DIY | Clay Ring Bowl

   DIY | Clay Ring Bowl by www.highwallsblog.com for Drifter & the Gypsy

Some projects are best kept simple. I needed something to hold my jewellery in between daily use and my jewellery box, somewhere safer than my bathroom sink. I put together this beautiful little clay bowl. Simple and effective. Check out the full steps over at Drifter & the Gypsy and you can make your own as well!

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DIY | Clay Ring Bowl by www.highwallsblog.com for Drifter & the Gypsy

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RECIPE | Salted Mango & Coconut Ice Cream

RECIPE | Salted Mango & Coconut Ice Cream by Erika Rax

Mangos seem to be extra abundant this summer and I have been leaving my local fruit store with the marked down mangos just about every visit. I love chopping them up and freezing to use later as they have so much more flavour when they’re really ripe. This ice cream has some really delicious tropical flavours, requires only a handful of ingredients and has just the right amount of kick due to the salt. Summer in every lick!

Ingredients:
2 cups Mango Puree (about 2 large extra ripe mangos whizzed up)
1 cup Coconut Milk
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
A generous sprinkle of Sea Salt Flakes
Toasted Coconut and some Waffle Cones to serve

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and give a good mix through. Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour. Transfer to the bowl of an ice cream maker and follow makers instructions until at an ice creamy consistency.

This ice cream is best served straight away, without further freezing. The lack of sugar means that it freezes really hard so if you do have some left over and want to freeze for later, make sure you leave it out for a good 20 minutes or so to thaw out.

RECIPE | Salted Mango & Coconut Ice Cream by Erika Rax

RECIPE | Salted Mango & Coconut Ice Cream by Erika Rax

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DIY | Beaded Pot Holder

DIY | Beaded Pot Holder for Drifter & the Gypsy (by www.highwallsblog.com)

 In our house we cook a lot of oven baked dishes that are served straight from the oven, so to combat this we usually put down hand towels or dish cloths to protect the table. U-uuuugly! It isn’t usually a problem when it’s just the housemates and I, but whenever we have guests over it’s kind of embarrassing. So to combat this little problem I came up with a more stylish solution: with the aid of some pretty wooden beads and some cord, I made a whole set of adorable beaded pot holders. You can make some yourself with this easy DIY shared over at Drifter & the Gypsy!

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DIY | Beaded Pot Holder for Drifter & the Gypsy (by www.highwallsblog.com)DIY | Beaded Pot Holder for Drifter & the Gypsy (by www.highwallsblog.com)DIY | Beaded Pot Holder for Drifter & the Gypsy (by www.highwallsblog.com)

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Recipe | Lavender Coconut Mini Cupcakes

Lavender Coconut Mini Cupcakes by Erika Rax (for www.highwallsblog.com)

After I impulse bought a massive bag of dried culinary lavender online a little while ago, I have been non-stop experimenting to find the perfect recipe to use it in. Let’s just say that there have been some hits and many misses. These guys are definitely a hit. The flavours are pretty subtle and match each other perfectly.

I would suggest enjoying these tiny cakes while wearing your most girliest frock and sipping tea from your daintiest cup.

Lavender Coconut Mini Cupcakes by Erika Rax (for www.highwallsblog.com)Lavender Coconut Mini Cupcakes by Erika Rax (for www.highwallsblog.com)

Coconut cakes
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut cream
splash of vanilla extract
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 self raising flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line 2 mini patty pans.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and coconut cream for a minute then add vanilla and caster sugar. Beat for 3 minutes. Add coconut then sift in flour and fold through mixture.

Spoon into patty pans and bake for about 10-15 mins until golden and cakes spring back when lightly touched in the centre. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Lavender Coconut Mini Cupcakes by Erika Rax (for www.highwallsblog.com)

Lavender Buttercream
1/2 cup Dried Culinary Lavender
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1 and 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
1/2 cup Butter
A drop of violet food colouring

In a saucepan over low to medium heat, add lavender, sugar and water stirring until sugar has dissolved completely. Simmer for another 8-10 minutes then strain and let cool completely. This is a simple syrup which you can use to flavour iced teas, cocktails or ice cream.

To make the buttercream, beat icing sugar and butter with an electric mixer until very light and fluffy. With the mixer still on low, slowly add 1 tbs of the lavender syrup followed by the food colouring.

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Last Minute Edible Gifts

Last Minute Edible Gifts | by Erika Rax

Eek! It’s crunch time friends! If you still haven’t gotten all your gifts sorted your options are either braving the crowds and getting something in-store or getting in your kitchen and throwing a couple of ingredients together. I can promise you that your foodie friends will be very happy if you choose the latter option. I can also promise that it will take no longer than 10 minutes to make all 3 of these. Everyone wins!

You Will Need:
Rose Salt
1 cup Sea Salt flakes
2 tbs Dried Rose Petals

Lavender Sugar
1 cup Caster Sugar
2 tbs Dried Lavender

Mexican Cocoa
1 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tbs Ground Cinnamon

Directions:
Just combine all ingredients in a jar, seal and give a quick shake to mix it up.

