Halloween: Pumpkin carving

What better way to see in the season than by gathering friends, family and a pile of big pumpkins…

Once pumpkins arrive you know autumn is really in full swing. Throw a pumpkin party: ask people to bring a small pumpkin as well as the one they’ll be carving.

Carve off the pumpkin tops and fill them with tea lights, votive candles or dried flowers and seedheads from the garden. Send everyone home with their pumpkin vase.

Tell stories as you carve of fancy dress disasters, maybe a ghost story you once heard or simply what the word ‘pumpkin’ brings to mind.

Eat pumpkin*, too – a pie is the obvious choice. But pumpkin and sage lasagne or pumpkin soup make for filling savoury dishes, especially accompanied by a mug of hot cider or two.

How to carve a pumpkin

YOU WILL NEED

Carving tools (a variety of spoons, knives and other tools for decorating
Cookie cutters (use a mallet to pound them through the pumpkin flesh)
Carving pumpkins 

TO MAKE

Place newspaper over a large table. Pile carving tools in the centre, plus a communal bowl for seeds and filling. 

When it comes to carving, there are no rules, just decorate whichever way you fancy. 

Extract from Handmade Gatherings by Ashley English. Photography by Jen Altman (Roost Books)

*Carving pumpkins are an altogether different prospect to eating varieties. Come back later this week to find out which types are best in which dishes.

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Nourishing chickpea and turmeric face mask

This mask is tempting to eat, but refrain from doing so and let your skin soak up all the goodness. 

Great for skin that's had a bit too much sun – and you’re likely to find all of the ingredients in your kitchen cupboards. 

You’ll need:
1 tbsp chickpea flour (gram flour) 
2 tsp almond oil
2 tsp honey
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground turmeric

1 Mix together all the ingredients and stir well to form a paste.

2 Apply a thick layer onto clean skin and rest for 15 minutes before rinsing off the mask with tepid water.

(Don’t worry about turmeric colouring your face; the mask washes off easily without a trace.)

Extract from All Natural Beauty: Organic & Homemade Beauty Products by Karin Berndl and Nici Hofer (Hardie Grant)

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Make: Luxurious Body Butter

Make your own aromatic, cooling skin smoother

MAKES: 250ml
KEEPS: 6 months
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp cocoa butter
4 tbsp shea butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
4 tbsp evening primrose oil
10 drops jasmine
10 drops sandalwood
5 drops rose

1. Gently heat the cocoa and shea butters with the coconut oil in a bain-marie until they have melted.

2. Remove from the heat and cool until hand-hot. Add all the oils and whisk well.

3. Put the bowl in the fridge, removing every 30 minutes or so to whisk.

4. When nearly set, whisk well and pour into jars.

5. Replace in the fridge until set.

Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). 

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Make: Rosemary water

A delicious  flavouring for foods, and a great tonic for hair and skin

MAKES: 300ml
KEEPS: 2 years
INGREDIENTS:
150g dried rosemary (300g fresh) 
2.5 litres water

METHOD:
1 Put everything in a pressure cooker near the sink. Close lid and remove pressure regulator to expose the vent pipe.
2 Connect a hose to the vent pipe. Pass the hose beneath the water tap and then on and into a glass collecting bottle.
3 Turn the heat to high. When water boils, open tap to let cold water cool the hose.
4 The distillation process should be slow with minimum heat. Simmer on low until you have distilled 300ml of water – in a household pressure cooker, this should take around 30-45 mins.

Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press).

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Make: Exfoliating seaweed scrub

Kelp's wonderfully fresh seashore scent makes this exfoliating scrub a summer shower must-have

Exfoliating seaweed scrub

MAKES: 100g
KEEPS: At least 6 months
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp kelp powder
5 tsp vegetable glycerine
7 tsp sweet almond oil
5 drops juniper essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil

METHOD:
1 Mix the sea salt and kelp together.
2 Add the glycerine and half the almond oil and mix well. If the mixture is too stiff, add more oil until it makes a thick, gloopy paste.
3 Add the essential oils and stir really well.

Note: this recipe isn’t suitable for dry skins

Courtesy of Lynn Rawlinson. Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). 
 

