Rainbow Sprinkle Cake Bars

Readers

Remember when this blog used to be about baking… all the baking? As most of you know, I rebranded earlier this year, to focus more on travel, lifestyle and dining out, but when I can, I still try to do the odd recipe post. 

In Florida I did a trip to Walmart to buy up all the rainbow sprinkles because the ones in the UK are so much less jazzy. The American version may well have some seriously strong colouring but, for creating amazing cakes, they are so much better.  The colour doesn’t bleed during baking either. I wish I'd bought more, so if anyone is headed to Walmart... can you sort me out?

So today’s weekend bake is super simple, but looks great and can be made into cake bars great for parties or office Friday treats. And as a Glasgow food blogger, I'm always trying to put new food content on my blog! 

There’s so much nostalgia around these bars… does anyone remember having them in school (usually square shaped) and the highlight of school lunches?  These are a bit more modern – snack bar format, rather than full on pudding but still a big nod to my youth!

Happy Baking guys and if you give this a go, let me know!

Rainbow Cake Bars

Ingredients (makes 10 bars)

150g self raising flour

30g plain flour

150g caster sugar

150g butter

3 medium eggs

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp rainbow sprinkles (add last)

Icing

200g icing sugar

Warm water to mix – add slowly

Few drops blue gel colouring

1.5 tsps rainbow sprinkles

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c (fan).
2. Grease a silicone 8in x 8in baking pan.
3. Sieve both flours, add caster sugar, eggs and chopped butter to a large mixing bowl.  Whisk with an electric mixer to mix to a cake batter.  Add a little milk to loosen the batter and mix some more.  This is the all in one method… total time saver!
   
4. Add a tablespoon of rainbow sprinkles to the batter and gently fold in, don’t overmix.
   
5. Add the cake batter to the pan, spread evenly and bake for around 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the mix comes out clean.
   
   
   
6. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
   

Icing

1. Don’t start until cool!
2. Add around 200g icing sugar to a bowl and slowly add in warm water, until a thick paste has formed.  Add a few drops of gel icing to the mix and combine.
3. Spread the icing paste over the top of the cake and allow to set for a few moments.  Then, sprinkle more rainbow sprinkles over the top and allow to set before slicing.
   
4. Top tip – for clean looking bars, take a sharp knife and slice off each edge, for a neater finish, before slicing into 10 rectangular bars.
   

Storage- Keep in an airtight container for a few days (if they last that long!)

From Monifieth to Malawi… The Wildlife Wonders I Saw

Readers, tonight’s blog is my entry to the Trips 100 / #AudleyBloggerChallenge where I’m writing about my amazing experience seeing wildlife in the natural habitat on the shores of Lake Malawi. Instead of my usual Glasgow food blog posts, I'm doing something different tonight!

Audley Travel are on the hunt for bloggers to share their adventures... and if you keep reading, you might be able to enter a competition yourself to win an African safari! 

For those of you reading this, Monifieth is a tiny village in the north east of Scotland… and well you probably know where Malawi is.

This post is a mission to convince you that it’s an AMAZING place to go. People often have visions of starving children, poverty (it can’t be denied, there is poverty, with NGOs trying to resolve this) but maybe, just maybe, we could use the powers of sustainable tourism to drive visitors to this wonderful, friendly country and learn there’s much much more than what’s shown on Oxfam adverts.

So queue my story.  I was 19.  Young, not really what you’d call “well travelled” (I’ve done my best to change that since) and was invited to go and do some volunteer work in a country called Malawi.  I’d heard of it, but had never even been out of Europe at that point.  There I was on a plane bound for Johannesburg.  Then on a tiny plane to southeast Africa.  

Amazing views and landscapes in Malawi

The heat was dry and searing, people looked at me, stroked my skin (I’ve since learnt in the more rural parts, they’d never seen a white person) but something struck me.  Those huge smiles.  It didn’t matter there was a language barrier, we’d find a way to communicate.

