Christmas Prep: Christmas Cake Eaten!

Hope you all had a splendid Christmas with lots of great food and drink and merriment with friends and family. I thought I'd share a few pics of the finished Christmas cakes as I mentioned before here and here.

And for those of you into 'food porn', here's a pic of the inside. Can you smell the brandy and taste the fruit? I can!!

These are the images that inspired our designs, and I think Mr PC did a great job of laying the decorations on both the cakes!

via pinterest

via pinterest

Christmas Prep: Christmas Cake in Progress

Christmas is not Christmas without a decent Christmas cake. All the better if it is home baked, but I have had some nice shop bought ones too. The other night I covered the cakes in marzipan ready for the fondant icing. And, as there were trimmings, we ate them whilst watching the telly! I was going to use the spare marzipan to make something but...

Over the next day or two I'll be decorating these lovelies and then they will be ready for the Christmas festivities!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

... How lovely are thy branches!

I thought I would round up this Christmassy themed week with my piece de resistance - the Christmas tree!

I am the first to admit that I'm rather anal particular about the way my Christmas tree should look. It all starts with selecting the tree at the tree farm. It must be a minimum of 6 foot, the taller the better really but there must be room for the star on the top. It must be bushy and full from top to bottom with lots of branches. We have a tree stand that takes water which helps the tree last longer and you'd be surprised how much water it soaks up! Watering the tree daily is an absolute must, particularly if you put it up early.

Ready for dressing

The lights go on first and I always ensure to have the wire under the branches with the lights on the top, so they look as if there by magic. Then the tinsel goes on towards the middle of the tree so that it doesn't overtake the decorations themselves. This year I decided not to use tinsel at all and just use the red and gold beads. I'm trying something new and I think I like it without the tinsel! Mr PC, however is most displeased with me putting my foot down on the tinsel front. You can't please everyone...

Decorations at the ready!

I always unpack all the decorations and lay them on to trays according to their size before I start. I put the largest decorations on first and space them out across the tree. The 'special' decorations get pride of place so they can be shown off to their best. Then the smaller decorations go on and then the chocolate ones and candy canes go on last as these are the ones that come off the tree first!

The star goes on the top and the tree skirt gets laid around the bottom once it's all finished.

When decorating the tree last week I joked to Mr PC that I should write a book and call it 'The Only Way to Decorate a Christmas Tree'. He told me he didn't think it would sell very many copies. I can't think why...

Christmas Make: Christmassy Bunting

There has been a huge trend in bunting in the last year or so. Everyone's jumping on the 'vintage bunting' bandwagon. Last year I thought it would be cute to make some Christmas bunting and thought it looked nice but wasn't enthralled by it. The process of making it was too fresh in my mind and looking at it just reminded me of the blood, sweat and temper tantrums I had with the sewing machine while trying to sew it together.

This year, however, I've unpacked it and decided that I do really like it after all and am really rather pleased with it!

Cute snowman print

Holly pattern

Bunting is for all occasions, not just summer garden parties!

Christmas Make: Candycane Tree Decoration - Tutorial

Last year I posted a tutorial for a quick and easy tree decoration using candy canes, one of my favourite additions to the Christmas tree.

This year I have made them again and so I thought I would repost the tutorial for those who missed it the first time around. Click here to see how you can make this splendidly festive decoration in a matter of minutes.

PS. You can read all of my Christmas themed posts here. Enjoy!

Christmas Make: Window Decor

This year I'm going all out on the Christmas decorations. I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest (my preferred method of procrastination) and have pinched incorporated a number of ideas into my decorating and preparations this year. 

Today I'm sharing a fabulously cheap and easy way to spruce up your windows for the festive season. It was rather difficult to photograph well but hopefully you can see what I did.

Red and gold glittery baubles

For this window, I used a length of wire and wound it around the curatin pole brackets so that I can still close the curtains without spoiling the decoration. Then I used some ribbon threaded through the baubles and tied around the wire.

These look really great, particularly in the daylight and they look great from the outside looking in too.  

Christmas Make: Door Decor

We always have a real Christmas tree, and I am very particular about how the tree should look. I always trim a few branches off to make the tree perfect (there are always a few pokey out branches, aren't there?) and I also trim a few at the back so it can go closer to the wall. I'm not talking masses of pruning, but just a few snips here and there.

This year I had a few large pieces and I couldn't bear to bin them. I already have my table centre sorted so I wondered what I could do with the trimmings. Then I had a light bulb moment and thought of making a festive decoration to hang over a door. These cost a fortune in the shops, especially for real tree cuttings but seeing as I already had everything I needed, it was totally free to make!

 

I wired the cuttings together using florist wire (any thin wire wold work) and then used some spare red and gold baubles and a matching ribbon to finish it off. The possibilities are endless and you could make it to coordinate your Christmas colours. Why not try making one yourself, and have a totally unique alternative to a wreath?

Christmas Make: Pom Pom Wreath - Tutorial

In my last post I mentioned how much in love I am with my Clover pom pom maker and that I had an idea for a wreath. Well, it's finished now and I must say I am so pleased with it, I can't tell you how much!!

 

I saw something similar to this on Etsy and realised that it would be the perfect use of my pom pom maker which up until then was producing pom poms with no real purpose.

 

I used  a length of pipe insulation (the grey stuff around the pipes in the loft) and Mr PC taped it into a circle for me. It was quite narrow so I decided to wrap some wadding around it to pad it out a bit. Then I used some fabric to cover it over so it was pretty on the back as well as the front.

I attached the ribbon first so that it was under the pom poms. Then I got glue happy and started sticking all my lovely green, red and white pom poms on! I used a hot glue gun to attach everything to the wreath but you could sew it if you prefer. For me, the glue was faster, and more fun too!

And there we have it, a modern take on the Christmas wreath! It is currently adorning the inside of my front door and it looks delightful, even if I do say so myself! And the best part is, it hardly cost a thing because I already had everything I needed and the wool was just £1.79 per ball and I estimate I used about two balls of each colour, so all in all it cost just over a tenner which is a total bargain :)

You could certainly make the pom poms in different colours for different holidays and events. And the wreaths could be all kinds of shapes, I think heart shaped would be nice for a wedding.

Hooray! December is here!!!

I LOVE Christmas. There's no denying it. For me, nothing signifies the start of the Christmas period like a chocolate advent calendar. Yes, I may be a grown up but I still have a chocolate advent calendar. Where I come from, it is the law to have one, regardless of your age. I will still be having one when I'm an old granny. It's just not Christmas without that wee bit of chocolate everyday which you are legally obliged to have for breakfast. (I have been known to eat chocolate for breakfast on many many occasions, but that is technically illicit chocolate eating while advent chocolate for breakfast is nutritionally more acceptable) And it has to be a kiddie one, not a boring grown up version.

This year, I have a Me to You Bear one and Mr PC has a Milky Bar one. I have even replaced my regular calendar with the chocolate one, so it's taking pride of place in my office where it will distract me about 7,693 times a day every day until the last box is open, the last choccie has been scoffed and Santa is on his way!

Mine

Mr PC's

And, just to make sure we have the whole countdown to Christmas covered, we also have an advent candle  and another (non-chocolate) calendar which my mum gave us.

Posh advent candle from Laura Ashley

While writing this, I have realised that I'll be away from home 12-16 Dec so now I have a quandry: What to do about my advent responsibilities??? Do I take the calendar with me? Do I empty the boxes out and let myself have one choc each day I'm away? Do I eat them all when I get back? What to do, what to do...

NB. This is a scheduled post hence the first box of the calendar not being opened. Rest assured that by the time you're reading this, the chocolate has been eaten and the candle burned down to number 2!

Christmas Make: Table Centre

As the coming weeks are set to be very busy for me, I'm getting even more organised than usual and have made a huge dent in my Christmas preparations. The Christmas cakes are boozing nicely in their tins and they still have about 2-3 weeks before they get decorated. The cards are all written and ready to post and 80% of the pressies are all bought/made and wrapped ready for Santa to dish out. There are few ideas more bouncing around my head which will get put into action over the weekend as Sunday is Tree Buying Day. But more about that next week!

