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

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

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

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

Our Mindfulness Meeting - February 2016

Hello there,

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

This week we had our second monthly meeting - with our first external meeting. I think the whole committee felt that this was our first real meeting as a WI and were looking forward to seeing all the members again.

In this meeting 51 members and 7 guests joined us for an introduction to mindfulness, led by Suzette Jones Health & Wellbeing Adviser The Diocese of Guildford.

Suzette took us through the basic principals of mindfulness, introducing us to the concept of paying attention to our experience in the present moment with an attitude of acceptance. She explained that anyone can practice mindfulness and took us through some simple exercises.

We practiced mindful smiling - a very simple exercise where we did nothing but smile and focus on our smiles for a full thirty seconds.....

Suzette encouraged us to smile more, especially when we have moments in life when we become irritated. Next time you're stuck in a traffic jam give it a go - smile and for a few deep slow breaths.

Evidence shows that mindfulness practice can boost our well-being and compassion for ourselves and others. Being in the moment and paying attention makes us more present and awake in life.

As well as mindful smiling, we also learnt about the three step breathing space meditation and mindful eating - really thinking about the food we are eating, where has it come from and who created it, before eating it.

Suzette encouraged us to continue practising mindfulness at home - there are many different ways to do this, from colouring books, to guided mindfulness meditation to simply taking time out each day to focus the mind on your breath. 

The meeting was enjoyed by all our members and we'd like to thank Suzette for joining us for the evening

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Don't forget to try mindful smiling next time you feel your irritation levels rise!

Bake, Natter and Roll - Our Provisional Programme - Part 2

Hello there,

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

Last week we took a look at the first half of our provisional programme for 2016, this week we are looking at July - December....

21st July - Make Do and Mend ....Or Swap

Advice on how to make our wardrobes more eco-friendly by mending, upcycling and re-using clothes rather than discarding them. We'll also be having a clothes swap....bring along two items of good-conditioned clothing that you no longer want and swap them for two other items!

August - TBC

Event or trip to be confirmed

15th September - Jam, but not Jerusalem

As autumn draws in and fruit is ready to be harvested it feels like a good time to get traditional with demonstrations (and hopefully samples!) of jam making, chutneys and maybe even home-grown champagne. Bring along the fruits of your labour if you've tried any of the grow-your-own tips from March's meeting, and enter your produce in our very own Freakiest Vegetable competition!

20th October - Think Pink

It's breast cancer awareness month and it's all about boobs! Wear something pink, eat pink cakes and drink pink fizz and make sure to bring along your loose change for a raffle in aid of Frimley Park Hospital's Breast Care Appeal.

17th November - Annual Meeting & Christmas Craft

Traditionally every WI holds their annual meeting in November. We'll have reports from the Commitee and other business to take care of, and then we will turn our attention to some Christmas crafting.

15th December - Mistletoe and Wine Cocktails

Let's round off 2016 with a Bake, Natter and Roll Christmas Party!

We hope you'll agree that we've got a great year ahead of us - full of exciting activities and opportunities to natter with new friends and old!

Don't forget - if you get crafty at home or have some home grown veggies you're proud of...take a photo and share it with us over on our Facebook Page!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Craft Time....Let's make fabric flowers!

Hello there,




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

At our first meeting in January we did a spot of speed crafting and previously we shared with you how to make Cat's gorgeous paper flowers - today we've got the instructions for Miriam's fabric flowers.

Sew a straight running stitch along a strip of material, leaving about ½ cm from the edge of length and making stitched about 1 cm apart.

You can begin to pull and ruffle as you go.  Don’t pull too hard or it will break your thread.  Just pull slowly.

Keep pulling the thread slowly until it wraps around into a ruffle flower shape

Turn your flower to the back side and sew a few stitches with knots in the back (especially where the two ends of fabric meet). This will finish up your flower.

Add a jewel or a button to the center!

Simple yet effective - you can attach a clip or pin to the back of the flowers to turn them into pretty accessories.

The original concept for this project comes from The Crafting Chicks

If you've made one of these flowers why not show us? Take a photo and post it on our Facebook page! 

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee