Betty's Cafe Tea Rooms

Me and my older sister are avid bakers and love making delicious little treats from cupcakes to macaroons so when I went to stay with her in Leeds we thought we would get a train over to Harrogate and visit one of the most lovely and wonderful places I've ever been, Betty's Cafe Tea Room.
 For all you who love little sweet treats this place is perfect for you as Betty's is famous for its afternoon tea which makes you feel oh so sophisticated! Amongst all the very elegant women and men politely sipping at their tea me and my sister squeaked and squirmed as we were handed our pots of fancy tea and 3 stacked plates of afternoon tea each including: perfectly triangle mini sandwiches, a scone with jam and clotted cream, a pink macaroon, a chocolate cake slice and cream patisserie with the amazing glazed fruit on top!
 I felt like I was in heaven...at the hefty price of £18! I would definitely recommend going there yourself but it's somewhere only a lucky few in the country could visit often. My new dream: Be able to afford to have afternoon tea every week.

Bake Them Yourself Christmas Biscuits!

 Yum! Just made these with my two older sisters and it has definitely kicked off the Christmas mood! You can make so many fun different shapes and use different recipes to match the time of year but these are perfect for Christmas! Christmas time also means you can make and eat as many as you want because hey! You're on holiday! Try these out for yourself and spread the Christmas cheer!

Makes 8 to 10

Ingredients

• 175g plain flour
• 110g soft butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas4
• Put the flour and butter in to a mixing bowl and whisk until combined.
• Add the sugar and mix until thoroughly mixed together.
• If the mixture is like a breadcrumb or powdery mixture, use your hands to combine and mold in to a dough.
• Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for 30 mins
• Roll the dough out on to a chopping board with some flour then use a festive shape cutter to cut out the biscuits or use a knife to create your own shapes.
• Place on a greased or lined baking tray and put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
• When they are cooked, take them out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. 
• Then you can decorate and ice them as much or as little you want! Have fun with it!

A cute idea to do with these is to cut a hole in the top before baking then once they are baked you can tie ribbon or string through them to make Christmas tree decorations! Merry Christmas!

D.I.Y - Braided Earphones

These braided earphones were inspired by an article in the craft magazine Mollie Makes. I fell in love with the idea, especially as it meant I could procrastinate for an hour, so decided to try it out for myself and it is incredibly easy! Here is my how to:

What you need:
-A pair of plain earphones
-Lots of embroidery threads with colours of your choice
-Scissors
-Super glue and PVA glue

1. Gather as much embroidery thread or materials that you want to cover your earphones in as you need a lot, much more than you think and half covered straggly earphones wont look quite as good!
2. Start at the very bottom of the earphones and tie one colour to the end. Although in Mollie Makes and when hair braiding you tie all the colours on it means you have to use a lot more thread then needed so I recommend starting off with one thread at a time. Superglue to ensure it doesn't unravel or slip.
3. Then wrap the coloured thread round the earphone so that non of the earphone is showing. Once you get the hang of it you can start making interesting patterns using multiple threads to give your earphones a much more impressive look.
4. When you want to switch colours tie the new color to the earphone and carry on with the first colour until you cover the knot then begin wrapping the new colour around both the earphone and end of the old thread. Cut the thread you are stopping shorter so that it doesn't continue up the earphone for too long and get in the way.
5. Continue doing this all the way up the earphones. Once all the earphones are covered (don't do the earpieces though. No-one wants fluff in their ear) use superglue to secure the ends and I lightly brushed over all the earphone with PVA glue so that the threads didn't come apart.
6. Leave them to dry and then show off as people envy your earphones!

I love my earphones now and you can do this with so many things such as headphones, your hair (dont use the glue though!), charger wires, headbands, I could go on for a whole page! So braid it yourself today.