5,4,3,2.......1

somehow i knew this would end up in a mad rush the day before christmas. and i understand you're probably all having pre christmas times that probably doesn't involve reading a blog. but for those of you that it does... here you go:


5: stockings.

just what you need for christmas. how else is santa supposed to let you know whether you've been naughty or nice?

simple stockings

hessian stocking

4: gingerbread men.
christmas is always full of tasty food. gingerbread men are always fun to make. and there's some pretty cool cutters around now too.

ginger bread men

3: christmas bunting
bunting is always a sign of celebration. good christmas bunting can be used again and again.

christmas bunting

2: table settings
one of my favorite parts of christmas! making the table look amazing. and there are so many ways to do it.

flowers

1:christmas day cocktails
a very merry christmas to you all. and what could make it more merry than a christmas day cocktail?

cucumber-ginger cocktail

• 1 1/2 cups vodka
• 2 cucumbers; 1 peeled and coarsely chopped, 1 left whole
• 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 bottles (750 mL each) sparkling water
• 1/2 to 1 cup ginger syrup 

Step 1

Put vodka and chopped cucumber in a nonreactive container. Refrigerate 1 hour. Strain; discard cucumber. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use, up to 2 days.

Step 2 
Using a vegetable peeler, shave the remaining cucumber lengthwise into wide strips; discard seeds. 
Step 3 
Fill eight tumblers with ice. Add 3 cucumber strips and 3 tablespoons infused vodka to each glass. Squeeze, then drop, a lime wedge into each. Top with sparkling water; stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons syrup.

merry christmas!

6th day

today i have for you:

 
biscotti.

this italian delight is perfect at christmas time. wrap it up as a pressy or have it handy for coffee lovers. and even better it's pretty simple to make (just don't burn it).

this is the recipe i use:

	1/4 cup(s) caster sugar
	1 medium egg(s)
	1 cup(s) plain flour, (150g)
	1 tsp fresh lemon rind
	1/3 cup(s) pistachios, (40g)
	1/4 cup(s) milk chocolate chips, (50g)

i also add 1/4 a cup of dried cranberries (the pistachios with the cranberries looks a touch christmassy). 
there are plenty of other recipes around- have a good google!

you beat the egg and caster sugar until they are fluffy- (a good 3-5 mins with an electric mixer), then you fold in the flour. then fold in the lemon rind, pistachio, cranberry and choc chips. roll this into a log about 2cm deep, and then bake for 20mins on 180 degress C. it will be firm when it is ready- you don't want it rock solid yet. remove from the oven and let it cool. then with a serrated knife cut it into 5mm thick slices. lay these out on a baking tray and bake for about 20 mins- turning half way, until they appear crisp and golden. if you are worried about burning them remove them early and they will harden as they cool- if they don't you can always put them back in the oven to crisp them up. 

here are some wrapping ideas:

in a cup

in a jar

in a ribbon

in a basket

 

7 days until christmas

a week to go my friends.... 

how exciting?

tonight i'm going to finish wrapping all the christmas presents. and when doing this i shall attach some amazing bows! 

a bit like these d.i.y ones:

 

twiggy

velvetty bow tutorial

bows out of fabric

clothespeg

day 8 a day late

o golly i knew i would forget a day!

so the day late day 8 is all about tea light candles. 

i have lacing wire right in front of me as i had grand intentions of creating tea light holders out of jars. unfortunately the other half (or the cat?)has moved my pliers to another place that i'm unsure of. my pliers have wire cutters on them which i need to cut this lacing wire!

so the lacing wire will stay in front of me until i locate the pliers. these right here are the tea light holders i am talking about. they are gorgeous, and aren't limited to being used only for christmas.

as well as the jar tea lights i have also found some other awesome d.i.y tealight ideas. 

will be back later on for day 7! :

jar tea light holder

log holder

diy concrete holder

 

hanging jar string

knitted holders

9 days until christmas

9 days to go my friends.

today i finished decorating my tree. it has been a very long process- i keep getting distracted. 

the cat watched me finish decorating my tree. and then he thieved a decoration. (at this rate decorating the tree will be a daily event). 

so todays d.i.y. is christmas tree deocrations. 
i wanted to make these awesome clay decorations:

clay decorations

but alas i have not got around to it.
as i mentioned in an earlier post i created a tree full of decorations for a friend this year: i plan to get photos of the tree all dressed up soon and shall let you have a looksy. 

i found these awesome decorations on pinterest:

card cut out decorations

make sure you go and check out that link- very awesome.

and here we have some very cute christmas tree bunting:

christmas bunting

 some very quick and easy d.i.ys. 
hope your trees all look swell.