Traditional cooking in a Malawian mut hut

For 3 long weeks, I laid bricks, built walls (not my profession now, my skills were average at best). I taught English in schools and ran wild in the playground with the kids. It was emotionally exhausting, but totally rewarding and at the end of the trip, hopped on a minibus for a 4 hour ride to Lake Malawi.

For those who like facts, it was only discovered 150 years ago.  You’ll find fishing villages dotted on the shore, next to golden sands and beach resorts. We didn’t have time, but I’m told the crystal clear waters make for great snorkling, where you’ll see a vast array of fish swimming in their habitat.  But oh what you’ll see… watch for Nile Crocodiles!  There’s around 700 species of fish in the lake alone.  Plenty to spot on your adventures.

The shores of Lake Malawi at 7am. Beautiful, peaceful and tranquil

For me, though, the best part of all, was taking a water safari along the Lake.  This wasn’t just to see the animals living in the lake… it was the banks of the lake where the magic happened.  Walking by us were herds of elephants.  The entire family on a slow walk by the river… tiny babies surrounded by grandparents, with years of wisdom and survival experience.

Elephants and birds on the shores of Lake Malawi, from our boat

Looking closely, there were hippos baking in the midday sun, rolling around in the mud.  Doing as hippos do, one would assume. 

Those famously stripy zebras peeked out from the tall grasses as we sped past on our boat.

Birds swooped overhead, magnificent colours and sizes – just some of the 650 species you’ll find in the country.

Cooling off in the waters of Lake Malawi

I was in awe… having never been somewhere so exotic, and seeing animals that only existed in the encyclopaedias and picture books of my youth, to be almost touching distance of an elephant, was without a doubt… breath taking.

***

Win an African safari with Audley Travel by sharing your best wildlife photograph or video on your social media channels. To enter write #AudleySafari and @AudleyTravel on your Instagram or Twitter post or share directly on the Audley Travel Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/audleytravel/. To find out more or enter via the website, visit www.audleytravel.com/social.  Entries must be posted between 20th August – 23rd September.

Spotlight on Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland

Readers, hello! It’s been a busy few weeks and I am absolutely full of the cold (run down probably) and feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment.  I’ve made it from bed to the couch today, so you know, progress.  I’d planned on writing my spotlight on the north east post yesterday, but the head was so far in a bin, there was zero point in trying.  As most of you know my food and travel blog usually focuses on Glasgow, so I'm somewhere else!

Today I wanted to share with you a spotlight on the north east of Scotland – sometimes forgotten, mostly rainy, a lot of granite is the reputation up in Aberdeen, but when we rocked up on Wednesday night after a drive of several hours, we were greeted by sunshine, warmth and a gorgeous looking townhouse for our Air BnB.  Between 6 of us, it was £74 per couple, for 2 nights, which was an absolute steal for having our own space, big rooms and an area to chill in.   

For those of you wondering – we were up for a midweek wedding, so made a holiday of it, staying for a couple of nights to catch up with friends.

We started our Aberdonian adventure, with brunch at Foodstory on Thistle Street. Proof that social media marketing works – I’ve followed these guys for ages and always wanted to go, so when we discovered our accommodation was a mere 15 minute walk away, we made the effort to visit for brunch.  In short, it’s VERY hipster.  The menu is mostly veggie and vegan food (in fact it might all be). But 4 out of 5 of us had the superfood granola pancakes which were amazing.  Around £11 per person for an incredibly filling dish and a flat white was great value and the food was so filling.  I was defeated by the granola in the end and our 9.30am brunch filled us up right through to canapes at the wedding at 4pm.

Feeling a bit worse for wear: “just really tired” after our celebrations at the McCaig wedding and being greeted by the all too familiar grey skies, we packed the car and made our way back to Glasgow late morning.  We pulled off at Stonehaven to visit a couple of old haunts we hadn’t been to for years… not far off 7 years.

Arriving in time for lunch, we visited Molly’s Café Bar (where we’d had a great Cullen Skink previously) which is a cozy beach café on Stonehaven’s promenade.  It was packed with locals and visitors and was a very reasonable £20 for lunch for two.  I tried their summer special raspberry iced tea… which was HUGE but delicious. I went for a light bite choice for lunch – sweet potato skins with cheese and bacon.  All to save space for my next stop off, two doors down.

