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...

Seriously in awe of so many of you. I have seem to have spent hours on pinterest & dreaming of what I would like to be making but done very little!

Re - fudge Can't remember who said they'd made some, how long have you kept it for. dd1 wants to make gparents some just an easy basic one with condensed milk, just wondered if anyone had tried freezing that sort & then defrosting just before xmas. Although at this rate it will be Christmas before I get that done. We have been a house of illness this last month, colds & chestinfections, headlice & then chickenpox, so fingers crossed will be able to have a more productive few weeks now, hope so anyway!

A tin of condensed milk, most of a bar of the massive dairy milks, 40-50g ish of butter and a large amount of icing sugar make a decent fudge. I don't remember the exact amounts but I've been making it for years and will be making it for Christmas :) They have a recipe for it on the betty crocker website I believe? Kids food websites have it regularily too.

I've started experimenting with adding alcohol to it recently, it makes it crumbly as you need loads for it.

It doesn't last that long though, only a week or two in the fridge.

I'm also now addicted to Pintrest and hoping to get an invite from them soon (registered my interest today). I'm also glad to have found these threads and will be reading through them to get ideas for my hampers! :D

confusedpixie if you want you can PM me your email address and I'll send you an invitation to pinterest.

roundabout I made fudge about six weeks ago and it's just about edible now although won't keep till Christmas (I've kept it in airtight jars).

Right, today is a trip again to fabricland to see what material I can get for making Christmassy table mats for my sister. Do you reckon normal batting will be okay for it, or even just a thick blankety woolly material?

Over love your 100th project - just the kind I'm looking to make for my niece. Are they easy to make? And have you used a magnetic clasp? I've never added one and am unsure how to do it

Flubba normal batting or even fleece will be fine for place mats, and I would iron on some heavy weight interfacing too, to help keep them rigid.

The little bags are easy to make, they are an adaptation of the 'Shopper bag' in the Cath Kidston SEW book, and there are plenty of free tutorials online for very similar bags, or I could attempts to explain it to you?

I use magneitc clasps in most of my bags and wallets, they are really really easy to attach, all you need is a seam ripper to cut two tiny slots in your fabric, the magnetic clasps come with a washer that you attach to the inside of the clasp once it is through the fabric, then you just push the two prongs down (I use my fingers but if you are not strong you can use a screqdriver, pencil, or the edge of a table to puch them down).

I get mine here. Affordable, free p&p, really quick delivery.They also show you insert a clasp, but use a chisel, you seriously don't need one, a seam ripper will do.

and I have just made my first fabric business card am going to put it on my profile

Thanks over will get me some heavyweight interfacing as I've only got flimsy stuff at home. I've done some searching for little bags, and also have a nice little messenger type bag at home that I'm using as a model for my nephew's bag -( thought I'd re-use some of my beloved jeans again for him). Will def. give that website a go for clasps - 18mm nickel ones seem a good choice?

Oh, and I love your fabric business card!! Such a fab idea and won't go missing amongst all the other paper crap people pick up!

I've been sorting out my Christmas basket contents for my family and friends now that I've got the craft fair out of the way (I used the baskets to display). Just got a few more things to make and have presented the hair clips and they look perfick (if a bit wobbly round the edges. a bit like me! :o :o)

Flubba: Thank you for the offer! Another member offered to invite me as well and I read her message first this morning! But thanks :) I'll be sure to do the same for others once I'm on.

Ever so sorry but I haven't time to read the whole thread- could anyone give me ideas as to what me and nearly 4 YO DS1 could make to give to others for Christmas? They would need to be pretty easy, and that would last for a few weeks either in storage or the freezer, as we'll be giving them out over a few weeks. Thinking of biscuits and sweets. Will try to skim read rest of thread for ideas too.

hi MrsJ how about these fridge cookies? They are easy for a 4 yo to help to make and you can stick the roll in the fridge for a couple of weeks and slice off cookies to bake as and when you need them, or slice them now and freeze them for longer ready to bake. I have seen some of the rolls simply packaged up as a gift ready for the recipient to slice and bake at their convenience. Or what about the cookie mix in a jar idea (loads of versions on Pinterest) that your son could help to layer up?

Well done Flubba! Hope you are planning to spend your earnings on a wee treat for yourself

Flubba I always buy the antique brass ones, but that is just my preference, I buy the 14mm thin ones for little bags and wallets, and only use the 18mm ones for much bigger bags. Always the thin ones though. Obviously that's ujst my preference and style though

I have spent all day making a wooden display tree for my baubles and chrystal snowflakes to be displayed on at the fair, it's like a giant mug tree!

Have also got hold of three old wooden wine crates to help display stuff, and will be making more fabric business cards! I think we need another thread for christmas fair talk, I feel bad for bulking up this thread so much.

