Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas

For me, I love nothing more than receiving home made gifts.  I would rather a homemade gift from my kids than any store bought gift and I am always excited to open the gifts they made for me at school on Christmas morning.  Making homemade gifts is a great way to spend time with your family and also a great way to give your family and friends that special something at Christmas that was not only made with love but also won't break your bank account at what is generally a very costly time of year.   Here are a few special gift ideas and links to their tutorials that would be perfect for gifts for teachers, parents and grandparents. 

1. Terrariums are mini gardens that are planted in glass jars or similar.  Along with little plants you can add tiny figurines of people or animals to give it your own special touch.  Image & tutorial via All Dressed in Blue. 

2. Mini Cookie Snow globes.  Make and decorate your own cookies and then display them as a little snow globe.  Such a cute idea and lots of fun for the kids to create.  Image & tutorial from Bee in our Bonnet  via I Heart Naptime (follow this link for the tutorial). 

3. Mistletoe's pictures.  I adore this idea and it would be especially cute for any new babies in the family.  Image and tutorial via Pinky for Pink. 

4. Hand Print Pillow.  Image and tutorial via Sugar Bee Crafts. 

5.  Reasons why I love you jars.  Fill a jar with all the reasons why they love the gift recipient.  I would love to receive one of these from my kids, how special!  Image and tutorial via Better Homes & Gardens. 

6. Peppermint Cookie Fudge.  Yum!  Image and tutorial via Bubble and Sweet.

7.  Make gorgeous handmade Christmas cards or gift tags with paint swatches.  Image and tutorial via Angela Sgro Designs.  

8.  Handmade soaps.  So many gorgeous colours and scents you could use.  If making soaps for children make clear soaps and add in cute little toy figurines.  Image and tutorial via Gluesticks. 


Happy Christmas! 

Kate xx

Let's Celebrate Christmas - Book Review

I was recently asked to review 'Let’s Celebrate Christmas Additive Free' by mum of 3 Melanie Avery, an additive free recipe book created for the festive season. Now to be honest reviewing a recipe book was pretty nerve wracking for me as I kind of avoid the kitchen at all costs and am also pretty clueless when it comes to additive free but I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the task.  Here's what I thought.  

  

 Let's Celebrate Christmas has a great introduction that covers some basic facts about additives, things to be aware of and also healthier alternatives to some common foods.  Being someone that knows little about additives and who is often confused about what’s good and what’s not when reading food labels, I found this section really helpful as it was explained in simple terms and set out in easy to read dot points.  

The recipes themselves are simple and easy to follow, even for the most clueless of cooks such as myself and are great for the kids to help prepare.  We have made a few of the recipes so far with the favorites being Rocky Road and Blueberry Pikelets.

My kids love pikelets but I wasn't sure how they would go with the blueberries and thought these would be picked out. I thought I would be clever and puree them first, then add to the mix.  That backfired as of course the pancake mix then turned blue. Declan was very hesitant to try his as they had ‘black stuff’ through them.  However after a little coaxing, these were soon gobbled up and he was asking for more.  Additive free and a way to sneak fruit into their diet, win win!

Rocky Road was super easy to make and well received of course.  What I loved about this recipe was that it also listed alternative ingredients to replace things such as the nuts, which we did.  A lot of the recipes offer ingredient ‘variations’ so found this really handy.

All recipes we tried were yummy and full of flavour.  The thing that surprised me the most about the recipes were that most ingredients are items I had in the cupboard anyway or brands/items that I know and use regularly.  It was a misconception of mine that going additive free meant a whole new range of products and brands (that were probably going to cost more and not taste as good) but it wasn't the case at all.

Lastly, my favorite part of the book was the section on all the little Christmas traditions and crafts.  These were lovely to read and some we have introduced this year into our family.  All the little crafts are fun and affordable and this section really added to the family feel of the book.   Let’s Celebrate Christmas is the type of book that would get pulled out each festive season so that favorite recipes can be made and enjoyed year after year. 

It was a lovely read, easy to follow and beautifully presented.  Definitely a recommended Christmas cook book. 

Let’s Celebrate Christmas RRP $30.00 and can be purchased via the Let’s Live Additive Free website. 

(Ethan & Declan eating their blueberry pikelets.)

(The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.  I received a copy of the book 'Let's Celebrate Christmas Additive Free' to review.) 

Kate xx

Christmas Advent Calendar Ideas

Well Christmas will soon be upon us again, so a little post today about some cute Advent Calendar ideas to start the big count down to the special day ♥

Must admit we have a bit of a chocolate overload in our house when it comes to the Christmas countdown.  Our children always get given an Advent calendar by their grandparents and then I have a special wooden train Advent Calendar that I purchased when Ethan was born, that I put little sweets into for each of the kids.

Last year we also started a Christmas Book/DVD/CD Advent calendar.  We wrapped up all our Christmas books/dvds & cd's and numbered each of them and then each day the kids would open one and we would spend family time either reading the story, watching the Christmas movie or just listening to Christmas carols.  The kids enjoyed it and it was great to spend that quality time together.

Ours was similar to this one here by Babyccino

Check out some of these other fun ideas.

Tin Pail Advent Calendar, this would be perfect for families with lots of children & can be used year after year :)  by Infarrantly Creative. 

Oh My Goodness, how cute is this one!  Would be perfect for a baby's 1st Christmas ♥ by EAB Designs.

Super funky idea, just using a cupcake tray by Mondocherry.

Simple envelope Advent Calendar.  Have the kids decorate the envelopes & pop a sweet treat inside or a little note in each with a different activity for the family to do each day.  Lovely idea. 

By Z Design. 

How do you count down to Christmas ?  Would love you to share your traditions or ideas, so please feel free to leave a comment ♥

Kate xx