You can probably guess from the title of my blog that I love gingerbread houses! This year we made a kit from John Lewis over a couple of days. The toddler was really excited about it as he loves his “gin-gin” men! First of all he helped daddy put the kit together, then we left it to dry overnight. The next day we got out all our sweetie supplies which included icing pens, liquorice wheels, Necco wafers for roof tiles and gumdrops for the fence. We got to work, the toddler mainly ate the sweets whilst I iced and strategically…
-
-
If you’re looking for a little luxury this Christmas then look no further than The White Company. I do like The White Company and often pop in to the shop in Brent Cross as I find it the perfect place to buy gifts. I have to admit I rarely treat myself though, which is why I was delighted to receive a little box of treats from them just in time for Christmas. This vintage crystal star decoration is perfect for giving your Christmas decorations a vintage vibe. The striking glass design is uniquely hand crafted and hung from an antique-style…
-
Do you make your own Christmas cards or do you prefer shop-bought ones? There’s so much choice out there but I love sending personalised cards to family and friends. This year we chose a photo of the children playing (happily for once!) in the park and everyone seems to love it. I’m feeling so organised that I thought I would make a Christmas card for my husband. Christmas Card Craft Off My card combines my favourite things – gingerbread houses and washi tape bunting! I really enjoyed making it and I thought I’d show you how. You will need: red…
-
It’s that time of the month, the PinAddicts Pinterest Challenge. The idea is to choose something from your Pinterest boards to create and link up each month. I saw a small felt Christmas tree which had been made for a toddler to play with. I thought I would adapt this for my own toddler so here is my Christmas tree for toddlers. You will need: a large gift bag a selection of felt ornaments velcro stick ons Christmas tree for toddlers I bought an extra large gift bag from Ikea which featured a plain Christmas tree. I hung it up using…
-
Have you spotted many gingerbread houses around this year? Everywhere I look (or shop) there seems to be one but I’ve tried to be good and only bought ones I know we’ll have time to make. So far we’ve had fun trying the following pre-made kits: Create A Treat House Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Create A Treat Village Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Gingerbread house kit from Tiger We’ve also eaten a fair few gingerbread biscuits (all in the name of research): Make Your Own Gingerbread Decorating Kit from John Lewis (£4.50) Morrison’s Jolly Gingerbread…
-
We love to recycle and are always on the lookout for new ways to be green. It’s definitely more noticeable at this time of year just how easy it is to be excessive. There are only four of us so we’ve tried to put a limit on how much we spend and we’re definitely going to be careful with how much food we buy as I hate throwing away food. There are lots of ways to save money and have fun this Christmas: We’ve made our own decorations – hand print Christmas trees, yarn wreaths and Christmas cards Recycled last…
-
We’ve been busy making gingerbread house biscuits. You can never make too many gingerbread men but sometimes it’s good to make something different. As the toddler was helping we used Sainsbury’s gingerbread dough which we tried earlier this year. This time we rolled it out even thinner and squeezed 10 biscuits from the dough. I used one of the vintage cutters I recently purchased to make cute little gingerbread houses. When they were cool I iced them (not brave enough to let the toddler loose with an icing pen just yet). I think they look cute and I can safely…
-
I’ve been on a bit of a splurge recently, buying vintage cookie cutters from a well known internet auction site. Most seem to come from the US and the range is huge compared to the ones I’ve found here in the UK. This week my little collection grew and I have some great seasonal cutters, including candy canes, gingerbread houses, drums, candles, trees, holly leaves, Father Christmas and even reindeer. As much as I love to use my cutters when baking biscuits there are lots of other things they can be used for. I used some cutters as gift tags…
-
My project last weekend was cutting out felt mistletoe leaves to make a Mistletoe Kissing Ball. I love working with felt and couldn’t resist this adorable felt decoration to add to our collection. My mum always decorated the house with mistletoe by the front door and I thought I would recreate the tradition in my home, but with a modern twist. It was the perfect project for long periods spent in the car, and as we’d just returned from a 48 hours round trip to Devon (from London) you can imagine I had plenty of hours to craft! The pattern…
