HANDMADE WITH LOVE Add meaning to festivities with thoughtfully handcrafted touches.

Handmade

WITH LOVE

Add meaningful touches and start new traditions this Christmas with lovingly crafted decorations and presents

BELOW Take time to set the scene with handmade baubles, foraged pinecones and scented candles. Try a calendar candle for added charm to count down to the big day. Scented Christmas Calendar Candle, Red Brown, £19; Hand-painted Glass Ornaments (two seen in bowl), £19 for a set of four, all Ferm Living T he festive season is the ideal opportunity to show our nearest and dearest how much they truly mean to us. There is, of course, immense pleasure to be had in spoiling loved ones with generous shop-bought gifts, but taking the time, thought and care to make them gladdens the heart and lifts the spirits of both the giver and the receiver.

Creative foundations

The draw and appeal of creating thoughtful elements to incorporate into the festive season is a strong one, and whilst creativity, enthusiasm and time can range from limited to abundant, taking a measured approach will ensure that the process and its pleasures are seamlessly incorporated into celebrations. “Start with areas that would naturally prompt creative ideas in the run-up to Christmas, such as advent calendars. Rather than purchasing a new one every year, try making your own advent calendar bunting using pockets of fabric,” says paint and colour expert Annie Sloan, suggesting thoughtful gifts from independent stores and homemade treats as suitable fillings. “Getting the advent calendar out of the loft and hanging it up every year will become a wonderful new family tradition that you can be proud of,” she adds.

Extending artistic endeavours to other areas of Christmas preparations will fire up the creative process, not to mention add a further dimension and fun element to tasks such as preparing presents, writing cards or adding embellishments. Customising paper, tags and other details allows for playfulness and experimentation. Gift wrap naturally falls under the spotlight as the primary area of focus.

“Home-made gift wrap is so much more special than shop-bought, and immediately lets your recipient know that the gift inside has been chosen with love,” says Sloan, who adds that going back to basics is a great way to get started. “Try making your own by using Chalk Paint and potato prints. You can print whole rolls at speed, and young hands love to help – it’s a great seasonal activity to keep them busy.” Consider, too, a return to plain brown paper, or even monochrome newsprint, both of which keep environmental impact low and are easy to recycle.

How to make a ribbon-covered bauble

You will need:

A polystyrene ball 2 types of ribbon Scissors Glue Crochet flower

• Cut the ribbons into strips of equal length (each long enough to cover half the circumference of the polystyrene ball). • Fix the ribbon strips alternately with glue until the whole ball is covered. • Next cut a length of ribbon for hanging the bauble. • Fix the ends of the ribbon to the top of the bauble and glue a small crochet flower on top. • Allow to dry completely.

Adding personalised touches brings further charm – ribbon, twine or coloured string can be used to wrap packages, whilst gift tags can be created from old maps or tickets saved as reminders from times spent together, or adorned with small bells or tree decorations with the recipient’s name for use in future Christmases.

Handwritten calligraphy-style notes on gift tags or place cards show care a nd consideration, too. Visit Bath-based Meticulous Ink’s website meticulousink.com for illuminating insights into the process. Bespoke stamps from specialist sources such as The English Stamp Company (englishstamp.com) also provide a thoughtful touch and make guests feel special.

Simple style

Getting creative need not mean complex schemes and grand plans – often, keeping things simple is best for making maximum impact, especially when it comes to elements such as festive favours. Creating mementoes for guests adds a further layer of thought to festive proceedings, with rich rewards for all concerned.

TOP Home-made decorations add characterful charm. Origami Star Garland Kit, £13.96, Cambridge Imprint RIGHT Daylesford’s Ginger Millionaire Slice makes a delicious gift. (See p78 for a link to the recipe) FAR RIGHT Rustic touches in simple colourways perfectly offset any giftwrapping scheme. Nordic Wrapping String, from £5, Nordic House OPPOSITE PAGE With Christmas and the festive period proving a time for feasting, foodie gifts tailored to the recipient can bring new and unexpected sources of joy. Recipes for preserves such as apple jelly can easily be found online (try bbc.co.uk/ food) and are a delicious addition to the table. Experiment with flavours such as star anise or cinnamon to add a twist to an old favourite. Crackers provide a perfect opportunity for customisation, be it in the outward appearance, the contents, or both. Online tutorials are readily available for those wishing to take a hands-on approach and craft their own using coloured card, paper and ribbons. Our tip, from experience, is to make sure each end of the cracker snaps is secured with sticky tape to ensure the pulling goes with a bang. There are kits available from a number of retailers such as Graham & Green and Not On The High Street.com. Home-made crackers also offer the opportunity to add contents that will excite and bring joy. Choosing small toys, edible gifts or small bottles of scent is all part of the fun, as is writing jokes, guess who-type games, or even poignant or funny memories. These will also help to break the ice; incorporating playfulness to proceedings not only chimes with the childlike joy of the season, but also brings levity and fun to festivities.