If you’ve never been to Aunty Betty’s in Stonehaven… YOU MUST GO. Old school sweet shop, meets ice cream shop, meets Mr Whippy, with all the toppings you’d ever want on your cone.  The ice creams might seem a bit more expensive than your regular store, but all toppings are included in the price, so would absolutely encourage you to have every single topping you can with your cone.  You won’t be disappointed.

So there you have it folks, whether it’s a day trip or a short break you are on to Aberdeen, there’s plenty of great places to eat whether you’re headed up the coast, or back down again!

Ikea Hacks... Repainting Bathroom Cabinets & Bathroom Remodel On A Budget

Readers, I’ve got another DIY blog for you tonight. I’ve got a bit obessessed about painting wood. I did crates and blackboards for our wedding earlier this year, made a shoe rack recently – it got painted too – and now, I’ve just finished my biggest project yet.

3 years ago we moved into our tenement flat in Glasgow and whilst we’ve done some stuff like put in new windows, decorated from top to bottom, painted the beautiful old storm doors etc, that’s as far as it’s gone.  We always knew we’d never be here long enough to justify a Pinterest worthy kitchen or bathroom.  Our Ikea units have held up well (we think they are close to 10 years old now) and we chose our huge kitchen diner here over a tiny designer galley kitchen offering when we moved.  

The bathroom’s always been a bit of a sore point – even my non interior design mum called it “old fashioned"recently.  We’ve made the best of it – it’s got a toilet (essential), big double sink (actually quite nice) and a large, fairly powerful shower (for the win!) It’s just the décor around it, we’ve always found a bit, well, questionable.  There’s the “fossil” tiles, but less said about them the better.  Then the dingy, dark wooden cabinets, which just made the already narrow bathroom feel, well, like it was closing in on you.  The room gets so much natural light, so it was time to try and enhance it.

So instead of my usual Glasgow food blogger posts, today it's all about Glasgow lifestyle, diy hacks and room development!

Before - dark, dingy and a bit tired looking

After spending weeks pouring over Pinterest, reading folks blogs and learning about the joys of painting Ikea furniture, I ordered my bits and tackled it with gusto.  And the result? For less than £200, I’ve fallen back in love with our tired old bathroom.

Was it easy?  Fairly.  Time consuming?  Most definitely. A few set backs on the way? Of course.  Does it look good?  I’m SO PROUD OF MYSELF.

Anyway, I’ve knocked up a quick guide for any first timers looking to paint their Ikea furniture or re-model a room on the cheap… Happy DIY’in guys!

Preparation

I can’t stress this enough. USE A GOOD PRIMER.  Make sure it’s oil, not water based, or it won’t stick. I can’t recommend B.I.N. Shellac Primer enough.  Even with chalk paint (which apparently goes onto all surfaces) I used this. Touch dry in 20 mins, re-coatable in 45, it was a saving grace when the paint went on.

Don’t skip this step.  Also, this primer is non sand, so you’ll save a bit of time there!

First coat of primer goes on. Also - note the glass door and glass drawer that no longer exist

Choose a fresh colour

Our bathroom was just a bit beige and brown before.   With the help of a bit of a light colour on the wood, it’s transformed the space.  When the sun shines in the window, it’s beautiful and airy now.   For those wondering, I used Rustoleum Laurel Green on the cabinets and painted 2 coats on top of the primer.

First coat of paint goes on!

Pick funky handles

Get rid of those bog standard handles that come with your flat pack furniture and treat it to some nice, custom bought handles. Lots of places sell handles and knobs.  I picked up a pack of 6 lovely white marble style door knobs for £6 in TK Maxx, which really added to the finished look. 

 

Check those funky door knobs... compare with original above!

Do it properly!

Make it a job done well!  If you’re serious about it, remove all doors, shelves etc from your units and paint them separately.  Honestly, it makes for such a better finished look.   You won’t miss any bits this way.

