This is my life | Springtime

1. of March = SPRING! = spring cleaning. So far, my spring cleaning has consisted of updating my blog and trying a new layout. Let me know what you think. And don't worry - I'll get the vacuum cleaner out in a bit and try to tidy up the place. 

Happy springtime to you!

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Baking | Chocolate cupcakes

The other night I was craving chocolate, but we didn't have any. Instead, I baked the easiest and tastiest cupcakes. 

Recipe:

100 g flour

25 g cocoa powder

150 g sugar

1½ tsp baking powder

50 g soft salted butter

125 ml milk

1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and stir it until it looks like grated cheese. Add half the milk and mix until smooth. Whisk together the rest of the milk with the egg and add to the batter. Mix well. 

Bake at 175 C for 20-25 minutes. 

Icing:
250 g icing sugar
25 g cocoa powder
75 g butter
2 Tsp milk

Enjoy!

/Lea Binta

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This is my life | Hamster babies!

My brother keeps hamsters to feed his snakes, and 2 of them had babies. They are the most adorable little creatures!

And yes, that is poop in my hand! It pooped no less than 8 times during the 3 minutes I held him. Crazy shit. Literally.

Too bad they're likely to be eaten when they grow up. But then again, they do poop an awful lot. Yuck.

/Lea Binta

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Baking | Doughnuts

Now, I realize there have been a lot of posts about cake recently, but let me just clarify this: cake is very important part of my life. I love cake. I would eat cake all day, every day, if I could. But I wont, since I can't afford to buy new and bigger clothes all the time. Still, I eat cake regularly. Like, several times a week. And no, I wont stop. 

My brother celebrated his birthday saturday, and since he's a huge Simpsons fan we attempted to make some doughnuts. Ovenbaked. I think that was a mistake.

Some of them were quite pathetic. Another mistake.

Didn't have a cutter in the right size, so used my dad's glass - a pint is about the right size.

At this point I'm very excited and has no idea what is lying ahead of me.

Action-packed picture!

So, after decorating them they looked quite nice, but they didn't really rise in the oven at all, which is quite essential.

So yeah, nice looking, but tasted like biscuits. Next time there'll definately be some hot oil involved.

Have you made doughnuts before? And how did they turn out?

/Lea Binta

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DIY | Frosted vases

Here's an easy DIY for some frosted vases. You can use any kind of glass vase - I used old milk bottles from my local thrift shop.

First off I bound them with some yarn, so they would have a random pattern when they were done.

The frosting spray I used was something I picked up at my local hobby store. 

I sprayed them once. (Use a very well ventilated room, if you can't go outside - it stinks!)

Twice.

And one final time. I let them dry 3-5 minutes between each layer, and didn't make the layers too thick.

Remove the yarn, et voilá: 

Then I made some quick and easy pompoms.

I added some wire to the pompoms, and they were ready to go in the vases instead of flowers. 

A nice, easy, and quick DIY gift for someone (or for yourself). 

/Lea Binta

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This is my life | Sun

Sometimes a few sunrays are all you need to make it all better. 

/Lea Binta

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Travelling | Guatemala - final thoughts

As much as I want to, I find it quite hard to describe our trip to Guatemala. We were there for almost 3 weeks, but we experienced enough for a couple of months. It was an experience unlike any other.

Since Nigeria is the place I know best, apart from Denmark, I always compare other places to Nigeria. When we went to the states I recognized a few traits from Nigeria, and some traits from Denmark. I was really excited to go to Guatemala, since I've had no experiences from that area. 

There were similarities to Nigeria, but there were several things that were completely new to me. It was such a joy to experience yet another culture. 

It's funny how such a relatively short trip can affect you. I don't speak spanish very well, but now, everytime I hear spanish on tv, I feel sort of at home. I remember the trip, remember the noises, the people, the food, the images. Spanish now makes me feel at home. Funny thing.

 Travelling is really important to me, and it's one of the things I cherish most in this world. I'll never tire of it, and I'll always have a hunger to go new places, meet new people, see new cultures. 

It's a blessing and a curse. 

/Lea Binta