chic on the cheap - the perfect gift dichotomy

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I'll be honest with you guys, I kinda wish I was the sort of person who could grab a giftcard, stick it in an envelope, biro a name across the front and call it a present. I kinda wish I wasn't the sort of person who decides to handmake all of her christmas presents (for an extensive family btw) with a three month old and an impending cross country move. But two Christmasses ago, you would have found me under the tree, filling jars, stamping cards, painting pottery and making chocolates.

And let me tell you, the effort truly goes unnoticed (in my family at least). And really, I think most of them think I do it because I am cheap (my visa bill from the craft store begs to differ, but whatever)

And this got me thinking, about how to make an appreciated gesture, what the perfect ingredients are for the perfect gift. I came up with this dichotomy:

You will forgive the non-sensical entirely unscientific doodle-agram I hope, but the basic premise is the three elements: Money, Time and Effort - and I think a good gift incorporates at least two of these factors.

See, putting cash in a card fulfills the money aspect, but requires no thought or effort. A gift voucher generally falls under the same category. But say, your friend has just had a baby, you know she is inundated with teeny tiny sized clothes in varying pastel colours and you don't want to contribute to the pile of "thanks but he'll never wear that" - you can supe up your giftcard with an offer to drive her to the store and take care of the little one while she picks something she loves or actually needs. With no extra effort than if you went to the shops to buy something yourself, you have the money input, plus the thoughtful factor and therefore have a great gift.

And of course, with thought and effort you are not required to ease your guilt at crappy gift giving by spending the big money. So when your grandparents are celebrating their 40th anniversary, instead of splashing out on ruby coloured stemware, you could bake a cake inspired by the one they cut on their big day all those years ago.

Which, in a round about way, brings me to a little series I am doing. For a couple of weeks I will be featuring gifts and projects that need a little effort and thought require even less monetary input from you, and are always sure to delight.

So friends, let me know what are your favouritest gifts recieved? What do you think are the key ingredients for a great gift? Oh, and for your inspiration, some budget friendly ideas from the archives:

cuppa tea cookies : Guinness glasses : pancakes in a jar : homemade playdough : Rubber Duckie USB



from the kitchen - a nice cuppa tea

When we were little my brother and I would ask our mum what she wanted for Mother's Day. And every year she would reply with the same thing "a handmade card and a nice cuppa tea". And when we were little we would come home from school on a Friday afternoon clutching our handmade cards, and on Sunday morning we would dutifully head into the kitchen to make her a nice cuppa tea.

Fast-forward a couple of years and my brother and are are (relatively) grown-up, we both have jobs. Our littlest brother hands my mum the card he made at school and a bunch of flowers bought with his pocket money. I hand my mum a box of hand-rolled truffles. My brother slopes in after an hour or two, still in last nights clothes, hand shoved in pockets and after sheepishly apologising for his tardiness and his empty handedness mumbles "can I make you a mother's day cup of tea?"

I don't know where I got the idea for these tea-bag cookies from. I'll be honest, I scrawled a doodle onto a post-it a couple of weeks ago, having seen something somewhat similar somewhere. So I take no credit for the idea.

The recipe is Nigella's cut-out cookies - such a lovely soft dough that promises not to spread when cooking. Just to be on the safe side I followed these steps on rolling and chilling perfect sugar cookies from Sweetapolita. I cut the shapes freehand, thinking about it now, I should have probably made a paper template or at least used a ruler for perfect edges - but I didn't, so all my tea-bags are slightly different shapes. And while I followed all the steps and the recipe exactly, they did spread slightly, but a sharp knife to the edges straight from the oven tidied them up.

Dipped in melted dark chocolate and finished with little tags - just add homemade card action et voila!

And yes, I know I did those handprint flowers once before, but I thought they were so darn adorable the first time!



Blue Skies (and Happy day for Mamas!)

Charlotte xo

from the giftlist - for mother's day

No, this isn't a gratuitous excuse to share this ridiculously cute pic of my kid (but look at his little smile! his little gappy teeth!) but part of the Mother's Day present for my mother in law.

