'Make your own' Christmas

[Doodlekitty]

Ok, ok, I KNOW its only June. But I'm due to give birth late October and as it's my first and I have no idea what to expect I want to be all sorted for christmas by the time baby gets here. I'm also going to have no money when I'm on Mat leave so want stuff bought while I'm working but also want to spend as little as possible.

Last year I made Christmas pudding rum for my FIL who has never shut up about it since ( I used this recipe, www.wikihow.com/Make-Christmas-Pudding-Flavoured-Vodka but rum instead of vodka, if anyone is interested)

I think I made it in about November last time, but I'm thinking, if I made it in July then it will just be more yummy wont it, as it just has longer to infuse. also, last year when i told MIL I binned the fruit I used she was horrified, so I'm thinking i might put this in a jar for her (obviously with another present) as she said it would be lovely with ice cream. What do you guys think?

Re marking my place. Have bought bottles fot this year but will bookmark that page for next!

I'm making apple and sloe jelly this afternoon, and have a kilo of green tomatoes to use, any ideas for them?

Ooh, ooh can I join in? I just made all our Christmas cards with DD (4) and DS (9) yesterday. We've always shop-bought charity cards before, but I was rather put off to discover that the charities get a ridiculously low percentage of the sale price.

The children chose papers and cards and some ready-made card decorations, and cut out others themselves. We made 60 cards, and they're brilliant! I'm feeling quite smug to have done this with more than 2 months to go - never been this organised!

I'm going to make a family advent calendar, and DD will be getting a pile of homemade clothes for her Corolle doll (including a school uniform like her own) - if I ever get around to deciphering the french instructions, that is.

Now - what else to make? Some excellent ideas on this thread. Really must learn to knit...

I was all set to make some apple chutney yesterday but realized I didn't have enough muscavado sugar and the shops were already shut. I've put it on the shopping list for when I do the weekly shop tonight. I also want to make the Mary Berry Christmas chutney this week.

This morning Toddler has painted one snowman ornament and made three turkeys for our Thanksgiving placemats. He was keen on the idea of crafts last night but this morning is all "No! Play with trains!" Ah well, will try again later.

I've just been and bought all ingredients for next weekend chutney-making extravaganza, courtesy of a large box of apples we picked on Sunday. They're tiny this year so lots and lost of prepping required but at least they were FREE :-)

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 'light muscovado' and 'light soft brown' sugar. They appear very similar in taste to me. I have two different recipes calling for either but it would be easier if I could just buy one packet of one than end with two unused halves...

This weekend I made picked pumpkin and Rhubarb Jam but really those are mainly meant for home consumption rather than presents...

Kveta surely there must be a chutney recipe for your tomatoes?

anja, that's why i made jelly - very very little prep! apple and sloe jelly is yummy btw!

Kveta that sounds rather good!
Not found any sloes yet - not been looking I must admit. Must go back next weekend with a big box for blackberries :-) we only had bags for apples...

oh, I made apple and blackberry jelly last year, it is better than the apple and sloe jelly! perfect with roast pork

Tempernillo cut up fabric for stuffing can be a bit lumpy.

However, if you buy a very cheap cushion insert (about £2 from IKEA) you can cut it open and use the stuff from inside. One time I found that their cheapest cushions were cheaper than the inserts and bought 5!

My plain cards arrived today so I've got my glitter and glue out-wish me luck! I'm pretty excited about it all now but I've got 50 to do so I'm expecting glittery tears by the end of the day!

I read the first page and then flipped to page 13 so I don't know if anyone has mentioned making your own paperchains. My eldest sister did when she was about 10 and she's 65 now and still has them !!!!! Would suggest cutting out scenes from old christmas cards to make into tags but I don't know about making jams and chutneys now as the EU have apparently clamped down on jars being used a second time round / health and safety !!!!!. Otherwise, free samples of hand creams etc from The Body Shop/ L'Occataine and Crabtree and Evelyn collected together and put in a basket that is wrapped in cellophane and pretty ribbons and anything from a charity shop that would suit that person, perhaps washed and wrapped up !!!! Thanks Clare

For anyone doing cinema bags- eBay has brilliant bags (finishingtouchespartyshop 10 for £1.39 inc p&p) that fit a DVD and 2small popcorn bags in. Sainsburys has a brilliant selection of DVDs for £3 each and they're pretty good titles.
I also got some mini whisks from wilco for 50p each for hot chocolate mugs. You can get sachets of got chocolate- I got 3 cadburys sachets for £1.

Sagelynodding, can I be cheeky and ask how you do the 50/50 sugar syrup? Have quite a few apples and this could be a good way to use them up. Thanks

Can you help?

Where would I find individual letter stamps to make something like this:

pinterest.com/pin/121878733637120557/

And, any ideas where to buy individual jingle bells?

Thanks!

Some delicious sounding food being made, I must get down to making the chutney!

Not sure about the letters, look lovely though! What about finding cheap set of bells (toys, jumble, charity shop) and separating them? Otherwise a craft store or possibly habidashery but might be more costly.

Great idea aiming! Thanks!

There was jingle belle reduced in store twentyone today, pack of 8 or so with bows on. They were about a pound not sure if online

Oh I'm loving this thread - I've been slowly working my way through it when feeding my DD for the past few nights!

I'm not so organised this year, and really need to get a wriggle on so the chutneys have a chance to mature a bit. Went sloe hunting at the weekend (after first frost) but think everyone had picked them early and bunged them in the freezer as I only found one! Not going to make much gin with that!
Did manage to pick lots of blackberries and rosehips though, so my planned make list is:
*rosehip and apple jelly
*spiced apple chutney (i think it's a nigella recipe)
*blackberry and apple vodka
*red onion marmalade (I've made a few jars already, but this was v popular last year so need to make loads more!)
*hearty ale chutney
*roasted tomato passata

I'm also going to make a couple of tote bags with book quotes on for book mad friends, a movie night kit for some friends, a book safe for one of my nephews, and possibly an iPad cover for my MIL+partner.

The list has grown since reading this thread though - I think I might have to make some chocolate bark too!

MrsHende ebay is probably your best bet. Can now link to nectar and get points too.

MrsH do you have a market near you? I got individual bells from a haberdashery stall at the market & they were something like 4p each! Don't get them in a craft shop!
Let us know if you find those letter stamps, I love those little tags! I adore wrapping & am always looking for new ways to make things look pretty.

MrsHende these stamps are lovely - but find the small ones as I have the medium and they are pretty big.

On eBay I searched for 'lower case alphabet stamps' there's a lovely set for under £4 inc p&p.

Does anyone have any ideas for bottles if I'm making my own flavoured vodka? Don't want to spend a fortune and dont want wine bottle sizes?

There's loads of jingle bells on eBay too, this is meant to be a cheap Christmas and I'm spending all my money making all these lovely ideas!

Aiming, someone recommended www.world-of-bottles.co.uk/ earlier, plus checking out last year's threads, as there was bottle talk there. I haven't looked yet myself, so can't add anything more.

Brilliant, thanks guys. I always forget to check eBay! I'll let you know what they're like.