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

[BabyDubsEverywhere]

OLD THREAD

We were all on about pinterest, jars, and where we are up to in our christmas planning :)

Lets go...

GrownUp I think your idea for the individual slices of cake is brilliant! They sound lovely! I'd definitely buy a couple and I've never bought a whole Christmas cake before

Rue, the T-Shirt idea is so good I may just have to buy more buttons! I used the almost all of mine on my cone Christmas tree - could be another option for you Mogs depending on how many buttons you have?, there's a picture of mine on my profile (the red and green tree).

DS's stocking is going well so far have cut out the templates which I ended up hand drawing because I couldn't find one I liked a enough and I'm now in the process of embroidering a (very simple, as it's my first embroidery attempt!) Christmas tree on the front. It's looking very...uuumm, handmade at the moment but I'm happy with it

I like your Pinterest page Singing! Good luck with catching up, it took me days!!

RueDeWakening thank you for tips on the train roll.

Am v excited about the GLAM - any recommendations for the glitter? I have looked online and there seem to be so many brands to choose from, also, does it have a taste and how much would you put in each jar so that the taste isn't too pronounced?

Thanks

Can I please ask a chocolate question?

I have a metal christmas tree mould (well a tray with lots of them), and I've decided a nice festive project for me and dd would be homemade chocolates.

Can I just buy any chocolate, melt it and pour it into the moulds, maybe with a contrasting coloured chocolate in first as decoration?

Or is there more to it than that?

Can I second the request for recommendations for glitter for Glam please!

Ta!

ps I've been looking online and was worried that the glitter might dissolve in the jam?

www.amazon.co.uk/Edible-Glitter-Stars-Cupcakes-Champagne/dp/B0030KG9MA

try that again...

The reviews of these say they dissolve in liquid

Tea I think that would do the trick beautifully!!

The gold glitter stars I used in my marmalade said they were also suitable for use in drinks eg champagne so I guess you have to make sure you get the right sort of glitter. I was worried that they would dissolve in the hot marmalade but they were fine. I think I got them from Lakeland.

ooh Tea that sounds like a good idea - >>wonders whether it would work with the normal silicon cake moulds too

Anybody got a good tutorial for a homemade fabric doorstop?

Evening all. Re chocolate I have good news and bad news . You can mould chocolate in metal and silicone moulds (best smooth finish in metal, easiest release in silicone) - that's the good news - BUT you may have trouble tempering the chocolate. Chocolate has to set with sugar and fat molecules in exactly the right state or it looks dull, cloudy and sometimes like a window on a frosty morning. Only less attractive. This not only looks horrid it tastes pretty meh too. The higher the cocoa content the harder it is to temper. It's all down to moulding it at exactly the right temperature and, in spite of years of making chocolates I have yet to master the art. This annoys me immensely!
There are ways around it though. Firstly, white chocolate doesn't share this problem IME and you can get lots of lovely effects by colouring and flavouring white choc. It also looks lovely with inclusions eg cranberries and pistachios because they show up well in the white base. The cheaper the chocolate the easier it is to work with - I have never had much problem getting a good set with cheap chocolate but then... if I'm going to that bother I want it to be really nice chocolate. I make mice and other shapes for kids every year using cheaper chocolate and it works out just fine though. I now save the good stuff for making posh truffles for the grown-ups!
Wish I could be more helpful - I am going to go on a proper chocolate course in the new year and who knows... maybe by next year I will actually be able to tell you all something useful about making nice moulded chocs.

Ooh ancient your wonders never cease to amaze me! :) I might try some rather cheap choc (thanks to Sainsbo's basics choc) in silicone star packs then. Is it worth adding a blob of butter to try and make it 'glossier'?

I made granola last week (trial run) in a bid to make my hampers not all biscuit/fudge etc based. It tastes nice but actually is a bit sweet for me (am more of a muesli fan than granola - much prefer dorset cereals to jordans crunchy stuff for instance). But I can't make muesli (I don't think? - proper oats for muesli look quite expensive and am not sure I would buy the right stuff). OK for in-laws who like sweet cereal but not for my parents - any tips on how to make it less sweet? If I use less honey will it still work? I used 100ml to 450g oats. Or is there something else I could use for the 'sticky' that would be less sweet?

Thanks, I'll give it a go with a bar of cadburys and see what happens.

Flubba - me, me, me, me, me

So this isthe one I made,( I will get round to posting pics). But I really like this one and this one

Some say to put the filling/rice in a bag others say not too, I did once I read if you don't it can attract mice. Also I haven't tried zips yet so that was a problem for some patterns

Enjoy, the one I did is very quick and easy even for a first seeing machine project.

Ooh perfick love thank you. Except for the fact the last one looks like it's got floorplans of a house as a pattern (! :o !) I think I'll give that one a go. Just need to pop to the fabric shop one more time to get some hardwearing fabric for the base... :o

Ta muchly

Lol flubba you do know its not going to be the last time you go to the fabric shop dont you!

I have another Christmas fayre today, fingers crossed this one is better than the last, although I haven't had to pay for a table (its the first time this nursery have done anything like this) so won't loose anything if I don't sell anything!

:o So true!!

Good luck today addicted

Quick Qu. Addicted - do you put price labels on each individual item as well (or instead of?) one price list? I've got my craft fair next weekend and am slowly getting organised.

I have a table cloth, then my stuff displayed, then infront of each set of items a sticky label describing what it is and how much. Does that make sense?

Yes, thank you. :)

Flubba there is a photo of my last table on my profile now. Nothing inspiring but don't lnow how else to display everything without spending a small fortune!

Flubba - that one actually made me feel I could design my own stuff one day

Addicted - wow I am going to aim to do fairs one day, hmm let's go for this time next year for my first one

I think I might try and adapt that pattern so I can use up some of my pretty material for the bits you can see,and a hardier material for the base. So a square of the hardy stuff, then a square of the pretty stuff, and one long rectangle for the side? Then the handle could be made out of the hardy stuff again so that it looks like it's meant to be like that!! :o

Project number 482 methinks! :D

How did you get on today addicted?