Wednesday, July 15, 2009

7 days of Christmas - day 3

Wow! Day 3 and I still have ideas!

I've been thinking about some of the harder family members to buy for, the Aunts and Uncles. These, for me, can sometimes be the trickiest!


I have an old faithful Homemade Baileys recipe that I trot out in times of trouble. Those fussy Uncles that you never quite know what they might like, always appreciate the Homemade Baileys. If you can find recycled Grolsch Beer bottles they look fabulous with your Baileys and a swing tag hanging off. Very festive! Even your local $2 store has some small bottles with resealable tops on them very cheap.

Here's my recipe;

Homemade Baileys


300ml thickened cream

1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of good Scotch
1 egg

1 teaspoon of coconut essence
2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup



chuck it all in a blender and blend.
pour into bottles with stoppers (recycled Grolsch beer bottle etc)
keep chilled. lasts about 2 months in the fridge.

Image found here.

Also great for the Uncles are homemade chocolate truffles. Recipe here. Packaged up in little cello bags or little boxes, they always look a treat. For those in Brissy, I recommend this place for all your packaging needs, they are fabulous.

Now the Aunts. I have a lot of sewing Aunts in my family. If you've got some in yours why not whip up some pincushions for them. I found great tutorials here and here. I love recycling and using up bits of scrap fabrics from other projects so these projects are perfect for that. There is also a fabulous etsy seller who sells needlecases that would be just perfect for the sewer. Wow, shameless self-promotion there!


If you knit, I found a heap of patterns for quick little coffee cosies on etsy as well. One here. These would be fabulous cheap gifts.

Well, I think that's all for today. Pop back tomorrow for day 4 of 7 days of Christmas, I still have plenty to come!

5 comments:

Lisa said...

I love all your ideas! I went to your links and will be back to visit them when I'm ready to start gift making. TFS!

Christina Lowry said...

I have made one of those baby food jar pincushions and they are so simple and cute!

There is a cute little sewing purse tutorial here too for sewing relatives - http://whipup.net/tag/sewing-bag/
It would go nicely with a needle case...
:)

Gina said...

These are great ideas Selina - I think I might just have to try that homemade baileys!

Kylie said...

Fabulous ideas! This is so much fun - love what you're doing :) K

Liesl said...

I am enjoying your 7 days of Christmas. That homemade Baileys sounds wonderful. I don't think it would last 2 months hough ... it would all be drunk long before then!!