All of these mixes can be substituted for regular salt/sugar/cocoa in recipes to take it up a notch.They are also very easy to make your own if you don’t have these particular ingredients in the pantry. Think vanilla, rosemary, dried citrus zest etc.

Last Minute Edible Gifts | by Erika Rax Last Minute Edible Gifts | by Erika Rax Last Minute Edible Gifts | by Erika Rax
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Christmas Picks from High Walls

XMASpicks

Christmas is Oh. So. Close. We here at High Walls are getting a little excited for Santa’s visit, so I asked our lovely contributors (and resident taste-makers) Victoria and Erika to share some of their favourite things this for this Christmas, and boy oh boy! Do these ladies have the best taste or what?! (I have some new additions to my own wish list now!) I’ll let Victoria and Erika tell you about their picks…

VICTORIA // OH SO PRETTY
These monogrammed mugs are gorgeous and perfect for the holiday season - it can be used to hold pencils on my desk, drink a cup of tea or hold some florals —— I’ve had my eye on this jewellery box for awhile. I love the simplicity of it, and the monogram adds the perfect, special touch —— The gold, chevron pattern is beautiful and this would make a great addition to my coffee table

ERIKA RAX // RECIPE CONTRIBUTOR
I’m itching to do a really big trip abroad next year so will be saving up all my pennies after xmas for one of these Tooth & Nail purses —— I’ll be giving store bought Christmas bon bons a little DIY makeover a la these Handmade Bon Bons from Fete Press —— I really love how these beautifully designed Artifact Uprising Photo Book allow me to take my Instagram obsession offline. They would make a great gift for every Instagram nut and is a great way to keep memories from the year in one place.

Printables | A Holiday Postcard

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According to Murphy’s Law, it makes sense that my laptop would up and die when I was in the middle of a valiant attempt to get ahead in my Christmas posts! The good news is; I have a whole bunch of Holiday recipes and projects for you. The bad news is; without a computer for the last week, they have not been edited or finished so they have been delayed. Ugh. I would be more upset about this development, but, sitting here, on my shiny new computer looking at this month’s Printable, there is no way I could stay mad for long.

Our lovely contributor, Victoria of Oh So Pretty has made this gorgeous postcard printable just in time for the Holiday season. Now I wish I hadn’t already sent out Christmas cards… no one will mind if I send out a second round of cards. Right?

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 

All printables are designed and copyright protected by Oh So Pretty for High Walls and are for personal use only.
Not for re-distribution or resale. 

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Recipe | Campfire Chocolate Pots

Recipe | Campfire Chocolate Pot by Erika Rax for www.highwallsblog.com

This time of year always remind me of all the summers spent camping as a kid. For me, there is nothing that compares to that bliss of sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows, telling silly stories and staring up at the twinkling stars for hours.

I wanted to bring a little bit of that campfire magic to our busy lives with these chocolate pots and think that if you close your eyes and imagine really hard they come pretty close to the real deal. If only for a minute.

Recipe | Campfire Chocolate Pot by Erika Rax for www.highwallsblog.com

What You Need:
6 Biscuits (I used Ginger nuts but use whatever you want)
250g Dark Chocolate
250g Cream
½ cup Sugar
½  tbs Powdered Gelatin
1/3 cup Water
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

What You Do:
1. Crush 1 biscuit into the bottom of each of 6 small pots, jars or ramekins and set aside.

2. Over low heat warm up cream until it just starts bubbling, then take off the heat and mix in chocolate until smooth. Divide chocolate between pots pouring over biscuits until about ¾ full. Put in the fridge for (at least) a couple of hours until set.

3. When chocolate is set you can start making your marshmallow. Combine sugar, gelatin and water in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved then increase heat to medium. Stop stirring and let simmer for 10 mins.

4. Take off the heat and let it sit for another 10 mins to settle. Transfer the syrup to your electric mixer bowl, add vanilla, and beat for another 10 mins until white, thick and shiny.

5. Spoon into your little pots over chocolate and wait a few minutes for the marshmallow to set.

6. Before serving, caramelise the marshmallow lightly with a blow torch.

Recipe | Campfire Chocolate Pot by Erika Rax for www.highwallsblog.com

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Printables | A Little Note from Me to You

A Little Note from Me to You | by Oh So Pretty for High Walls

A few weeks ago I met Victoria of the simply stunning blog, Oh So Pretty. If you have seen her blog or instagram account you will totally understand why I couldn’t help but ask her to lend her talents to High Walls as a contributor! Victoria will be bringing her designing skills with monthly  printables for you to download and use at home!
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Hello! I’m Victoria from Oh So Pretty, and I am so excited to be a part of High Walls, as I completely adore Dani and her blog! I love giving and receiving handwritten letters so I’ve designed a free printable for you all to print and give to your friends + family. Enjoy!

A Little Note from Me to You | by Oh So Pretty for High Walls

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 

All printables are designed and copyright protected by Oh So Pretty for High Walls and are for personal use only.
Not for re-distribution or resale. 

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