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...

Hi Flubba, I think kindles are all the same size, but I don't own one so don't know if the newer ones are smaller? You could look at the dimensions on amazon and to er on the side of caution allow a few extra mm, that's what I did when someone asked me to make them one. I drew out a cardboard kindle in exactly the right dimensions, layering enough cardboard to give me the thickness as well as the size.

Oh, and I've added my pics of my MYO Father Christmasses and my first attempt doorstop (not very good pics and they look better in real life ~ I hope!)

Flubba love the doorstop!

My sister is going to lend me her sewing machine at the beginning of December, so I may see if I can rustle up some more ambitious items. Saying that, I haven't used a sewing machine since I was in school (20odd years ago!!!). I want one for Christmas, but thought I would borrow one first to see if I would actually use one, or if it would just gather dust in the corner!

For those who are making candy cane vodka - Julian Graves have red stripe (no green on it at all) candy canes on 3 for £1, they are normally 69p each.

Flubba - your decorations look great! Would you mind if I tried to copy? They look far more professional than my pitiful lot . Where did you get the wooden balls from?

Thank you. Go for it - I got my wooden balls (32mm) from here and also got my pots for the glue, felt and cellophane bags all from fleabay too.

What kind of pots are you using for the glue? I saw some on eBay but not sure if the glue would dry out before the decorations can be made. Have you any idea what you'll charge for yours? Sorry for all the questions!

they're kind of 2ml plastic ones with plastic tops. I packaged them all up about 3 weeks ago and the glue's still good to go. They cost me about £1.30 to make (minus labour) so was thinking of selling them for £3-£4 ?

Just uploaded a photo of the advent calendar I finished last night for DS2. I'm pleased with the finished result. It was a kit, but took a lot of cutting out and hand sewing.

love it Zeeky!

I made DS an advent calendar last year, took bloody ages, thank God I won't have to make another one for a while

It's lovely zeeky ~ definitely a more professional finish than my one! , bet your DS will love it!

Oh, and WRT to getting chocolate to set well, if you use cooking chocolate it sets much better, never had a problem getting it to set glossy and pretty as long as it's melted over a pan of water rather than in the microwave. I also fill mine with mint flavoured glace icing

Toria I can't believe that you have done all that & got a 3wk old baby - amazing woman!!!

I have a very hands on husband Zeeky And to give said 3 week old his due he sleeps wonderfully really!

Wow Toria I too cannot believe you have done all of that with a 3 week old baby!

I am stressing big time about my craft fair, I tihnk I'd have a nervous breakdown if I had a baby to look after as well!

Evening
Thinking of rattling off some lemon hand scrub for the nursery Christmas fayre next week. I have plenty of jam jars but can anyone recommend a cheap & cheerful way of decorating them? I think the branding on some of the lids will need to be covered. I could go down the fabric topper route I guess but does anyone have any other ideas?
This thread is the business

over you have absolutely no need to worry about your craft fair. My God, if you need to worry, then what the hell are the rest of us doing!!! :o

I now have everything sorted at least for Saturday, although I'm not too impressed with the advertising they've done so far, and there's a well-advertised fair going on nearby at the same time so who knows...! Anyway, nothing more I can do, and I have even practised what the table itself is going to look like >>saddo emoticon

I love this thread - thank you so much for all the ideas. I've joined pinterest (had never heard of it and now I'm hooked). I always hand make Christmas presents but they will be of a much higher quality this year!

Thank you Flubba, but I am worried, I've never done a craft fair before, what if people critisise my stuff because it isn't professional? What if they look too closely to the corners of my binding and laugh? I am a worrier though...

I'd love to see how you get on with you applique application and your t-shirt painting, hope you're having fun!

I am making coasters, they are really time consuming to make, I thought I'd choose something quick and easy to do tonight but they are fiddly and time consuming. Should have made tea cozies...

and I will be practicing my table layout once I've finished sewing everythng! Deadline is this weekend, the fair is next weekend, so that will give me a week to organise myself, price everything up, practice table layout and make sure everything looks nice and all the thread are cut off everything etc.

Yes, my biggest fear is people looking too closely at the seams and corners etc. Some of my poor little angels look a bit like trannies with their over-heavy eyes! :o (the blinkin' pen ran a bit, so I tried to compensate. I shouldn't have!). I've never done a fair either, but as long as I cover the cost of the table, I don't really mind if I don't sell too much or that's what I keep trying to tell myself :o

How long does Xmas Pudding vodka take to taste nice, anyone? Started it off on Sunday, just wondering how long I have to wait when it'll be ready to wrap? :o

Omg I feel so inadequate compared to you all!

I decanted my Xmas pud vodka yesterday - even vodka and Xmas pud-hating dh liked it so hopefully it will be well received.

I have also put together rosemary-infused sea salt flakes - little jars of sea salt with bits of roaemary stuck in. Embarrassingly easy but after just 24 hours it smells lush!

Sorry Ruede - I left my vodka for about 5 weeks I think. I could only judge when it was "right" by smell (on bloody strong painkillers and even cooking with alcohol makes me woozy atm