Also, don't be afraid to shake up a bit - the old freestanding cabinet had glass doors I hated.  So I painted them to make them look solid. I removed a drawer and left it as an open storage area for nicely rolled towels.  Now's your chance to change those bits you aren't sure of.  Plus, the open space means I have to keep it tidy... 

This door used to be glass.  Also, I accessorised with a new artificial plant 

Don’t skip the varnishing

It’s so important to finish your look. I used to chalk paint, which has a gorgeous matt finish, but marks so easily. Rather than waxing, I used a clear, matt varnish on the top, did 2 coats and it’s helped to seal my units.  It’s especially important in high traffic areas where things are likely to get bumped and knocked.

The finished article - I'm so proud of what we've done with the space!

Invest in Other Updates Too 

Don't just do the painting and hope for the best - spend a bit of cash on some other accessories for the room. My purchases possibly cost more than the actual renovation (which came in at about £70 for two cabinets) however, I wanted to do a complete overhaul.  So I spent some money on the new Joseph Joseph bathroom bin and loo brush which are game changers, bought a new toothbrush holder and soap dispenser, bought a load of new towels for display and guests coming and then got some plants (a mix of real and artificial) to make it all a bit more homely.  We had some vouchers we got as wedding gifts, which we put towards some of this stuff, softening the blow a little. It's been well worth it though. 

Investment in some gorgeous succulents for the window sill

I'd love to hear from you if you take on your own project. I promise it's not that scary... GOOD LUCK! 

What Claire Did... Round Up Time!

 Readers, in my head recently I thought "I’ve got all these exciting things I’ve done recently, that I’ll have a ton of content and be able to write so many blog posts".  As it turns out, life generally gets in the way and it doesn’t quite go to plan. So rather than not posting at all, I thought I’d do an early summer round up for you all.  Here’s what I’ve been up to, over the last few weeks.

It's been really busy recently, from my usual Glasgow food blogger activity, to recent travel blog adventures too... 

Mac and Cheese Themed Weddings

You might have seen over on Instagram, that my lovely pals Emma and Mark from Foodie Explorers, recently got married at our local pub and enjoyed a mac and cheese themed surprise wedding, at the end of the mac and cheese festival, that they organise each year.

I was sworn to secrecy, but had a blast creating their mac and cheese themed wedding cake – ft dessert mac and cheese (it’s amazing what can be achieved with yellow jelly beans, yellow chocolate and some desiccated coconut…)  I was tearing my hair out the night before, after a fondant disaster, but was so proud of the end result and the press seemed to love it too!

Smokehead Whisky Event

Just before my 30^th and my trips away to The Lake District, the lovely PR team from Smokedhead Whisky, collaborated with Dram and Smoke on an amazing food and whisky event at SWG3 in Finnieston.  We enjoyed Smokehead cocktails, drams on the table and an amazing smoky 3 course dinner to boot.  Was it fun? Hell yes it was.   I shared some stories on the night and some other Instagram content which you’ll see here.

Florida

We headed off to see the big mouse again at Disneyland in Orlando for Mr WhatClaireDid’s 30^th alongside his family.  We had an absolute blast – hosting a fancy dress bbq for his actual birthday, at our villa. Everyone else had a bit of a prehistoric theme, but I went as Snow White because the costume was cheap on Ebay… 

We had a few days at the parks – I still love The Magic Kingdom -  and I’m hoping to do a Florida Guide post as part of my travel blog content over the coming weekends.

I won't say too much on Florida for now and will aim to get some more content up in the coming weeks. 

Vegas Baby!

You’ve probably seen my other post on our trip to Momofuku in Vegas – so you’ll know that we went to Vegas on our USA trip too.  It’s actually really easy to do from Orlando. We got cheap flights with Spirit (cheap = delays both ways, however I'm trying to block that from memory).It got us there. It’s a 5 hour flight from Orlando – so one to time right if you are going.  We stayed for 2 nights at New York New York again.  All in, our trip cost £170pp for the 2 nights and was worth it for a change of scenery for a couple of days.

