Gifts for Teachers - Hot Chocolate Spoons

I intended to make these hot chocolate spoons before Christmas but my Mum bought some ready made from Lidl (or possibly Aldi, I get confused) which were perfect for what I needed them for. I thought they would make great gifts for teachers as the end of the school year is fast approaching. If you're like me and have five members of staff at Preschool to buy gifts for then something home-made and inexpensive such as these is perfect. Edible gifts have always gone down well with Preschool staff and the teachers at our school as it's not personal and it's not a mug (although we have bought mugs in the past too!).

For each spoon you will need :

a wooden or plastic spoon, lollipop stick or coffee stirrer
empty yoghurt pot
approx 25g dark chocolate 
A few micro Marshmallows (these were from Asda)
cellophane bags or sheets
ribbon

• Melt the chocolate in the microwave on short bursts until smooth
• Sprinkle a few marshmallows into the base of the yoghurt pot 
• Pour in the chocolate
• Stand the spoon in the pot, you may need to rest against the side
• Sprinkle a few more marshmallows on the top
• Allow to fully set before removing from the pot and wrapping

You can either add a gift tag with instructions for use or write on the back of the spoon 'Stir into hot milk'

Frugal Tips!

• The chocolate doesn't have to be expensive - Asda Smart price dark chocolate at 30p per bar is very nice and works just as well as the more expensive brands. 
• A tip from my Mum is to save the hanging loops (only the satin ribbons not the elasticated ones) from tops and blouses to add the perfect finishing touch to little gifts and they come in all sorts of colours - as well as being free!
• You can find wooden coffee stirrers in the big coffee shops - but you didn't hear that one from me *taps nose*, or you can buy them off Ebay.

These spoons cost around 27p each to make but you could make them cheaper using coffee stirrers or plastic spoons.

If you really want to you could buy the mug too, I'm sure every teacher secretly loves receiving 30 'Best Teacher' mugs every year.

Home-made Christmas Wreath

After being inspired by Mum in the Madhouse to try drying my own orange slices I thought I would have a go at making a Christmas wreath like hers too. It wasn't until I'd hacked a few branches off the Blue Spruce in the back garden and checked the post for instructions how to make the branches into a wreath that I realised Jen had used a pre-made wreath, whoops. 

Determined that somehow I was going to make the wreath I turned to Google, and the legendary Martha Stewart for help. Unfortunately the advice there was to buy a frame to attach the foliage. I then remembered that there was a hideous wire coat hanger in our bedroom that the husband had acquired when he recently had his suit dry cleaned. I'd kept the coat hanger even though I can't stand the things as you just never know when something like this will come in handy. I shaped it into a circular shape and located some wire and pliers, along with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.

I bent strips of wire into hairpin shapes and used them to attach the foliage to the coat hanger by twisting the ends together tightly, and then did the same with the dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks. I used needle & thread to attach the ribbon bows.

 

As the coat hanger already had a ready made hook I used that to hook over a wreath hanger.

I was really pleased with the result and hope that it survives the next couple of weeks with the wind and rain battering it against the front door.

Home-made Advent Stockings

At the beginning of the month I saw a post by Mummy Mummy Mum for an advent calendar, which made me think that Christmas was approaching, and fast. I got thinking straight away about how I could join in with the linky and make an advent calendar of our own. A few years ago I bought a stocking advent calendar from M&S and each year since I've squeezed 2 Cadbury Heroes or Celebrations in each stocking. There was no way of fitting 3 in so Jack has his chocolates in an advent train a couple of years ago and last year I forgot to buy the chocolates and bought last minute chocolate filled calendars from the local shop on 1st December. This year Jack is old enough to want the same as his brother and sister so I decided to make advent stockings large enough for 3 chocolates in each. Typically I threw all of Jack's baby socks out only a few months ago so I needed to buy new ones, which I found in Asda for £2 for 3 pairs of white socks which I dyed red.

You will need:

24 white cotton baby socks
red dye (+ salt for the dyeing)
fabric glue
felt numbers (Ebay)
buttons to decorate
24 mini pegs (I already had these)
length of twine

• Dye the socks as per directions on the pack - 1 pack was enough for 24 baby socks
• Wash & dry the socks
• Stick the numbers onto the socks with the fabric glue
• Decorate with the buttons - sew or glue them on
• Thread the pegs onto the twine and hang in position, securing at each end
• Peg the socks up and fill with chocolates or treats

Homemade Crayons

I've seen various homemade crayons on Pinterest so when, after our Sylvanian Families party earlier in the week, we had lots of broken crayons I decided, instead of throwing them away, to keep them. I was helped by Hanna and a friend to peel that paper off the crayons and sort them into colours.

I bought a jigsaw piece silicone mould off Ebay and then myself and Jack filled the cavities with broken pieces of crayon.

 

We then baked them in the oven at 140°C for 10-15 minutes until the crayons had melted.

Once the crayons had set (with the help of a few minutes in the freezer because we're impatient) I turned them out and Jack tried them out

We made some single coloured crayons and mixed others to make multicoloured crayons. They would be great as party bag fillers and you can get silicone moulds in lots of different designs - I particularly like the Lego men crayons.

Gooseberry Jam

One of my friend's has an allotment and they had an excess of gooseberries and asked if I would like some. I had big ideas of making jams, cakes and fools but in the end only found the time to make jam. When I was younger I remember being given the tedious task of topping and tailing my Great Gran's gooseberries with a pair of nail scissors but unfortunately I had no children around to pass this onto this time so I had to endure it myself. Apart from that, the jam making process was very easy. It's just a case of weighing your gooseberries and using the same weight of granulated sugar. I had just under 1kg and this produced 3 jars of jam.