See, the mil is one of those people who's windowsills and tabletops are covered in photos of her family, her four kids and eight grandkids. And I'm a bit ashamed to say that amongst them there is only one photo of little Vin, taken on my brother in law's iPhone and printed onto plain A4 paper. Between my beloved 35mm SLR still encased in my mom's garage 126 miles away and the fact that noone else shares my nostalgic romance with film these days, I just don't have any tangible photos to decorate the walls with.

So I sent the other half out with instructions to buy a digital photo frame and a memory stick with a huge capacity that I have now filled with photos of our little family. The frame has a slideshow option to flick through the hundreds of photos, and of course, can be updated at any time as the little man and our family grows.

And while I always thought that a phot frame was an obvious and unoriginal mother's day gift, I think this little present might just have convinced me otherwise.

Blue Skies,

Charlotte xo

a doily bib for a baby girl

My friend Lex of Mother Porridge fame and mum to two gorgeous boys recently found out she is expecting a little lady. And while I'm pretty sure no mama wants a pink and sparkly ball of marshmallow fluff for a daughter, I also think after all the diggers, trucks and dinosaurs boy stuff, sometimes you need something a little pretty.

And while I know that a hand-stitched bib made from (white!) crochet might not be practical, I figure it's a girl's perogative right?   

doily bib inspired by this one from Rachel Denbow

A Baby Baking Gift

A while ago Little Vin commandeered a toy whisk from playgroup. Being the kind of mother I never thought I would be, he seemed to like it so I let him keep it. And he carried his little whisk around wherever he went. He even stuck an egg shaped shaker in the baloon end of it to make maracas... because I have one of those baby genius' you're always hearing about right? But one day one of the prong bits got broke and suddenly the whisk became a weapon of eye poking danger and daddy confiscated it and it was relegated to the bin.

So when I saw this silicone baking stuff in the hardware cum cookery cum garden shop in CP, I bought him a new (proper grown-up sized) whisk... and then he was reaching for a pastry brush too, and being that I am now that kind of mother I let him have that too. Then we came home and looked in mama's baking cupboards (of yes, I have two!) and suddenly there was a silicone cupcake tray and plastic cookie cutters and cupcake cases and a wooden spon to add to the collection.

And since I always said I'd be the kind of mother who made her kid's toys and who encouraged imaginative play... we have been baking up quite a storm of air and imagination today.

So next time you're in receipt of a last minute kid's party invitation and are staring at your kid's toybox wondering what could legitimately pass off as a worthwhile gift (because we know you're that kind of a mother) or the next time you find your kid coming out of their upturned toybox declaring they have nothing to play with head to the kitchen for some inspiration.

homemade sparkle goo

I guess the pink and sparklies are against the whole gist of 30 Days of Boy, oh and the hearts? And the sweeties? Yes, when I break the rules, I do it properly

When Little Vin's friend came to play, she loved mushing up his homemade toxic slime in her little fists and I knew I had to mix her up a girly version

I used the same recipe as before, but chucked in a helluva lot of pink food colouring to get that bubblegum hot colour

And then to up the girl-factor I stirred in half a pot of edible red glitter to make my pink goo sparkle and a couple of splashes of rose water to delicately scent it

et voila, pink and sparkly girly flavoured goo. Of course, I am clearly an extremist, you could just make a couple of pots in primary colours, omit the glitter and add whatever gender neutral scent tickles your nose buds  



felt car mats

At some point around Christmas I looked over my boy's gender-neutral toys and wondered if now was the time for something a little more boy-ish. But what to do what to buy for little boys that doesn't include flesh ripping dinosaurs, homicidal aliens, war hero army men or monster trucks?

I found some Micro Machines cars in the flea market in CP and just watching his little face as he pushed them along the floor (and over his head) I knew I couldn't hold my facist toy preferences over him forever (and anyway, his dad bought him the flesh hungry dinosaur, complete with flashing lights and roaring sound effects).

