Day Seven :: Rockin' Robin

These little robins were destined for the Christmas market yesterday...

 

 

But they never quite made it because they never got finished... I didn't think that one and a half robins would really made much of a display.

 

The second one got finished yesterday afternoon and the rest remain in pieces... ah well... another market, another time or maybe they'll end up as presents... or on my tree. Who knows!

 

I was going to write up a little tutorial for making them to go with this post. But hey, you're all clever people. It's a bit of felt, a piece of cord and a few embroidery stitches so I know you can all work this out for yourselves. You don't need my help! Which is just as well, as I've run out of time due to a late night partying and then out for lunch with friends today.

 

But, as promised,  I have got around to picking out a winner of my cracker giveaway... names in a hat... and the winner is Amy of Love Made My Home. Well done Amy! Sorry the rest of you didn't win but of course you could always make your own... pattern is available HERE!

 

Now if you'll excuse me, it's an early night for me!

Day Six :: Cats

As well as spending most of yesterday up to my elbows in icing sugar, I did a bit of last minute stitching for the Christmas Market. There had been grand plans for a new range of tea cosies, some new apron designs, not to mention lots of new cushions but somehow I just ran out of time (can't imagine why) So in a bit of last minute desperation a fleecy blanket was converted into half a dozen squishy cats.

 

 

The Christmas market was this morning. Most of the mini Christmas cakes sold which was good, a couple of other bits and bobs sold which was also good... but not a single blimmin' cat sold which was rubbish! Any ideas what I might do with half a dozen demented looking pink cats?

Day Five :: Little Cakes

If you read my advent posts last year... and happen to have a good memory, you will remember I made some individual Christmas cakes for a Fair in the local Church

 

 

This year, several people asked would I be making them again so in between rushing here and there and everywhere this week I've been baking and decorating little cakes... 24 of them! I've tweaked the recipe ever so slightly so if you should fancy making some yourself... here goes. They really do making lovely gifts!

 

You'll need one of those mini Sandwich pans from Lakeland, although I'm guessing a muffin pan would work just as well and I have read you can use small baked bean tins (empty the baked beans out first!) although these will make slightly bigger cakes.

 

Individual Christmas Cakes

Cakes

• 75g currants
• 75g sultanas
• 75g raisins
• 50g glacé cherries, quartered
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 25g chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon brandy plus extra 4 tablespoons
• 150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 100g dark muscovado sugar
• 2 tbsp treacle
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1½ tsp mixed spice
• 1-2 tbsp milk

To decorate

• 2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed and sieved
• 500g marzipan
• 750g ready to roll icing

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/335°F. Grease and line a mini sandwich pan (from Lakeland) or a 12 hole muffin tin. Place the currants, sultanas, raisins and cherries into a small pan. Add the zest and juice of the orange and heat gently for one minute until the juice is hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat, stir in 1 tablespoon brandy and cool to allow the fruit to plump up and soak up the liquid.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar and treacle until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs a spoonful at a time, adding a little flour with each addition which will stop the mixture curdling. Sift in the flour and spice, gently stirring to combine. Finally add the fruit, nuts and milk, mixing well.
3. Divide the cake batter between the Sandwich Pan or the muffin pan and bake on a low shelf for about 30 minutes or until well risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middles comes out clean. Remove from the oven and pierce the top of each cake with a skewer and dowse each cake with 1 teaspoon of brandy. Leave to cool in the tins
4. Brush each cake with apricot jam. Lightly dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan out thinly. Cut a disc of marzipan for the top of each cake and a strip to wrap around the sides of each cake, covering it completely. Leave to dry overnight
5. Dust the work surface again with icing sugar then roll out the icing thinly. (I find this easiest to do in two lots, covering half the cakes at a time) Cut out 12 circles big enough to completely cover each cake. Brush each cake with a little boiled water and place an icing disc over the centre of each cake, smoothing it down the sides with your hands. Use the remaining icing to decorate the cakes.

