Inexpensive last minute Christmas ideas....

 

Last minute ideas? Got 'em.

 

Above, Home Made Rocky Road, packaged in gold noodle boxes with gold foil ribbon and gold jingle bells. Just chopped marshmallows, chopped nuts, dried fruit, stirred into as much melted chocolate as you can stand and poured into a lined slice tin. Cut into chunks and package as you wish. Easy peasy.

 

DIY Beeswax wraps? Squares of sheeting, sprinkled with beeswax pellets, and ironed on a towel on the ironing board, sandwiched between two sheets of baking paper. A bit messy, but oh-so-worth-it. I made mine Gingham, and tied them with fat satin ribbon. These are expensive to buy, but literally cost cents to make. As an environmentally friendly alternative to cling wrap, they are brilliant.

 

 

Solid perfumes in lip balm containers are just half beeswax, half sweet almond oil, and 20 drops of fragrance or essential oil. That's enough for four little solid perfumes. I used an oil called Memories that smells like Christmas.

 

The fat, squishy marshmallow recipe is here. I packages mine generously in cellophane bags, and topped them with the gold ribbon too.

 

Spritz cookies are fun and easy and make the most enormous amount from a batch of dough. You do need a cookie press, but I scored mine at a thrift store for $12. Lucky me! If you can be bothered, cooking stores have them for $25-$65. Coat them in sugar or leave them plain. Mine are gluten free, and I used this recipe here.

 

 

A Basket of Sunshine was an easy gift for some favourite teachers. Just anything yellow or gold packaged together in a large basket.

 

Simmer scent packages are simple. A couple of cinnamon sticks, some cloves and some dried orange slices (oven or sun-dried), in a pretty bag or box, with instructions to simmer in a small pan of water for instant Christmas Scent.

 

Tiny gingerbread men, were packaged in Cellophane bags, and also used as toppers on cupcakes. These were welcomed big time! Again, a batch of Gingerbread dough makes an amazing number of gingerbread men, especially miniature ones! I use this recipe here.

 

Snowman face cupcakes are just Vanilla frosted, dipped in caster sugar (superfine sugar), with dark choc chip eyes and smiles and white choc chip noses. These were a huge hit.

 

Next, a tote bag from a tank top. I forget where I saw this tutorial, sorry. But it's just a tank top...the sort with wide straps and a similar scoop front neckline and back, turned sideways so the armholes become the bag handles, and stitched across the bottom. I added a velvet flower. This is a beach bag for my daughter. Strappy camis won't work as the straps can't handle the weight of the contents of the bag. Cute, huh?

 

And of course, last but not least, embellished pillowcases, a favourite of mine. I saved some ribbon from a favourite retro dress shop of daughters, and trimmed pillow cases with it. The others are cotton lace trim and chiffon. I don't hem the chiffon, I let it fray. Really pretty. Again, don't forget to package them prettily.

 

That's it from me!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and thankyou from the bottom of my heart for your attention and comments this year.

 

Love,

 

Mimi xxx