Sunday 20 March 2016

Time for some Easter Crafting - Part 1

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll blog - here at Farnham WI we love a spot of crafting and with Easter just around the corner we thought we would share some Easter crafts with you.

Today we're starting with a really simple papercraft, which is perfect for giving mini eggs to friends and families this Easter. We've been making paper carrots....


All you need to make this cute little gift bag is some orange card, some green ribbon and some basic craft supplies (pencil, ruler, scissors, hole punch and sticky stuff).

First you need to create a template for your gift bag - I started by creating the shape for one side of the carrot and then I used that to create the full template. You'll need four of the sides, plus a little tab for gluing everything together....


I made my basic triangle shape 12cm x 8.5cm and then added a curved arc to the top, so it looked a little like an ice cream cone.....


Once you have cut your template out, you need to score along the long lines between each side of the carrot shape. You'll also need to score a line across the top edge of the triangle shape....


Once you have finished scoring all the lines you can start folding. 
Make sure you fold the arc shape inwards.....


Finally you need to punch holes in the top of the arc shapes, this is for threading the ribbon - so pick your punch size/shape depending on your ribbon width. Once you have punched the holes, you can fold the carrot shape and stick the tab in place.

The finishing touch is the green ribbon, which keeps the carrot together at the top but also looks like carrot leaves......


A very simple, but cute Easter project....


If you give this craft a go we'd love to see the results - send us a photo on Twitter or via our Facebook page! 

Thank you for popping by today,
the Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Saturday 19 March 2016

Our March Meeting - Let it Grow, Let it Grow!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll , the Farnham WI blog - we hope you are well today!

This week we enjoyed our March monthly meeting, and around 50 members joined us for a talk from David Hepper from Farnham Local Food. Our President Cat kicked off this meeting telling us about the Surrey Federation Annual Council Meeting which she had the pleasure of attending a couple of weeks ago, where she met Janice Langley, the Chair of the National Federation. She also talked about our success at the United Reform Spring Fair and thanked all the members who donated handmade and baked items.

Rachel & Cat at the Spring Fair - Bake, Natter and Roll, Farnham WI

 Farnham Local Foods is community-run local agriculture project was founded in 2008 and is supported almost entirely by volunteer labour. David told us how they currently have land at Runfold and Dippenhall.  Their aim is to provide fresh, locally grown vegetables for people in and around the Farnham, Surrey, England area.

Farnham Local Foods

David talked to us about the project - what they grow and how volunteers can get involved if they fancy stretching their green fingers. He also answered all our questions about growing vegetables at home - including a very neat trick which uses old tyres as a container for growing potatos at home.

We also got to try some of the fresh salad which is currently being grown at Farnham Local Foods - everyone commented on how delicious it tasted.

March monthly meeting - Fanrham Local Foods

Once David had finished his informative talk, Cat launched the Bake, Natter and Roll Freakiest Vegetable Competition! In September our meeting is about what to do with all the lovely fresh produce we've been growing, and we'd like our members to bring along their most peculiar looking fruit or vegetable. We're looking forward to seeing what everyone has managed to grow!

Our next meeting in April is a more sociable affair - we'll have board games and crafts to try......plus of course there will be cake to enjoy! Two committee members have Birthdays close to this meeting and will be celebrating - we hope everyone fancies joining us!

Thanks for popping by today,
The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Bake, Natter and Roll First Fair!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll, the Farnham WI blog!

Last weekend we had a stall at our first community fair! If you've popped by before you'll know just how talented our members are....and so when we heard that the United Reform Church was holding a spring fair we knew we needed to have a stall!


Our first Bake, Natter and Roll handmade stall!

We asked our fab members for donations....and they came in thick and fast! 

Our bakers made us all kinds of sweet treats from welsh cakes and bug biscuits to chocolate fudge cakes to an Icelandic yogurt cake - our customers were spoilt for choice!

Bake, Natter and Roll homemade treats!



We also had a wonderful selection of handmade items donated, including pretty crochet bunting, handmade cards, flower brooches and hair slides, felt brooches, teacup pin cushions and wooden mother's day hangers.....

Bake, Natter and Roll - handmade crafts!



The fair was open from 9:30am - 1:30pm and it was lovely to meet so many members of the local community. We enjoyed telling people all about Bake, Natter and Roll! It was also lovely to see some of our members who popped by to say hello!

We're now planning other local events to attend during 2016 - keep your eyes peeled for more information on dates and locations!

Thank you for popping by today,
the Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Our Members

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll, the Farnham WI blog!

As a shiny new WI we are often asked about our members - everyone wants to know what they're like, what type of ladies have joined us.

When we set up Bake, Natter and Roll we really didn't know how many people would be interested in joining us or what they would be like. Our motto is that we're for the young and young at heart and our programme includes a mix of traditional activities and more modern pursuits - what impact this would have on membership we didn't know!

However, we are incredibly lucky as we are already at capacity with 80 members and another 40 ladies on our waiting list! And probably the best way to describe us is like a big bag of Liquorice Allsorts - we have members of all ages young and old and from all backgrounds! The one thing we can say about our members is that they are a talented bunch!

From baking to crafting, from jewellery making to singing and painting - we are discovering that we have lots of skills  and talents in the group! And today we thought we'd share some of our recent makes and bakes.....


Alex's homemade afternoon tea spread
-created when teaching a friend to bake...


Jen's wall painting, 
created on a playroom wall.....



Emma's homemade Welsh cakes, 
made on St David's Day.....


Eve's necklace, 
which has been submitted to the Eileen Bowler competition.....



 Kate's patchwork cushion...


Rachel and Helen's acoustic group - 
Little Iris.....



Lydia's scrummy cakes - 
a triple layer peanut butter cake a sunken Nutella cake....


Olivia's indoor Igloo....


Shauneen's fabulous masks.....


And this is just a small selection of the items that have been shared on our Facebook page recently! It's brilliant to be part of a community of ladies who are so diverse in their skills and happy to share their talents with the group.

Pop back over the coming months as we share more of our makes and bakes!

Thank you for popping by today,

Bake, Natter and Roll Committee