handmade gifts for christmas and celebrations 2011

betterlife

sorry tina, i see you have an online shop! im loving the blog etc but am flitting between that and making hm pork and leek sausages your prices are so reasonable! i can believe you only started sewing last year, do you do it by hand or sewing machine?

finaniciallyfitforfortys

made my first ever sock monkey last night- thanks to all the help on here. evenmy husband was impressed!! now eyeing up my daughters new fluffy socks :-)

whoopidoo

Grannyknits wrote: »

Nickyc, I've copied down amounts for flavoured vodka and made a note of the number of your post in my c.notebook (I'm not taking any chances this year!), thanks. I hope there are more blackberries about this year. Last year was the worst, hardly picked any around here. Plenty or bullis though, made enough jam to give as pressies and last through the year.

Like the sound of breakfast in bed hamper for Mother's Day. Will have to search for threads on hampers. Can you buy the florist celephane on rolls? Guess a florist wholesale would be cheapest. If buying online the postage could well make it too expensive. Does anyone know the cheapest place to buy please?

Bought some card making papers and ribbon really cheap yesterday. Thought it time I tried some [STRIKE]homemade[/STRIKE] handmade cards to go with the presents. Have only attempted cross stich cards before.

I know it's not really the right thread to ask but does anyone have any tips on starting a blog or do you just have to take the plunge and do it? I've wanted to start one for years but not known how to go about it, like what do you use to create one etc. It's on my bucket list so will get there eventually. Thought it was a good point from sarymclary to post pics on blog. I take enough space up as it is. Must learn to be more concise!

Grannyknits - I use blogger and it really tells you what to do step by step - it's so easy. If you want the fancy backgrounds - the one on my blog is by Shabbyblogs but if you google free blog backgrounds you'll find loads of sites doing it and it's literally a case of copying some code and pasting it in.

Same with the title banner on my blog - that's one of my mixed media painting thingies that I altered in Picnik (flipped it and softened it etc) then you just save it and add that to your title - you can have a picture of anything

Hope that helps - if you want a hand setting one up feel free to PM me or email me (contact button in my blog profile)

Loving all the new piccies that have gone up. Got a sewing machine for Christmas but am a complete newb so will have to save some of these links

emay

Sorry if this has been posted already, did start reading through all posts, but gave up!

I want to make Christmas cakes to give as gifts next year. I have a recipe that I use every year and this is the recipe I want to use but it makes a pretty big cake. Do I need to adjust the timings if I'm splitting the mixture between tins, and if so by how much?

Thanks guys

wammy77

Well_Preserved wrote: »

OK candied peel here we go:

5 large oranges/10 lemons or limes, unwaxed
675g granulated sugar + extra for sprinkling
To preserve each fruit's individual flavour candy them separately.

Halve fruit, squeeze out juice - it's not needed so can be used for something else. Discard the flesh but not pith.
Cut peel into strips about 1 cm wide and place in a saucepan. Cover with boiling water, simmer about 5 minutes. Drain, then repeat 4 times to remove bitterness.
Put the sugar in a heavy based saucepan. Pour in 250ml water. Heat gently to dissolve, stirring all the time. Add the peel & cook slowly, partially covered, for 30-40 minutes until soft. Leave to cool completely, then sprinkle with extra sugar.

Brilliant!! Gonna make some of this for sure:)

LolaLemon wrote: »

For the princess party
nail salon time (rope other people in to file and paint the girls nails)
make body glitter from moistureiser with added glitter (i like cocoa butter, but cheap moistureiser will do, or if its a summer party, u could use suncream, althoughi would not use cheap suncreaam as more kids take a reaction to suncream thanother stuff) and decant it into small tubs, like pill boxes or the vaseline lips ones, or the ones u get mints in and u have to press the middle so the sides open up etc

instead of face painting, u could do 'make overs' - some lip glosses and pink eye shadow (get cheap paint brushes and u only need a couple of each gloss n eye shadow)

Great ideas! I did think about the make-over and the body glitter etc but am worried about some of the parents - I know a couple who would not be impressed with 'grown up' things for the little angels, even if it is a bit of fun and dressing up! My little girl would absolutely LOVE the nail salon - she's constantly having her fingernails and toenails painted and jewelled!!!!!

nickyc wrote: »

You will need to shake it every few days (put the bottle in the cubby holes in the back of the car ... the best way jiggle it without having to remember)

I love this :rotfl:


Youngoldlady - hi there :wave: I've been crafting since I was 19 and i think that most of my friends thought i was a bit old... or possible weird!!!! As long as you're enjoying it, that's what counts

Sorry for the long post, but I'm catching up!!

wammy77

I've created a silver keyring for hubbys birthday this year - it's my sons writing pressed into PMC3 (silver clay) creating a solid silver tag:



I'm hoping to make more when I get some more silver.... price has shot up over the last 2 months to almost double what I was paying previously making it an expensive make.

whoopidoo

It's gorgeous wammy and am sure hubby will think it priceless

Hollyberry

Wammy - that's beautiful, and definitely something to treasure.

dizzytina

betterlife wrote: »

sorry tina, i see you have an online shop! im loving the blog etc but am flitting between that and making hm pork and leek sausages your prices are so reasonable! i can believe you only started sewing last year, do you do it by hand or sewing machine?

Betterlife i only set up my online shop last month and its still working progress really. it is more of a hobby really as i work full time. Most of the stuff i make is for presents. I do both hand and machine sewing but prefer using my machine as i am always stuck for time:D. I have to say i have loved learning to sew and have found it easy aswell. I do only pick easy projects though:rotfl:. For anyone who wants to try sewing i would say give it a go it really isn't complicated and you dont have to have a machine. Sock monkeys are really easy to do either by hand or machine and look great and crayon rolls are quick and easy too.

Pork and leek sausages sound delicious by the way:D

Sallys_Savings

Hollyberry wrote: »

Mind if I join you? I've been here for a while, but awol from MSE since the summer, starting to get my new business of the ground.

I managed a bit of a handmade Christmas this time round, making hurricane lanterns with decorated candles in them. I was going to put up one of the pictures, but on preview it's making the screen go enormous, so I've left it out.

I also did a fair bit of crafting in making an elf school (two elves visited in December) for my godchildren - I can now make a decent igloo (bless the Sanctuary products and their lovely round tubs) and enjoyed creating things like their passports, sleigh licences etc.

For 2011, I have more extensive plans. I'd love to make more edibles, and am saving all sorts of jars, boxes and the like; it's starting to look as though I have my own recycling centre. I've begun a piece of art for OH's birthday in February, based on that quote about walking to the beat of a different drummer (it's so him!). I've already had requests for a second elf school, and I may have some orders for paid versions from the nursery where the godchildren's mum works.

Looking forward to trying some of the ideas on this thread.

Hi, do you have photos of these elf schools?...i'm looking into doing something similar for my goddaughter and neices for next year. thank you