Tag: christmas

Thank you cards using left over Wrapping Paper!

thank you cardsWhat on earth can you do with all the left over wrapping paper?  It takes you ages to wrap them and about 5 seconds for the kids to tear them apart.  If I’m honest we do burn a lot of it but I do hold a small selection back for crafting.

I’ve done this in the past for Birthdays but decided to do it again for Christmas as it’s incredibly easy.  I’m a bit of a stickler for Thank you cards as I feel it’s very important  but do find them taxing at times.

You will need

  • Selection of wrapping paper
  • PVA glue
  • Water
  • A4 paper
  • Prit Stick
  • Scissors
  • Wiggly Scissors (Pinking or Scalloped)
  • A4 Card – any colour will do.

How to:

  1. Tear the wrapping paper into piecesthank you cards
  2. Mix a bit of PVA glue and water
  3. Cover the A4 paper, the more random the better using the PVA GlueThank You cards
  4. Leave to dry
  5. Cut out a random selection of shapes.  We chose hearts as it as for Thank you cards, but you could be a bit more creative and cut out a big T and Y for Thank you.photo (24)
  6. Cut the A4 card in half and then fold to make A5 cards.
  7. Use the Prit Stick to Glue the shapes on the front of the cards
  8. You can use the wiggly scissors to cut the edges of the card.

Voila you’re done!

If you decide to have a go I’d love to see the results!  I’d also love more ideas for using up some of this paper.

I hope you’ve had a fabulous Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Eva’s Slow Cooker Mince Meat Pies

slow cooker mince piesI was inspired by @utterlyscrummy to have a go at making mince pies using my slow cooker.  I’ve never made mince pies in my life and I almost chickened out when I saw you can buy a box of them for a £1.  However, the end result was much better than I expected and we all had fun making them.

I roped in my neighbour ‘Eva’, an aficionado in the kitchen, to give me a hand.  We’re very different in the kitchen.  I tend to follow recipes like a science experiment but she just bungs everything in similar to the Muppet’s Swedish Chef.

However, this is the recipe we cobbled together in the end.

Makes:  12 Mince Pies

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 tsp of Clementine Zest (approx ½ a Clementine)
  • 5 small dessert apples or 2 large cooking apples.  Cored and roughly chopped.  We used Royal Gala.
  • 2 Cardamon pods (Big Brown ones) cracked to release the flavour
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • 2 tsp of mixed spice
  • 4 cloves
  • 500g of Dried Mixed Fruit
  • 1 TBSP of Light Muscovado Sugar
  • 1 TBSP of Dark Muscovado Sugar
  • 125 of Apple Juice

Pastry

  • 500g Dessert Pastry Block you could also use regular shortcut pastry.

Method:

1.)  Throw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, mix well and cover and cook overnight.  Approx 10-12 hours.
2.)  Roll out the pastry block on a lightly floured surface until it is 2-3mm in thickness.  Try not to handle the pastry too much or it becomes tough.  Use a fluted edge cutter to make the bases.  It should be a 2-3 cm bigger in diameter than the openings in the muffin tins.  Gentle encourage them in.flutedcutter
3.) Fill the bases about 2/3 full of the filling.

4.) We used a selection of star cutters to make our tops.

starcutter

5.) Pop in the oven for 20 minutes at 160 degrees.

startops

6.) Remove from tin while still warm and place on a cooling rack.

7.) Use a sifter to sprinkle icing sugar on top.

Mince Pies

They tasted so much better than store bought ones!  Enjoy!

Will you be using your Slow Cooker over the holidays?  Pop your recipes below.

Don’t forget we’re also on Pinterest with over 80 Slow Cooker Recipes to inspire you.

Merry Christmas and All the best in 2013!



Family Christmas Activities at the Science Museum, London

If you’re stuck for things to do over the Christmas Holidays, I really rate the Science Museum in London.  We went last Saturday and had a brilliant day and learned a lot.

After a bit of deliberating we decided to drive in, as it worked out cheaper than taking the train even with the price of parking.  We did have a bit of a surprise when we arrived as the underground car park we normally use, is no longer in use.  But thanks to a very kind Black Cab driver, we found street parking just around the corner to the museum on Prince Consort Rd, which was about £14 for four hours.

The museum itself is free but there is a suggested donation of £5.   We went to see the Legend of Apollo 4-D, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Landing on the moon.  If you’re like me you’re probably wondering what 4D is?  We had a bit of a surprise on our quick trip to the moon, our chairs started to shake as we went through the atmosphere and we landed on the moon with a bit of a bump, bombed around in a space buggy collecting rocks,  learned what the moon smells like and then splashed back to earth.

If you do go do make sure you make a day of it as there is so much to see and do at the Museum.  We barely made a dent in it.  Our daughter is 5, so if you have children of a similar age, I really recommend the Basement where you will find the Garden an interactive play area and a theatre with different shows throughout the day; we saw the Bubble Show and it was great fun.

The Museum is open every day except 24 – 26 December, and stays open until 19.00 (last entry 18.15) during the school holidays.  For a full list of their Family Christmas Activities 2012 click here.  I quite fancy the Festive Physics show.  Could Reindeers really fly?  Why do crackers crack?

Disclosure:  Our tickets to the 4D Cinema were complimentary.

 

Decorating the tree should not be stressful???

Fess up!  Do you let your kids help decorate the tree and then rearrange the decorations once they’ve gone to bed?  I’m a bit obsessive when it comes to things like this.  It may be the Libra in me, everything has to be balanced.  Prior to having kids my tree wasn’t perfect, like Michelle Obama’s, but all my decorations were colour coordinated and strategically placed.

However, since having my daughter, the first couple of years were fine, as she was too little to get involved and was happy staring at the shiny bulbs and flashing lights.  But for the last 2 or 3 years she has been fully involved with decorating the tree including making her own decorations, resulting in a tree that looks like it’s had decorations thrown at it from across the room, causing me a mild amount of inner angst.   If I’m honest, the first couple of times she helped I did do a bit of rearranging when she’d gone to bed.

I’m pleased to announce and without therapy, I have not moved a single decoration this year, now that she is 5.  But I have to confess, it may be because she did a rather good job herself and not that I have chilled out; maybe she’s inherited my obsession.

And on a side note, does everyone else have difficulties taking  decent photo of a Christmas Tree?

Disclosure:   The Warm Cone Lights were Compliments of Notcutts

So why the h*ll is it called a Snood?

I appreciate you can wear it around your neck like a scarf or pull it up over your head like a hoody?  So, why is it not call a Scoody, Hoofy, Scardy, Shoody, Hody, Horf or some other daft combination?  The ‘sn’ bit has me a bit perplexed.  Can anyone shed some light on this?

But who cares about all that, the most important thing is that this Lambswool Snood is keeping me toasty during this cold snap we’re having!  Yes, I’ve been wearing it indoors recently.

Disclosure:  The Snood was compliments of Presents for Men