12th Craft of Craftmas - Recycle Christmas!

We are all a little guilty over the festive period of taking things to excess. Too much money spent, too much to drink and eat, too many presents..... the list goes on. So for the final craft of the 2013 Craftmas I  thought it would be good to look forwards to next Christmas and do some recycling.

Instead of just putting all those beautiful Christmas cards in the recycling bin why not do something else with them first, make next years present labels!

Look through all the cards work out which have some good designs on and simply cut away. Check that there isn't anything writern on the other side before cutting them up. Punch a hole in it and pop somewhere safe for next year. I have a draw where I keep bits and bobs like this, ribbons etc. always handy to have!

So Merry end of Craftmas 2013 everyone, its been a fun challenge looking forwards to next year already!

11th Craft of Craftmas - Christmas Dinner (of course)

Only a very quick post today as it is Christmas and there is family and friends around.

Todays crafty activity is of course Christmas Dinner! Very modest as usual for us but still just as tasty. We follow two simple rules with our Christmas dinner, 1) we never have turkey and 2) we have all the trimmings we want, so thats means stuffing, pigs in blankets and yorkshires are all in!

Here are some simple tricks we always do to make dinner extra tasty if you fancy a try:

• Gravy MUST have a good glug of red wine
• Par boiled potatoes need a good shake in the saucepan so they get nice and fluffy before going in the hot oil
• Home made yorkies are alway the best (recipe below)

Homemade yorkshires

Mix all of the ingredients in a pyrex jug

100ml milk

2 eggs

70g plain flour

Put some oil into either a 4 park yorkshire pudding dish or into a smaller muffin pans, put the pan in the oven so that the oil become really hot. Pour in the batter equally into each dish and put a sprinkling of pepper in the centre to help get the traditional yorkshire pudding rise. Put them into a hot oven for 20mins leaving undisturbed - easy!

Hope you have all had a wonderful day whatever you have been doing

!Merry Christmas to one an all!

Nice picture of some ducks swimming along a flooded River Thames at sunset just to finish the day

10th Craft of Craftmas - 15min Christmas Wreath

Its been such a beautiful day here (compared to the awful storms yesterday) that I couldn't resist being outside for a little bit. As such Mum and I decided to make another wreath (why not its Christmas!). This one I have labelled our 15min wreath as it really was so quick to do.

Using the thin branches that are left once all the leaves fall off silver birch trees and tied them in a tight loop with several bits of string. Then we took the following:

Holly

Ivy

Lavender

Rosemary

Dried oranges and apples

Cinnamon sticks

Then the really easy bit, you simply poke the ends of all the greenery into the silver birch twigs, no need for tying together as the birch will help everything stay in place. The only bit of garden wire I used was to attach the dried apple and orange by inserting a bit of wire through each segment. To finish off I tied a bow to the top using some festive ribbon and attached it to the front door! 

9th Craft of Craftmas - Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Panicing that there is someone you have forgotten to get something for? Then fear not you can make some decadent homemade chocolate truffles. Here is a very simple recipe - although you do need to allow some time to make it. 

The ingredients for these truffles includes things that people would normally have lurking in cupboards over the holidays. 

Ingredients (this will make about 25 truffles)


25g butter
140g 70% dark chocolate
145ml of double cream

flavours:
liquors/alcohol of your choice
orange

possible coatings:
cocoa powder
desiccated coconut
chopped hazelnuts
edible sparkles

1) break the chocolate into small pieces and put in a pyrex bowl
2) heat the butter and cream in a saucepan until the butter has melted and it reaches simmering point
3) poor the cream over the chocolate and mix until a smooth consistency
4) depending on the flavours you want to use split the mixture into separate smaller bowls 
5) add your flavourings, roughly a tsp at a time and mix, taste and see how you like the flavours. The combinations I used were orange zest with orange flower water (juice works just as well), whiskey and rum
6) allow to cool for 4 hours (you can speed up this process in the fridge)
7) put each of your coatings on a small plate
8) take the mixtures out of the fridge and check that they are now nice and stiff. To shape each truffle lightly coat you hands in vegetable oil and using a teaspoon or melon baller dipped in warm water take out a spoon of the mixture, roll it in your hands to make a ball.
9) immediately after you shape the balls roll it in your chosen coating
10) put your truffles in small cases and put in a little box or cellophane wrapper to give away

8th Craft of Craftmas - Cheats Homemade Crackers

Hello all,

Well Christmas Eve is upon us which means lots of cooking and crafting in out household. No mad panics or stresses just me and mum enjoying spending quality time together making food for our small number of guests to help us consume.