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Make: Homemade gardener's hand scrub

Give your hands some TLC. Just because you like to get your hands dirty, doesn’t mean you want them to stay dirty. This hand scrub will combat the perma-dirt that any keen gardener is familiar with.

Homemade gardener's hand scrub

Makes 300-350g scrub

60g coconut oil, melted
60ml liquid castile soap
225g sugar
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops peppermint essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil

1 In a medium bowl, combine the coconut oil, castile soap and sugar. Let the mixture cool, then stir vigorously with a spoon. This will “whip” the oil for a pourable but creamy texture.
2 Stir in the essential oils then scrape the scrub into a clean jam jar. The hand scrub will last six months, though the scent may fade. If the scrub begins to separate, just give it a good stir.

To use: Wet hands, spoon a generous dollop of scrub into your palms. Scrub away, paying particular attention to the sides of the fingers and crease lines where dirt likes to stick. Rinse.

Extract from The Hands-On Home: A Seasonal Guide to Cooking, Preserving, and Natural Homekeeping by Erica Strauss (Sasquatch Books). Photography by Charity Burggraaf
 

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Homemade rose face cream

When the roses are in bloom all things floral become a little addictive. Make like a kid and stir up a summer potion for your dressing table 

MAKES: 175ml
KEEPS: 6–12 months

INGREDIENTS
100g coconut oil
25ml avocado oil
1 tbsp honey
5 tsps rosewater
10–15 drops rose (or rose geranium) essential oil

METHOD
1 Melt the coconut and avocado oils and honey in a bain-marie. Warm the rosewater in a separate bowl in the bain-marie.
2 Remove from heat, and whisk the oil and honey mixture, adding a drop of rosewater.
3 Keep whisking and adding rosewater until you’ve used all of it, then whisk until it starts to solidify. Add the essential oils and whisk until well blended.
4 Keep in a sterilised jar.

Courtesy of Lynn Rawlinson. Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). 

Turn to page 123 of June's The Simple Things for more Miscellany wisdom. 

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How to get rid of moths

Moth larvae are most active when the temperature creeps over 10 degrees – about the time our woolies are put away. Act now to prevent moth munchies.

Prevention
l Only put away clean clothes. For moths, dirt is the icing on a woolly cake.
l Pack clothes in vacuum storage bags. Order from lakeland.co.uk
l Larvae loves carpet. Vacuum regularly, especially edges and under furniture.
l Lift and beat rugs.
l Moths like warm, dark spaces, so consider open wardrobes and turning the heat down.
l Lavender, conkers and cinnamon sticks are all natural repellents.

In the event of infestation:
l Put your clothes in plastic bags in the freezer for 72 hours.
l For carpets, blog.labourandwait.co.uk advises dissolving a quarter-pound of rock ammonia in about a half-gallon of boiling water. Immerse a large house-cloth, wring and lay flat on the carpet. Iron with a very hot iron until dry.

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From the May issue

Home posts

Natural remedies

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Make your own bath bombs

These bath bombs are fun to make and the reward for your efforts is a long soak in a heavenly scented bath. Kids love them and if you can bear to give them away, they make great gifts.

For about eight bombs you will need:

440g baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) 
180g cornstarch (cornflour)
220g citric acid
110g Epsom salts
2 to 4 tbsp water
food colouring (optional)
20 drops essential oil* (optional)
a stiff plastic or metal mould, like a muffin tin

1 In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of the water with the food colouring and essential oils.
2 Stirring the dry mixture constantly with a whisk, drizzle in the wet mixture a drop at a time until it just holds together if you squeeze a bit in one hand. If it doesn’t hold at all, drizzle more drops of water, one or two at a time. If you start to see fizzing, that means there is too much water in one area and you should stir that area quickly to distribute the moisture. Be warned it doesn’t take much water so keep stirring and go slow.
3 Pack the mixture into moulds tightly, then smooth the surface of each bomb. Carefully unmould them onto a flat, dry surface. If any break during unmolding, just scoop up the crumbs and repack them in the mould. Let the bath bombs dry for about 24 hours, until fully dry. They should keep for up to six months.
4 Fill a tub with hot water and drop in 1 or 2 bath bombs. Relax... 

From The Hands-On Home by Erica Strauss (Sasquatch Books).
Photography by Charity Burrgraaf.

