All the homemade Christmas people over here please, lets share our ideas :)

[BabyDubsEverywhere]

Do we have a 'Homemade Christmas Thread' going yet? Ive linked to last years below, I am determined to MAKE MAKE MAKE this year and bugger the responses

I need a fail safe mulled wine kit to give people please if anyone can help, Thankyou :)

Last years thread!

kveta Same thing happened to me a few years ago

Got pg again straight away and my 3 years old ds2 now sitting next to me!!!

Here you go Mogs0 - www.ebay.co.uk/sch/items/__tea+cup+pincushion_W0QQ_dmdZ2?rvr_id=270941502442&clk_rvr_id=270941502442&crlp=8857261615_228459_228459&UA=%3F*I8&GUID=707418f71310a0aa15623d62fe8c910f&agid=2240713255&tm_kw=tea+cup+pincushion&siteid=3&MT_ID=10&tt_encode=raw&keyword=tea+cup+pincushion&geo_id=21&ff4=228459_228459,
Seem to vary between £12 and £5, and on Etsy there's a couple for about £20!. Like I say - £8-£10 depending on how cute the teacup is! Don't undervalue yourself!

mogso I am with Chirp - the teacups look very high-end of the market. BUT - while they would easily go for a tenner at least in a shop you might find them harder to shift at that price at a school fair, especially if most of the customers are spending their pocket money. Not that you shouldn't charge that just if not many of them go at the school fair don't take it to mean people weren't drooling over them silently - I bet you'll sell loads at the craft fair!

Kveta big hugs and congrats!

Buzz welcome back - hope DD doing well?

Mogs I bow to your organisation and skill! I've been looking at the button crafts as I have a huge button box inherited from OH's gran but I've not been brave enough to try yet!

Agree you should charge a couple of quid each btw. I'd buy them!

PS Kveta I mc'd at 7 weeks and when I got pg again just couldn't let myself feel it until I'd passed the 7 week stage. I think that's pretty normal! First scan makes it all real again - how soon will you get one? I was allowed one at 7 weeks because I'd mc'd before. He's now 18 months by the way - mc seems like a different lifetime now.

There really wasn't much skill involved - I think the photos must make them look better than they really are .

The school fair is 2 weeks before the craft fair so there should be enough time to replenish stocks (too optimistic? ).

Also, re organisation - by the time December comes around, the novelty of being organised will have well and truly worn off and I'll be running around like a crazy fool on Christmas Eve trying to finish things off!

Congratulations Kveta :o

Mogs0 those button trees are fabulous! I would definately buy them for £1.50 each and maybe you could do 3 for £4? Regarding the crayons, I've just made 2 lots - fish and starfish and I didn't melt the trays this time. I followed Ancients advice and had my oven on 100 Celcius, check after 5mins, then 'cooked' for another 5mins, added some more crayons to the tray and 'cooked' for 6 more mins. They are now cooling in the fridge (don't have a freezer). I sorted the crayons into different shades of the same colour so they have a cool marbled effect. I need to raid the crayon boxes for more broken crayons!

Didn't get a chance to make my carrot chutney this weekend and have had to throw my carrots away :(

ascec - Thanks! I really am quite as it wasn't even my idea and they were really easy to do!

Sounds like your wax crayons are going to be a success!! They are next on my list. How are you going to package them? I have bought 2 lego men ice-cube trays from the Lego shop and have ordered some others online but I don't expect to receive them until towards the end of the month.

I have also ordered a christmas tree mould to make the mint bark. It has two flat tree shapes that slot together to make a 3D tree - not sure if I have explained it very well and I could find anything online to link to. I t cost nearly £10 but, if it's not too big, I might try using it to make more crayons.

Ooh, I've missed so much. Have been having a stressful time with ds and secondary school.

Here is the mince pie muffin recipe that I use, very easy and delicious

OK, oven 200c

300g sr flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
100g soft light brown sugar
175g mincemeat
1 egg, lightly beaten
100g butter melted
175 ml buttermilk
1 tbsp milk

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix wet ones in sep bowl. Add wet to dry and mix until combined.

Sprinkle with demerera sugar and bake in oven for 18-20 mins.

If you haven't got buttermilk, add 1 tsp lemon of white vinegar to normal milk and leave to stand for an hour.

I made my practically tea total mum try some sherbert lemon vodka tonight, she pulled a few faces and said it was too syrupy. I diluted it with some cranberry and raspberry juice I had and it was amazing. It didn't mix properly in the glass so it was yellow at the bottom, pink at the top and an orangey colour in the middle. It looked really lovely and tasted just as nice. You have to try it!

