Finished baskets!!

millie83

excellent thankyou. I have a m&s down the road will give them a try! Thankyou

kizzyw

Aldi have Bucks Fizz for £1.50

piratess

Ive been lingering for a while and dont post often! ......... I did make baskets last year as a rush type thing for my 2 DDs both hot choccy dvd ones ... this year my eldest is 14 so ive tried to do a makeup hamper ...

Im going to try and add two piccies so would love opinions advice on making it better if possible ! ...
1st

2nd


Ok ...
Hamper is from Poundstretcher £2.00
Wilkos .. beauty wipes,make-up remover,cotton wool pads Radox roll on BOGOF £3.00
Save-on-makeup ..2 eye shadows .eyepencil small foundation..mascara..lipgloss..£10.00 with postage
Avon, make up bag (freebe)
Claires .. Hair brush ..Eyeshadow, eyeliner, Nail buffer £4.00
Tesco. impuluse x2 for £2.00
scrunshies x2 free ....

Total £21.00
ive yet to buy wrap from ebay so will add photos when wrapped also ...
any ideas or improvements i could make would be great :T

Boomdocker

Hi Piratess, I'm no expert as this is my first year of attempting a basket of any sort, however, I think the layout in the first picture is nicer. I am sure you daughter will love it.

orchid-96

Hi Piratess, I too think layout 1 looks more attractive, I am sure she will be delighted with it either way though....well done..

I have lots of stuff and some baskets and boxes so really need to start putting them together soon (got my cello and bows on ebay now too) the only thing is storing them when they are made up -wish I had a spare room!!

Also sorry if this has been on here already, but can anyone tell me how you do the 'pull bows' the ebay seller I used seems to have step by step instructions for bows from scratch, but I can't find the instructions to work these pull bows! Silly me thought they would arrive here already 'pulled'

Really enjoying all the pictures and posts, they are sooo inspiring!!

Just in case anyone has missed it (can't remember where I got this from on here) but I picked up the buy 2 for £1 large bags of Doritos in Asda for my movie hampers (what a great price at 50p a bag!!!)

Cheers guys :beer:

Boomdocker

OK, I have succumbed (SP?) and just bought 2 lots of cellophane and 2 lots of ribbon for an all out assault on wrapping my gift baskets. I can only hope they will look half as good as the ones on here.

Sugarhunny1

Boomdocker wrote: »

OK, I have succumbed (SP?) and just bought 2 lots of cellophane and 2 lots of ribbon for an all out assault on wrapping my gift baskets. I can only hope they will look half as good as the ones on here.

I'm sure they will. Would be nice to see your finished result!

Sugar xxx

ccastley

Hi all,

Sorry it's later than promised, but here's the Ginger Fudge Recipe, also from Good Housekeeping.

Ginger Fudge:

Hands on time: 20 mins; Cooking time: around 40 mins - makes approx 36 squares

- 450g (1lb) Granulated sugar
- 397g can Condensed milk
- 50g (2oz) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 3tbsp stem ginger syrup from a jar of stem giner
- 75g (3oz) stem ginger, chopped

1) Put the sugar, condensed milk and butter into a heavy-based 20.5cm (8 inch) stainless steel pan with 125ml (4fl oz) water. Melt together over a low heat until he sugar is completely dissolved - this will take about 20 mins.
2) Heat slowly until the temperature registers 116*C - the soft ball stage - on a sugar thermometer.** This wil take about 10-15 mins. Stir occasionally to stop the mixture from catching - don't worry if it does a little: just stir the caramelised bits back into the mixture. Cook at 116*C until golden, then dip the base of the pan into a bowl of cold water to stop the mixture cooking further and tip the still-liquid fudge into a clean bowl.
3) Add the ginger syrup, then beat with an electric hand whisk for 2-3 mins until thick. Stir in the chopped stem ginger. Pour into a 15cm (6in) lightly buttered square tin lined with greaseproof paper. Allow to cool completely and set, then cut into squares.

The fudge will keep for up to a month if you store it in a air-tight container in the fridge.

** Tip - If you don't have a sugar thermometer, you can test for the soft ball stage by dripping some of the sugar syrup into a bowl of cold water. it should sink to the bottom of the bowl and clump into a soft ball when you bring it together with your fingers.

I hope this helps you guys. Please see my next post to see if you can help me out!

Crystal

ccastley

Help!

I'm doing a rather extravagant (not very MSE of me, I know) Star Wars hamper for my husband (who it may not have escaped your attention is a big kid), because he's worth it!

I've managed to snaffle episodes 4, 5 and 6 off Play.com for a fiver each. The things I still want to get and am looking for cheap prices are these:

- Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga for Xbox 360 (Not Lego Star Wars 2)
- Episodes 1, 2, and 3 on DVD (Ebay's been rubbish so far!)
- small bits and bobs, sweets, figures, etc - cheap ones

Please let me know if you see any around, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks to all the wonderful posters in the past few days as well - I'm plenty more inspired by the hampers and some of the tips - especially the bow making one.

Cheers!

curlyjo_2

asda have got star wars mr potatoe head for £5 each i think at the moment.