Today I want to show you a quick project that I did the other day which will be my table centre for the Christmas season. I used a pack of plain white candles from Ikea, a bag of cinnamon sticks which I got at the wholesaler (£6 for 1kg, yes thanks! shame they're not edible...), and a few boxes of candy canes plus a few odds and ends from my stash.

I spent a merry half hour with the glue gun and produced these lovelies:

I think these will look lovely grouped together in the middle of the table. I had toyed with making a floral display but after seeing something similar to this on Pinterest I knew flowers were out and candles were in!

Christmas Prep: Christmas Cake Baked

Now that I've had my birthday, I can get serious about Christmas. And now that we're into November (omg where did the year go?!) it's time to get the prep well and truly underway! I've mentioned before that I start thinking about Christmas sometime in the summer, but this is the time of year when I step it up a few gears and get everything planned and organised.

October is the month for baking the Christmas cake and last year it was such a success that I've decided to do the same this year. My Granny's special recipe works a treat and it's just not Christmas without this cake! I've already made one for me and Mr PC and one for my sister and her new hubby. I have an order for one for my in-laws and possibly one or two more in the pipeline. That's how good it was last year *merry dance*!!

christmas cake 2010

The secret to this cake is brandy. And LOTS of it! The earlier you make it the better, and it needs weekly feeding with a generous dose of brandy. I guess this makes it unsuitable for designated drivers, but what I usually do it give them a piece to scoff when they get home.

Here's how this year's cake is looking at the moment:

Can you smell it? It's devine!

It's best stored in an airtight tin, and a metal one if you can. Wrap it in grease proof paper to keep it nice and cosy and to stop the brandy seeping out.

 

This is my most favourite cake tin ever!!

This leads me to ask you this question - Christmas cake: homemade or shop bought?

Christmas Prep: Homemade Pressies

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat... and I'm getting organised!!

Last year we decided to have a homemade Christmas, largely due to very tight purse strings and an abosolute abhorration of Christmas the shopping season. This year is the same, we are largely making our presents this year and this time I'm starting early!

This first completed gift is a crochet bag for a little girl we know. It took ages to make considering the size but I think she will like it because it is her favourite colour: purple.

There's supposed to be a flower on the front but my problem is I can't decide which one to use! So I thought I'd ask your opinion. Please let me know which combination works best because I just don't know!

Option 1 - large dark pink flower

Option 2 - small light pink flower

Option 3 - both flowers together

Both flowers together for comparison, the light pink is a fair bit smaller

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Finished WIP: Christmas Stocking #2

After last week's sewing session, I was one down, one to go on the stocking front. I learnt many lessons on stocking #1 and felt ready to tackle stocking #2 with these freshly learnt tips and tricks under my belt. For example, I find that if I draw the line I want to sew with tailor's chalk, I can actually keep straight and make the seam even all the way around. What a revelation that was!!

I would say that making the front with three different prints and incorporating a pom pom trim does delay the process somewhat and whilst I know what I like, I still find it difficult to colour/pattern match. These are the questions I always find myself asking: Does it go, or does it clash? If it does clash, does it look good in a mis match sort of way or does it look like a colourblind person put it together? Will I actually like it when it's sewn together and there's no going back? The dilemmas are endless, and Mr PC always tells me to trust my instincts with these things but most of the time my instinct says to get my sister to pair the colours and patterns for me as she's the one with the 'eye' for these things! 

This is what stocking #2 turned out like, and I must say I do like it after all!!

The pom pom trim caused some aggro, mainly figuring out how to incorporate it into the seam and still have them pointing downwards. Thank goodness for pins! A lot of trial and error was involved in this one. 

 

The back is a rather fetching tartan pattern with a hint of gold through it which I hope will glint nicely under the light of the tree when the time comes.  And the red lining makes it even more festive.

Also, by a stroke of pure luck (ok, actually some rather anal measuring and re-measuring) , the two stockings are the same size and shape! Huzzah!

These babies are ready for some pressies, come on Santa, hurry up!