We also went to Carlos Bakery in Vegas (I’m a massive fan of the show) and completely got overwhelmed ordering rainbow cake… which I then ate in bed the next day after Vegas well and truly defeated me.

The final highlight of our amazing Vegas trip was David Copperfield at the MGM Grand. Honesty, if you are ever in Vegas and get the chance… go.  He was nothing short of amazing.

Just a short post from me tonight readers… and I promise more coming soon!

Claire x

Restaurant Review – Momofuku Las Vegas

Readers, hi! Hope everyone is well?  I’ve (surprise surprise) been off on my travels again this month – hitting up Florida and Las Vegas for Mr WhatClaireDid’s 30^th birthday.   We’ve had lots of excitement recently, from our llama trip to the LakeDistrict which I wrote about here and then it was off to the USA a week later.

In this post we're going all the way from Glasgow food blogger, to Las Vegas food blogger!

For fans of Ugly Delicious over on Netflix, I’m certain you’ll know about Momofuku – from Milk Bar, the bakery, then the first noodle bar which opened in 2004, Momofuku is on its way to international domination. There’s cookbooks for your own make at home version, their famous sauces can now be bought by the bottle and David Chang was called “one of the most influential people of the 21^st century” by Esquire. 

All in, this company’s a powerhouse.

Our Vegas visit was very much a last minute decision to book a table and go to Momofuku – we’d fancied going somewhere nice for lunch, we’d done Lago on our previous trip and after 10 days of eating American food, I was craving a taste of Asia.  As luck would have it, we got a table for a late lunch at 2.30pm.

The restaurant was fairly quiet by then – it was a Thursday – so we were able to enjoy our food in relative peace.  Service was quick and efficient. We’d decided we wanted to share a few dishes between us, so asked for a few recommendations.  The bao buns were a definite and at $7 each, didn’t break the bank.

We didn’t hit the raw bar (although I’ve heard great things) instead choosing the pear & burrata salad with truffle, hazelnut and sourdough croutons as our starter sharer.  It was delicious and the term “small plate” is definitely different to Europe.  We had more than enough to share.

The rest of our dishes came one by one from the kitchen when they were ready – chicken ginger scallion noodles (to be honest for $21 it would be more than enough to feed one person for lunch) – we just wanted to try as much as we could when we were there.

My absolute favourite, outstanding contribution to lunch, was the shrimp bun.  By far my favourite dish, although the pork belly one was tender, the meat falling apart, it just didn’t do it for me in the way the shrimp got me going! Honestly, if you’d lined up 10 of them in a row, I’d probably have eaten them all.

At $48 from the ssams menu, the five spice rotisserie duck was the most expensive dish we ordered – it came with lettuce wraps, ginger scallion rice and homemade kimchi.  Mr WhatClaireDid isn’t the biggest fan of duck, but I ate more than my halves worth to support him.

The food all arrived hot, beautifully presented and my other top spot is reseved for the $10 crispy potatoes that were cooked in honey mustard and toasted garlic.   Definitely don’t forget to add these onto your order if you’re going!

My only regret of the day was having so much food (and eating most of it) that I was way too full to enjoy a delicious piece of cake or a soft serve and cereal from Milk Bar that I’d heard so much about. However, never fear, I’ve confirmed there is a Toronto branch, so I’ll be able to have a trip there in October.  Yay!

Lunch at Momofuku was around $150 plus service – including a well crafted cocktail for me, beer for him and a selection of 5 dishes to share.    We’d recommend this as a great shout for couples who love Asian food, for those who are fans of Ugly Delicious and want to try and piece of the action for themselves and those who love a stylishly designed restaurant, away from the cheap, greasy American grub that can be found in some places on the Vegas strip.

Momofuku is located inside the modern Cosmopolitan Hotel on the strip.

Llamas, Lounging and The Lake District

Readers!