I'm following loads of you on pinterest now.

mogs0 just be careful with your ice cube trays - don't melt them like I did with my 2 lovely flower and heart ones :(

I was thinking I might get some little cellophane bags like these and put some fish and starish of different colours in each bag to make a set of all the colours.

I won this on ebay so when it comes I will make some really cute bug crayons - hopefully won't take too long to arrive!

My oven's on the blink, so can't sterilise anything for the moment, so need to think of something to do with six large red onions in the meantime! :o :( :o

Mogs think of the cost of the buttons at least - def over £1 I'd imagine if they're as decent and chunky as they look. I've just bought 100 Christmas coloured buttons, but majority are tiny, so don't think they'll do for a button tree.

Here are my boards if you're as nosey as I am interested. :o

Just a quick hello as I have been to Ikea today - total heaven!

Got loads of kilner jars, little jars for chilli jam - and they are doing really cute bottles with stoppers that have red scandinavian stylee snowflakes on them for £1.99

Congratulations Kveta! And thanks for the link to the Lakeland Freezer paper. I chickened out though and ordered some off Amazon (the American Reynolds freezer paper that is seemingly the most widely used)

FlubbaBubba - I've just repinned your sugar scrub pin because, although the scrub pictured on the main pin looks decidedly lacklustre, it opens up into a whole collection of different recipes and different packaging ideas - my kind of Pin!!! So thanks (I nearly didn't click it because I thought "I don't need another scrub recipe" but am glad I did!)

Have had some good advice on the Gardening thread re. Hyacinths - still undecided about this.

Am slightly thwarted in my attempt at Bath Fizzes with getting hold of citric acid. Most of the online sites have a minimum order of £20 and then quite hefty delivery charges. I thought I might pick up some essential oils in a local shop so just buying citric acid from an online shop is tricky. I found a local wine making shop that sold a pifflingly useless 50g for £1.99 and 500g for £4.99 (but that was out of stock) but I know you can get 2kg for about £7 online (before VAT and delivery obv.) Anyone else doing fizzes?

I don't know about anyone else but I am in danger of repinning stuff that I've already pinned - I'm losing track! My Christmas board is drowning under a sea of various felt hearts and tree decorations!

Flubba, I love your Christmas wishlist, I've been trying to persuade various family members to buy me a chainsaw for years They are not as worried as I am about a zombie invasion (or cutting up fallen trees).

Thanks to whoever pinned that recipe for homemade moisturiser, I think I'm going to do that instead of body scrub. I've got some grapeseed oil and some green teabags that I want to use up and beeswax is really cheap on ebay.

I am really having to restrain myself now, otherwise I'll end up spending more on making things than I would if I just bought presents. The crayons are going on my list for next year!

:o EauRouge it slightly shows up the dichotomy (sp?) of my life - chainsaw vs. pretty material things. I would absolutely love a chainsaw but, like you, my family have not been forthcoming for fear of me getting chainsaw-trigger-happy

Glad you clicked further cartblanche - I've tried to use 'useful' pins for the homemaking board.

I'm quite touched as somebody has repinned a fave photo of mine from our "summer" holidays in Scotland where it pissed with rain every day for weeks on end

Soooo addictive. Must. Log. Off. :o

Flubba, just started following your boards - lovely stuff!

Ok I give in, can someone please invite me to join pinterest too? I've been trying to restrain myself but can't do it any longer!

If you want Pinterest invitations just pm me your email address and I'll get an invitation sent out.

I've started! Today I made pineapple chutney and then cranberry and pistachio biscuits, both from this months Good Food magazine (will link when the recipes go on the website). Both untested as yet, the biscuit dough has gone in the freezer, and the pineapple chutney tasted delicious straight from the pan but the recipe says it improves over a few months, so will report back in due course. Really want to go to Ikea now for those jars!

Have lots more on my 'to do' list, including a Christmas card similar to the gorgeous baby and lights one that someone put on Pinterest (haven't managed to work out who is who yet ) and the lemon sugar scrub - have the oils all ready, might be next weeks project.

Just thought I'd let you know (im making heart shaped crayons for my little sister and neices.) Tesco are currently selling 24 crayola crayons for £1

Damn you addicted I was justifying to myself that I can't do the crayon crafts as I don't have any crayons...

But doesn't everyone have millions of bits of crayons lurking around every single room of their home? Just me?!

sorry toria.