Christmas baking

It seems that yesterday was a day for baking, as not only had I decided to try my hand at some Swedish lussebulle but another 7 of my friends were also tackling baked goodies in some respect from mince pies to truffles and scones.

Here are the finished lussebulle I made from a saffron bun recipe and I'm rather pleased with them! My parents had two each and seemed to enjoy them, plus I've got another batch in the office with me today to try out on the guineapigs that are my work colleagues!

There's a great recipe for these here.

Pre-Christmas rush

I'm sure most of you have now been caught up in the mad rush up to Christmas; endless lists and tasks to achieve before the big day, plus fitting in all that shopping, contending with crowds and the like?

Thank goodness NitWit Collections have got the Christmas scrapping covered with their new Christmas Memories Album giving us ten 12x12" printable pages you can just add photos to. You can also resize these to print at 8x8" or 6x6" sizes and even print mutliple copies to give as gifts or create decoupage on your own.

French knitting

I don't know how you all got started on crafts, but I very clearly remember my nan teaching me to knit. At first with needles and then a French knitter. I would spend hours creating lengths of French knitting and then sew them together to create a whole range of multicoloured circles using nan's leftovers.

I thought I'd mention this one as I've just spotted this French knitter from Clover and I think these are great things to keep the kids entertained and while away the hours ourselves!

You can use these with wool, cord, embroidery threads with beads and more, so they're a great little versatile tool.

Email clover@stockistenquiries.co.uk or call 01453 883581 for stockists details.

Feeling festive

Well I just couldn't wait until Saturday 1st December to get out my Christmas decorations and get festive!

It all started with a trip down in to town to pick up a choccie advent calendar from Thorntons. I'd decided to keep this at work for a little chocolate fix every day and was very good in waiting until this morning before opening the first window, meaning I got 3 chocs! The advent calendar I bought also have 3 larger penguin chocolates, so I'd decided to have one every Monday until the Christmas break meaning I also got one of those out this morning!

Once I was up and about on Saturday I got out the Christmas decorations and created a Christmas haven! I'm back at home now following the sale of my house and preparing for my move to Sweden next year, so the old bedroom is looking very bright and festive! Dad commented that it was 'very Blackpool', which I've decided to take as a compliment!

Pretty patchwork

Paper quilting is a great way to use up scraps to create a decorative effect and the new Paper Quilt Creations templates from Joanna Sheen give you a range of great design sets with templates and instructions for making a range of projects from fashion elements to sail boats, hearts and more.

Take a look at www.joannasheen.co.uk or call 01626 872405 for the full range.