Christmas 2014...Savings & Handmade gifts

Aegean

C_J wrote: »

I don't think it would be too difficult to whip this one up, even without a proper pattern:

That's fab, I might try and do something similar! Perfect

Aegean

mamto3 wrote: »

I was on the verge of buying some oil based sharpies to make santa plates etc (for the littlies off the elf), but, after researching on pintrest I noticed that lots of people say that sealed properly that normal sharpies work just as well (handwash only).


I popped in to Home Bargains today and saw a tub full of mini sharpies in all colours for 19p each (RRP £1.05) - thought it might be useful for some of you too!!


(I'm looking forward to an afternoon of drawing now)!! xx

I would definitely test one before you do all of them with regular Sharpies as i've heard a few horror stories about them wearing off on the first wash DESPITE what people have put on instructables etc online. Fingers crossed they work for you!

denton6

hi just bought a set of these in dunelm today. anyone any ideas what i can make then into. was thinking along the lines of the rabbit made with a facecloth but christmas themed if possible for a school fayre.

gloriouslyhappy

otterspasm wrote: »

These sound great! Clever you, gloriouslyhappy! I just want to ask a really stupid question please. Do you just mix the shea butter and cocoa butter together? You don't heat it or anything?

Am thinking I might make a little for me and my friends for crimbo.

Thank you :):)

Sorry for late response, only just seen this - no, I keep the butters separate, no need to heat it, it scoops easily and packs nicely into the little tins. I find some people prefer one or the other, and some buy a tin of each. At the craft sale, I have an open tin of each with a note inviting people to try it, I recommend that if you're doing a sale, and I also display a print-out of a description of the two butters.
Hope this helps!
Gloria

gloriouslyhappy

I make these for the craft sale and also for presents, I find these are my best sellers! If those 'hard to buy for' people have pets, these are a winner.

I buy multi-packs of toys, pouch food and treats for cats and dogs at the ££shops (I watch for their 2for1 offers especially on treats during the year), split the packs and divvy them up into cello bags, tie them up with a bit of curled ribbon and add a gift tag - instant desirable present from both owner and pet's point of view!

Much better and cheaper than the made-up pet stockings, and you can control the amount of additive-laden treats per bag.

A typical cat bag has a small mouse toy (£1 / 6pack), a jingle ball toy (£1 / 6pack), a meal item (£1 / 4pack of good quality food - Whiskas, Felix or Hi-Life pouch, or Sheba tin) and a bag of treats (50p).

A typical dog bag has a big chew toy (£1 / 2pack), a ball toy (£1 / 4pack), a meal item (£1 / 4pack of good quality food - Pedigree or Butchers pouch) and a bag of treats (50p).

I sell these for £2.50, you can customise anyway you like, keeping guineapigs, rabbits and goldfish in mind, and I've also done a couple of wild-bird presents for my birder friends, although I haven't done these for sale.

gloriouslyhappy

Just noticed bar fruit cakes at Tesco: Everyday Value Iced Fruit Cake 375G £1.50. I'm going to buy two of these to make into mini-cake gifts.

Method: unwrap, turn upside down, stab with a skewer, and brush the base with brandy, then re-wrap and tuck at the back of the cupboard, repeat every two weeks until the week before you need them.

Cut each bar into three equal pieces, cutting from the underneath to get a clean cut on the iced top. Boil up a little jam, I like apricot but anything is good, and brush the cut sides( not the base) to seal in the crumbs. Make some fairly stiff royal icing or water icing (but not buttercream), and ice top and sides of each piece, going lightly over the iced top. Stroke the icing lightly with a fork into snowy peaks, and when nearly set, sprinkle with sparkle sugar and decorate with little figurines or as desired. Finish with a narrow band of ribbon, glue the ends with a little icing or boiled jam. Pop into a small tin, or stand on a generous piece of cello, bring ends up well over the top of the cake, and tie with curly ribbon.

You could also use ready-roll fondant, but roll it thinly. That will make six lovely presents for my poor friends whose families don't like fruit cake so don't usually get any themselves. £3 plus icing, jam and ribbon for 6 presents - bargain.

FoxFace

Hi everyone, can I please join in?

I am making hampers again this year. Last year all mine and hubby's family decided not to buy presents for adults, as it was too expensive and also it was too much of an obligation, there were so many people that it was hard to put in proper thought for each gift

But I decided that I still wanted to give something, and made some hampers containing home made chutney, some cheese and some crackers, some HM mulled wine sachets and a cheapish bottle of red.

It went down a storm and I have had people requesting them again all year!!! I have already made my chutney this week and am going to buy a big box of nice crackers to divide into cellophane bags and some complimentary cheese to cut into smaller portions for each hamper. I usually hand them out on Xmas Eve, it's a good excuse to see everyone and makes sure the cheese and crackers are fresh

I am loving the idea of sock monkeys for the little ones, but am struggling with those in between age ones... will keep an eye out for ideas!

moosetastic

Treakil wrote: »

Please can you tell me what snowman soup and reindeer food are? Many thanks.

Sorry Treakil for the late reply

Snowman soup - a cello cone filled with hot chocolate powder, choc chips and mini marshmallows, with a candy cane on the side. Heres a pic -


Reindeer food - this is really easy. Porridge oats and edible glitter that kids sprinkle on the path xmas eve so Rudolph knows where to land heres a pic -



if you google snowman soup and reindeer food you can get hundreds of different labels that you can just print off. these are the ones i made a few years ago, along with -

reindeer poop - chocolate raisins


Snowman kisses - mint imperials


Santa kisses - jelly beans


snowman poop - mini marshallows


hope these give you all some ideas xx

Kit1

moosetastic your bags are fab. l just wondered where you get your bags from please.

moosetastic

Kit1 wrote: »

moosetastic your bags are fab. l just wondered where you get your bags from please.

Hiya Kit1, thank you very much i get them from ebay, if you search cello bags and cello cones you should find some easy. they are a lot cheaper than when I made these a few years ago. Just remember to filter the search results by UK sellers only, otherwise the ones from overseas might not come in time xxx