Christmas tips   & Gift Ideas * * * * * * * * *

Have a wonderful Christmas & a very Happy Safe New Year

I love Christmas it is my favourite time of the Year.  For me it is a chance to be with friends and family.  I don't believe in all the expense and love to make my friends and neighbours homemade gifts.  The following are just some ideas I'd like to share with you - Please let me add any great ideas that you have. Yuletide Potpourri One way to make people feel more festive in the middle of summer (for those of us who live in Australia) is to make a potpourri that is not only decorative but one that spreads a nice Christmas fragrance through the house.  Take a large shallow bowl and fill with pine cones, hazelnuts, pine bark, cinnamon sticks (wrap in bundles & tie with red satin ribbon) and cypress twigs.  To enhance the fragrance, add a few drops of Juniper berry oil to the pine cones.  A few artificial red berries look good. Herb Vinegar If you have friends who love to cook then this present will be a hit.  Place a combination of fresh herbs, bay leaves, garlic, chillies, ginger, lemon rind and cracked peppercorns into sterilised bottles.  Fill with white wine vinegar. Store in a cool place, up to 8 weeks. Tie a tag on with herbs used.  Great for salads etc Chilli Oil Warm 4 litres of good oil (Olive oil is great) add 8 chopped chillies and 4 cloves crushed garlic. Place in cupboard and shake every day for five days.  Strain and pour into sterilised bottles. Place a couple of fresh chillies in for decoration, tie a nice hand made tag - use in sautes & stir fries.  (Keep sauce bottles etc and re-use) Garden Pot A terracotta pot with a packet of seeds & a garden fork, wrapped in celephane and tied with ribbon makes a great gift for kids eg flower seeds, or adults using packet herbs or tomatoes etc. Christmas Themes & Wrappings Pick a theme or colour idea for Christmas.  For example everything gold or silver, or brown paper and tartan.  Butchers paper and red or green ribbons look great.  Using childrens paintings makes great gifts for family members.  Awkard shaped gifts or gifts fot teenagers can be wrapped in bandana's or scarfs etc Candles A friend Rondo reminded me of using candles at Christmas time - especially Christmas Eve, fill the house with candle light.  Another idea which I love is to use candles as centre pieces - you can make a great display by hollowing out apples & placing tea candles inside, place on a nice plate and decorate with holly or ivy - looks great. Paint Christmas isn't Christmas without a couple of tins of spray paint - I always have the following colours. Red, Green, Silver and Gold.  You can spray, gum nuts (Australian) or bush pods, leaves, fruit, almonds and walnuts in shells, candles etc they look wonderful.  Email me if you need more info. Bananas  Ken sent me this great recipe Get a banana slice it down the middle but not thru, place some chocolate   pieces in it then wrap it in foil, place it in a milk carton and light   the carton ,with a match, when it falls over carefully take the banana   out of the foil not you have a nice dessert Hot Choc Banana , [ just   place the carton outside on a path to burn ] My little receipe for the month. THIS PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS     This candle takes you home       This wonderful background is from