Earlier this morning Mum decided to make a start on our crackers for tomorrows dinner and we have a simple way to make shop brought crackers a little bit more exciting than the basic plastic useless toy that normally gets discarded within minutes. 

So why not adapt some existing crackers but with your own personal touches. We got a box of 12 crackers from Waitrose for just £5 - bargain (there are only 5 of us for dinner tomorrow so they will do for next year too!). Mum has then been on the hunt for little individual gifts for us all that can fit in out crackers.

Simply untie the tags which hold one end of the cracker together, open it up slightly so that you can pop your little gift inside and retie - what could be easier than that! Of course you can then adorn the crackers with more exciting ribbon or put a label on for each of your guests. Easy, slightly cheating, craft for Christmas Eve morning.

Ive no idea whats in any of the crackers as Mum kept it a secret - something else to look forwards to tomorrow.

7th Craft of Craftmas - Christmas Cake Part 2

Well, the cake has been fed on orange liqueur for a few weeks and is finally ready for icing. I undertook this task this afternoon and I'm delighted, it looks fantastic - truly too good to eat!

Instead of a marzipan layer this one uses a pistachio and almond paste and it is scrummy. This also forms the decorative trees which were place on top. The icing (done with egg whites, liquid glucose and sugar) has a wonderful snowy texture and forms beautiful peaks on which these trees can sit. Finally a sprinkling of icing sugar for snow and truly we have an enchanted forest cake!

As before the full recipe can be found on this link to the Good Food website.

6th Craft of Craftmas - different ways with Mincemeat

I often look back and wonder why there was a point in my life where I didn't like mince pies. From the ages of about 7-14 I would refuse to eat them or anything else that was associated with mincemeat in general. Now however I cannot imaging a Christmas with out them. Over the last few years I've been experimenting with different types of home made mincemeat and I've finally settled on the one that I think is the best so I am going to share this with you today and some inventive ways to use them.

My mince meat recipe is one by Mary Berry and it is fantastic. It used all butter instead of suet, which I think is great. Not only does it make it vegetarian (which means Lawrence can eat it) but it gives it a lovely flavour. Of course as with Mary's classic recipes is have an excellent does of alcohol give the mincemeat a real kick! If you want to have a go at making this delicious mincemeat the recipe is given here on Mary's website.

This morning I decided not to venture outside in the wind and rain and to have a morning of baking and making yummy Christmas things in the kitchen (secretly love days like this). So first of all on the list was mince pies. As we are the "Bell" house hold we always add a little extra touch to our mince pies, instead of putting on an entire lid to the pie with simply add a little pastry bell.

So a new and different way with mincemeat - mum found this Paul Hollywood recipe in the Christmas edition of Good Food magazine (again!). Oh my goodness these were scrum my and really simple to do. You take your normal brownies recipe and then put dollops of mincemeat mixture on the top of the brownie which then soaks in - yum!

Here is the recipe for you all to try:
4oz unsalted butter (cubed)
7oz dark chocolate (broken up)
4 eggs
9oz caster sugar
4oz plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1oz coco powder
6oz mince meat

oven pre heated to 160c fan oven
20cm square tin lined with baking parchment

optional: in the recipe these are included I'm not sure they are needed depending on your mincemeat recipe
4oz walnut pieces
2oz cranberries

1 - melt chocolate and butter in a pyrex bowl over some simmering water and leave to cool slightly
2 - whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and then fold in the chocolate mixture
3 - sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa then also fold these in too
4 - pour all the mixture into the tin
5 - put dollops of the mincemeat over the surface of the brownie
6 - bake for 40-45 mins, until soft in the middle, with a nice crust on the outside
7 - leave to cool, cut into slices and cut into small squares, sprinkle with icing sugar serve

5th Day of Craftmas - Sam's Christmas Star

It was my last day at work today, and after out lab Ecology and Evolution Lab Christmas lunch yesterday, everyone was in a very festive mood and looking forwards to going home for the holidays. Needless to say that little or no work at all was really done today! 

