Banoffee pie!

This week Dimitra shares her favorite summer dessert. Banana and toffee make a dreamy combination! Here is a super easy recipe for a fresh banana pie.

Ingredients:

½ pack of butter cookies (or digestive)

3 tbs butter

1 can of sugared milk

2-3 bananas

4 tbs sugar 

1 pack of cream

How to:

1. Crash the cookies and mix them with the melted butter. But the mix on your serving plate to create the base.

2. Put the closed can of sugared milk to boil in low temperature for three hours. The sugared milk will become a thick caramel cream. (You can store the can for a month before opening it)

Put the caramel cream on top of the cookie base on your serving plate.

3. Slice up the bananas and put them in the serving plate.

4. Whip the cream with the sugar. You can add more sugar if you want it sweeter. But don't forget that the caramel cream adds a great amount of sweetness to your cake. Cover the tart with the whipped cream and your dessert is ready.

ENJOY!!

Keep it in the fridge. The bananas will start getting dark after 1 day, but they are still eatable.

DIY summer bag

Summer arrived early in Finland this year. April was sunny, May was a bit sunny....but now the end of June is all cloudy and gloomy. But don't loose hope, summer will come back soon.

Until then, we all need some splash of  color and summer fun. 

What's more summery than watermelons?!

Here is a super easy and super cute tote bag for all the picnics and trips to the lake. 

Here you can see Dimitra's cute video:

Materials:

Cotton fabric tote bag

fabric paints
potato stamp
paint brush
toothpick


- Put a newspaper inside the bag. You don't want to paint to go through and color the other side. You also prevent getting your table dirty.
- Cut the potato in a half-moon shape. Apply red color and stamp the fabric with it.
- With a thin brush paint the green line for the peel of the watermelon.
- Use a toothpick to add the black seeds.
- Let it dry. After ~30mins check that the newspaper is not stuck to the painted side of the fabric.
- In 1-2 hours remove the newspaper. Let the bag dry overnight.
- Iron it in high temperature (the setting of 3 dots on your iron) or according to the fabric's instructions.

Follow Dimitra on instagram and have a look at her blog.

Introducing handmade home décor and housewares made in Finland - pt 2

In continuation of Part 1, here is another 4 wonderful shops featuring handmade home décor and housewares.

Aika Felt Works
If you are looking for amazing felt work for your home, you should have a look at some of the wonderful items from this shop. Felt gives an amazing warm and cozy feeling to your home.

Beanie On Helena
Wonderfully simple yet up-lifitng items are on sale in this shop which is great to keep with the minimalist look while adding a bit of casual home loving fun!

Namia Design 

If you are looking for bright and vibrant lovely things for your home, Namia Design won't disappoint! Here there are also items for children.

Valona Design

Beautiful light and airy, hung decor is the speciality at this shop. Some are made with wire and crystals and some with birch wood. Excellent for festive decor.

Helsinki Etsy Craft Party 2014 - Finland Handcrafters Team

Last Friday Finland Handcrafters Team together with amazing creative people from Helsinki celebrated this Year Etsy craft party in the beautiful boutique Madeby, who's co-owner is one of our members Tuija from Tuuni. She was so nice that offered us her workshop space to organize our craft party and even tables for selling our products outside.

Six members of our team (Dimitra, Julia, Yini, Anastasia, Sasha and Jennifer volunteered to make all the preparations, gather supplies, brainstorm and create our very first public craft party.

During that day we gathered around a table with some coffee and a lot of supplies for a whole year and created amazing photo alterations while we talked all kinds of things and meet amazing people who came and joined us in the table.

With the help of our team members expertise people got some guidance in how to make frames for their photos, add beads, use paper, scrap booking and embroider. We have such great time!

We also had a photo booth where people took pictures of themselves and participate in our team giveaway.

Me made a video with the great footage Dimitra recorded during the party. Thanks Dimitra!

We will definitely keep organizing more local events, make sure to follow us so you can join us in our next happening!.

