Jolene’s been busy laying about with her feet up, well, in fairness she’s been resting her ankle following an operation to remove the steel work that was put in when she broke it a few years ago.  She hasn’t been entirely idle though, she was commissioned at the Morningside Makers Market to customise a pair of Christmas stockings for a lady who was going to New Zealand to visit her grand-children over the festive period.

It was all a bit last minute, but Jolene relined the stocking uppers to the customers specifications and embroidered ‘Daisy’ and ‘Hamish’ onto the top before despatching them, post haste.

Things were slightly held-up as the customer wished to pay be cheque and we had to wait until we received it before despatching the items, typically we wait for cheques to clear before dispatch, and encourage shoppers to use paypal for payment, particularly if they are in a hurry.

OK, so I previewed these in my previous post however I finally managed to source some ribbon I was happy with and I’ve got them finished and pictured:

available from coriandr and etsy

Recently we’ve been giving a lot of thought to our packaging.  It’s not something that comes naturally I’m afraid.  Occasionally, it works out just fine like with my button pendants; however that’s a very rare occasion indeed.

Last week I had a crazy notion to make some Christmas gift tags for sale.  Having deliberated for some time about the best way to present these, I settled on a good old baggie with fold over label and spent Saturday morning bagging them up.  I hope you’ll agree they could compete with any mass produced packaging.

There are four designs in each packet, the reindeer shown above with it’s bright red nose, the Christmas tree, the mistletoe and the Christmas roundel.

As with the dolls, birds and copper ornaments, these will be on sale at our upcoming Christmas Craft Fairs.  We’d love to see you there and we’ve just added another date for Penicuik High School on November 27th.  Time permitting there should be more sock monkeys and felt owls for sale too.  Keep an eagle eye on this space for an update.

I know, another Christmas post, but really it’s not that long until the big red cheery chap comes again!  I’ve made quite a few of these hanging birds but they don’t photograph well.  I think they’re shy!

They’re a simpler take on the fabric finches regular readers will be familiar with, which makes them quicker to make and therefore more likely to hold my interest…did I mention I have a very short attention span?

As with the Matryoshka dolls, these will be adorning our tables at our upcoming craft fairs.  If you fancy making your own birds (not exactly like this one, but very pretty nonetheless) check out the free stuff where you’ll find a couple of variations on the hanging bird.

The idea of printing on fabric has been something I’ve been wanting to try for some time now.  I’ve neither had the time nor the inclination until this weekend, when the urge suddenly took me to get my finger out and make something for a change.

In my head this was going to be a quick craft that would satisfy the need to have some cheap Christmas ornaments for sale at our upcoming craft fairs.  In reality it took me all day to find a suitable image and even longer messing around with different techniques of colouring the image and transferring it to the fabric.  As they say patience is a virtue and in the end I was rewarded with some pretty special hanging dolls.  The most recent ones such as the one second from the left have a watercolour appearance.

Here they are all printed up and waiting to be sewn.  I think I’m in love – is that a bit narcissistic?

Well we had our first fair in the run-up to Christmas yesterday, and whilst most people are avoiding the ‘C’ word in polite company there’s no doubt that it’s on people’s minds and that it emerges from unguarded lips, whispered in hushed tones as decisions are made as to whether little Jimmy would like this or perhaps Aunty May would appreciate that.  For our part we think that all mention of the ‘C’ word should be banned until November at the earliest.

Our last fair at this venue was disappointing, although this time around we were pleased to see a much greater foot-fall and far more people taking an active interest with a view to buying, to be honest though I’m as happy to stand and have a blether about what we do as I am if some nice shopper decides to make a purchase!

We had gone armed to this fair with a heap of chocolate dipped ginger bread men that we spent the previous evening making, a sample of a product aimed specifically at ‘C’ time.  They seemed to go down well, although they were free and were mostly eaten by the kiddie-winkles who, let’s face it, are generally delighted by anything with so much as trace elements of sweetie-ness!

Again the fair had a pleasant atmosphere with an interesting mix of crafters and shoppers alike.  We even made a purchase ourselves, something we generally try and avoid, although it turns out that when it can’t be avoided it costs us our day’s takings and the rest, still, it’s difficult to put a value on a piece of original artwork.  I’ll be posting those images at a later date though, hopefully as part of a featured artist post.

In the meantime we’d like to thank everyone who managed to get along to the fair and also the other stall-holders who were a bit fab.

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.

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.

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!

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.