Homemade Christmas

tuskel

Oh yeah, and about the crafts materials, Chef Ash, you can use lots of things you already have, I'm sure! Look through your junk mail and old magazines and cut out colourful pictures/big ads of single colour etc. You can use them to make paper chains or glue different pages together to wrap presents (I did one recently where I cut pages out of old Tesco free mags with nice photos of food on them, in similar colours, and it looked great!). Also, have you got clothes that are too old and worn out? You can make small gifts from them, little quilt coasters (a piece of old kitchen towel between two layers of some nice fabric) or crochet ones (cut or rip into long thin pieces and crochet little squares/circles out of them, you do need a fairly big hook though, at least 7mm), cut off the sleeves of an old woolly jumper, cabled looks best, and sew edges together for a festive cushion cover etc etc. And ask in the charity shops - they have often craft/handicrafts items in the back, but not on the shelf.

tuskel,
sincerely

JIL

I love the knitted Christmas tree decorations, Santa's, reindeers, snowmen, elves,angels.
When the children were young we used to make decorations from the fromage frais yogurt pots. You had to cut them down the sides to the base in eight equal measures and then flatten them, cut each side to a point then put glitter and tinsel on them. They looked great.

Butterfly_Brain

Saw on Pinterest a jar filled with maltesers and one red gobstopper labeled reindeer noses with pipe cleaner antlers
Great teacher / neighbour gift.

mardatha

bossymoo what kind of gold gifts? I'm brain dead and just up, but that does sound nice
I also like the sound of jams but would need buy it as I haven't got any fruit lol but that's ok I don't mnd.

[Deleted User]

I think 'Pots of Gold' are the jars filled with things that are gold coloured like chocolate coins, sweeties with gold coloured wrappers etc.

vodkawitch1

I do a bit of homemade a a bit of `cheating` - flavoured vodka, buying a basic cake and icing it myself, pouring melted chocolate over a swiss roll etc.

karren

I've made little gift bags from old quilt cover so will pop the home made earrings and pack of twinks hob nobs in for my close friends

I saw some lovely things in wyevale
I intend to duplicate for pennies at home
ie there was small piece of cake in cellophane for EIGHT pounds so I'll get my 12 year old daughter who loves baking to make our cake and some small ones in cupcake tins and marzipan and ice for grandad, uncle and my aunty, and present in cellophane and bow with a Christmas card with teabag in a little envelope with voucher for cuppa and catch up.

I saw some lovely icicles made from crystals for FIVE pounds
I've lots of broken jewellery and was given a broken chandelier year's ago so I'll dismantle and use the nice unzipped ones I'll make up a few and pop in Christmas card

fuddle

Thanks for the drying out orange tip JackieO. I like to have a pot of cinnamon, cloves, star anise, oranges etc simmering Christmas Eve and Day. Christmas smells are divine to my nose and only allowed via this method by DH as he can't stant the smell of the wine in mulled wine.

There will be one area that I wish to decorate this year that needs 'extra' kit but I have in mind threading red ribbon through baubles, pine cones I have previously gathered, any ornaments my kiddlers make and gingerbread biscuits. They will go along the patio doors next to our table. I would also like to 'bring in the green' and put it along the top of the kitchen cupboards.

I will be meeting with family this year. One side wouldn't appreciate homemade items but a small number of people on the other side would. My only issue is time this year. I have a lot on in the next month so I suspect my Christmas won't be as hand made as I would like.

Looking forward to hanging around this thread. I can see it being my morning cuppa haunt for the foreseeable.

candlelight_2013

Hi Fuddle:wave::wave:good to see you.

I don't have a Christmas tree any more, but DGD1, who lives with us, will find a medium size branch, spray paint it, and then we hang white and silver ornaments on it.

Despite living in a city, we are lucky enough to have a lot of greenery in our garden, holly, conifers, ivy, but no fir cones. Like Lyn, I put all of this on the mantle piece, and then have small white candles all through the greenery. I will find some cones, I know this probably sounds dreadful, but when I go to the Crem to put flowers there for Mum and Dad, I very often find windfalls, so I just pick them up. Sometimes they seem to be a bit sticky, but they are fine.

I have learned over the years not to buy masses of food, because I am afraid when I worked I was very guilty of throwing food away. For goodness sake it is only a couple of days, we don't have masses of visitors, just DD1 and the 3 grandchildren. I never manage to see my sisters over Christmas because they are busy with their families, but we do try for a get together in the new year.

I LOVE a traditional Christmas and although I am 70, I feel like a child again (I wish:rotfl:)

Candlelightx

fuddle

'ello candlelight It's good to go with feeling like a child again. It means your dear soul is getting a burst of fun, happiness and contentment without a care in the world. Here's to feeling like a child!

I've had a brain wave. It would only work on windows that didn't condense up though - a cut out a snow scene/village etc or wrap a glass jar with a scene and pop a tealight/led candle inside for windows that do suffer from moisture.