Can I be smug and say I’ve done 95% of my Christmas shopping? It stresses me out every year and the only way I can cope is to be organised, make lists, purchase and wrap. We’re having Christmas at home (our last in this house) so I’m happy to be organised and swap gifts with family before the big day. The lovely people at Lakeland who sell wonderful Christmas hampers contacted me and asked if I would like to review one of them. They sent me an adorable St Kew Teacup Basket: It’s a small (but beautifully formed) hamper which holds a few…
-
-
Being the good-hearted blogger that I am, I put myself forward to tell you about some chocolate treats from Hotel Chocolat. They sell a huge range of milk, white and dark chocolates in all shapes and sizes. Hotel Chocolat have some great products for Christmas, including advent calendars, chocolate hampers and stocking fillers. I was sent a yummy Jolly Santa to taste and review. This is what I was expecting: Unfortunately this is what I received: Hmm, I think once upon a time it was a Jolly Santa but the courier must have dropped it at some point. When I opened…
-
When Whitworths challenged me to use their new baking sugars at home they asked me to try a couple of recipes from their own website and one of my own. So far I’ve made Butternut Squash soup using Whitworths Light Soft Brown Sugar, and Honeycomb Crunch using Whitworths Granulated Sugar. Both recipes were pretty simple and delicious. Simple Christmas cupcake wreath Most of my thoughts are now on the festive season so it made sense to bake something yummy with a seasonal twist. I thought of an edible seasonal wreath, a Christmas cupcake wreath! I made the wreath in a couple of…
-
Do you have children who like to dress up? I don’t. I was offered the chance to review a costume from Simply Fancy Dress and seized the opportunity. They have a great selection and I was totally drawn to the Little Gingerbread Man Costume for the toddler. The costume arrived in a useful clear plastic bag and consists of trousers, top with attached gloves and headpiece, and comes in three different sizes. It’s made of polyester and is quite thin, so if I can ever persuade my toddler to wear it he’ll have to put on something underneath! Simply Fancy…
-
Have you ever heard of a book advent? I think I first heard about it on Pinterest and thought it would be fun to do with the children. Instead of a tacky Advent calendar with cheap chocolate, we’ll be unwrapping a Christmas book every day of December leading up to Christmas Day. This way we will get to spend more time reading together, which is something we all love, and some time each day to enjoy the festive season. The hard part has been finding the books. 24 Christmas-themed books can be difficult. I really wanted to buy second hand…
-
There are so many Christmas crafts I want to make this year. For the first time in my adult life I have decided we’re having a colour theme so hopefully the house will look co-ordinated for once. The theme is very simple – red and white, with a vintage vibe. Vintage letter cards banner I’m ashamed to say we already have our advent candles up on the mantle piece, which I de-cluttered specially. They look lovely and I’m wondering if I’ll want to light them when the time comes. We’re trying to keep the house tidy and clean as we’re…
-
Over the past few evenings I’ve been busy making 12 festive decorations from Cath Kidston’s latest book – Make Your Own Christmas Decorations. Featuring 12 projects the book includes the patterns as well as the felt, thread, pompoms and cord so all you’ll need is a basic sewing kit and some toy stuffing! There are patterns for a Christmas Robin, Father Christmas, Striped Stocking, Gift-Wrapped Present, Christmas Tree, Frosty Snowman, Winter Reindeer, Holly & Berries, Christmas pudding, Snowy Cottage, Festive Stanley and Christmas Angel. Make your own Christmas decorations! Each project is well laid out and includes a large colour…
-
We went to Westfield Stratford City yesterday. Most of the shops already had Christmas window displays, Boots was full of gift sets and I picked up a collection of gingerbread mixes, cutters and kits to try out and perfect over the coming weeks. When we got back we had a bit of a gingerbread making session, and every cutter we have was used by the children. I’ve tried to keep on top of Christmas planning so far. I’m a real list person so have lists of stocking fillers and Christmas presents, Christmas card list and a menu for Christmas Day.…
-
I’m going to be brave and use the C word. There’s something about September that just gets me thinking about Christmas. I’ve written my Christmas wishlist (iPad mini please), been buying stocking fillers and joined in some swaps for Christmas crafting. Christmas doesn’t have to be all about the money. We’ll be keeping it simple. I’ve decided to buy and wrap 24 books to put under the Christmas tree. I love the idea of reading Christmas stories with the children during Advent so have been buying second hand festive books whenever I see them. We’ll also been starting early on…