How are you? I’ve got a travel blogging piece coming up tonight.  We’ve just returned from a little weekend break to the Lake District.  It’s been ages since I spent time there for fun. My mum and dad took me on a family holiday when I was 16. There was no phone signal and I was a bored, grumpy teenager.   Fast forward 14 years, I’ve refined my tastes, enjoy escaping people now and had 4G coverage meaning I didn’t miss any royal wedding coverage unfolding on Twitter.  Bonus.

Big news, I turned 30 on Saturday.  As we’ve had our own version of a Royal Wedding this year already, we decided to keep the big birthday thing on the down low.  I decided I wanted a mini break for mine and we’re away for Mr What Claire Did’s birthday.  He’s 30 too.

It's been a busy start to the year with various travel blogging adventures to The Dominican Republic from the beach to the city, and now this Glasgow food and travel blogger is adventuring again!

So off we trotted to the north lakes this weekend.  From Glasgow, it’s about a 2 hour drive – or a little less on a good run.  The sun was shining, we had the tunes on and life was good!  Our first stop of the day was my birthday treat.  A trip to trek with a llama.  Setting off from the Llama Karma Kafe, just 10 minutes from Penrith, we arrived had a cake and coffee and then joined our small group walk.

Barney was our llama for the walk (I picked the biggest… typical) and we shared him between the two of us.  The trek was more of a gentle meander up to the castle, which meant it was suitable for a range of ages and abilities.  Barney was lovely, gentle, friendly and didn’t try to eat any grass on the trip.  The walk lasted round an hour and gave us plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. 

Next up, we headed off to The National Trust site of Aira Force, on the edge of Lake Ullswater.  Make sure to have change with you.  Its £5 for 2 hours parking if you aren’t a member of The National Trust, but it’s worth paying for to keep the area well maintained.  There’s lots of lovely walks around the falls and if it’s a great day (like we had on Saturday) there are plenty of picnic opportunities.  We were prepared and took a full picnic down the road with us. I’d also recommend B&Ms £4.99 picnic blanket with waterproof back – it was ideal for 2 of us to have a semi civilised picnic lunch!

The highlight of our mini break was a DBB overnight stay at Appleby Manor Hotel.  Tucked away, not far from the main road, it’s a lovely old manor house that’s been carefully extended, had an AA Rosette restaurant and a lovely garden spa that opened in 2015.  We ended up with a buy a gift voucher which we chose to use at the hotel, so really, the trip didn’t cost us more than a couple of drinks in the bar and a massage at the spa (thanks husband).  We had a classic room in the main hotel building which wasn’t the biggest, but was ample for our one night stay.

The rooms are a little tired – you can see the hotel’s working through renovating its public areas.  The spa was lovely, my treatment at £35 for a half hour back, neck and shoulder massage was well priced and it’s Elemis products they use, so quality assured.

We had dinner at the 1871 Bistro – 3 courses and a glass of wine was included with our deal and both of us enjoyed the views to the hills beyond from the bistro’s conservatory.   Food was delicious, well cooked and filling, whilst the glass of wine was a nice touch. We also tried these fabulous gin and Appletiser cocktails… so good we had a few each!

We absolutely lucked out with the weather, so managed some drinks on the terrace before dinner, then after, sat in the conservatory watching the sun go down. The hotel provides board games for guests to entertain themselves (get in quick though) and there’s also a room with a table tennis table and pool table if you so desire.

Breakfast the next morning was a lovely affair, served til 10am.  We had a choice of continental buffet and ordering from the menu – as ever, I went straight for panics with blueberry compote and syrup… can’t help myself.

All in, we had a lovely weekend break to the Lake District.  Only 2 hours from Glasgow, there are loads of activities on the doorstep to get back to nature and enjoy the great outdoors!

Reader Offer - 25% Off at Gordon Street Coffee

Readers

I’m here to offer something lovely to you all. Gordon Street Coffee – located inside Central Station in Glasgow, has its own in house coffee roaster (he’s called John, you’ll find him upstairs in the café and he’s dead friendly).  There’s such demand for their coffee, that it’s available for delivery direct to your home, office, holiday home in Fife, Granny’s gaff down the road… you get the picture.

