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

[theancientmarinator]

Phew! For a minute I thought the thread wouldn't accept my message because I just wasn't making enough stuff for Christmas this week. And then I realised it was because we had reached 1000 posts. Thought I'd lost you all!

We were all listing what we need to finish still. I'll be back tomorrow with mine - if I do it now I will dissolve in tears but tomorrow I will have had a night's sleep and a stiff drink. Not necessarily in that order, although....

Honey Spiced Nuts

1tbsp oil
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
400g mixed nuts (I used cashews, almonds, pecans)
2 tbsp honey

1. Heat oven to 140C/120C/gas 1. Mix oil with spices, then stir in nuts and drizzle over half the honey. Spread over a baking sheet & cook for 10mins

1. Remove from oven and drizzle over remaining honey, then return to oven and cook for 10mins. Remove from tray while still warm (as otherwise they weld themselves to the tin!)

Keeps for 2mths if kept airtight

Thank you - I'll be doing those tonight!

Here is something that you might want to let your children do for their grandparents, relatively cheap and the GPs will love it - http://rosmademe.blogspot.com/2011/12/not-tea-again-surely-christmas-tutorial.html China Painting Tutorial

I bought some lovely cellophane from my local florest £1 a metre. It's clear with gold stars. The fudge was fab, freezes amazingly. So what I don't use for crackers will be a Christmas pressie. :)

Love it. I think I've become slightly addicted to fudge making!

Me too vickity - the choc one I did the other day was just lush. DH is putting on weight by the second as every day he gets home he scoffs the lot. My jars are sitting looking very pretty in the fridge with the dark choc ones at the bottom and the pale vanilla ones on top. It's all I can do to stop scoffing them myself (come on, you know it's time to bring out the silly hats )

Flubba, will they keep well in the fridge until Christmas and new year? I do have an open tin of evaporated milk and lots of sugar....

Yours sound lovely!

Well the vanilla ones kept well in an airtight jar in a dark cupboard for about 2 months? (will check back on previous threads to see when I made first batch) and they're still good now, so assume the fridgification (it is a word! ) of them (in the same kilner type jars) should be good to go - it's only 10 days after all! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

I hope so! I worry about these things! Thanks for the advice.

I've been busy. I've made lots of tree decorations, garlands for the mantle and garlands for the doors and windows. I've made beautiful present ties for gift wrapping. I'm currently making a large Christmas window hanging that looks lovely so far.

I've made Jamie Oliver's amazing hot chocolate mix in a jar - I'm thinking of makings lots in really nice jars and giving it as presents next year, with other handmade goodies. I've made Christmas biscuits and rum ball brownies - both of which weren't that great.

I usually make dd one thing every year and give it to her for Christmas. I made her a necklace this year, but I've given it to her already, she loved it. I might have time to make her something else if I hurry up.

Wow happybubblebrain! I'm coming to your house for Christmas! I made hot choc mix last year for a number of gifts and was really pleased with it. We were mega skint and I popped it into cheap but perfectly fine white mugs!

I'm cakepopped out! Spent what feels like a whole day (but actually only a couple of hours) decorating a load of cakepops. Some are for DS's teacher and teaching assistant and the rest are for hampers. I've uploaded some pics onto my profile. My poor reindeers fell over and 2 have now lost an antler

I thought I'd almost finished making all my foodie gifts, but now I keep giving them away as extra gifts (friends birthday today and his present hadn't arrived in time, so gave him some fudge, oreo balls and bramble scnapps as a consolation prize!). I think I may have to make another batch of vanilla fudge, oreo balls and peppermint bark next week...

Oh those reindeer are cute, cute, cute zeeky and that's not a word I use often. Definitely worth the effort IM(very)HO

That cellophane is a great deal. Good idea.

I'm making more fudge tonight, vanilla. As I have leftover evaporated milk :)

Sorry, I am not sure I really 'belong' here - the only homemade things we did this year were edible gifts for teachers (as my school as well as for DDs to give at theirs).

Anyway, I made these and they really are fabulous. We varied the biscuits - oreos, foxes cream crunch etc.

DDs - aged 2 and 5 - also got really involved in making theirs to give to school and pre-school staff - yes, that easy!

I made 100 in an evening for gifts for people in my school.

ALL reviews have been amazing!

Just wanted to share in case anyone needs last minute 'easy' ideas.

Just to add - I am inspired by you all to do a lot more homemade 'stuff' next year - will have to make notes so I can start in the summer holidays. The run up to Christmas in my classroom is too busy a time to be doing much in December (Off to make notes emoticon)

Wow those truffles look amazing. I would never have guessed that it could be so easy to do. One to remember for another time definitely :)

I haven't made loads of things so don't worry about that. Maybe next year we will have so many saved ideas that we'll be making from October onwards!

I've got vanilla fudge setting in my kitchen at the moment. At least that's the plan. It doesn't currently look that good so fingers crossed it will work out. Otherwise I will have a lot of ice-cream topping to work through!

This is something I actually would like to make around Easter time onwards!

An advent calendar sewmamasew.com/blog2/2009/07/elizabeths-fabric-focus-christmas-in-july-advent-calendar/

Just realised we don't have a linky back to the 2nd thread (as I was trying to find something we'd talked about) so here it is my lovelies!

Our party was a bit of an anti-climax, and loads of people texted to say they'd got held up shopping or at another party :( or their kids "fell asleep" in the car so they just carried on to the next place :() ~ it was really lovely with the ones who did come, but we certainly weren't bursting at the seams, but we do now have copious amounts of alcohol to geth through (no bad thing) and five million mince pies (I don't eat them!) so am thinking a homeless shelter or something might appreciate them... Must make people RSVP next time (if I brave it again)

Right - table runner thingamy today. Will post a pic if I get it finished.

Oh, but meant to say that the mulled wine went down an absolute treat - I made six bottles' worth of the stuff, and DH only had to have one more drink after the party ended to finish it off. Poor man.

Has any one mentioned Marzipan Fruit? Very easy, I made about about 65 while Countdown was on so quick too. Oranges and lemons, use golden marzipan, no extra colour needed for lemons, a bit of red turns the golden hue orange. Shape them stick a clove in each to represent the stalky bit, roll on a grater (small teeth) to give them that cellulite look of the real thing. Strawberries, White marzipan, red colouring, triangle of angelica stuck in the end, roll them in caster sugar. Apples, green colour, clove in one end straight bit of angelica for stalk in the other, rub one side with finger dipped in watered down red colour to give that appetising rosy look. They look fantastic in little paper cases, I make small ones, and use two packs of 250 grams to make the quantity above. It helps to like marzipan and not be too worried about food colouring. Great presents.

I've done my table runner and had thought that would be me done (except for wrapping or presenting things prettily), but I've now decided to make a friend's daughter a HappyLand carrier like the car roll things but for the little figures... SO, I'm very, very nearly done now!

HintofBream that sounds fun to make! :)

Dysgu I've made a load of Oreo truffles which were very easy & delicious, but never thought about using different flavour biscuits . Will definitely be pinning that on Pinterest ready for next year

I did this last night to make a Christmassy photo frame. it was really easy to do.