Christmas Favours

Favourpic1At this time of year many of us find our diaries full to bursting with social occasions. Whether that means large scale parties or small family gatherings, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get creative and make Christmas favours to give any guest that comes your way.

As a family we make Festive Favours to place in the centre of the table. Cute little cones that are incredibly quick to make and can be filled with anything you like. I fill mine with after dinner mints, but they’d look just as good filled with sugared almonds or chocolate coins. They’re also simple enough that children can make them and have huge versatility when it comes to design. The only limit is your imagination!

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You Will Need:

Card to make the cones

Paper, ribbon, lace and/or ric rac to decorate the cones

Narrow ribbon or string

PVA glue

Tissue paper

Sweets

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Step 1

First you need to make a template for the cones. I did this by drawing around a medium sized plate onto packing paper. The template needs to be 1/3 of the total circle, the easiest way to find this is by folding the circle in half and then each half into 3. This will divide the circle into 6 sections and you want to cut out 2 of these sections which equal 1/3 of the circle.

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Step 2

Using the new template as a guide, cut out several flat cones from coloured card. I used green card but any colour would work just as well. I managed to cut 3 cones out of an A4 piece of card.

Step 3

Now comes the fun part, decoration! Mine are decorated with handmade paper bought in Venice, but wrapping paper, magazine cut-outs or collages all work beautifully. If your children are helping how about getting them to decorate some paper with festive images or stamps.

Spread a layer of glue over your flat card cones and stick to the paper of your choice. Once dry, cut the shape out again.

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Step 4

Take each decorated shape and roll into a cone. The two flat sides should overlap slightly and can be glued or taped together.

Next make a small hole in either side of the cone, this is to attach a ribbon for hanging later. I used a single hole punch, but any sharp object should work..

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Step 5

Finally add some finishing touches to the cones, I used lace, ric rac and sequins. Glitter glue looks fabulous, but anything will work.

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Then thread a piece of ribbon through the holes on each cone and tie ready for hanging. Place a little tissue paper into the base of each cone to act as a cushion. Fill up with your chosen sweets and they’re ready to go.

I like hanging the cones from a mug tree. I bought this from a local charity shop and painted it green. Then I decorated a tin can with Christmas paper and stuck the mug tree on top. You can even glue Christmas decorations onto the tin, making it into a lovely table centre. Of course you could hang them from anything you can think of. I add more cones as necessary while my guests take their yummy favours home.Favourpic8

I originally wrote this tutorial for the Boden Community which has now become the Boden Blog. You can find it if you look through the archives but it’s much quicker to share it direct with my readers over here. 🙂

 

Boden Place Mat Tutorial!

Family gatherings or dinner parties with friends aren’t just about the food, dressing the table plays a big part in proceedings and this tutorial teaches you how to sew your own placemats! I originally wrote this for the Boden Community which has now become the Boden Blog. You might still be able to find it if you look through the archives, but it’s much quicker to share it direct with my readers over here.

Boden Placemats

Boden Placemats

 

Home-made accessories give a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, plus they make fabulous presents if you’re going home-made this Christmas. Armed with a bundle of gorgeous Boden fabric I’ll show you just how I made mine. It’s a very quick method that will have you whipping up mats in no time at all.

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What You’ll Need (for one Mat)

23cm X 15cm piece of fabric (for the middle panel)

Two 23cm X 6cm pieces of fabric

Two 25cm X 6cm pieces of fabric

Matching Thread

Wadding

Backing Fabric

Step 1

Begin by pinning and sewing the two shorter (23cm X 6cm) pieces of fabric, one to each side of the longer edges of the middle panel. I used a small seam allowance, approximately ½cm.

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Step 2

Iron the seams open and then sew the two longer strips to the side edges (this now includes the middle panel and the two fabric strips from step 1). Iron the seams open.

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Step 3

Cut a piece of wadding and backing fabric the same size as your placemat piece is currently. Put the backing fabric down right side up. Add the placemat piece on top right side down (so the right sides of backing and placemat are facing). Then finally place the wadding on the back of the placemat piece. Sew all three pieces together leaving a 5cm gap in one side, this allows you to turn your mat the right way out. Once sewn, trim the wadding back close to the stitches and cut across the corners.

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Step 4

Turn the mat the right way out and iron. Iron and pin where you left the gap and then machine stitch close to the edge all the way around the mat. I also stitched around the middle panel to keep the three layers neatly in place.

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All you need to do now is repeat the steps above and make as many placemats as you like!

 

Boden Placemats

Boden Placemats

 

Autumn Musings

 

Many people seem to feel a kind of displeasure when summer gives way for autumn. Certainly many of my own friends see long nights, rainy days and umbrellas in the months ahead. But I’m actually quite excited to see it making an appearance.

There is just so much to admire about the season as a whole. Fabulous shades of red and gold adorn the trees and bushes, it’s also the perfect time to go exploring and foraging, whether you live in the countryside or city. You just need a little green patch or park and you’ve got a wonderful family day out.

Raincoats and wellies at the ready, my children and I set out for a nature walk in the Derbyshire countryside. We were on a very simple mission, my children were searching for any signs that confirmed autumn was on the way. With a bucket in each hand and free rein to leap in puddles or collect fallen leaves, they had a wonderful time.

I adore these festive Hawthorn Berries, which were liberally scattered along our route. There was also the easily missed but just as beautiful raindrops clinging to a blade of grass . It’s so small and simple, but this patch of humble grass was my daughter’s favourite find. She thought they looked like miniature glass beads and insisted on touching them to check they were water.

We also uncovered an abundance of Elderberries. They poked through hedgerows, twisted through branches and generally made their presence felt. My husband makes wonderful Elderflower Champagne but the berries are always reserved for baking.  As long as they are ripe and de-stemed, cooking thoroughly renders them safe and delicious to eat. They are particularly good mixed with some Bramley apples in a crumble.

Our walk was not confined to wild plants and trees. We also met several cows, a horse and this little cat. Perched on an old wall and watching something moving on the ground intently, she looked as if she’d jumped straight out of a Beatrix Potter book. I don’t think she even noticed her photo being taken!

When we finally arrived home I had a new stash of Elderberries and the children had lots of acorns, leaves and Blackberries (we avoided Toadstools).

Autumn Craft Project

For a quick Autumn Craft Project ask your children to collect fallen leaves in a variety of colours. The flatter the leaf the better! Then pull or cut off the stalks and arrange inside a laminator sheet. Once laminated they look fabulous hung on a window. The sun streams through and almost ignites the jewels shades.

You can also carefully cut out each laminated leaf and make a mobile or garland, the only limit is your imagination. If you don’t have a laminator at home most good stationary stores can laminate in a variety of sizes for a small fee.

So while it’s sad to turn our backs on the summer, autumn has an awful lot of pleasure to offer. At the very least it’s a wonderful excuse to break out your Autumn wardrobe…

This post was originally written by me for the Boden Community.