourites.

You will need:

Flowers and leaves*
A couple of heavy books (not precious ones)
Paper towels/sheets of kitchen roll
A picture frame, an old one is fine
Card cut to the size of your picture frame
Glue stick

*Remember to be very careful when collecting flowers; it’s best not to pick wildflowers unless you are certain it is a common one and there’s lots of it. Also, watch out for nettles! Thinner flowers work best for this, anything too thick won’t fit between the pages of your book.

Step 1.

Dry your flowers

Open your heavy book somewhere near the middle and lay your chosen flowers and leaves between layers of paper towels. The paper towels help the flowers dry out and also protect the pages of your book. Space them out and try not to let them overlap. You can put several sheets of towels and flowers in one book, just remember to space them out.

Step 2.

Close the book and if you can put another heavy book on top. Leave for at least a week to let the flowers flatten and dry out. When the flowers are dried out you’re ready to make your picture.

Step 3.

Make your Picture

On your piece of card arrange your dried flowers. Keep moving them around until you are happy with the arrangement. When you’re happy use a tiny bit of glue to hold each flower in place.

Step 4.

Carefully put your picture into the picture frame and put the frame back together.

Step 5.

Put your picture up and admire!

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Pretty Coleslaw

Here’s a very simple recipe for a colourful coleslaw that makes an excellent side dish or add your favourite grated cheese for a fab sandwich filling!

Ingredients:

3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp apple cider or white wine vinegar
1 tsp English mustard
1/3 of a red cabbage shredded
2 carrots shredded or grated
1 small red onion finely sliced

Method:

Whisk together your wet ingredients, then add your prepared vegetables, mix together and enjoy! This will keep in the fridge in an air tight container for up to three days.

Leaf Animals

Be creative and make a critter!

For this activity you could collect leaves from your own garden or perhaps collect some if you are going for a walk. Please remember to follow government guidance during COVID-19. You can find more information here.

We have made this short video on how to make a leaf animal for you. All you need is a variety of leaves, a few sticks, a couple of googly eyes and your imagination!

Have fun!

Gluten Free Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

185g Gluten free plain flour
85g Vegetable margarine
225g Grated strong cheddar
1tsp Salt
1tbsp Garlic power
2 Free range egg yolks
1tbsp Water

Method

Preheat oven to 160° and line baking sheet with silicone paper or bakers parchment.
Weigh off all dry ingredients and marg. to processor and combine.
Add cheese and combine.
Slowly add egg yolk first and then water until mixture forms a ball within the
food processor.
Turn out dough and knead well.
Split in half and roll out dough onto a liberally flour dusted surface very thin.
Perhaps 1/8inch thick if you can manage.
Cut out with desired shape and place on baking tray. Chill in fridge for 1/2hr.
Bake for 20 minutes or longer depending on oven and cool on racks.
Eat with more cheese!
1tbsp 1tbsp 1tsp 1tbsp
Cayenne pepper Smoked paprika Chilli flakes
Dried Parsley

Why not spice things up and add a table spoon of chilli flakes!

Cum

Make Your Own Stamps

These little stamps are easy to make and you can use them to decorate all sorts of things like cards, wrapping paper or use them to make pictures.

You will need:

Corks
Scraps of funky foam (if you don’t have any then thin polystyrene food packaging will also work)
Pencil
Scissors
Glue (something strong like PVA works well)
Paint
Something to stamp onto (such as paper)

Step 1.

Draw the shapes you would like to make stamps of onto the foam, you may find it helpful to draw around the end of your cork first so you know what size to make your design. Keep them simple!

You can add extra details to your stamps by drawing in lines with the pencil, you’ll need to press hard to make a good indent.

Step 2.

Carefully cut out your shapes.

Step 3.

Glue your shapes to the ends of your corks, use plenty of glue as it needs to be secure. Let the glue dry thoroughly.

Step 4.

Dip your stamp into your paint and then press the stamp onto your paper (or whatever you’re printing.) You’ll probably get several presses before you need to dip into the paint again. Practice until you get the right amount of paint on the stamp each time.

Step 5.

Have fun decorating with your stamps! Don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Mini Beast Masterpieces

Let’s Rock (paint)!

We’ve been spending lots of time outside recently and have been enjoying spotting some of the smaller wildlife around our site. Inspired by our mini-beast sightings we’ve created some painted version of our own and we thought we’d share how we made them so you can have a go too!

You will need:

Stones/Rocks
Paint (acrylic is ideal but any paint will do)
Varnish (if you want to put your rock creatures outside)
Googly eyes (optional)

Step 1.

Wash your stones or rocks and allow them to dry. While they’re drying you might want to plan what kind of mini beast to paint and what colours to use.

Step 2.

Paint your stone all one colour, choose the main colour of your mini beast. For example, red for a ladybird or yellow for a bumble bee. Allow this coat to dry.

Step 3.

Add some details to your painted rock so it looks like your mini beast; black spots for a ladybird and black stripes for a bee, for example. You can use our examples as a guide or make up your own!

Step 4.

If you have googly eyes, glue them on to add a bit of character. Alternatively paint some eyes on.

Step 5.

When all the paint and glue has dried you can varnish your mini beast masterpiece to finish it off.

Have fun and don‘t forget to share with us how you get on!

Strawberry Layered Milk Jelly

This is a super easy treat and English strawberries are in season!

Ingredients

x2 blocks of strawberry jelly
boiling and cold water
x6 strawberries
135 ml whole milk
tsp sugar

Method

Cut up half a block of jelly and place in a heatproof measuring jug. Add the sugar and top up with boiling water to 150ml. Stir until completely dissolved. Place in the fridge to cool. Put your spare jelly block in tuppaware and save for another day!

