Origami Fun!

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!

Zainab and Sumayyah here. Today we would like to show you some fun Origami things that we often make. We like making Origami animals and shapes and Sumayyah used to take Origami as an after-school activity.

Origami Heart

Sumayyah likes to make these hearts to stick on cards or as sweet little gifts. You can watch this tutorial to learn how to make them.

Origami Fox

Zainab likes to stick these foxes on cards too. They are also fun to play with and are very simple to make. Click here to see how to make them.

Origami Tumbling Bird

Sumayyah enjoys making these a lot; they fun to watch tumble through the air. It was one of the first things she learnt to make.  To learn how to make one watch this video.

Origami Cat

Zainab likes making these to put on Eid cards. They are very easy and fun to make. Watch this tutorial to make one yourself.

Origami Box

Sumayyah learnt how to make these from an Origami step-by-step book. We have found a video tutorial for you here. They are nice to store little bits and bobs in.

These are just some of the many things you can make. Origami is a fun art and we hope you have a go making something yourself.

Take care and Wassalam,

Zainab and Sumayyah

Cinnamon Rolls (Buns) Recipe

Assalamu Alaikum!

Maryam here. I'd like to share with you this yummy cinnamon roll recipe. They are very similar to Chelsea buns; especially when you add raisons to the filling.

Ingredients:-

(Dough)

4½ - 5 cups All-purpose flour

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 cup milk

⅓ cup unsalted butter

⅓ cup granulated white sugar

½ tsp. salt

3 large eggs

(Filling)

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup All-purpose flour

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup raisons (optional)

milk for brushing

honey for glazing

Method:

1. In an electric mixer combine half of the flour with the yeast.

2. In a saucepan, stirring constantly, heat the milk, butter, sugar and salt just until warm (when the butter is almost melted).

3. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture with the mixer on a low speed. Add eggs one at a time beating well.

4. Beat this mixture on a high speed for 3 minutes.

5. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Knead in the remaining flour until you have a soft dough (3-5 minutes) that is smooth and elastic but not sticky.

6. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise until almost doubled (1½ - 2 hours).

7. Once risen gently punch the dough and let rise again for 10 minutes. Meanwhile make the filling.

8. In a bowl cream the butter and add to it the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.

9. Roll out the dough into a rectangle (½ inch thick) and spread the filling onto it and make sure to leave an inch of a border or else the mixture will fall out.

10. If using raisons scatter them over the filling and brush the border with milk. Roll up the dough and cut into eight large pieces.

11. Place them in a buttered dish and leave to rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

12. Bake at 190 degrees Celcius, 375 degrees Fahrenheit, Gas Mark 5 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

13. As soon as the rolls come out, drizzle with honey and serve warm.

I hope you like this recipe and enjoy making it yourself. Until next week, insha'Allah.

Wassalam,

Maryam

Two Handmade Gift Ideas

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!

Maryam here. Today I thought I would show you a couple of handmade gift ideas.

I enjoyed making these gifts for a friend; especially the journal. It is an altered journal, meaning I used an old book cover of mine to make it. This is the front and back.

This is the inside of the cover. I made a collage using an envelope so you can tuck things inside it.

I coffee-dyed most of the pages.

It took me a couple of days to complete and Masha'Allah I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

The second thing I did was paint and decorate a binder for her.

I painted the inside and added two tuck spots.

Again it took me a couple of days to make this gift and I really like how the collage on the front turned out, Masha'Allah.

I hope this inspires you to make handmade gifts of your own. It is not that hard to do - all it takes is some imagination and a little creativity!

See you next Friday, insha'Allah.

Wassalam,

Maryam



Handmade Coraline Junk Journal

Assalamu Alaikum!

It's Zainab and for this post I'll be showing you my Coraline journal that I finished yesterday. I based it on the book and the movie as I enjoyed both of them. Masha'Allah, I am happy with the way it turned out!

For those of you who don't know, it is about a girl named Coraline who moves to a new house and discovers a door that leads to another world. The world appears to be a nicer version of her own and she has an Other Mother and Other Father who, at first, seem like nicer parents. However, everyone she meets has black buttons for eyes and she soon discovers there is a much darker side to this world.

So here are some photos of my journal. It has four signatures and each one is a different part of the story.

This is the first page of the first signature. In it the colours are mainly dull because this is how Coraline felt everything was when she first moved into her new home.

 Coraline thinks of herself as an explorer so I imagined her to have this little notebook.

I coffee dyed many of the pages.

This is the beginning of the second signature. It is a lot more colourful because this is how the other world first seems to Coraline.

This junk journal is bound as you would bind a traveller's notebook style journal. So you can slip the pages in and out.

In the movie this is the song her Other Father sings to her.

 The third signature is when Coraline realises the truth about the Other world. Everything grows darker and everyone she meets show their true colours. Her Other Mother is behind it all and controls everyone.

The fourth and final signature has calm colours because the danger is over. In the movie her (real) parents host a garden party.

I pressed some leaves and glued them to the inside cover to represent the woods near Coraline's house.

In total this journal took me about a month to make but I didn't work on it continuously. I hope you liked it. Insha'Allah, we will try to do an animation of this journal to show you every single page.

Wassalam,

Zainab (aged 15)