Irreverent games that require little or no equipment and can be enjoyed by the whole family are a good way to pace the rhythm of the day, and lend themselves to tailoring to guest participants. Try, for

example, the meowing game, where one person meows the opening bars to a song of their choosing for others to guess. The person who answers correctly then takes on the meowing role. Great fun and even more so when trying to draw out not-socool mainstream musical appreciation tastes to bond family and friends.

Of course, the festive season would not be complete without a sugar boost in the form of home-made Christmas biscuits, whether as decorations for the Christmas tree or as delicous gifts for family and friends. Providing a fun outlet for creativity in both young and old, these can be simple shapes iced with festive designs, or an opportunity to unleash one’s inner artist. The Great British Bake Off 2018 finalist Kim-Joy, known for her playful and artistic creations, suggests using 15-second royal icing for biscuits, so-named because of the time for it to take on a smooth state when decorating. Her recipe sees 40g of egg white for 225g of icing sugar, beaten with an electric stand or handheld whisk to create a smooth consistency.

When it comes to designs, Kim-Joy notes: “Once the icing is completely set

Thoughtful touches

Simple suggestions for added meaning and seasonal flair

Create festive favours as keepsakes for guests In addition to making crackers (see page 116), adding decorative accents to suit all generations is a lovely way to add a personal touch to proceedings. An example might be attaching a personalised item to each napkin at the table – anything from mini felt decorations for children to vintage brooches for elegant style mavens – or printing childhood photographs as place cards.

Tap into nostalgia Accessing memories and reminiscing together requires no planning and is a great way to reflect positively on what has been a difficult year for many. Each in turn sharing their highlight of the year will ensure plenty of conversation and jollity ensues.

Play a game As well as the meowing game (see left), try other pursuits that require no equipment to bring all ages together. Try Two Truths and a Lie, where one person in turn gives three statements about themselves and the others must say which they think is which and why, with the person then revealing all at the end. Another favourite is 20 Questions, where one person in turn thinks of a persona (it can be anything as abstract as Mickey Mouse through to real people such as The Queen) and the others have to put a maximum of 20 questions to them, which are answerable only by yes or no, in order to deduce the correct answer. 

(leave it overnight to be sure) you can actually just write on top using an edibleink pen – you can write names and your own messages just like you would on paper.” Her recipe for Robin Cookies in her book Christmas With Kim-Joy are a particularly easy-to-create delight, having basic icing detailing and a smaller inner circle stamped out and replaced with a red sugar centre before baking to create the bird’s red breast.

Food for thought

Whether a small intimate affair or a lavish occasion, Christmas is undeniably intertwined with the notion of delicious food and drink.

“Home-made edible gifts are a lovely way to give something very personal, and of offering something that’s going to be enjoyed and has a low environmental footprint,” says Carole Bamford, founder of Daylesford Organic. She points to “a home-made chutney or hedgerow jelly” with ingredients such as crab apples, blackberries or rose hips to partner one of her favourite things to give. “I love gifting cheese,” she explains. “Not many people know that cheeses can be seasonal, but artisan cheeses do have their seasons, depending on what the cows, sheep or goats are eating throughout the year. Mont d’Or is a particularly special experience at this time of year. When it’s perfectly ripe, it can just be spooned out of its container, but it can also be baked until it is golden and bubbling.”

With the festive season being a time for indulgence, consider creating food items that allow for leisurely, less time-pressured consumption. Gifts that can be enjoyed piecemeal, such as fruit-infused liqueurs, bring extended pleasure throughout the quieter, less hectic weeks of the year that follow the Christmas celebrations.

“We make big batches of our own sloe gin and damson vodka at home, foraging for the sloes in the hedgerows around the farm and picking the damsons from the orchard,” explains Bamford. “They’re perfect gifts and they’re simple to make. Choose elegant glass bottles that can be reused, and create handmade labels with the recipient’s name and the date.”

As well as preserves and liqueurs, look to sweet treats such as fudge, fruit-and-nutstudded chocolate drops, rich, indulgent florentine biscuits or similar creations which can be kept refrigerated to offer a delicious treat over the festive period and beyond. Such morsels make particularly lovely gifts when presented prettily packaged in a box or brown paper bag tied artfully with string.

For inspiration try browsing the websites of Mary Berry (maryberry.co.uk) or Nigella Lawson (nigella.com) amongst others. Alternatively, consider, as a starting point, Daylesford’s Ginger Millionaire Slice with its textured nutty base topped with thick, lightly salted, date caramel and dark chocolate. Find the recipe at daylesford.com/ recipes/ginger-millionaire-slice n

ABOVE Adding characterful details at the breakfast table is a wonderful way to start the festivities on Christmas Day. Holiday Pancake Pan, £39.63, Nordic Ware (available from amazon.co.uk) LEFT Have a drink and a sweet treat at hand to make it time spent preparing for the main event more enjoyable. Selection of food and drink, all Marks & Spencer