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...

Silly And ditto what you said - I will actually be sad on christmas day thinking this thread has finished :(

I know - what topic will everybody be in after Christmas so that I know where to come and hang out with you all again !

Just marking my place again - Love this thread

overmydeadbody I think I spotted your stall on Saturday but I had DS with me and couldn't linger. Really hope it went well though, everything there looked so amazing.

Am doing an open house type Christmas party in a couple of weeks time glutton for punishment! and was thinking of doing mulled wine. I've got this recipe per two bottles of wine...
? 2 clementines
? peel of 1 lemon
? peel of 1 lime
? 250g caster sugar
? 6 whole cloves
? 1 cinnamon stick
? 3 fresh bay leaves
? 1 whole nutmeg
? 1 whole vanilla pod, halved
? 2 star anise

but am a bit thrown by the vanilla pod ~ anyone with experience know if I can leave it out? Seems to be the kind of thing I can just throw any old Christmassy spices into to make it as I like it?

Can I ask is it too late to do the vodkas now?

I made Sloe and Damson Gin in October but then we were hit by Lurgis and Disasters and it has thrown me totally off track. (and I received an early Christmas gift of a Sewing Machine....:-O..wails {sad])

I haven't posted in ages, but I thought I would drop in to post this link Ribbons because I have spent many an hour lusting over the ribbons on Cox and Cox and the like, but can't afford really to buy them - then I found this website!

I also wanted to say that my orange vodka was amazing, so good, in fact, that I have finished it all so high hopes for the vanilla one, that I am going to put in a grown up 'snowman soup' kit for my mother and her friend. I am also contemplating the idea of scouting for holly to make a wreath for the new house does anyone know if it will die or rot or something before Christmas if I do it too early?

I've just spent £11.00 on 16m of assorted ribbons and a 1/4 kilo of 'waste ribbons'

The problem will then come when I don't want to use any of it and just sit stroking it...

Thunderboltkid- Great idea !

Finished my first set of Christmassy placemats & coasters :)

Thunderbolt we'll also have to have a list of the varios faces pulled by our poor unsuspecting recipients when they get our pressies

various

Just spent a happy eve with dd making presents for aunts and uncles

Needs a heat glue gun, but it's basically just putting small decorations on the mini pegs that hold Christmas cards on a line

They are on sale at pound land and Tescos. We cut up chains of coloured balls (Tesco £1) and stars on a chain (pound land) and hey presto, silver and gold pegs with purple, red, blue, gold and silver dazzle

Tomorrow will be putting ribbon round church candles, using old brooches as decorations. Found fantastic costume brooches in charity shops for under £3 each. Also the Christmas decoration off last years luxury crackers are on sale fr a few pence at Oxfam and others. bargain

I am also looking for decent jam labels. There are tons of "printables" on pinterest but I am slightly perplexed as to what you print them onto? Do you print them onto normal paper, cut them out and then hand glue them onto the jars - many of them seem to go outside the parameters of the sheets of rectangular labels (Avery and the like). Can see me doing a crappy address-like label and it looking very disappointing! I might do a separate post on this in Chat as it'll get more traffic.

Ds and mindee have made salt dough decorations today but they haven't turned out too well. They've puffed out in the middle. Not sure if I kept them in the oven too long. Any ideas what I did wrong?

I was going to make the Christmas tree decorations with each mindee putting a fingerprint bauble on them but my tree cutter is going to be too small for this job so will have to go and find a bigger one.

Hi, Ive been lurking and struggling to keep up with you all and your fab homemade goodies!

Ive made some Personalised Gingerbread men tree decorations and also some little owls and penguins too.
Oh and a xmas t-shirt for DD1 (3yrs) - I made my own ater giving up hunting for a xmas t-shirt for her in the shops, seems impossible over the age of 18mths.
(Pics on my profile)

Im hoping for some inspiration from you all... I have made DD1's nursery teachers a gingerbread man decoration each and was planning on making something edible too but I dont know what.
Thought cupcakes as im quite good at them, but thinking logistically getting to there in one piece could be tricky. We walk there with a (slow) DD1 and DD2 (18mths) in the buggy so can imagine they would be a squishy mess time we got there!
Thought Cakepops but my trial run at them the other week didn't go so well!

Fudge, Biscuits ? Any other ideas of something simple but effective.

Great pics Pigley :) I'd go for fudge as presents - easy and easily transportable ()

Sorry, haven't tried my salt dough decs yet mogs but with advent starting tomorrow, I have it as one of my 'advent activities' from our advent calendar so if you get to the bottom of the problem, let me know!

Also a bit stuck for labels cartblanche & Thunder - I think you should be able to buy the paper with label shapes to put in a printer, but haven't come across it yet or not to my exacting standards anyway

Done DD1's angel wings for nativity play today, poor DS is poorly :( so have spent most of the day cuddling him :)

Martyr I've @ed a pin for you that I think you'll like ~ will you let me know if you get it as I'm not sure if I've done it right! :)

Pigley how about these biscuits with a festive twist for your nursery teachers?

Re labels - am I being thick or would basic A4 adhesive sheets not be the answer? Print whichever labels you like, cut them out carefully and stick on. I got some from Amazon this year and have been slapping them cheerfully on everything!

You cheerful slapper you!

Pigley how about making Oreo balls instead of cakepops - similar but look a lot easier. I love making cake pops, but they can be a bit time consuming & fiddley. I've made them
a few times now though & they get easier. The Oreo balls are a packet of oreos blitzes in food processor then a pack of cream cheese added. Roll into balls, chill then dip in choc or the candy melt stuff. Once they're set you can put them into cellophane bags like truffles - a bit easier to transport than cake pops!

Thunder that bacon jam sounds AMAZING!! I really want to try making some but I already have a loaf of half finished projects &lots of edible gifts left to make as well as family visiting next week & Christmas stuff at the weekends so don't know if I will have time to try it. I must remember to pin it on piterest so that I don't lose the recipe link.

Pigley how about making Oreo balls instead of cakepops - similar but look a lot easier. I love making cake pops, but they can be a bit time consuming & fiddley. I've made them
a few times now though & they get easier. The Oreo balls are a packet of oreos blitzes in food processor then a pack of cream cheese added. Roll into balls, chill then dip in choc or the candy melt stuff. Once they're set you can put them into cellophane bags like truffles - a bit easier to transport than cake pops!

Thunder that bacon jam sounds AMAZING!! I really want to try making some but I already have a loaf of half finished projects &lots of edible gifts left to make as well as family visiting next week & Christmas stuff at the weekends so don't know if I will have time to try it. I must remember to pin it on piterest so that I don't lose the recipe link.

Oops double posted!