However, something productive has come out of this week. We all had a fun lesson from the lovely Sam who taught us how all to make amazing paper stars. I thought that I would share this with you all step by step. 

1 - Take a square of paper (any size - however big you want your star to be)

2 - Fold the paper in half.

3 -  Fold it in half again and cut almost to the very edge of paper along the lines drawn in pencil. The fold of the paper is at the bottom of this diagram and the open edges of the folds along the left side and top edge.

4 - Open up the square, this shows you how the cutting should look.

5 - Taking the very centre of the square using a pencil or other round object role the paper around it and glue so that it forms a roll.

6 - Repeat this rolling process for the rest of the section which have been cut but working in opposite directions each time. So for example, if you role the first section of the square towards you, turn the square over and then roll towards to you again. Keep doing this until you have all the sides glued together. Complete steps 1-6 again until you have 6 rolls.

7 - Take three rolls and glue together as shown. Do this for the other set of three.

8 - Now glue and pinch the ends of the star together. You need to do this twice to each set of three.

9 - Join these two bits together, you might need to put a staple through the middle and touching edges here to help with stability.

Enjoy you beautiful paper star, would love to see how over people get on with this tutorial or if you have any advice for other ways to make 3D stars. 

4th Craft of Craftmas - Christmas Card 2013

I've been waiting to share this craft for some time now but I had to wait until everyone had received that cards. This has happened now so I can finally put show you all my photos.

Recently, I have been getting really interested in trying out lino cutting. This has come from seeing so many inspirational prints from local artists in Oxfordshire such as Susan Wheeler. Although I am no where near the stage of trying out such complex prints I wanted to start with a small print that would involve a few layers to allow me to practise with building up colours. So I thought making my own Christmas cards would be a good place to start. 

First of all I came up with my design and sketched out what I had in mind. As I work with socials insect I really wanted to try and make this a different card that people would remember. So I settled on the idea of doing a leaf-cutter ant but instead of carrying the normal tropical foliage it would carry a holly leaf.

I tool three pieces of lino and sketch out the ant, holly leaf and berries onto them. This took me some time to get used to the cutters so I had a spare section of lino which I used to trial out each different blade. It was really good fun and very satisfying to see my image build up as I removed the background. 

The paint I used here was just ordinary acrylic which can be picked up in every good art supply shop. As my image was quite small I dabbed on the paint using a sponge cut up into several pieces. This worked really well and after a few practice ants I discovered that it was best not to water down the paint.

Then the task comes to printing it onto the card. The ant was the easiest as it was the first layer. I would let each ant dry thoroughly before putting on the holly leave. This was the hardest bit to line up, but again after a few rough attempts, I managed to line everything up nicely. Again I let the green pain dry before putting on the berries.

And there you have it, my first ever lino cutting, and first home made science related Christmas cards. On to a winner here I think, the cards turned out so much better than I had hope they would. Fingers crossed people will be as delighted to receive them as I was to make them. 

3rd Craft of Craftmas - A Christmas Outing

Ok, so an outing is not really a craft but felt the need to share!

Last night I took my parents to see a production of the Lion the White and the Wardrobe which has been running at the Redgrave Theatre which is part of Clifton College.

One of my dearest old school friends, Monica Nash (aka Mrs Beaver) is currently studying at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school and this is the first production that she has been in since starting. It was just a wonderful production, and so perfect for near to Christmas. There were lots of families in the audience and it was lovely to see their reactions, especially towards the death of Aslan with the White Witch and all the evil forest creatures! 

Unfortunately, the rest of the production is completely sold out so I am unable to encourage you all to go and get tickets but please look out for their next production in 2014 - the Merry Wives of Windsor - I believe. If this production was anything to go by it will be fantastic.

