Christmastree

This one is very simple - take a sheet of foam rubber, halve it and cut out your treeshape twice. Then cut along the middle, one halfway up, the other halfway down and slot them together.

Rosehip Chutney

My Gran always made her own rosehip & rowanberry jam and it was delicious. Rosehips are full of vitamin C and once deseeded and cooked perfectly edible.

This chutney is made of  750g deseeded and washed rosehips,
                                     chopped in a food processor
                                     8 tbsp of water
                                     125g of sultanas
                                     200g of sugar
                                     200g of diced onions
                                     1/4 l of cider vinegar
                                     salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and
                                     mustard powder

Simmer for 35 minutes and fill into sterilized jars.

Cranberry Liqueur

Simmer 340g of Cranberries with 200g of sugar and 100ml Cassis for about 2-3 minutes. Add 0.75 l white rum and stir. Sift after 3 weeks and fill into a sterilized bottle.

Rolypoly

Cut a piece of strong cardboard tube,close the top end with strong cardboard, glue fabric and 'hair' on and a felt hat.
 Cut out the body and hand twice, sew together apart from an opening for the head.
Put a heavy ballbearing into the tube, glue it shut with strong cardboard and glue the head into the opening of the body.

This fella slowly rolls head over heels down any incline .

The Winter King

This decoration is made out of a felt body and silk for a cape. Hair and beard are made of brushed silk and the body is filled with wool fleece. His crown was cut from silverfoil and his sceptre is a skewer wrapped in tinfoil.
The pattern is similar to the "Felt Fella" (Felt!).

Spinning Top

This is an easy spinning top made from a wooden disc with a hole

drilled in the middle, a wooden stick pushed through that's

sharpened on the bottom, and coloured with crayons.

Fingerpuppets

This is just one character of the fingerpuppets I knitted for the children - they have a hunter, a princess, a king, a magician,.....It only takes about 20 stitches knitted on a set of needles in a round.

Victorian

Take strips of nice paper

and fold them into a globe. Stapel together, add thread to hang up.

You can use any kind of paper for these decorations and add a tassel at the bottom if it is not too heavy.

Coffee Syrup

For anyone who likes their lattes here is a quick recipe for gingerbread syrup:

                                   2 cups of water
                                   2 cups of sugar
                                   1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
                                   1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of gingerbread spice

Simmer the sugar and water and stir continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved, add vanilla extract and spice (depending upon how strongly you want to flavour the syrup) and fill into a sterilized bottle
(wash in very hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, dry and put into a hot oven for a bit - take care and use tongs to remove them). Add a pretty label.
Alternatively you can flavour the syrup with 1/2 cup of caramel syrup or pureed raspberries or some hazelnut liqueur or just with the vanilla .

Ornaments

Take gold or silver card,



cut into strips,



bend into shape and staple the ends together.

You can use coloured card, images from calendars or photostrips glued onto another layer of card and add thread to hang the ornaments up.