I was inspired to the point of plagiarism by these felt car mats from Serving Pink Lemonade. Of course, those ones are neatly stitched and pressed, mine were stuck down with fabric glue. Oh and I later noticed they have printable stencils which would have saved me a lot of cursing as I tried to cut my shapes freehand.

Of course, living in South London, I couldn't make a little village without an urban fox roaming. Now I just need to find an Eiffel Tower ornament I can pretend is the

Crystal Palace Transmitter and we're good to go!

homemade toxic slime

Of course it's not toxic* and it's not particularly slimey, but I find anything a bit nasty, creepy or dangerous is entirely appealing to little boys.

I've had homemade playdough on my to-do list for a while now, and this weekend we had the perfect rainy day to whip some up. I love anything I can make in a matter of minutes (i.e. my only window of opportunity, Vin's naptime) and from kitchen ingredients too!

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water with food colouring added

and because I am probably a little weird, I added some peppermint flavouring to make my dough smell nice, though you could use vanilla extract or almond essence

Directions:

* mix all the ingredients in a large pan - stir over a medium heat for a couple of minutes - the mixture will turn lumpy first, like chocolate when it seizes, keep stirring and within a couple of seconds you will have a lovely gooey dough
* knead for a couple of minutes until soft and stretchy (I can't tell you how weirdly pleasurable this bit was)
* store in an airtight container or ziploc bag

You could make up little pots and team with a set of palstic cookie cutters as a little treat - I see toddler party favours in the near future

This makes a lot of dough, so I would suggest splitting it into a couple of pans and making a couple of different colours. If you're not into the green and slimey, maybe pink colouring with a drop of rose water (I think I would have to chuck in some lustre dust or glitter too!)

Blue Skies,

Charlotte xo

* p.s. this mixture is non-toxic, but it tastes very salty

p.p.s. so far the green colouring hasn't stained our white tabletop, clothes or hands

chocolate covered love notes

while I was playing with melted chocolate to make these chilli chocolate hearts I decided to roll up some truffles. Truffles are so much simpler than you would think, the centre is just a ganache of melted chocolate and cream. I melt the chocolate and mix with cream, the French who boil the cream and pour over chopped chocolate would probably tell me off for this, but I find it is easier to burn cream than chocolate. Once it's suitably mixed and silky you can add your flavourings. Literally anything can be used as a filling, I have even seen olive oil and rosemary truffles! I would suggest coffee, vanilla, champagne, earl grey or rosewater but don't be limited by my imagination. The only rule is not a drop out water or alcohol should touch your chocolate until your cream is thoroughly mixed. Your chocolate will seize and be virtually unusable (tip: I have read that stirring in a tbsp of veg oil over a tiny heat can help but I haven't tried it myself).

After you've done the mixing part you need to chill your chocolate for at least two hours, you want it to be set quite firm, but moldable enough to roll with your hands. Which is what you need to do one the chilling part is over. PInch out walnut sized pieces and roll into balls. Then drop onto a cocoa dusted plate and roll around - you can also use icing sugar to make white truffles. At this stage I often finish up the bowl and leave it at that, but if you want extra fancy chocolates you will need more melted chocolate for dipping in. This gives you a smooth and hard outer shell, with the gooey ganache inside. And if you're super duper fancy like me you would use a swirly pattern chocolate mold, though I probably won't both with that again (too hard to remove the chocs and too long to clean afterwards). I do love a little white chocolate drizzling though. You can go wild with this bit too, chopped chilli, crushed nuts, lustre dust, coloured sugar, sprinkles...

I was inspired by these Martha Stewart chocolates to leave little love notes under my sweet treats, I don't know if it's because I am swept up with v-day love but I think this would be an amazing way to pop the question ('he asked me with chocolates, how could I say no?')

So are you sick of Valentines yet friends? I promise next week I will have some none gushy stuff to share. I might even have some monster trucks.