10 days until christmas

wo wo wo
only 10 days until christmas. o dear. 

so to make this fast approaching day appear friendlier i'm going to share with you 10 days of christmas d.i.y. (over the next 10 days.)

day 10 = gift tags. 


i'm a bit geeky and love to wrap pressies. i love them looking all nice under the tree. my gift wrap of choice this year is kraft paper + a few other things and then we're looking awesome. 

 so my gift tags consist of kraft card, sharpie and scissors:

i have been drawing my own ornaments and then cutting them out and making them into gift tags. resulting in these:

 these are a few other rad ideas:

gift tags from paint chips

 

hand stitched gift tags

leafy gift tags

 

washi tape gift tags

i hope these inspirational goodies help out your inner gift wrapping geek....

being a stranger

hello people
sorry for being a stranger.

i've been working on a very cool christmas project for a friend. the result being a large bunch of very rad (if i do say so myself) pastel decorations. i will be photographing it all set up and on the tree very shortly (which will result in another blog post promise).

today is a very exciting day. finally we are able to find some time to go and retrieve our tree. (it is very unusual for me - the christmas enthusiast- to not have a tree up yet, a friend was even very concerned last night to hear i didn't have one up...)

rosie and i have scoured the hills and found the perfect candidate.. (who turned out to be a couply hundred metres from the house after all the hill scouring). we are now patiently (ha not!) waiting for he who operates the chainsaw to come along and do his part. 

as well as getting the tree up i have a big list of christmas baking to get started on (will facebook you all some photos later in the day). 

i shall leave you with this wee snippet (from pinterest) of some crafty decoration ideas:

enjoy!

veggie garden

sympathize with me:
i buy lettuce. i don't eat it all in the first few days. it goes slimy. i give the remainder to the pig. i wait until i go to town again. i buy lettuce.
so now:
i plant veggie garden.

the end of all my lettuce going slimy problems.

where we live there is a rather large and somewhat daunting section fenced off for the sole purpose of a veggie garden. unfortunately so large that i tend to abandon it over the winter months.
so right now i have my veggie garden looking grand. in fact, just before i was out planting my radishes.(with a very enthusiastic veggie planting dog). 
now i just need it to stay looking grand until someone comes and sees it.

i still have a section of it that needs to be turned over.. but seeing as it is only the two of us and one can only eat so many lettuces, brocilli, artichokes (yes.. i planted one last year and it's flowering! excited very much)and potatoes etc i am still deciding what to dedicate this patch of earth to. 

pinterest has these ideas:

sweet pea garden

citrus garden

berry garden

climbing veggies

when my garden starts to look a touch more exciting and once i have dedicated the final patch of earth to something i shall let you see it.

 

summer time

i live in an awesome summer time place.
i am very fortunate to have an (almost) 360 (degree- couldn't find the degree symbol sorry) view of the ocean. and on weekends like this one it has you hanging out for summer, cider and good music.

and cool summer fashion. 

we have a few partays coming along in the summer time so why not start browsing now?

my (cool) sister has some awesome shoes. they are windsor smiths.i love them and want to steal them. infact we've come up with a trading scheme where i will buy another pair- that are pretty rad- and then we can swap so we are suitably shoed for our various social outings. 

here are some snaps and you can buy them here at windsor smith
or here at wild pair.

  next is a summer accessory that i'm rather keen to invest in. the floral headband. what says summer more than flowers in your hair. and what an easy way to 'do' your hair. cheers pinterest for the following images:

will let you know what i end up purchasing....

table cloth

i'm (now) a table cloth geek.

i love them. yet i only own one. and it comes out at christmas. it is the most boring plain table cloth. so this year i'm jazzing things up.
i've also decided i'm going to start a collection. (somebody told me the other day that if you collect things you live longer- somebody probably also told me that if i ran everyday i'd also live longer, but i'm not jumping on that band wagon).

these are the table cloths that are going to be in my collection:

scalloped edge table cloth from sugar and cloth

geoemtric tablecloth from a bubbly life

polka dot tablecloth from ruffles & bells

dotty tablecloth from oh happy day

crosses from pinterest

 

bunting tablecloth from the sweet occasion

stripe tablecloth from oh happy day

 this wee selection shows how seriously easy and effictive d.i.y(ing) is. and how super awesome a table can become with a bit of creativity. 
table cloth for christmas anyone?