* Try matching the colour and fragrance, eg purple with lavender essential oil and a pale yellow-green with lemongrass.

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From the April issue

Homemade salt scrubs

Homemade reed diffuser

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Home remedy: Sleep peacefully pouch

If you toss and turn, are kept awake by tomorrow’s to-do list or are troubled by bad dreams, this aromatic herb pouch will help encourage a lovely, floaty, restful sleep. 

Things you’ll need
3 tsp chamomile flowers
3 tsp peppermint
3 tsp sage
3 tsp valerian
3 tsp thyme
small piece of cotton fabric piece of string
..not a single sheep!

1 Place the ingredients in the centre of your piece of fabric and fold the corners in, so the herbs sit like the stuffing inside a cushion. Secure with string and place inside your pillowcase or next to it.

2 This is the last in our series of traditional Alpine remedies. To discover more, get a copy of Vinegar Socks by Karin Berndl & Nici Hofer (Hardie Grant) 
 

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From the March issue

Alpine remedies

Mint chocolate face pack recipe

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Natural recipe: Mint chocolate face pack

This deeply cleansing face mask is a chocolate lover’s dream. It smells divine, too – almost good enough to eat...

MAKES: almost 250ml

KEEPS: up to six months in a jar 

INGREDIENTS:
11⁄2 tbsp raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp white kaolin powder
10g dried peppermint leaves
40–60ml coconut oil

METHOD
1 Mix the dry ingredients together. 
2 Gradually add the oil until you have a thick paste.
3 Apply to cleansed skin and then leave on for 15–20 mins.
4 Wash off well and moisturise.

Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). Recipe courtesy of Teri Evans.

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From the March issue

Miscellany posts

Natural remedies

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Make: A nest box for small birds

Why not give our feathered friends a helping hand by making them a nest box? An old boot can create a unique bird box, as well as being a good alternative to a hole found in trees.

1 Cut a length of weatherproof wood, 15mm thick and 400mm long (check your boot fits on the board with room for a roof). Don’t use CCA pressure-treated timber, as the leachates may harm birds.

2 Cut two 150mm lengths of the same wood at right angles to make the roof. Drill and nail the pieces together, then place the roof on the backboard and drill and nail into place.

3 Attach the boot to the backboard with glue, toe facing down, and tilted forward so rain falls off. Fix, two to four metres up a tree, or a wall. Try to face the boot north-east to avoid strong sunlight and wet winds. There should be a clear flight path to the nest.

4 Different species will be attracted to different sizes of hole. Tie the laces tightly, to 25mm for blue, coal and marsh tits; 28mm for great tits, tree sparrows and pied flycatchers; 32mm for house sparrows and nuthatches and 45mm for starlings.

5 Clean the boot with boiling water in August once the birds have stopped using it to get rid of any parasites.
 

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From the January issue

Making projects

Miscellany posts

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Make: A macrame planter

Projects to perk up the plant life in every corner of your home

Creative gardening need not be restricted to outdoors. Or, indeed, to off-the-shelf plant pots. Making a hanging plant holder is a craftier way to display greenery, and a great project for anyone finding themselves low on either time or space. 

The ancient craft of macramé was a hit with the Victorians, although it’s most associated with 1970s homespun style. Plant hangers are back, given a colourful – and, dare we say, tasteful – makeover. You can, of course, buy one (see page 8 of February’s The Simple Things), if all that knotting brings back painful memories. 

Hanging plant holder

 
You will need: 
textile yarn* 
scissors
2 plant pots, ideally already containing a plant

1 Cut five pieces of the textile yarn, each of about 4m long, and one more of about 40cm (you can adjust the measurements to your desired length).
2 Fold each of the longer pieces of yarn in half. Group all the folds together, then create a loop by wrapping the smaller piece of yarn around the grouped threads several times and tying firmly (A). 
3 Divide the 10 pieces of hanging yarn into five pairs (B). 
4 About 20cm below the top loop, take the first two threads and knot them together. Repeat for each of the pairs (C). 
5 Then, take the right hand thread from the first pair and, further down, knot it with the left hand thread from the second pair. Repeat for each thread until each piece of thread is tied to another (D). 
6 Repeat the process down the length of the yarn. The bigger you make the gap between the knots, the more space you’ll have for the pot, but you’ll need to make the knots closer together to hold the bottom of the pot. 
7 Test for size with your plant pot, before tying a secure knot underneath the pot with the threads. 
8 To add a second pot, repeat under the bottom knot using exactly the same knotting system. 
9 Finish with a large knot containing all the yarn and neaten the ends with scissors.

