too soon for Christmas decorations?

We’ve been renovating our house since moving in almost four years ago.  Progress is slow but steady and lately we’ve (read Alasdair) been ripping out the old electrics in one room that will eventually be our living room.  The old wire is a lovely thick copper wire that we just couldn’t throw away.  So, I made some Christmas hanging decorations, while Alasdair replastered the walls!

Simple one first…the star.  Made from heavy grade copper wire that has been lightly sanded and bent to shape.

So pleased was I with the star, that I decided to branch out and try an angel.  I must admit to having to raid some colouring books for the basic outline!

Pretty good, eh?  The star and angel set will be available from our stall at the fairs we’re attending this winter.  Who knows, they might be joined by a gingerbread man or two.

Just in case all that Christmas decor is making you feel a little out of season, I also made this rather fetching copper and vintage button bangle.  I am particularly proud of this, my first attempt at real jewellery from scratch.

With copper in such short supply, it makes me feel I’m doing my bit for the planet by recycling the wire rather than throwing it out.

Now, back to the renovating I think.  Today the central heating is having a good old clean out.

Sewing with Kids: Soft Snowman

In spite of the fact that it should be summer and we are being teased with rays of sunshine trying to break the clouds, the small furry one decided to make a snowman today.  OK, so it’s a red snowman and it doesn’t actually resemble a snowman but she says it is a snowman so a snowman it will be…in the middle of summer!

This was really easy and quite enjoyable once I got around my anally retentive everything must be perfect way of thinking.

First we drew our shape on a piece of paper and cut it out.  Then we pinned the paper pattern to an old felted jumper and cut round it, leaving a seam allowance.  We then chose buttons and sewed them on…that took forever; if you have kids you’ll be aware of the thrills of the button jars and just how long they can occupy them for.  I held it and showed the small furry one where to put the needle, which was fortunately a blunt tapestry needle.  Of course I had to finish sewing it up when she got bored.  She stuffed it all by herself though before I sewed up his bottom.

I think this is a huge achievement for someone who only just turned 4 last week.  He’s sturdy and she is over the moon with him.  He’s been exploring caves already today and I think, by the sound of it, he’s about to learn how to draw!

BTW…she’s known affectionately as ‘The Small Furry One’ because she is indeed small and has a very hairy back!  And, I’m sure she’d hate me forever if she was old enough to know I’d told the world that.

Santa’s got a lot on his plate

This is more of a showing off post because I’ve just realised that for a lot of people there actually might not be enough time before the big day to execute this plan…store it in your mind for next year though.

So, it’s close to Christmas and you’ve been really good.  You’ve got all of your shopping done and you’ve pre cooked everything that can be…well done, you’re doing a lot better than me.  I know you’re sitting at home wondering what on earth to do with all your spare time between now and then.  Why not make your own Santa plate?

It’s really easy once you know how and thankfully Cathe at Just Something I Made came to the rescue with the best tutorial and pre-measured text for turning a dreary old plate into a wonderful Emma Bridgewater-esque plate for the kids to leave Santa and the Reindeer’s goodies on.  While you’re on Cathe’s site, check out some of the other great crafts she has turned her hand to…I’m seriously in awe of her creativity.

All you need is a porcelain pen, plate, 24 hours and a cooker.  See, this is why it’s more of a showing off post because there just isn’t the time unless you happen to have a black porcelain pen lying around or you want to risk not leaving the plate for the recommended time before cooking it.

Anyhow, because really I was just giving it a go when I started out I used the most cracked and chipped plate we had…apologies in advance for the dire state of the plate you are about to behold…but isn’t it so cool and I have actually started to dream about other possibilities.

Such was my lack of faith in anything that involves a fan oven I took this picture before I cooked the plate but I’m pleased to report that using the rule of heating the oven to ten degrees less than suggested avoided disaster and this plate has since been cooked, washed and dried and indeed scratched with a fingernail (to check it) and it’s still the same as it was pre-cooking.

