Christmas crafting bonanza

As some of you will know, this year I decided to do an entirely handmade selection of Christmas gifts for friends and family. This was partly because I haven't been working for a while and wanted to cut down on spending, but also because I wanted an excuse to try out lots of new crafts! I didn't blog about them at the time of making as I didn't want to spoil it for the recipients, but now that Christmas is over I thought I would show you some of my makes. I'm annoyed that I didn't get round to photographing all of them or getting pictures of them all wrapped up as I put a lot of effort in to the gift wrapping this year with handmade tags, paper and trimmings, but I was in the middle of an international move, so I think I can forgive myself :)

Let the Christmas present showcase commence!

Fabric covered notebook for my niece.

Fimo covered festive spoon and charms.

A joint effort with my boyf: pear vodka and winter spice liqueur for all the men folk.

Cross stitched card for my parents.

Decorated jar of handmade mincemeat for my French friend.

Handmade bracelet with charms for boyf's sister-in-law

Handmade earrings from recycled beads for boyf's sister.

Ribbon hairband for my niece.

Sewing case for my friend.

I really enjoyed doing all the hand sewing. This Russian doll kit was inspired
by  Flossie Teacakes needlecase tutorial.

Personalised cross stitch space invaders purse for another niece. Made from all recycled materials.

My friend Rob pointed me in the direction of this great idea for keeping track of what's in your freezer, which I made for my Mum. I used pictures of food cut out of French and German supermarket special offer brochures, then laminated them and added a self-adhesive magnet to the back. It was a fairly quick and easy make which I would recommend.

There are so many great tutorials and inspiring posts on the internet. Often my own ideas pop into my head, but it's always nice to know there is a range of practical help and projects that you can refer to or adapt whenever you want.

I really enjoyed making all my presents this year and will definitely do it again if I have the time.

Beetroot and Babuschka

I had a busy evening yesterday and feel proud of myself for not only successfully following Carluccio's beetroot bake recipe, but also finishing this Russian doll covered note book. Another homemade Christmas present ticked off my list!

Delicious, pink dinner!

Fabric covered notebook with ribbon-button embellishment

Personalised inside cover

Roll it, bake it, wear it!

I  suddenly felt the need this week to make myself a necklace. I wear a lot of grey, but also really like bright colours and thought that a necklace with muted shades and a pop of colour could be just the thing to wear for work this winter. I'm getting a bit of an 80s vibe from this design ;)

Using Fimo, I made a selection of round beads in grey, black, black mixed with pearlescent, granite, marble and  two larger beads - one fuschia mixed with pearlescent and a bright yellow one. I also rolled a couple of beads in silver leaf. It sticks really well to the modelling clay and you can bake it no problems. Once the Fimo had been rolled into balls I pierced them with cocktail sticks and put them on a baking tray ready to go into the oven. I think they look like funny olives on sticks!

The great thing about Fimo is that it only takes 30 minutes to bake and not that long to cool down, so fairly soon after I could start stringing my beads.

I put small silver beads in between each Fimo bead and finished it off with a silver catch.

My finished necklace. Can't wait to wear it out somewhere! :D