Project by Laetitia Lazerges, a Paris-based pattern designer who blogs at www.vertcerise.com and www.doityvette.fr. She has also written several DIY books and sells bright and fun paper goods on Etsy at www.vertceriseshop.etsy.com.

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From the February issue

Think posts

Mindfulness posts

Christmas gifts: Homemade tea bags

Gather together friends for a ‘crafternoon’ of festive food while you create bespoke handmade gifts

A truly personalised gift, you can make these rustic bags with your friend’s name on and their favourite tea.

Handmade tea bags

Makes 18–24 tea bags – six per gift

unbleached cheesecloth
fabric for the label, string, twine, linen ribbon, silver ribbon
a needle and thread
loose leaf tea
small brown Kraft bags seasonal foliage
black ink stamp
alphabet stamps

1 Cut the cheesecloth into 13 x 13cm squares.
2 Cut the string (that attaches the tea bag to the tag) into 15cm lengths.
3 Cut your fabric into a long 2.5cm strip and then cut that into 6cm pieces.
4 Fold down one short end of a fabric piece with the right side of the fabric facing away from you, then place one end of the string in the centre and sew into place.
5 Fold the fabric in half so the ends meet, and sew the sides together. Repeat until your required amount of tags are done.
6 Place around 2 tbsp of tea into the centre of the cheesecloth square. Gather the corners to make a pouch.
7 Tie the string from your tag to the pouch very securely, sealing the tea within.
8 Trim the excess cheesecloth and any excess string. Repeat.
9 Add 6 tea bags to each brown bag. Fold down the top twice, make a hole centrally with a hole punch and thread through and wrap around string, twine or ribbon. Add some seasonal foliage.
10 To create the name tag, cut a strip of wide linen ribbon, use a hole punch to create a hole at the top end, and use an ink pad and stamp kit to stamp the name. Attach to your bag with the ribbon.

Turn to page 30 of December's The Simple Things for three more makes - Stollen muffins, Peppermint creams, and Lemon, olive oil & rosemary body scrub - plus a menu fit for a crafternoon, including Chicken & bacon pie, and Eggnog with cognac.

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From the December issue

Christmas posts

Homemade gifts

December's The Simple Things is full of festive makes and bakes, wreaths of hawthorn and bay, and twinkly lights a-plenty. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Make: A hedgehog box

With an old wooden box and a few bricks you can host your own winter holiday home for hedgehogs

If you think you’ve got hedgehogs in your garden, encourage them to stay throughout the winter with a home of their own.

All you need to do is provide a wooden box (a wine crate is ideal) and bury it under some old leaves.

Before you bury it, make a small entrance hole in the box using a saw and, once it’s in place, build a covered tunnel (using bricks and a wooden plank as cover) leading up to the entrance hole to help prevent foxes, badgers and other predators from raiding the nest.

You can then watch the prickly visitors come and go. 

A finished hedgehog box

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From the October issue

Makes

Gardening posts 

October's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

October's The Simple Things PLUS pressed leaves craft ideas

On sale now, October's The Simple Things is all about the FORAGE. With such a beautiful cover, we've been inspired to get outside, hunt for colourful leaves and put them to crafty use. 

Try one of the ideas from our pressed leaves Pinterest board and let us know how you get on - share your pictures with us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Follow The Simple Things's board Pressed leaves on Pinterest.

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From the October issue

Make a homemade reed diffuser

Pinterest ideas

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Chalkboard art PLUS win one of five tote bags (closed)

From signage to prints to The Simple Things’ own back cover, chalkboard art is enjoying a bit of a revival. Requiring only chalk, a blackboard surface and a spot of creativity, it’s easy to understand its appeal. In the October issue of The Simple Things we share the step-by-step instructions for creating a chalkboard party invite, taken from Valerie McKeehan’s The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering.

The book is filled with helpful tips for aspiring chalkers, and projects ranging from birthday greetings to vintage-style store signs. If you enjoy that, we recommend you also taking a look at the incredible 1909 Blackboard Sketching book by Frederick Whitney (discovered through The Public Domain Review).