As a Glasgow food blogger, I love uncovering local brands.  Gordon Street Coffee being one of them.

From the ever popular Glasgow Roast (my favourite) to the Charles Rennie Macintosh with its notes of red cherries and walnuts, to the current Eurovision Roast which will “keep you up all night”- there’s something to please everyone. 

AND until 31^st May, I’m offering readers a whopping 25% off a coffee order direct from the Gordon Street Coffee website.  Just enter my coupon code WHATCLAIREDID at the checkout and you’ll get a quarter off the cost of your coffee, delivered to your door.

It’s limited to 20 coupons and for one order… so don’t hold back.

Valid on coffee only… Spend over £25 and your coffee will be delivered to your door free of charge.

P.S. There's also really cool re-usable cups in store and if you bring yours in when you get your morning coffee, you'll get a discount off each cup you buy. Saving money and saving the planet. Double win.

DIY Tutorial – Creating a Custom Wedding Blackboard

Readers, something a bit different for a post today – a wee DIY tutorial. 

Since the wedding, I’ve been meaning to share a blog post and some content around our day.  I did my first ever DIY wedding cake last year, which I wrote about on the blog (the moral of that was DIY all you want, but offer to DIY for someone else, not your own big day!)

Anyway, I massively enjoyed the creative side of all our planning and right from the start, knew I wanted to put a load of individual touches to our day.  We had a reasonably long engagement, giving me time to source stuff in sales, buy up Xmas decorations (honestly) from sales in places like Poundland (I know, again, you are like WHAT THEY HAVE SALES?!) and curate a load of simple and rustic style décor for our wedding.  

I hired in sashes for our chairs from a supplier, as I knew she’d do a way better job than me and enlisted the help of friends and family to help us set up the venue, but most of the décor, we did ourselves, collecting it as we went (and bonus, you can sell it on afterwards!)

In the midst of a load of stuff going wrong before the big day (long story short, our venue burnt down, some bad news about family and friends etc) I found the whole process of working on my décor projects as a bit of a relief and focus.

And today I’m sharing how you can DIY your own blackboard for less than £30… if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.  And make sure you buy markers that clean off with water and fairy liquid, so someone else can use your lovely piece of artwork again…

Image Credit: Ally Stuart Photography

Step 1 – Procure Blackboard

Here’s my big secret. I went to children’s Ikea. This started out its life as a kid’s toy.  It’s a blackboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other… I painted over the whiteboard side to make it look like the rest of the painted wood. 

Step 2 – Buy paint and sandpaper. Get some brushes and white spirit for clean-ups

I managed to paint this using 2 tester pots of sage green paint from Homebase’s value range. £1 each.   Maybe stretch to buying one more in case you need several coats. I also cheated and did 2 coats on the front and one on the back because nobody saw that anyway.

Step 3 – Preparation is key

Sand down all the wood with the sandpaper, then using a cloth and white spirit, clean it down before painting. 

Mask off the edges of the actual blackboard.  Nobody wants paint on there.  

Step 4 – Paint

Go for one coat and see what you think. It might need two, depending on the colours you are using.  Let it dry between coats.

Step 5 – Start work on your Stenciling.

You’ll need a printer, paper, greaseproof paper, pencils and a chalkboard marker.

Step 6 – Choose Fonts and a Size, Find a New Use for Greaseproof Paper

I created a canvas on MS Publisher, but there are some great tools out there like Canva that allow you to create designs. I created the canvas to the size of the blackboard, designed it, saved it as a PDF and then printed it.  It took up 6 pages of A4, but I stuck these together to make a big sheet of paper, the same size as the blackboard.

Then, cut a sheet of tracing paper / greaseproof paper, to match the size of this.  Overlay it onto your text sheets and trace out the text you want on your blackboard.  Once you’ve traced the front, trace the reverse, so there’s pencil on both sides of the greaseproof.

