Simple Necklace Display Idea

I am such a lover of brightly coloured beads. I think I was a Bowerbird in my past life! My friends and family all know of my love so I am lucky to receive them for birthdays and Christmas and I also pick some up on my travels. I am not one for an expensive purchase so most of them are simply cheap and cheerful, but don't you love the colours!

I have been trying to think of a way to display them for ages that gets them out of my draw and makes them more visible so I don't forget about what I have!

Well here is what I came up with. A couple of cheap towel rails from the local hardware store a a few packs of shower curtain C hooks and voila! I hung these up on the back of our walk in wardrobe door and I am thrilled by the result! Don't you think I could open a shop!

Hanging them up was like opening the presents on Christmas morning! I had forgotten about some of them and it was like finding a long lost friends again! I also found myself looking at them and remembering happy occasions, parties and events where I had worn them!

Gosh it was a fun de-cluttering job!

Environmentally Friendly Sandwich Wrap

I love to make a whole lot of school sandwiches at once and freeze them to save time during the week. I make them up and store them in a Tupperware container in the freezer until they are required.

I am really grateful to Waxed Paper,which keeps them all separate but is not a landfill issue like snap lock bags are.

Available at the local supermarket with plastic wraps and bags. It has really lost it's popularity but why that is so is unknown to me! Perhaps I will start a Facebook Page to get it a following again!

So easy!

Rocky Road

Another of my favourite Christmas treats is Rocky Road. I take it everywhere at Christmas and always seem to have a batch on the go! I love that it is different everytime I make it, all depends on what is in the supermarket and whatever craving I am having at the time!

My core ingredients are:

1 x pack of Nestle Chocolate Melts

1 x pack of Allens Marshmallows and 

1 x pack of Ripe Raspberries (chewy jellies) Allens are great but Black and Gold are just as good.

To that I sometimes add a couple of handfuls of unsalted peanuts, some coconut, some honey comb (Violet Crumble or Crunchie smashed up), maybe some kind of caramel chocolate bar chopped (Mars) or some Crunchie clusters.

Chop up the choc bars to small pieces, and halve the raspberries then melt the chocolate melts and add it to all the other ingredients! Stir to combine then spread onto a tray that is covered in greaseproof paper and refrigerate! Simple and soooooo yumm

So much fun to make!

 

And I can pretty much always guarantee at least one little helper will help me clean-up!

Christmas Reindeer Tiny Teddy Cookies

Don't you just love these! We made them today at school with the reception kids!

Arnott's Milk Arrowroot biscuits, basic white or butter cream icing, choc bits, jaffas and Tiny Teddies for the antlers! How easy are they?

I love the whole assembly thing for reception kids as cooking can get a bit tough as they want to eat everything straight away and get so frustrated having to wait for it to cook!

Any hoo, I am off to make more for Chrismas gifts now ....toodles!

Festive Food

So I have a new favourite party favourite that I absolutely have to share with you....... Bambino cones from Gelatissimo!

Check out these little delights! Great for an after dinner sneaky treat, fab size for the kiddies and the perfect gift for the hostess with the mostess who insists that you shouldn't bring a thing!

They are yummo bite-sized mini cones filled with chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, mint, raspberry and mango gelato then dipped in coloured chocolate.  They sell them in store and you get to take them home in an insulated foam packs so they don't melt!

 

We serve them at the end of the dinner with coffee and put them in a short glass so they look like a festive bunch of flowers..... Excuse me for a little while, I just have to pop out and pick something up....I have a hankering for something sweet!

Love naughty little indulgences!

 

Gingerbread Houses ... kind of!!

One of my favourite things about Christmas is the food! It is always for decorative and beautiful that you almost don't want to eat it! I must spend about 6 months of the year planning what I will be cooking for Christmas lunch!

Let me share some images of some of my favourite things in particular.....Gingerbread house made from Graham Crackers or Nice biscuits!

I can't claim these designs but I want to show you what some of those very talented people out there have been up to!  I am so inspired! I'll post images of my house next week (hopefully....unless I eat it first!)

Which one is your favourite?

Isn't this gorgeous!

The basic structure to start from!

 

ooooohhh fairy houses!

And this gorgeous one from Martha Stewart......divine!!!

Enjoy the food of the season!

Tiny Teddy Racing Cars

Having just posted a recipe for very delightful Tic Toc Teacups, I wanted to put up an option for those of us who have boys! There are a few ideas out there but this one has to be my favourite!

As I have said previously, sweet foods don't really feature much in our house outside of parties and even then sparingly! This one is a good option for a lolly bag though as they are not too big and are a bit more fun than a lot of the normal sickly sweets on offer! Not to mention that they are really cute and easy to make!

Check out these little dudes.....

How cute are they!! And ridiculously easy to make!

What you need:

1 pack Arnotts Tiny Teddies
2 packs Mini Mars Bars or Mini Milky Ways
1  x 250gm pack of Smarties, M&Ms or Skittles
60gm bar of plain milk chocolate (as the glue)

1) First things first,  you need to gently push the Teddies in to the chocolate bars. If you have any difficulties, you can make a small hole using a spoon or knife to help you out.

2) Lastly, use a teaspoon to carefully dab a small spot of chocolate on the side of a Smartie then gently press the Smarties in the position of the wheels! Complete them all and you are done! How good is that!

A bit more boy friendly and definitely loved by all!

I have seen these done at a few parties but I love this version where they are used as cake toppers....

Maybe it is the colours, maybe it is the fact that you can make them ahead of time then quietly put them on the cake last minute...not sure, just LOVE it! Thanks for the cake idea Joey's mom!

Have a great weekend everyone....