The first bbq of the year!

Last Sunday we decided that as the weather forecast was looking good we would get everyone over for some food and drinks and use our newly cleared back garden! Unfortunately it rained in the evening until around half 6 but we decided to whip the bbqs and sausages out and risk it! I made my potato and pasta salad and we picked up 46 sausages from iceland for £2! (no they were not great!). We made some paper chains that were 25p for a pack from Wilkinsons and put tealights in glasses to decorate the garden. It was such a lovely evening and a great way to start the new term!

Flower Arrangements

This is a rubbish picture with so much in the background but these are our flower decorations for Christmas presents! They are so cheap and easy to make I wish I started doing it earlier! They are also great for someone who you want to make a homemade gift for that looks expensive as these arrangement can be well over £10 if bought somewhere. The gold candles I found in a charity shop the other day for 25p for the pair and the big red one was from Wilkinsons for £2. My mum does flower arranging so the oasis and stands were from her but you can buy these from garden centres and places like Wilkinsons as well. The greenery we get from our garden or a friends, its good to find some with holly as this looks really nice and festive! We are going to add some red carnations later! 

Christmas Jumble Sale

Today we went to a car boot sale in Hitchin, we got there a little bit late so some people were packing up but it means most are ready to haggle! In the picture above I got all the candles for £1, some have been used but with a new candle in they will be great! The tin was 50p and full of tiny decorations including this Christmas pudding pin badge which looks great on my tartan scarf! The other decorations I will use to add onto presents and to decorate the chocolate slabs I will be making tomorrow! I also got a cream coloured blazer for £1, it has no label but its got a nice fit and will be smart especially for next year when I will be having interviews for placements. My last buy was a mug from Whittards with little scottie dogs for £1 on that I have filled with homemade dog treats as a gift for the dog (pets have Christmas too!)

Pamper Hamper

I have spent today doing some more making and wrapping for Christmas and decided to do something about the Pamper Hamper I mentioned in another post. The whole thing including the box cost me about £3.75 which I'm pretty happy with as it looks a lot more! 
The box contains the soaps I got from the jumble sale and nail varnishes with cuticle sticks and files from M&S that came in a huge gift box. I won these on a tombola along with a turquoise scarf that will make a good present for my Nan. I've added 2 shell candles which you can see how to make in a previous post!

The other picture is the smaller items added, the bracelet was from the jumble sale and only cost 25p! I saw one exactly like it in boots for £4 so that was a good find. The photo frame came as a pair that I found in a charity shop with the label still on saying £8 just for that one and £12 for the other! I paid a pound for this one and the other will go as part of another present. The little heart I made loads of last year with some left over fabric, they cost virtually nothing but if you spray some perfume on they hold the smell well and make nice smell hearts to be hung on a draw or a door knob. 
I would quite like to receive this as a gift so I hope the person receiving it like it! 

Shell Candles

These shell candles are one of my Christmas crafts, I am planning on giving them away as gifts for the ladies in my family as most of them are quite girly! I already had the wax pellets left over from a previous craft where I made teacup candles. One thing I learnt from those is that the wick sustainers are really important in keeping the wick in place! I think the wax cost me around £6 and out of that I made 3 small teacups and 8 shell candles so it was good value for money. The shells are actually scallop shells that I washed and sterilised. We ate the scallops but you could ask at the supermarket if they had any shells they were throwing away, there are lots of crafts that could be done with them! To make the candles I fixed the wicks to the sustainers and put them in the right place on the shell. I then used a double boiler (one pan of boiling water with a smaller pan over the top) and added the wax pellets, stirring until they were fulling melted. After taking it off the heat I added a few drops of vanilla room fragrance and poured the wax into the shells. They set very quickly especially in a cold house but its helpful to stir them occasionally to get rid of any bubbles. This time I completely forgot but they have turned out okay, a very cheap but good looking Christmas gift!