A winter’s tale …

It all began yesterday, I had been chatting to the kids about our Christmas wreath …

… when they decided it needed something, extra, “a drop of the snow spray”,
they had pleaded and, well, it seemed like such a harmless idea. 
A bit of entertainment for the kids …

… but they just didn’t know when to stop …

… and then disaster!  The button stuck on and into the night the ’snow’ continued to spray it’s white fluffiness all over …

… by morning it had finally stopped but not before it had layered the land in it’s permanent homage to winters bygone.

You’ve got to love winter and we might have a white Christmas this year … if only it wasn’t so blinkin’ cold!

The world’s best christmas cake … ever! ~ Part 4

Finally, it’s time to decorate the cake!  It’s only been two months but now is the moment we’ve been waiting for, it’s time to finish it in advance of the main event … the eating!

First thing you need to do is turn your cake onto an appropriately sized cake base or plate, I use one of the thicker bases rather than the flimsy cardboard jobs you can buy.

Adding the marzipan

Some people don’t like marzipan, and some freaks even remove it from the cake before eating it.  This is sacrilege of the highest order and you must not be tempted to skip this step!  The sweet almond flavours are an essential part of the cake and serve to combine with the rich fruity and rummy goodness of the actual cake to set the taste buds into overdrive!

Personally I’m not making my own marzipan or icing this year, although I have done in the past, it’s not entirely essential.  If you do want to make your own marzipan (and it really is worth it) then you can find the recipe in Part 2, here.  No, this year I’m using the supermarket stuff for speed and simplicity (although I’ll give you the Royal Icing recipe below if you want to try your hand at it).

You’ll need:

c. 600g marzipan
Apricot Jam
Icing Sugar

1. Thinly spread the jam over the top and sides of your cake, this is the ‘glue’ that’s going to bind your marzipan to the cake.
2. Dust your surface, rolling pin, and marzipan with icing sugar to stop the marzipan sticking to everything.
3. Roll your marzipan to the desired depth, I normally aim for c. 2mm in thickness, although it’s not a huge issue.
4. Using a sharp knife and the base of the cake tin in which you baked the cake cut a circle out of the marzipan  and place it on top cake.
5. Roll out your remaining marzipan into manageable sized rectangles the height of your cake and apply the around the sides, pinching the edges together so that your entire cake is covered.
6. Using any left over marzipan roll some thin sausage shapes to pack out the inevitable gaps around the bottom, remember it doesn’t need to be pretty we’re just looking to get a good shape so that when we cover it with the icing it does look good!
7. Dust your hands with some icing sugar and run them over the marzipan to smooth any lumps and bumps as best you can.

Adding the icing

For me Christmas Cake means royal icing, indeed, the royal icing we had when I was little was fairly inedible due to it’s concrete consistency … honestly, you could have used it for home building!  Fortunately icing has never been my strong point so I tend to opt for the shop bought stuff which is a lot softer.

If you’re making your own icing you might like to try the recipe below for which you’ll need:

• 3 egg whites
• c. 750g / 1.5lb / 5 cups of icing sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 – 1.5 tsp glycerine (optional)

1. Whisk the egg whites until they’ve gone nice and frothy but not so much that  they go stiff (remember it’s not meringue we’re making!).
2. Gradually beat in half of the icing sugar.
3. Add the lemon and glycerine and gradually beat in the remaining icing sugar until it stands in peaks.
4. Cover your bowl with a damp cloth and leave it for a couple of hours before using.

As I’ve said I tend to use shop bought icing, although avoid the pre-rolled stuff like the plague, honestly it’s more trouble than it’s worth.  We’re essentially looking to do the same with the icing as we did with the marzipan except in a single piece.

