Sharing my festive crafts

How are you all? Recovered from Christmas/New Year's?! Well, if you haven't, hopefully this post will cheer you up :-)

How cute are these little guys?! I saw them at Winchester Christmas market :-)

I've rounded up all of the festive crafty projects I did over November/December and thought I'd share them as one super-juicy tutorial post in place of DIY Saturday.

After watching an episode of Kirstie's Handmade Britain just before Christmas, I realised I'd been bitten by the craft bug. If you've never seen the show, it's definitely, definitely worth checking out. Kirstie Allsopp is the superbly creative host who takes us on a crafty journey to country fairs and arts & crafts markets, showing us along the way how to make various different homemade products.
I was lucky enough to receive her book for Christmas, so you can be sure I'll be posting lots of tutorials in the future! :-)

I made this Orange and Lime Handscrub as a gift for my nan but she almost didn't get it! While making it, I had to test it (of course!) and it left my hands so smooth and smelling gorgeous! I'll be making some for myself soon for sure :-)

It's so simple to do as well. All you need is:

Olive oil
White sugar
Lime or lemon zest
Your favourite essential oil

I used orange essential oil as I thought the fruity, citrus scent would compliment the lime nicely. I popped the handscrub into a small jar and tied that and a small lime together with ribbon. When you use the scrub, using a wedge of lime afterwards will cut through the oil residue, leaving your hands lovely and soft!

I made a really easy artificial wreath for our front door. I bought the base of the wreath very cheaply from my local garden centre and used some spare baubles and bows to decorate it. So simple to do but it was a nice little addition to the front the house :-)

 

You may have already seen the post I wrote a few weeks back now on the Apple, Pear and Cranberry Chutney. Let me tell you, it was delicious! I know that makes me sound incredibly big-headed but I wasn't able to taste it when I first made it. I had to leave it for a month to mature. Thankfully, my curiosity was put to rest when my dad opened his. Yum!!

This is another recipe I'm going to have to re-create for myself! If you would like to have a go yourself, click the link above and let me know how it turns out :-)

I went for simple wrapping this year. My theory was, if I buy a whole roll of brown paper, at least it can be re-used for birthdays etc. and it's very versatile for decoration. I went a bit mad with my wooden alphabet stamps and stick-on snowflakes to make labels but I think it's lovely to receive a gift well-wrapped :-)

So my fellow crafters, what sort of handmade, festive projects did you do over the holidays?

Make sure to pop back soon as I'll be posting tutorials for vintage placemats, chair cushions and a cup & saucer pin cushion!

Must dash, lots to do! :-)

Emily xxx