So only a very quick post today, but tomorrows craft will be great, watch this space!

(apologies for the poor photos, the cameras on iPads just cant cope at night!)

First day of Craftsmas 2013 - Christmas Wreath

For a number of years now I have wanted to try something, and as with many plans, other things always mange to get in the way. This year I am going to attempt something new (roping mum in to help of course!).

"The Twelve Days of Craftsmas".

The idea behind this is very simple, throughout December we will aim to try 12 new crafts, be this from making thoughtful gifts for loved ones or tasty treats for Christmas feasts. December is such a lovely time of year for such a challenge with so much festivity in the air who can't help but get their craft on! So here we are December 2013, and already it is only 12 days until Christmas so I have better get the first craft in quick!

One the first day of Craftmas 2013 we attempted .... a Christmas wreath!

Making this wreath was actually so much more fun that I though it would be and not too difficult. Here is how we did it ....

What you need:

1 florist wire ring

Florist moss 

Bowl of water

Festive greens (holly (preferably with berries), ivy etc)

Dried oranges (shop brought or home made)

Cinnamon sticks

Gold spray paint

Ribbon

Gardener wire

Garden clippers

Instructions:

1) Stuff the florist ring with the moss so that it is tightly packed

2) Allow the moss to soak for at least 30mins

3) Take it out and allow the majority of the drips off the soaked moss

4) In the mean time start preparing you greens. Look for the parts of the plants you like most and trim to suit you.

5) Pick a few holly leaves and cut leaving a large amount of stem. On some news paper spray gold in a well ventilated areas - outside is best for this. 

6) Loop your ribbon around the back of the wire ring and tie in a bow. Try holding this up to see how it will hang on your door. This will now be the top of your wreath.

7) Now comes the fun bit, starting to construct your wreath. Starting with you very green ivy, work around the edge of the wreath tucking in the stems to give you a good base line to work with. Do this until the outer and inner edge of the metal ring is no longer visible. Use garden wire to secure into place.

8) Next working with the Ivy start filling in the middle of the wreath. Ensure you have some of the red berries dotted around the edge to give some restive colour. Use garden wire to secure.

9) Next start adding things like the dried oranges and cinnamon sticks, this of course can be complete to you taste. Dot around your ring until not more moss is visible. If you have any other favourite winter plants that you think will improve your wreath even more then add them too. Secure all of these with the garden wire. 

10) Take my step back and admire your handy work! Check that the ribbon is enough to support your wreath and then hang it up. I did plan to put this one on my door but I loved it too much and wanted to see it all the time to hung it in the kitchen instead! 

So what do we think..... I must admit I am pretty proud of this one!

What crafts have you tried so far this month?

2nd Craft of Craftmas 2013 - Christmas Cake Part 1

Hello all,
So many apologies for the last few delays of post. I've been away at my annual social insect conference at Royal Holloway University of London and with networking, listening too and giving talks my Craftmas post have already been neglected only a few days in!

But I am now back from the conference and winding down work for the holidays and will be posting like mad to get back into my 12 posts for Christmas related crafts.

So cheating a little bit with this post today. I did activity right at the beginning of the month but wanted to wait until nearer Christmas to share - but for the first time ever I have tried to make Christmas cake.

I must be the first to admit that I have never really been a big fan of Christmas cake, maybe I have just had a few bad ones, dry cake, too much marzipan and hard tasteless icing. However, I do like the idea of the tradition of making Christmas cake. So this year my friend Sam and I from work decided that we would have a go a making them. Lots of searching was done to find a new recipe that I thought sounded good and I stuck on this one "Enchanted forest Christmas cake" which can be found in the December 2013 issue of BBC Good Food magazine. 

It sounded great, not as much of a traditional cake. Full of really interesting fruit, dried cranberries, figs and apricots. All soaked in orange liquor - yummy! The smell that surrounded my apartment was amazing so as long as it tastes as good as it smells it will be one amazing cake. 

You can see the full recipe here.

There will be another post soon which will include icing and some much more interesting photos of putting the cake together!