Christmas Food Post Round Up

That this is a hectic time of year is an understatement. Despite recently beginning my break from uni for Christmas, I have been trying to get on top of my workload so I can relax a bit when I head home. Hopefully then I can fully appreciate all the things I love about Christmas, my favourite of course, being the seemingly non-stop preparation and consumption of delicious food.

I haven't done much of my own Christmassy cooking/baking yet (apart from these snowy-effect chocolate crackles), so I thought I'd do a quick post of some of the best ideas and recipes I've come across on the internet so far. 

First up, I think these cookie gift ideas from Spoon Fork Bacon are brilliant! The packaging is cute, modern and seasonal, and the cookies themselves look absolutely delicious. Check out the post here.

I adore truffles; in my opinion there's nothing more indulgent than tucking into a box of rich chocolate truffles with a light dusting of cocoa powder. These chocolate truffles from Pastry Affair flavoured with red wine add an extra sophistication and would be very welcomed as a gift or served after dinner, I'm sure. Recipe here.

And of course, not forgetting the main attraction, Christmas Day dinner itself. This twist on turkey and potatoes from Mama's Pantry looks incredible: perfectly cooked meat with a golden finish, served with crispy potatoes - what more could you wish for? The recipe here has started off my roast dinner cravings!

I'll share any Christmas cooking I get up to over the next couple of weeks and let me know of any yummy looking recipes you come across too! I've also been wanting to check out some new blogs, so feel free to leave me your link below :)

Steampunk Charm Necklace

I used to make my own bracelets back when I was at college, I still have a load of elastic and beads left over from it. I haven't had chance for ages to make my own jewellery but ended up buying some chains and charms the other evening and decided to get back into it.

Making necklaces using chains needs a tad more effort and tools than simply threading beads onto elastic, but you end up with something that could quite easily have been shop bought (but for a hell of a lot cheaper), and all the added bonuses of having made it yourself!

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To make this necklace I used about 86cm (34in) of antique brass chain, 4 jump rings (used to attach two of the charms and as part of the fastening), one clasp and 3 charms. I also needed wire cutters and pliers, provided by my boyfriend (I'm not exactly the type to own tools!). You can usually buy these from the same shops/websites when purchasing the charms etc.

Firstly cut the chain to the length you want. Attach a jump ring to each end of the chain, using the pliers to open and close the ring, and a clasp to one of these jump rings to make the fastening.

Decide where you want the charms to go. The heart I chose is quite big and didn't need a jump ring so I threaded it onto the chain. I attached jump rings to the other 2 charms and attached them on links further up the chain.

And viola!

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As well as the steampunk inspired charms I used for this necklace, I've bought a big dragonfly charm I'm planning to use next time. There are so many different charms out there so it's quite easy to get carried away with different ideas, I have a whole jewellery box crammed full of bracelets as proof I did last time!

Wedding Ideas - Cake Stands

We're not planning to spend loads of money on our wedding, it's only one day after all and there's much more important things we'd rather save for. Obviously we still really want a wedding that looks gorgeous and has all the things we want, which has just made us prioritise different things. 

One of the things I'd rather not spend loads on anymore is the cake, partly because I probably won't get to eat any! And I thought it would be a nicer idea to have a mix of different things so everyone would have something they like. 

I love the idea of having a cake stand with different flavoured cupcakes on it, similar to this one:

Source: pinterest.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

We've also thought of using smaller cake stands for maybe putting chocolates, sweets, anything like that on, as it's a really easy way to add colours and decoration at the same time, and can suit any theme you're going with.

I've also found a post on how to make you're own cake stands using any plates ( DIY Tutorial: Vintage Cake Stand ). I'm keen on making as many of the decorations as possible, between us and hopefully friends and family, to make it that bit more unique and special for us!