Our Monthly Journal
June 2024
We're so excited to share another monthly journal written by the lovely Lola Jones, also known as @pocketfullofbuttercups on Instagram. Lola is a wonderful photographer and all round creator of beautiful content, raising her twin daughters Maya and Chloe & her youngest Thea from her house near the Peak District. Each month she will give us a small glimpse into her world, inspiring you with activity ideas, recipes and more.
In this issue of our journal we bring you two gorgeous crafts where you and your little ones can have a go at making your own unique butterflies and the second one is perfect for tiny explorers of the great outdoors. There is also a delicious summery recipe for you to try. I hope you enjoy this month’s edition.
STRAWBERRY GALETTE
With the strawberry season in full swing, we have been busy baking with my girls - trying out new recipes and coming back to old favourites too, so I thought I’d share this delicious galette we have tried recently.
We have made ours from scratch, but it is also possible to cheat a little, skip the dough stage and use shop-bought instead.
For the crust:
- 190g plain flour
- 50g granulated sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 120g cold butter diced
- 60ml ice cold water
- 1 egg beaten
For the filling:
- 400g fresh strawberries
- 30g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
To make the filling, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and rub together with dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add ice cold water and knead a little until the mixture comes together. Form into a ball, flatten into a thick disc and put in the fridge for an hour.
Next, preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Roll the dough on the lightly floured surface into a circle (about 30cm) Use a dinner plate to trim the edges. Transfer the dough onto the baking sheet.
Spoon out the strawberries into the middle of the dough, leaving about 5 cm border around. Next, fold the edges over the berries, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 25 min until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool slightly before serving.
We’ll be trying this recipe with other berries next and maybe, instead of making one large galette, we’ll have a go at making a few mini ones.
BUTTERFLY STUDY
I have admired the beautiful work of Elizabeth Hays for a long time. The way she uses textures and colours is so captivating. I especially love her butterflies and could study them for hours - the way she creates patterns is just incredible.
I recently introduced my eldest girls to Elizabeth’s work and we decided to have a go at making our own butterflies. We had a little creative session together and ended up with some truly gorgeous “species”.
You will need:
- Paper (watercolour, handmade cotton paper, other natural fibre paper, vellum paper)
- Various paints and brushes
- Glitter
- Craft glue
- Pencils or pens
We started by freestyling our butterflies on some watercolour paper, handmade cotton paper and vellum sheets (you can pretty much use anything, but paper with some rough texture like handmade paper or natural fibre paper are the best in my opinion). Then roughly tear them along the lines you drew or you can cut them out using scissors, but I like the slightly untidy look.
The best way to go about creating these butterflies is layers. Start by choosing a single base colour and then you build on from there - create patterns, go darker on your colours, add texture by adding a glitter outline, stripes or spots (you can do this by painting those patterns with craft glue and then sprinkling glitter on top. Once the glue is dry, shake the excess glitter off).
Once the butterflies are ready, cut a piece of wire to use for the antennas (it can be any length), find the middle and twist the wire a little to make a centre and then wrap around the centre of your butterfly. Voilà!
BARK BOAT
Long summer days are sure to be here soon with sunshine, warmth and afternoons spent paddling in the stream until sunset. I find that nature is the best babysitter for little ones. The kids always find something to entertain themselves with. I am constantly in awe of the creativity that pours out of their little minds when they are out and about.
Here is a simple craft to help their creativity along the way and for you to get involved with their adventures - a bark boat. My girls have been making them for as long as I can remember - they love floating them down streams whenever we go to the woods or the Peaks for our walks. They would often collect bits and pieces while we are walking, assembling them along the way - a piece of bark as the base, or a large dry leaf can also work. Whether the boat has a sail or not depends on what base they found. If they have a nice strong base, then the sail can be a feather or another large leaf, but they work just as well without the sail. The great thing about this craft is that you don’t really need any supplies - just nature finds. One thing that might come in handy is something like a pocket knife to sharpen a twig for the sail or maybe make a hole on the bark for it.
Small wild flowers, an empty snail shell or tiny rocks can be the passengers. You can also pretend that an invisible fairy is on board - it’s an open ended game with endless potential if you let your imagination run wild.