Ooh made some of my oaty biscuit things from the jars so that I could say with confidence that they were yummy when I give them as presents, and my goodness they are delish! :)

mrsJ have you thought about peppermint tree decorations? if you colour them slightly (green or red or something festive) then the grubby 4yo finger prints don't show up so much :o :o

Thanks ancient - I'd love to spend it on me, but we've had a whole load of unexpected bills this past month (car, vets and oven :() so will have to make do with the hot chocolates I've just treated us all to in the local café :)

at hot chocs for the Flubba Family.

Over don't worry about clogging up this thread! I love that this thread covers eveything from making one or two things with the kids to full-on craft fairies. It's all homemade Christmas regardless of the quantities involved.

Just wanted to share this link for people putting hampers together as gifts. There's a 20% promo code on the homepage making them £8 each which I thought was quite reasonable for what they are as they would be a useful basket to re-use afterwards!

Flubba - you did so well at your fair! I think I'm going to have a better go at making stuff for next Christmas and start building my stock throughout the year so I have lots! I am particularly keen to make some crayon/car rolls but I think I'll need to practice using the sewing machine first .

I went to a huge craft fair on Thursday and there were a very large number of stalls making the hanging heart decorations. The ideas and links that are being shared on this thread are quite different to the things available at the fair - as in, many of the ideas here are a lot more original.

refridgeratable biscuit mixes here for you MrsJ Might have a go at them myself :)

MrsJ - I remember when we were kids we made snowmen out of jam jars; pva glue on the glass and cover with cotton wool. Then we taped a ball of newspaper to the lid, pva'd and stuck cotton wool to this too. Then we put sweets inside, gave them ribbon scarves and little felt eyes (can't remember how we did the noses or mouths, probably felt as well). They probably looked very home made but sis and I had lots of fun making them!

I am joining very late but I'm a longtime lurker... Am broke this year, so am planning to make lots of stuff!

Welcome belle! (love the name btw!)

If I may I'd like to pick some of your brains. I'd like to make Xmas biscuits (please don't laugh!) from our cats. Planning to use icing paste, chocolate giant buttons and regular sized buttons to create "paw prints". The trouble is I am crap at baking and have never tried to make biscuits. Can anyone recommend a fool proof recipe that doesn't contain too many strong flavours (so something like vanilla essence would be great) that will be smooth enough to fix the chocolate on securely?

Any advice would be massively appreciated!

Oh my goodness mrstired- I just read that like this as I thought you were making biscuits using old cats. Glad I'm not on your Christmas list :o

Been decanting my Christmas Pudding Rum and Blackberry Vodka into the bottles I got here (which were on buy 6 get 6 free last week!). Just wondering if I can call my Blackberry Vodka "Bramble Schnapps" instead? Or does it sound too poncey? I'm sure I read somewhere that vodka and schnapps are basically the same. My parents aren't vodka drinkers at all and I think they would be put off trying it if they thought it was flavoured vodka, but I know that if it was called schnapps that they would give it go!

Hahahahaha! I really should learn to preview first!

Sorry, instead of just laughing I should actually point out that I'd like to make biscuits to give to people on behalf of the cats (i may be mad but i'm not that mad )

Oh god, only now finding this thread whilst having an early morning lurk - I can't read it all I haven't the time!

Can someone who's been faithful from the start point me in the direction of:-
home made bath salts
sticky onion chutney/relish
decent biscuits

I'm desperate to make home made stuff this year but so far all I've done is bought my own body weight in himalayan salt and it's sitting upstairs doing 'nowt.

mrstired I use a basic biscuit recipe:

Ingredients

250g butter , softened
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour

Mix the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon, then add the egg yolk and vanilla and briefly beat to combine. Sift over the flour and stir until the mixture is well combined - you might need to get your hands in at the end to give everything a really good mix and press the dough together.

From bbc good food

mrstired
Carmelised Onion Chutney
6 large red onions
3 cups vinegar (sherry, red wine or balsamic - I used a mix)
3 cups brown sugar
2 bay leaves
15-20 crushed black peppercorns
Chop onions and heat in a pan with drop of sunflower oil until soft. Add rest of ingredients and bring mixture ot the boil. Simmer gently for 1.5 hrs (I did it for 2+) until onions are transluscent and liquid has evaporated.
Pour hot mixture into small sterilised jars, seal and store somewhere cool or in the fridge. Good for at least 6m (best made with 4-6 weeks to mature).

Also yum; Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies
125g flour
2g ground cinnamon
2g ground nutmeg
5g baking soda
3g salt
110g raisins
160g rolled oats
165g brown sugar
100g white sugar
170g butter
1-2 lightly beaten egg (I used one egg for 2/3 of this)
1 tsp vanilla
Pre-heat oven to 175g, line trays with paper. mix all dry ingredients together, then mix in softened butter, egg and vanilla and mix until completely blended. Shape into walnut-sized balls and place 2 inches apart (they spread a lot). Bake for 10-12 mins, cool for 5 then transfer to wire rack. Really yummy! (also good as presents in jars - mix first five ingredients together as one, then layer rest of dry ingredients in order written).