1. Think calm thought, remember, there’s no point ruining your day by stressing about a cake.  If you have any minor decorating cock-ups I’ll give you a clue at the end on how to hide them.
2. Thinly spread some more apricot jam on top of the marzipan, again this is your ‘glue’, you could also use a thin solution of sugary water if you prefer.
3. Roll out your icing so that it’s large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake when draped over it.
4. Carefully centre your icing on top of the cake and smooth the top.
5. Starting at a single point begin smoothing the icing down the sides of the cake slowly and carefully working your way around the cake avoiding any creases.
6. A point will come when a crease is inevitable, make a vertical cut at the peak of the crease folding one part under and trimming off the excess.  Smooth the edges together.  Do this for the remainder of the sides of your cake.
7. Dust your hands with icing sugar and smooth the icing down aiming to get rid of any obvious lumps and bumps.
8. Add any decorations you may wish to have on your cake.  If any need stuck on make up some thin icing using water and icing sugar.

As you can see, I’ve kept things simple with a light dusting of icing sugar, a couple of wee decorations and a cake ribbon around the sides.

The ribbon hides any rough edges where the creases got the better of you and the icing sugar hides the fact that the evil pre-rolled icing I was landed with came apart in the middle!  Personally I’m not overly concerned about how the cake looks, so long as it’s vaguely Christmas cake like.  For me it’s all about the flavour and from that point-of-view this really is The best Christmas cake in the world .. ever! as proven by the self-confessed Christmas cake haters who even enjoy a bit of it’s fruity, rummy, Christmasy goodness!

I hope you and yours enjoy the cake you’ve made as much as me and mine will enjoy this one … Merry Christmas!

Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be found here, here, and here.

Christmas sweetie tree

The Christmas Sweetie tree is one of the those Christmas traditions that I recall from my own childhood, although when I say tradition it may have been only one!  Still it’s something, an idea, that’s stuck with me for the last 25 years or so.

It’s a simple enough thing to execute and, if you’ve got kids, is something that can be used to, erm, encourage better behaviour when they’re bouncing off the walls with the building excitement in the run up to the main event!  If you don’t have kids it’s still a nice wee touch that feeds into the whole happy, shiny, sparkly Christmas feeling and you can encourage guest to help themselves.

All you really need is a twig, not too spindly and not too bulky that you can hang your sweeties from.  I’ve used Quality Street, but any sweetie with shiny wrapping or even some home baked delights could work.  You also need a base, I’ve used half a log, cut to shape, although a nice bottle fill with ballast (sand perhaps?) would work well too.

Take your twig and use some silver spray paint to cover it in it’s entirety then, using some gold spray paint, give it a quick once over allowing most the silver to show through.  Mount your twig in it’s base and then tie your sweeties of Christmas baking goodies on with some thread, ribbon, or whatever takes your fancy … I used hemp cord because it came to hand and the thread was further away!

The world’s best christmas cake … ever! – Part 3

Christmas is almost upon us and we should be looking to decorate the cake in within the next few days, I suspect that I’ll be aiming for Monday, although only so I can get a post up here, otherwise I might be inclined to leave it for a couple more days and either do it on the 22nd or 23rd.

Now is the time to make sure your cakes ‘rum content’ is appropriate for the time of year, or if you prefer to ensure that the cake is good and moist.  Technically we’re talking about the ’squelch test’.

To perform the ’squelch test’ you should gently press the back of your clean hand against the top of the cake and listen for a gentle squelch and it should also feel a little moist on your hand.  If, like me, you’ve neglected to feed the cake at regular intervals now is the moment (over the next few days) to make up for lost time by adding double doses of rum!

If you’re satisfied that your cake is already moist enough don’t add any more, similarly if there are little rummy riverlets streaming from the underside you may wish to leave it well alone to allow the cake to dry out a little, either way don’t worry about it … it’s still going to be delish!

Also, if you’re making your own marzipan and icing now is the time to make sure you have the ingredients, take a look at part 2 for the details.  Part 1 and Part 2 can be found here and here.

Handmade Christmas Wreath

Jolene and I spent a couple of hours last night collaborating on this Christmas Wreath for the front door last night, we’re fairly pleased with the end result even if I did get pricked so many times by the pine needles that my hands broke out in a mild allergic reaction that made it look like had small pox or some such … oh, what fun!

We actually collected the pine cones for these a couple of months ago and they have been sat in a bag waiting for us to do something with them since then, they were actually intended for the local playgroup but there were far too many and so we resolved to use them ourselves.