Blue Skies,

Charlotte xo

a hand-made valentine

For someone who is forever extolling the virtues of handmade and gifting and paperloving stationary fetish I am really bad at sending cards. I don't know if it's because for me it's all about the gift and the wrapping? I always make grand plans for xmas cards, but am exhausted by the whole process of it. A one-off card is about all I could ever muster, but now I have a kid I have no excuse for not cracking out the craft supplies

I guess it is the facist crafter in me that thought encouraging my 17 month old to make perfectly neat handprints when all he wanted to do was lick the paint would be a good idea. Imagine the difficulty in getting him to make these thumbprint heart shapes:

Did you handmake your Valentines? Are you gonna share so I can steal your ideas for next year?

Blue Skies,

Charlotte xo

I'm not sure why I've come over all x-ing and o-ing, maybe it's the Scrabble fan in me?

I made these little heart pegs using some wooden hearts I found at the craft store,

chalkboard paint and wooden clothes pegs

I'm going to use them as gift tags on my Valentines wrap it,

and maybe to pin together a bundle of love letters for my crush

keep me warm swap - part two

Last week I shared part one of the 'keep me warm' swap, now my partner has received her package I can share what I sent her:

chai infused milk - to turn a regular cup of tea into sweet cinnamony loveliness

lavender and vanilla sugars

hot chocolate on a stick inspired by this post

I wish I had taken a pic without the cello wrapper so you could see how neat the detailing is on the snowflake - I used a silicone mold so it was super easy to pour in the mixture and pop out

Orange Blossom Earl Grey & Rose-Scented black tea

I knitted a scarflette and turban style headwrap for the worn accessories part -

but for some reason I didn't take a pic. I also sent some ground coffee, little pouches of Options hot chocolate and a big tub of Bournville Cocoa - I grew up in Bournville, down the road from the Cadburys factory. In Summer evenings you could literally smell warm chocolate on the air!

Teeny Tiny Baby Booties

It seems like everyone I know is having or has just had a baby. And boy, it's making me a bit gooey inside. Until the four am wake up that is. Or when I am on the recieving end of a toddler foot in the face. But when my friend's little girl showed up early, I knew something teeny tiny was in order.

I bought this lilac and pink speckled wool for practise when I first started knitting a couple of months ago but it was perfect for tiny baby girl booties.

I spent ages searching Ravelry for something simple, but of course that site is for super fantastic knitters who do all sorts of fancy things with their creations, but eventually I found this pattern from Bernat. This was my first time knitting anything other than a straight up and down scarf type shape, I wonder how people learnt any kind of skills without the aid of Youtube?

I am so in love with their tiny-ness - they looked obscene at first, but remembering how little new babies feet are, well it made me gooey all over again.

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

p.s. this post has inspired a series I'm writing on good and bad gifts for new babies, new mamas and little kiddlies. Example, the musical flashing cookie jar Vin got for his birthday? Terrible. The handcrafted wooden imaginative play construction set? C'est parfait. Care to share your holiday hall of fame?

keep me warm swap - part one

Good morning friends,

today I have some handmade gifting loveliness that arrived on my doorstep just in time for my birthday. I recently participated in a Craftster 'keep me warm' themed swap. To swap you were required to send a handmade worn and warm accessory, a hot drink and a handmade hot drink accessory. Here is the package I recieved from my swap partner:

beautiful crocheted wrist warmers:

and some matching flowers that I plan to stitch into a headband:

a handpainted mug:

Snowflake tea and caramelized nuts:

and some delicious hot chocolate on a spoon:

I'll be honest, I wasn't very forthcoming with information when I filled out my swap questionnaire, which is odd, because, as you might have noticed, I am usually a fan of the words. However, my partner said she was inspired by this little blog, especially the title and my sign off, 'blue skies' - hence the beautiful skyblue colours and snowflake motif. And that is something I always want to remember in my gifting, instead of demanding lists of wants from my giftees, to take inspiration from the smallest thing and put together personal and special packages with a lot of thought and consideration.

Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo

p.s. my swap partner, Andrea, has just started blogging here