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!

Mogs0 I'm ridiculously excited that you've attempted the legoman crayone - pics please!!!!!!!!

Not sure how much molds are in IKEA, but in m&s heart shaped silicone molds (they also have other shapes, nothing as funky as lego men tho!) Anyway they are £3.50 (or were when I bought them. Last year, but they still have them) and you can make 10 at a time. Not a huge amount but it works!

Ikea moulds are 99p each FWIW.

Egg - I will see if I can get it a pic from my phone to MN. The front of them looks fab but the backs are messy - not all the crayons melted properly. They look pretty cool all lined up next to each other .

Rue - I have loads of ikea ice cube trays, I should dig them out to see which shapes I have.

acsec your carrot and apple chutney sounds yummy! Would you mind sharing your recipe please?

Ahhh, thanks rue. unfortunately our nearest ikea is 80 miles away, so it would cost the extra in petrol for us. But that's a great price if you have one close.

Not at all. I used this one:

Ingredients
225g/8oz onions, chopped
900g/2lb apples, cored and chopped
110g/4oz carrots, topped, tailed and diced
2 garlic cloves very finely diced
110g/4oz sultanas, or raisins
50g/2oz fresh ginger, peeled and grated
15g/½oz ground coriander
15g/½oz paprika
15g/½oz mixed spice (allspice)
15g/½oz salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
340g/12oz brown sugar
750ml/1¼ pints malt vinegar

Method
Put the onions, apples, carrots and garlic into a preserving pan with the vinegar. Cook gently until all softened, then stir in all the other ingredients. Slowly bring to the boil, then simmer for ½ hour, stirring from time to time to stop the chutney sticking to the pan.

When it is thick enough that you can draw a wooden spoon across the base of the pan and leave a channel behind it that does not immediately fill with liquid, the chutney is ready.

Turn into sterilised jars, seal and cool.

Thanks dee I shall have another look. I think its just my Sainsburys is a bit small and lacks some things. Probably the bigger one or the Asda in the next town over will have it.

For those of you that are making crayons, have you thought about using cookie cutters as moulds? I did this a couple of years ago and it worked fairly well.

Get your shaped cookie cutters, place on a foil lined baking tray, then get some modelling clay or dough and make a seal all around the cookie cutter, sealing it to the foil, iyswim? Pour in your melted wax crayons and pop them in the fridge to set hard once they are cold. You could always used plastersine(sp?) or playdough if thats all you have - works just as well.

I bought a big pack of 150 cookie cutters at an NCT sale a few years ago, and it has all the alphabet, numbers, and different 'holiday' symbols.

Hmmm.. actually might give it a go again this year. Wasn't planning to, but am now all inspired!!

ooh now cookie cutters are something i do have Thanks deemented!

Thank you acsec, will have a go at that. Never having made chutney before, will I need to use a preserving pan, or will a normal pan be ok? Also, how much does your recipe make? (inexperienced emoticon).

I made the lemon hand scrub yesterday, is it meant to 'wet' or have a more drier texture? I used lemon juice and a few drops of the lemon oil to enhance the scent but it seems rather wet.

I was just thinking last night would cookie cutters work as molds! Thanks Dee

They also work well as candle shapes for floating cadles, if you're that way inclined.

Speaking of candles, can anyone remember the site that was linked to for candle wicks etc?

Just made my first lavendar handscrub. Cheated a bit and used a mix of regular sunflower oil and lavendar oil, but it works fine. I also added a few drops of food colouring to give it a purpley colour :)

Hey everyone, been lurking but not posting but made crab apple jelly today and OMG it is BEAUTIFUL and tastes divine, just wanted to share

I also picked up a pack of 8 sheets of felt at Poundland for an, erm, pound yesterday.

Have resisted for a while but I really want to get on Pinterest. Can someone kindly invite me please? :)

Send me your email address debka and I'll invite you.

Another lurker here, this thread is brilliant and thanks to all you ladies my Dh isn't seeing very much of me due to all the pinning.
If anyone is interested I can be found pinterest.com/kelli77/here
please feel free to follow (please please I have no followers)

But you also have to give us your crab apple jelly recipe debka :)

Can you invite me too please. I have already requested an invite a few days ago but have heard nothing yet. Its [email protected].

Great thread by the way. Have been so exited reading it all and its given me lots of ideas.

Ooops sorry flubba, got overexcited and sent pm before reading all the posts!

I used this recipe. I only got 2kg of apples in my pan though, but it produced 5 good sized jars of jelly. I didn't bother with the lemon, and strained it using a pillowcase! It's the most gorgeous rich amber colour.

Done and done.

What does 2kg of crab apples look like (in terms of plastic bags full or something?) - a neighbour has some going for free so will go and pilfer soon :)

Hey ladies! Thanks to all you pininterest-addicts, I too have lost most of the day to it! I requested to join last night and got the joining e-mail almost immediately.

Here's a link to my Christmas board if anyone is interested: pinterest.com/vickiholton/christmas/
I am following a few of you guys. Love it!

Bettymum and Rumpleteaser - I recognise you from the April baby board! Bettymum - love your idea of putting layers of sweets in coffee jars for the men. Will have to start saving some coffee jars - the rate that DH drinks coffee at means we should definitely have a few by Christmas