Super Quick Pasta with Arugula (Rocket Salad)

This week our dear Yini from Kotona created a quick & delicious pasta recipe for all busy people out there! There are no measurements for this under 10 min recipe, just go with your taste buds!

This is what you will need:

• Dry spaghetti or left over spaghetti 

• Arugula (Rocket salad) 

• Peccorino or Parmesan cheese*

• Olive oil 

• Wedge of lemon 

• Salt and pepper 

 * To make it vegan, substitute cheese with grated cashews.

Cook the pasta according to instructions on the packet or heat up your left over spaghetti.
Toss together with arugula and olive oil until the arugula is wilted slightly by the heat of the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with grated cheese and a squeeze of lemon.

Bon Appétit!!

Written by Yini from Kotona.etsy.com

Introducing handmade home décor and housewares made in Finland - pt 1

In this 3 part series we will introduce our FHT members shops with handmade home décor and housewares in their shops.

Somewherestore
This wonderful and creative Etsy Shop has a variety of homewares, wood jewelry and prints. Great clean and minimalist design great for achieving the black and white minimalist look.

Made of Sundays
This fabric and vinyl stickers shop is filled with delightful removable wall stickers that are great if you like to change things around every now and then. They lift without damaging your walls and you can replacement to different walls.

Kotona
This shop has hand printed and hand-felted home goodies for serving, kitchen or bathroom.

Studio Nille
If you are looking for quilted items then this is the shop for you. It has beautiful quilted table runners, table cloths and also some dolls for the little ones.

Look out for Part 2 in next months post. Also like FHT on Facebook for future updates, market events or workshops!

Items of the month

Amigurumi doll from The Sun and The Turtle

Flower buttons earrings from InkaFinland

Sunbather necklace from Pinkkis

Decorative pillow from Mairea

POP UP shop

Welcome to Finland Handcrafters Team's 2nd POP UP SHOP in Yobot Frozen Yogurt (Runeberginkatu 54A, 00260 Helsinki)

We dedicate this pop up to our mothers and your mothers!

Participating designers:

Inka Finland
Kotona
Looney Dimitra Crafts
Mrs Bertin's Jewelry Box
Namia Design
The Sun and the Turtle Amigurumi page

All our items are designed and handmade by Finnish & international artisants living in Finland. 
Our creations are inspired by the finnish nature & lifestyle.A big variety of beautifully handmade jewelry, accessories, toys, decorations and housewares will be for sale in Yobot for two days.

We will be open from 11am to 2pm, Saturday & Sunday 3-4 of May. See you all there!

Carrot Muffins: From the oven to the sketch pad

I love carrot cake! What I love more than carrot cake is carrot muffins! They are more easier to make and in my opinion they taste and look better! This was my first time I make those muffins, they attracted my artistic eye so bad that I had to paint them! Check the sketches at the bottom of the post.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 muffins approximately
• 1 egg
• 150 gr sugar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• ¼  tea cup of orange juice/grapefruit works too
• ¼ tea cup oil
• ½ grated orange/grapefruit zest  
• 2 full tea cups of grated carrots
• 1 tea cup flower
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla aroma
• 1 tea cup full of grated walnuts
• ½  tsp  Cinnamon and Ginger  powder
• 2-3 Tbsp Coconut flakes 

 For the cream:  

• 1 packet (200gr) of natural cream cheese (Filadelfia or the cheeper one work fine as well) 
• 125 gr Mascarpone
• 5 Tbsp powder sugar 
• 1 tsp grated orange zest 
  

Start with mixing all the “moist” ingredients: eggs,oil , the orange/grapefruit juice. Then add the sugar and the honey. Whisk them good but without using an electric mixer . 

 

Add the carrots and the zest. Mix all the ingredients well and add the “dry” ones last: flower, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla aroma, spices, walnuts, coconut.

Set the oven to 180ºC and bake 25-30 min. Leave the muffins to cool down.

Meanwhile you can start preparing the cream. Just mix all the cream ingredients in a ball using an electric mixer. You can use whatever decoration you have and want.

 

As I said I love carrot cake so I got really inspired and tried eating and painting at the same time. The result was : lots of colors and muffin decoration everywhere :D

But it was a fun experience. Stay tuned for my next cooking-painting experience. I take also requests!