 

I won't deny they are a bit of a fiddle but good fun to make. The first batch are now wrapped and labelled ready to go...

 

But if you'll excuse me, I've got another twelve to ice and decorate before dinner!

Day Four : : The Year in Books

I really enjoyed my November choice for The Year in Books.

"We are all Completely Beside Ourselves" is written with a quirky style that I found funny and engaging. I loved the story but can't really say much about it other than it is about sibling love and rivalry, without giving too much away.

 

 

I've also read "The Wrong Boy" by Willy Russell. I think Willy Russell's plays are brilliant but for most of the time I was reading this book about Raymond Marks " a normal boy from a normal home" I found it really irritating. Funny yes, hilarious at times, but repetitive, long winded and most of all irritating. However, by the time I got to the end I found I was really engrossed in the story and cared about what happened.

 

 

One passage that really stuck with me was advice given to Raymond by his grandmother Vera. She tells him how at times we all would like to be someone else or live different lives but it's not possible. So we just have to get on with being the best version of ourselves we can possibly be. How true!

 

My choice for December is "Love, Nina - \despatches from Family Life" by Nina Stibbe which I've had on my Kindle for quite a while. I'm thinking it will be an easy read for a busy month.

 

Are you reading anything good this month?

Joining in with Laura at  Circle of Pine Trees for The Year in Books.

Day Three :: Shop Small and Local

I'm sure I am not alone in that I love Christmas but I hate the consumerism that goes with it. Overstuffed supermarket shelves and overcowded shops leave me cold, so as far as I can I like to resist the advertising and the hype and support smaller shops and businesses. I pick up gifts here and there as I see them in little independent shops and try to make bits and pieces too. I buy my tree, vegetables and meat at local farm shops and butchers. And occaisonally I spot something beautiful in an Etsy shop.

 

 

I first spotted a pair of gorgeous "Nib" earrings on Annie's blog and I headed straight to Kfiatek have a look...  And seem to have bought myself a little early Christmas present.

Day Two :: Gina's Crackers*

* Thank you to Isobel for the title of this post... take it whichever way you will but I know what my family think!

 

 

My cracker giveaway on Facebook was a success... and my likes soared to over 1000. I was just a little bit excited but then it doesn't take much!

 

So I got to thinking that it would be good to have a tutorial for people to make their own because much as I would have loved to give a cracker to all my "likes" I wasn't too keen on the idea of making 1000 crackers.

 

For the best part of three days, in every spare moment I have stitched, photographed (in appalling light), written, edited and edited again until I've ended up with something that I hope can be understood.

 

And finally I have loaded it all into my Etsy shop and it is available HERE!

 

It requires a basic knowledge of free machine embroidery although I think it could easily be adapted so that it could be finished off with normal sewing and a bit of hand stitching.

 

And for those of you not on Facebook, I have decided to give another cracker away but this time to my blog followers. All you have do do is leave a comment on this post and on Sunday (Day Seven) I will pick out a name at random. So if you are a Facebook fan and a blog follower I guess you have a second chance!

 

See you tomorrow!

Day One :: A Calendar

It has become a bit of a tradition that I do a  daily post in December in the lead up to Christmas... if you can call four years a tradition. A blog style advent calendar if you like. The past month has been so busy that I wasn't going to do it this year but I couldn't help myself... so here we go, against my better judgement, with Day One and our real advent calendar is up.... as it was in 2010,  2011, 2012 and 2013. I wasn't going to bother with the real calendar this year either but my 25 year old child was looking a little disappointed. So here it is again with its little chocolate filled bags.

 

 

And if you pop back tomorrow I'm hoping I'll have the Cracker tutorial ready. Just a couple more photos to take if it manages to get light which it doesn't seem to have done all day today.

 

And of course, if you are feeling crackers festive enough to join me in a daily count down to Christmas, let me know and I'll add a link to your blog. See you tomorrow!

 

Also joining in... Sandy