You just need to bring the gooseberries to the boil with a couple of tablespoons of water and when they've softened add the sugar and simmer until thick. At this point I thought I'd added too much water as it looked very liquid but as it bubbled away it got thicker and thicker. The best way to check to see if it's ready, if you don't have a jam thermometer, is to place a plate into the freezer for a minute or so and then spoon some of the jam onto it. It cools very quickly on the plate and you can tell if it's the right consistency, if not keep simmering.


I was quite surprised that the end result was this colour, I half expected it to be green even though I know gooseberry yoghurts aren't.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

I spotted a recipe for Gingerbread cupcakes in a magazine and thought I would give them a go for the School Christmas Fair but whilst searching the Internet for a mini gingerbread man cutter (to make the decorations for the top) I came across a lovely recipe on The Pink Whisk. I love that blog, the recipes are easy to follow with step by step instructions and Ruth herself is lovely.


I had already seen a simple recipe for Spiced Cookies on Fabulicious Food so I was going to follow that recipe for the mini gingerbread men toppers.


You can find Ruth's recipe for Gingerbread Cupcakes here, but here is my version (different topping).


Gingerbread Cupcakes


115g butter, softened
55g dark brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 large egg
310g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
150ml treacle
230 ml Greek yoghurt


Cinnamon Buttercream


110g butter at room temperature
60ml skimmed milk at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
500g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon

• Cream together the butter and sugars
• Beat in the egg.
• Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture along with the treacle and yoghurt
• Stir until combined
• Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake in 180 degree (C) oven for 25-30 minutes

• Allow cakes to cool on a wire rack before icing
• Beat together the butter, milk, vanilla, half the icing sugar and the cinnamon until smooth and creamy
• Add the rest of the icing sugar and beat well
• Ice the cakes and decorate with mini gingerbread men (recipe here)

Spiced Christmas Cookies

Ever since I lived in the US baking cookies at Christmas has become a tradition in this house. I make them with the Children and  they give them to Aunts Uncles and Grandparents as presents. I'm not very good at writing recipes down that we've used though so unless I can locate the magazine or website where we found the recipe we usually use a different one every year.


This year I have found THE best recipe, it is so easy to make and the dough is so easy to use - no sticking and very easy to roll out - and it tastes great too.


The recipe I found is from Fabulicious Food - Ren has lots of gorgeous recipes on there so if you haven't checked them out already make sure you do. Ren's cookies look amazing, her icing is so neat. I won't show you the iced ones that I made for the Christmas Fair as they are no match for hers!


I decided to use the recipe to make some mini gingerbread men to decorate my Gingerbread Cupcakes but as I made so many I thought it would be nice to wrap them up to sell on the cake stand at the School Christmas Fair alongside the larger iced ones.


Polish Spiced Christmas Cookies

110g unsalted butter 
110g soft, dark brown sugar
6 heaped tablespoons runny honey
1 egg
450g plain flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons mixed spice
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100g icing sugar

• Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a small pan until the butter has just melted
• Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, stir together
• Add the egg and mix well
• Add the melted butter/sugar to the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms
• If the mixture is too dry add water 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together 
• Roll out on a floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin
• Use cutters to cut out the shapes and place on greased baking trays (I use silicone baking sheets)
• Bake in 200 degree (C) oven for 7-8 minutes
• Cool on a wire rack

 

 

I used tulip cupcake cases to hold 15 mini gingerbread men and then placed them into a Christmas cellophane bag.

Asian Chilli Jam

During a bit of a hangover lazy day last Saturday whist I was recovering from a night on the town busy week I caught some of Lorraine Pascale's new cooking show 'Home Cooking Made Easy'.  She was making a chilli jam and as I've become a bit addicted to chutney making recently I thought I would give this one a go as it looked so easy, hardly any chopping, compared to lots of chopping with the chutney I'd made.


You will need :


450g Tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 red chillies, chopped
1cm ginger, grated
250g granulated sugar
60g Balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper


my addition:
50g fresh Cranberries

• Blitz all the ingredients (except cranberries) together in a food processor - I used a mini blender & did it in batches. 
• Pour into a large saucepan, add Cranberries.
• Boil for 25-30 minutes - I boiled mine for around 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.
• Pour into sterilised jars.

Teacup Candles

 

Do you ever have dregs at the bottom of a candle but the wick will no longer light? I get it all the time & I hate  to throw it away, especially as some of them are so expensive. 


I saved up a few old candles and melted the wax down in their glass jars stood in a saucepan of boiling water on the hob and removed the old wick (and any black bits). I used a new wick (these can be picked up from craft stores or Ebay) in a nice Mug - you can use a pretty teacup or Espresso cup. 


I poured the melted wax into the mug and inserted the wick, As it wouldn't stand in the centre on it's own I cut a piece of round cardboard with a hole in the middle and wedged it into the cup to hold the wick in place until the wax had set.

I then wrapped it up in tissue paper and cellophane wrap (you can get this from some florists or buy it online) and tied with a festive ribbon. After you've burnt the candle you can re-use the mug, as long as it's been thoroughly washed out.

If your candles aren't quite the right colour or you have white wax then you can buy dyes to colour them. I've bought a dark brown for when I make candles in Espresso Cups. I bought mine from here. You can also buy fragrance oils to make your candles smell nice too.

* I have burnt this candle right down to the bottom with no dregs remaining, which is a lot better than some of the expensive candles that I've had (mentioning no names). After a wash in the dishwasher it was ready to drink my coffee from again.