P.S Pastries only! :-)

Written by Simona from ColorfulSimone.etsy.com

FHT present in Etsy european captain summit: "A class reunion for Etsy team captains" Via Etsy UK

Etsy Blog – United Kingdom

A class reunion for Etsy team captains

Photo by Marlen Müller

Story by halloemily

Published on Apr 17, 2014 in Seller Handbook

On a grey Saturday morning, 30 ladies climbed the stairs ofbetahaus in Berlin. Many of them had traveled from other countries and had never before met in person. They had one thing in common though: all of them were Captains of a European Etsy Team.

On March 15th and 16th those 30 Team Captains from Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Germany, France, the UK, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, and even Israel came to Berlin for Etsy’s very first European Captains’ Summit.

photo by Marlen Müller

Etsy Teams are groups of (mostly) sellers that either connect around a field of interest or their location. Find out more about Teams in our FAQs.

Being on a team is a win-win: it allows you to make friends and improve your business at the same time. (Francesca, Captain of Etsy Italia)

Through my team, I met some amazing people who now I can proudly call my friends. I also got a lot of moral support at times of need, good laughs during late nights and crucial help for my first steps on Etsy. (Nafsika, Captain of Etsy Greek Street Team)

photo by Marlen Müller

Teams are great resources, but the very best ones have great leaders. These leaders, called Captains, have the rewarding yet challenging job of bringing their team members together to make everyone better. This challenge was the topic of our Captain Summit, and the reason these 30 leaders came to Berlin for a weekend of Team work.

We are all dealing with the same issues, no matter on what side of the planet we are…and the nice thing is – there are many ways to deal with our challenges and I can learn from others’ solutions. (Limitz, Captain of Etsy Israel)

photo by Marlen Müller

It was a weekend full of brainstorming, group discussions, workshops – and fun!

At the summit, I learned that managing skills do not mean being bossy. I learned that a team can advocate for handcrafters’ rights and that Etsy is more than a place to sell, it is a group of friends, a community. (Jennifer, Captain of Finland Handcrafters Team)

photo by Marlen Müller

Many captains presented projects that they had realized with their team and gave tips and inspiration to other teams.

Annabel from the Dutch Ka-Ching Collectief for example talked about her team’s experience with organizing pop up shops in Amsterdam. Hands popped up after her talk as the group of captains asked details about organizing inventory and marketing.

All captains acknowledged the challenge surrounding high postal prices, when Aisté from the Lithuanian Team gave some insight into how her team fought against a Lithuanian postal reform which would have made selling internationally on Etsy an impossibility.  Karli, a spirited captain from Brighton, talked about how to find the right partners in crime – leaders that will help Captains to run a team successfully, efficiently and make it fun. Her empathetic personal philosophy on recruiting the busiest people to be leaders for her team garnered laughs and approval.  And all captains learned a little bit more about the Etsy programs available to them when Nafsika explained how her Greek Team is really active inEtsy School (an educational program exclusively available for Teams) and hosted several workshops for new sellers to teach them about Etsy.

photo by Marlen Müller

These are just a few of the many inspiring community stories that came up over the weekend. All of them illustrated what groups can do together.

Single-handedly we can achieve a lot but as a community we can achieve a whole lot more! The power of a community is huge and the possibilities for what an Etsy team can achieve are endless. I was hugely inspired by what other teams had achieved.(Rachel, Captain of the Dorset Etsy Team)

4 Simple Ways to Refresh Your Home for Spring!

Spring is at our doorsteps and it is time to spring clean and spruce things up a little. But if you are finding that time is a luxury at the moment, don't let your home decor suffer because of that. Here is 4 quick and simple way to bring the spring right into your home in the shortest simplest way!

1) Change up your walls!

A coat of fresh new colour paint would be wonderful, but what if you just do not have the time to spend. The simplest way would be to change your wall art! May it be new paintings or wall vinyl, these are best ways to change up the way your room looks without worrying about the permanent effect. When summer comes around they could be whipped off the walls or repositioned to the new season.

