Sharkett Sisters: 2017

GINGERBREAD WREATH

December 12, 2017

We wanted to bake something super Christmassy over the weekend and there aren't many things more Christmassy than gingerbread!

Not only is it delicious and really easy to make, its very fun to decorate. We sat down with the tree twinkling next to us and a glass of wine in hand, watching Christmas films and piped our gingerbread snowflakes. We definitely recommend as a cosy Christmas activity with friends or family!

If you want, you can use this recipe and just make a whole load of gingerbread biscuits, but we wanted to make this very pretty gingerbread wreath. You can hang this in your house to make a lovely edible decoration or you could even put a candle in the middle and use it as a centre piece for your Christmas table! - failing either of those, you can just eat it!

You will need some Christmassy shaped cookie cutters; we found both these sets in Debenhams - and on sale, how pretty are those copper stars?!

Ingredients:

For the gingerbread...

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g dark muscovado sugar

2 eggs

3 tbsp golden syrup

400g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

For the royal icing...

8oz icing sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC Fan/Gas Mark 6, and line several baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and golden syrup, and then add in the flour, baking powder and spices and mix well to bring the dough together.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to around 3-4mm thick. For the base of the wreath you will need to cut out a ring shape around 20cm wide. Then, use the rest of the dough to cut out lots of stars and christmas shapes of your choice. Arrange the shapes onto the greaseproof lined baking tray, and pop into the oven for around 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely while you make the icing. If you want to hang your wreath make a small hole in the ring while the gingerbread is still warm, you can put some ribbon through this later.

We wanted to use royal icing rather than just water icing, as this way it will harden completely and make sure the biscuits really stick to the base and will not fall off if you choose to hang this up.

To make the royal icing, start by whisking the egg white until frothy but not firm, and then add in the lemon juice. Then, one spoonful at a time, sieve and fold in the icing sugar. Once all the icing sugar has been added, give it a quick beat to make sure there are no bubbles and then transfer to a piping bag.

Cut a very small hole into the piping bag and carefully start piping snowflake patterns onto your gingerbread shapes. You can go as intricate or simple as you like with this depending on how steady your hand is! We went for some simple dotted ones as well, to add a little variety to our wreath. We found that the trick to piping neat patterns is definitely to be patient and take your time with it (also straight lines are much easier to pipe than curved ones!) We also added some glitter and some little edible pearls to add a little sparkle to our wreath.

Once the icing on your shapes has dried a little, pick some of your favourites and start to arrange them roughly where you want them on the gingerbread ring. To stick them down you can cut a slightly bigger hole in the piping bag and just start sticking them on! Once you're happy with the wreath leave the icing to dry and you're done!

We are so happy with how this turned out, the glittery snowflakes just make this wreath so pretty and festive! It's a good job we had plenty of gingerbread left over because this is definitely too pretty to eat just yet.
Now we're going to sit down and dunk some of these delicious biscuits in a cup of tea while we decide where to hang it...

Thanks so much for reading this post, we hope you enjoyed it!

Please let us know if you decide to give this recipe a go, we would love to see how you decorate your gingerbread!

Please follow us on Bloglovin', Instagram and like our Facebook page 'Sharkett Sisters', if you want to see more of us, and never miss a post. And leave a comment below, we would love to know what you think!

Lots of love and Merry Christmas, Antonia and Imogen x

fashion

WE'VE GOT A VELVET CRUSH

December 04, 2017

It's the first week of December and time to get FESTIVE!

If red and gold velvet doesn't shout festive - then we don't know what does.

We are both loving these velvet pieces right now so wanted to share these with you and leave you with a dash of christmas velvet inspiration. So, scroll down to see our fave pieces and get inspired for Christmas...

Red Velvet Bardot - Coast for Debenhams

(still available in store but not online / black version here)

Leather Skirt - River Island

Boots - Dune

Bag - Coach

Flower Earrings - H&M

Necklace - Orelia at Topshop

This top is genuinely the best thing I have bought in forever, and I have fallen head over heels in love with it! I absolutely love the bardot shape, and perfect deep red colour - it makes me feel like the epitome of Christmas! It is perfect for wearing with jeans or with a leather skirt like I have styled it above. It's a beautiful top to have in your wardrobe for those 'jeans and a nice top' christmas occasions! I just know that this will be worn at every given opportunity this Christmas! And also... it's SOOO soft!

(I can't find it online but there are definitely still lots available instore at Coast in Debenhams!)

Of course, I can't not mention these beaut flower earrings. I went into H&M the other day and was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of gorgeous earrings. I stood staring at the stand for a good few minutes before picking up these incredible and super festive red flowers and some other gold flower danglys which I'm sure will feature on here or our instagram v. soon!