The cones themselves were initially sprayed silver, before a quick dash with the gold spray.  The berries are beads cut from a beaded Christmas tree decoration and the pine branches and Sitka Spruce from the garden (I was out cutting these in sub-zero temps last night.

We mounted the whole lot on willow branch (also from the garden) that we bent into a circle and twisted around itself, we used wire to secure the first layer of pine branches before using thread to secure the last couple of layers.  The pine cones were then threaded on, as were the ‘berries’.

I think if we do this again I’m going to find myself a pair of light gardening gloves!

handmade felt christmas tree decorations

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later … that’s right the spirit of Christmas has finally caught up with me, almost.  Anyway, in preparation for it’s imminent arrival I felt compelled to make some decorations, contrary to my usual ‘bah humbug!’ approach to Christmas!!

Actually, it wasn’t just me, Jolene started it with these rather pretty little crocheted stars …

… it’s while she was making these that she tossed a bag of felt offcuts in my general direction and told me to stop being ‘lazy’ and to ‘get on with something’ …

… I was …

… I was drinking tea …

… it’s important!

I spent a few minutes rummaging, looking at the various shapes available, before coming across some bendy triangles.  It wasn’t a huge leap to come up with the trees above.

I’m hoping to get some pine cones done up in time for Christmas, maybe as a table decoration or maybe as a few more hangers for the tree, whatever I do I’ll be sure to share them here.

The world’s best Christmas cake … ever! – Part 2

A little post about making marzipan and a reminder that your cake needs fed …

The world’s best Christmas cake … ever! – Part 1 can be found here.  It’s not too late to begin, but you do need to get a move on now … there’s feeding to be done!

Feeding the cake is pretty much where we left things last time, since then I’ve been feeding my cake sporadically and in varying quantities although it should amount to the same as would have been fed were I more organised and reliable than I am!  The cakes should be starting to feel moist to the touch and remember if you feel it’s getting too wet just hold-off on feeding it for a while, there’re no hard and fast rules here!

Homemade marzipan … it’s sublime.  I’ve made my own marzipan in the past, and I must be honest and say that it tastes so-o much better than the shop bought stuff.  You don’t need to make your own, indeed I won’t be making my own this year as I’ve found it to be rather expensive in the past and we’re not as affluent as we once were … not that I’m complaining you understand, life simply moves on and I’m not about to dwell on the past, be it good, bad or indifferent.

If you do decide to make your own marzipan, by all means assemble the ingredients now but don’t go racing ahead, wait until you’re going to decorate the cake and do the marzipan at the same time.

This recipe should make about 1kg / 2lb and you’ll need:

• 250g / 8oz caster sugar
• 250g / 8oz sifted icing sugar
• 500g / 1ib ground almonds
• i tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp almond flavouring / extract
• 2 egg yolks. beaten

1. Combine the sugars and ground almonds in a bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Add the lemon juice, flavouring and enough egg yolk to make a firm but pliable dough.  If you make the mix too ‘wet’ use some icing sugar to counter the effect.
3. Transfer to a lightly sugared work surface and knead the dough until it is smooth.  The marzipan is now ready for use.

It has been suggested that the marzipan can be stored for up to two days before use if it is wrapped in foil or film and kept in the refrigerator, I strongly recommend though that you make it immediately before you need it and use it then.

I will be decorating our cake on around the 20th if you wish to follow the recipe at that point you will need:

• approx. 1kg / 2lb marzipan (homemade or shop bought … it’s up to you)
• Apricot jam, for ‘gluing’ the marzipan and icing on
• approx. 1kg / 2lb of royal icing (homemade or shop bought … again, it’s your call)
• whatever decorative bits n’ bobs you want  …

If you’re making your own Royal Icing you’ll need:

• 3 egg whites
• approx 750g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 – 1.5 tsp glycerine (not compulsory)

In the meantime, remember to keep feeding those cakes, and don’t forget to buy (or make) something nice for your nearest and dearest :)