Hello Pink by iSeeWonders, Wall decal quote: Enjoy the little things by MadeofSundays, Chikadees Flight by ColorfulSimone, Birth of Spring by behindmyblueeyes

2) New pillow covers

Pillow covers should be washed anyways, so what is better than to freshen up your home décor with some bright new cover while the previous ones are being washed. Choose the latest prints and colours or saying that best fits your moods in this season.

Set of two pillow covers by Tuuni, Cotton Pillow cover by MarikkaBiyana, Organic Cotton Pillow Case by LEMPIdesign, Linen Pillow Cover by BeanieonHelinaShop

3) Time to change your kitchen accessories!

A great way to refresh your décor is to get change up your kitchen accessories too. New functional designs has a great way of giving an uplifting change to your kitchen and enhancing tasks in the kitchen.

Tray Valjoliljat by NamiaDesign, Wool Felt Drink Coaster by aikafeltworks, Wooden Cutting Board by Somewherestore, Frolicking Flounder by VillaYlle

4) Add new small storage

Adding new storage in the latest season colours not only will brighten up your room, but also help you keep untidiness at bay. With the appropriate size and functionality, your room will be tidy and looking fresh, in no time!

MAJA Äimänkäki Round Basket by Äimänkäki, Linen-Cotton Tea Cozy 'Babushka' by StudioNille, Fabric Bin by Kotona, Black Crochet Bowl by Mairea

Cornetti: The Italian croissant

Here you have my ultimate recipe for an Italian croissant, also called cornetti in Italian.

What makes them special is that the pastry tastes more like a brioche, less buttery than the typical french style croissant (and also much more easy to make!)

Italian croissants

Makes 16 croissants.

Ingredients 

PASTRY

• 500 gr flour (I used refined pastry flour) 
• 50 gr butter (room temperature)
• 25 gr fresh yeast
• 150 gr milk
• 150 gr sugar
• 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk 
• 1 tsp vanilla arome
• 1/2 lemon zest (grated)
• 2 Tbsp of powdered sugar for dusting

FILLING (optional)

• 150 gr dark chocolate (or Nutella, marmalade, etc.) 

Making the dough

Warm up the 150 gr of milk a little bit (c.a. 30ºC), remove from the stove and add the yeast. Mix until it dissolves completely. Set aside.

In a large bowl mix 500gr of flour with the 150 gr of sugar. Add the lemon zest.

Cut the 50gr butter into small pieces and add it to the mixture.

Add 2 eggs and the milk, knead until it does not stick to your fingers.
You can either do it by hand or - if you are as lazy as I am - with the help of a stand mixer (I used my lovely KitchenAid with dough hook attachment at medium speed about 10 min.).

Rolling the dough

1. Separate the dough in two parts and make two balls out of it.

2. Put the balls in two airtight containers and let it set for 2 hours at about 30ºC (my home is around 20ºC so I placed the containers in the oven at minimum temperature).

Now comes the funny part, how to actually roll the dough into croissants:

3. Dust one of the balls in flour and roll it into a circle like you will be making pizza.

4. With the help of a sharp knife, cut it into 8 triangle shapes as shown in the picture below.

5. Add a piece of chocolate in the widest part of the triangle.

6. Brush the narrow part of the triangle with a bit of water.

7. Take the bottom of the triangle and tightly roll it up into a croissant shape.
Repeat steps 3 to 7 with the other ball of dough.

8. Let them set for 3 more hours at room temperature, leave enough space between the cornetti because they will double its size. You can skip this step if you are planing to freeze them*.

* in that case just put your beautiful cornetti straight to the freezer. Whenever you feel like eating them, take the frozen cornetti out from the freezer the night before and let them defrost overnight at room temperature.  

Baking

Set the oven to 180ºC.

Whisk 1 egg yolk with a bit of milk.
Place the cornetti onto the baking tray and brush them all over with the egg mix.

Bake for about 15 min. (or until they are golden brown)
Let them cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Yummy!

Published by Alba from Made of Sundays