Bulrushes and baskets, cosy fireside scenes and glimpses of the great outdoors all come to life through Whitney’s mastery of chalk. With the whole book available to read online, it may help equip you with the skills to sketch up a quick igloo. At the very least, it should give you a few “wow” moments.

As Whitney describes, “Such drawing is a language which never fails to hold attention and awaken delighted interest”.

Competition

We’ve got five tote bags celebrating The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering to give away. Enter below

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From the October issue

More chalkboard back covers

More competitions 

Learn something new: Origami

Master how to fold a flapping bird (or ‘crane’ as it’s correctly known) and you will always have a dinner party trick up your sleeve. A paper napkin can, with a bit of dextrous folding, be transformed into a thing of wonder. Your fellow diners’ jaws will drop as you crease and sculpt and then reveal a creature whose wings flap when they tug its tail.

One of the marvels of this Japanese art is that all it needs is one piece of square paper. Pre-cut squares, some bi-coloured, some patterned, can be bought at Paperchase, £8.29 for 49 squares, which is not too crippling an expense when you consider that no glue, scissors or tape are necessary. Ingenuity is all that’s needed, that and some good, clear instructions.

Back in the Seventies, the king of origami was Robert Harbin who introduced the word* to the British public via TV programmes and a series of books. His books are still as good a place as any to learn but there is plenty of advice on YouTube and on dedicated websites such as origami-instructions.com and origami.me. The trick is to master a few basic folds (inside and outside reverse, the petal fold, the valley and mountain fold) and a couple of bases (bird base, diamond base, kite base, waterbomb base) and then a world of paper folding will, well, unfold for you. Soon you will be surrounded by ninja stars, hopping frogs and lotus flowers and a circle of slack-jawed friends.

* The word ‘origami’ comes from the Japanese ‘ori’ meaning folding and ‘kami’ which means paper.

Words: Clare Gogerty

Want to try more? Head over to Pinterest where you'll find paper ideas galore.

Follow The Simple Things's board Origami on Pinterest.

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From the September issue

Learn something new

More from The Simple Things' Pinterest boards

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Event: Thornback & Peel screen printing workshop (closed)

Want to get into print? Come and learn screen printing at a special workshop hosted by Thornback & Peel at their London shop. You'll print your own mixed box of Christmas-themed hankies.

If you’ve ever fancied giving screen printing a go, here’s your chance. The people at Thornback & Peel are offering the chance to print your own mixed box of festive hankies, at a special workshop evening.

You can take your efforts home, so you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to getting organised for Christmas. It’s an intimate event with just 12 places, so hurry to book yours.

About Thornback & Peel

Thornback & Peel was established in 2007 by Juliet Thornback and Delia Peel (Delia’s home is featured on the previous pages). They celebrate the quirkiness of British humour and design by borrowing imagery and combining modernist geometric patterns with 19th-century wood engravings. Their work is inspired by an eclectic mix of Victoriana, Mrs Beeton’s household management, Mr McGregor’s garden, 17th-century microscope imagery of the natural world, and Norfolk and Devon.

The Simple Things screen printing workshop

All equipment will be provided, just bring your enthusiasm. Enjoy a glass of fizz to get you into the festive mood, then pop on a pinny ready to screen print your very own Christmas- themed hankies.

Date: Thursday 12 November 2015, 6.30–8.30pm
Location: Thornback & Peel shop, 7 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QT
Price: £25 per person
To book: Contact Emma on emma@thornbackandpeel.co.uk
Find out more thornbackandpeel.co.uk 

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Ready for Christmas?!

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Make: Build an outdoor oven

Who says outdoor cooking is restricted to the barbecue? Take your pizza and bread baking al fresco as well with a DIY clay oven.  

In August's issue of The Simple Things, we're all about eating in the garden. This isn't a particularly tricky or expensive project, but does require a bit of space, a fair amount of planning and a full three days. That said, when the job’s done, it’ll give you summers of baked goodness. 

Download the instructions for making your own outdoor oven.

August's The Simple Things is on sale 29 July. Get your issues early by becoming a subscriber - you'll save money, too.

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• Bread recipes
• More DIY projects
• More from the August issue