Leather Jacket - Biba at House of Fraser
Jumper - H&M
Velvet Pleated Skirt - M&S
Boots - M&S
Bag - Accessorize

How amazing is the colour of this skirt?! It's such a bright yellow/gold, I just knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. It's been waiting around in my wardrobe for probably about a month now because I couldn't find the right jacket to wear with it. So I was very pleased when I spotted this Biba biker jacket in the Black Friday sales! It was a bargain and I know I'll get a lot of use out of it all year round, every wardrobe needs a good leather jacket - it's something I've been missing for too long!

These boots are another winter staple thats been added to my wardrobe recently, I always struggle to find the perfect winter boot and these ones from M&S tick all my boxes! The small block heel on these boots make these super comfortable to wear all day, and the studded detail just gives them a little bit of interest.

Keep scrolling to see lots more of out favourite velvet items from the high street...

1. Zara Shimmer Blazer 2. Warehouse Crushed Velvet Jacket 3. River Island Embellished Shoes 4. Oasis Velvet Jacket and Skirt 5. Warehouse Velvet Dress 6. Topshop Velvet Plisse Trousers

We love this matching embellished jacket and skirt from Oasis, the ruffled hem on the skirt makes it such a cute outfit for a Christmas occasion! We are also loving the burgundy plisse Topshop trousers, we think they would look amazing dressed down with some boots and a jumper for a very stylish daytime look.

1. River Island Velvet Heart Shoes 2. Miss Selfridge Velvet Playsuit 3. Zara Velvet Sleeve Sweatshirt 4. Warehouse Bardot Top 5. Topshop Velvet Embroidered Skirt 6. Miss Selfridge Velvet Trainers

We have been loving these River Island pumps for quite a while now, the red velvet and heart embellishment makes a very cute combination. They may need to make an appearance in one of our wardrobes very soon...
How amazing are the sleeves on this Zara sweatshirt? They are a gorgeous velvet, lace cut-out fabric and they definitely make a statement!

1. Warehouse Sparkle Dress 2. Oasis Velvet Tee 3. River Island Bee Shoes 4. M&S Crushed Velvet Sweatshirt 5. Zara Printed Velvet Top and Trousers 6. Zara Pleated Velvet Skirt

These bee embroidered shoes from River Island are so beautiful. Anything with bees on is a definite win for us and the gorgeous teal velvet just make these super gorgeous!
We think the Zara printed top and trousers would be the perfect outfit for any Christmas occasion. We would love to wear the set together with a nice pair of black heels for a super stylish look.

1. M&S Velvet Trousers 2. M&S Velvet Sparkle Dress 3. Oasis Boots and Bag 4. Warehouse Pearl Velvet Dress 5. River Island Embellished Heels 6. M&S Velvet Pleated Skirt

We are in love with the colours in this set of pictures! The bright mustard/gold and the gorgeous teal are such beautiful colours and they look incredible together!
We may have fallen slightly in love with the boots from Oasis, they are just such an amazing colour, they would be a perfect statement boot to add to our wardrobes!
Obviously we had to add in the amazing M&S pleated skirt here, we always love a pleated midi! It also comes in a very festive red, which is PERFECT for Christmas!
We are also loving the mustard cropped trousers, this shape is a huge trend at the moment and they look gorgeous paired with the black heels and white shirt!

1. Oasis Velvet Jacket 2. Zara Red Bardot Dress 3. Zara Velvet Dress 4. Oasis Pleated Velvet Dress 5. Oasis Purple Velvet Dress 6. ASOS Velvet Plunge Dress

Oh my goodness, these two red dresses are the most christmassy thing ever! We absolutely love them both, they would be the perfect Christmas party dress!
As you may have noticed, there are quite a few velvet blazers in this post, they are definitely a trend for the season. We love a good blazer and what better way to step it up a notch than making it velvet? They are such an easy way to dress up for any occasion, you can pair it with a pair of black jeans and heels for a super easy look or take it even further with a leather skirt or trousers.

Have you added any gorgeous velvet items to your wardrobe yet this winter? Let us know in the comments if you have!
This was quite a long post so thank you so much for reading if you made it all the way down here!

Please follow us on Bloglovin', Instagram and like our Facebook page 'Sharkett Sisters', if you want to see more of us, and never miss a post. Please feel free to leave a comment below, we would love to know what you think!

Lots of love, Antonia and Imogen x

MULLED WINE G&T

MULLED WINE CUPCAKES

GINGERBREAD WREATH

WE'VE GOT A VELVET CRUSH

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