Step 7 – Onto the Blackboard We Go

Once you’ve traced out the wording or signage onto your greaseproof sheet, pin it to your board and using a dark pencil, trace over the front again, to leave a light imprint on the board.  Once you’ve traced it, there might be some gaps, so go over them on the board with a pencil (straight onto the board this time).

Once you’ve traced directly onto the blackboard, it’s time to get your whiteboard marker out and fill in the letters,after you've outlined them with the marker. Keep a damp cotton bud handy, to clean up any mistakes.

I’m a leftie, so I started from the bottom right and worked back on myself, so I didn’t smudge the text as I went.  Right handed, normal people probably won’t have issues with this.   Let the chalkboard ink dry properly, before deciding if you need a second coat or not.

Decorate your board with candles, flowers, fake ivy etc, to create a gorgeous looking rustic piece of décor, that nobody would know was an Ikea kids toy! 

If you manage to create your own, let me know. I’d love to see it!

Claire x

Glasgow Living Part 30 - Dinner at Amore, Merchant City

Readers, how are you? It finally feels like Spring is on the way. As I type this, I can still almost spot daylight out of the window! I’m catching up tonight on a restaurant review from the weekend before last – trying out Amore, the family run Italian and pizzeria on Ingram St, Merchant City.

I've been a Glasgow food blogger adventuring again in Glasgow this week! 

It’s not somewhere we’d been before, but an invite from the PR company to go along and enjoy the atmosphere on a Saturday night wasn’t one we wanted to turn down. We had a table at 7pm and I was surprised firstly by how big Amore Merchant City is. It’s absolutely huge AND it was packed to the rafters!

 

It’s the type of place people start their night, but it attracts a massive demographic – from groups of girls chatting on a night out, to families celebrating birthdays (they dim the lights and the place flashes neon FYI, if you’re planning a happy birthday celebration). We saw young couples, dressed up to head out on the town and older people tucking into huge pizzas with big smiles on their faces.

Amore really does please all the generations. It’s got the feel of a giant Italian café – with exposed brickwork like a pizza oven, a rotunda space in the middle to seat a group (must be the VIP space) and fast moving service. We were quickly seated on a arrival, given some huge menus to peruse and our drinks arrived quickly – an Italian frascati for me and a Modelo for Mr WhatClaireDid.  We didn’t have to wait long for our starter orders to be taken and the food followed soon after – piping hot.

We’d suggest you prepare yourself for dinner here. Maybe don’t eat for 3 days beforehand?!  I am of course joking, but the portion sizes are incredibly generous. So turn up hungry.   I had the mozzarella triangles to start, mozzarella fried in breadcrumbs with a Napoli sauce.  They were so good… and I probably could have shared my starter with Mr WhatClaireDid, but he’d ordered the bruschetta and demolished that with little room left for mine.

Onto the mains we went, with me opting for Ravioli Casalinga and Mr WhatClaireDid going for Pollo Milanese.  My ravioli was also an incredibly generous portion (I didn’t manage to finish it – possibly a first) and it made me smile – all too often you order ravioli in a restaurant to be presented with 6 bits of pasta and you’ve eaten them before the rest of the table have made a dent in their mains.  At £10.45 a portion, it’s good value for the amount you get.  The Pollo Milanese came shallow fried in breadcrumbs and served with spaghetti napolitana.  It came with two portions of chicken, so again… come hungry.   The restaurant also does a half and half option with its pizza and pasta, so you can have a half pizza, half portion pasta if you’re unable to decide. We didn’t have this, but did see a few people tucking in! 

Amore makes for a good place to go for a group – be that a family, where you’re trying to please multiple generations from kids to grannies – or a group of friends starting a night out. Amore Merchant City is also a good shout for a pre gig feed, if you were going to a concert or the theatre, as the service is speedy, even when the restaurant is packed.

Some great choices, but we were too full! 

Dinner for 2 (two courses and a drink) from the al a carte menu would give you change from £50 – probably enough for another beer or two!

Amore Merchant City is located at 30 Ingram Street in Glasgow and you can keep an eye on their menu online, or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclaimer: I was invited to dinner for two in exchange for a review, any opinions expressed are my own.