While first mixture is cooling, slice your strawberries and place in the bottom of six small glasses or ramekins.

Once the jelly mix is cool add milk 135ml of milk. This makes a total of 285ml of milk jelly.

Split the mixture between the glasses and place in the fridge to set. This takes about an hour.

Next cut up a whole block of strawberry jelly and add boiling water to 285ml line. Stir until completely dissolved. Add a further 285ml of cold water.

Add jelly mixture on top of milk jelly and place in the fridge to set. This should take around an hour to an hour and a half.

Enjoy!

Variations

Why not try making orange milk jelly with tinned peace slices? Or if your feeling adventurous, use gelatin powder and coconut milk and add mango puree to pineapple jelly for your second layer.

Felt Fish Hanging Decoration

In this post we’re going to show you how to make a felt fish hanging decoration. There’s a video up on our Facebook page too which you might find useful.

You will need:

Scissors

Needle

Thread

Pins

Felt

Buttons

Ribbon (about 50 cm, depending on how long you want your hanging)

Stuffing (toy stuffing if you have it or you can use cotton wool or scrap fabric)

Fish template (make your own or use ours!)

Step 1.

Draw or print out your fish template.

Step 2.

Fold your felt in half so you have two layers and pin the fish template onto the two layers.

Step 3.

Carefully cut out your fish.

Step 4.

Sew a button onto each fish for it’s eyes. Make sure that when you put the two sides of the fish together both eyes are on the outside!

Step 5.

Lie one fish face down on your work surface, place your ribbon on top so that it runs through the fish and then place the second fish on top, face up, so that the ribbon is sandwiched. Pin it in place so it doesn’t move as you work.

Step 6.

Sew the two fish together around their edges using running stitch, make sure you sew through the ribbon as well to hold it in place. Stop when you have a gap about 4 cm left.

Step 7.

Add a bit of stuffing to your fish, carefully poke it into the gap and use a blunt pencil to push the stuffing into the tail. You don’t need much, just a little bit to give your fish a bit of shape.

Step 8.

Sew up the gap. If you want to you can add more fish.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking here!

Tissue Paper Jar Lanterns

Inspired by all the beautiful wild flowers blooming at the moment we’ve made a lovely tea light lantern from a jar and some tissue paper. It looks really beautiful all lit up. We’re using a battery powered tea light in ours, if you want to use a real candle remember to never leave it unattended when it’s lit and make sure it’s not near anything flammable.

You will need:

Tissue paper (we’ve used blue and green for the background and pinks and yellows for the flowers)
Glass jar (washed and dried)
Glue (PVA works well)
Scissors
Tea light

Step 1.

Cut or rip up your tissue paper for the background into small pieces. We’re making a simple design with sky, grass and flowers but you can use your imagination and either make your own design or just use a riot of colours!

Step 2.

Cut out flower shapes from your other bits of tissue paper.

Step 3.

Cover part of the jar with PVA glue and then start layering up your background tissue paper onto the glue. Work around the jar until the whole jar is covered.

Step 4.

Add spots of glue where you want your flowers and then carefully stick them on top.

Step 5.

Give the whole jar a coat of PVA and allow to dry.

Step 6.

Add in your tea light, light it up and enjoy! Have fun and don’t forget to share your makes with us!

Rhubarb Jam

We love cooking seasonally here at Heathlands and using ingredients grown on our gardens. Rhubarb is a great fruit that’s easy to grow and this very simple recipe uses only 3 ingredients!

You will need

500g Rhubarb

500g 1:1 Jam Sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

Method

Sterilise 4 jam jars.
Wash and chop your rhubarb into 1 inch chunks.
Weigh off you rhubarb and sugar.
Juice your lemon.
Put all of your ingredients into a large pan and turn on the heat. Keep stirring the mixture so it doesn’t stick.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 10-12 minutes.
Put into jars and allow to cool

Wild Weaving!

Here’s a good project to try on a nice sunny day; head outside and see what you can collect and then create a beautiful nature weaving.

You will need:

A small forked branch or stick
Cotton string or cotton thread (embroidery thread works well)
Scissors
Natural materials to weave: grasses, stems, twigs etc. Aim for things that are fairly straight and long.

Important Notes: Only pick plants from your garden or plants that are very common and you can find a big patch of, such as grass. Try and collect materials that are already on the ground, like small twigs that have fallen from the tree. It’s a good idea to wear gloves to protect your hands and watch out for nettles!

Step 1.

The first job is to make our forked branch into a loom. To do this cut several lengths of your string, the lengths need to be long enough to stretch across the fork plus a bit extra for tying knots.

Step 2.

Tie the lengths of string across the fork of the branch, about 2-3 cm apart. Here the thread is doubled because it is quite fine but a single thread is fine.

Step 3.

Start weaving! Begin by threading one of your stems or grasses over one thread, under the next, then over the next, under the next and so on until you reach the end.

For the next stem do the same but go under the threads you went over last time and over the ones you went under.

Step 4.

Continue weaving, alternating your overs and unders until the loom is full.

Step 5.

Hang up your weaving and admire, when the plants you’ve woven have died the whole thing can go on the compost heap.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Cheese Scones

Ingredients:

225g Self Raising Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
55g Butter
Pinch of Salt
25g Mature Ceddar
150ml Milk
1 Egg

Method:

Serve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and rub the butter in with your finger tips.
Add the milk gently with a wooden spoon to get a soft dough.
Bring the dough together with floury hands. Yup, this can be messy!
Turn out onto a floury surface and press down to about 3cm thick.
Cut out with a scone cutter and place on a baking tray with parchment.
Whisk egg and wash the top of scones.
Bake at 210 degrees for 12-15 minutes

For a delicious alternative, melt a tablespoon of marmite into the milk on the hob, then cool in the fridge before making you scones.