Santa sack surprise - presents for myself this year

With great anticipation I opened my Santa sack this Christmas Eve, I couldn't wait until Christmas morning.

With the Christmas money and birthday money, that I was given last Christmas and birthday, I bought little gifts for myself throughout the year to put in my Santa sack. It is always a surprise for me when I open my Santa sack to see what I put in it, especially things that I bought earlier in the year. This just shows how good my memory is lol.

I have a rule that once I put something into my Santa sack, I am not allowed to take it out again until Christmas. And definately no peeking, or feeling the santa sack to remind myself of what is in it throughout the year. This meant I had some duplicates this year which I will put back in the Santa sack for next year :)

The contents of my Santa sack were:

- 2 pairs of fluffy bed socks from Marks and Spencer

- a bar each of Bennett's lemon and passionfruit chocolate

- a bar of white chocolate with dessicated raspberries in

- a box of Bennett's assorted chocolates

- 3 Lush batch bombs ("Golden Wonder", "Father Christmas" and "Snow White Batch Ballistics")

- 4 L'Occitane bubble baths (Pivoine Flora, Verbena, Rose 4 Reines and Lavande)

- 2 L'Occitane Savon Bonne Mere soaps

- a L'Occitane Pivione Flora Peonie chaped soap

- a Fioentino Rosa soap

- 2 Body shop soaps (Satsuma and Strawberry)

- a Michel Design Works Lemon Basil soap

- a L'Occitane Cinnamon Orange soap

- a Citrus heart-shaped soap

- a Bennett's chocolate frog

- a Michel Design Works book notepad

Phew, that is a lot this year! I have a really big smile on my face.

Now I can't wait until Christmas Day tomorrow to give everyone else their presents. I always want to give Christmas presents as soon as I wrap them.

I hope that you have managed to spoil yourself a little this Christmas and if not this year, then next year :)

Have a safe and Merry Christmas,

Love Rose x

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

My teal and silver vintage Christmas tree

Teal and silver vintage baubles are my favourites. I would love to have enough to fill a large white Christmas tree, but I don't have any more room for one. I am more than happy with my little table-top tree though.

This year I found a little silver vintage angel for the top of my tree and that makes my tree complete. I decided to put this one in the sitting room instead of my bedroom and have surrounded it with blue, white and silver Christmas cards to carry on the theme. It looks lovely and wintery inside now while the weather is hot and humid outside.

I have bought all of my Christmas presents now and listened to Christmas music while I wrapped them. It really is starting to feel like Christmas. All I have to do now is some grocery shopping and bake one more cake. It is great to feel so relaxed at this time of year.

I hope you are having fun preparing for your Christmas celebrations like I am.

Hugs

Rose x

Fudge recipe for Christmas - Yum!

On Sunday morning I made my favourite fudge specially for Christmas. It is really easy to make and delicious. Not so good for the weight though, but, well, it is Christmas after all!

This batch is for a freind and I packed it in a Christmas tin that I bought from a thrift shop. Just perfect for this little treat.

Here is the recipe:

125 g unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons Golden Syrup
200 g sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla essence (don't use the artificial kind)

Place all of the ingredients, except the vanilla, into a heavy-based pan. Warm over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, until it reaches 120 degrees C (softball stage on a sugar thermometer).

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence. Beat either with a spoon or an electric mixer, until the fudge is thick and creamy and no longer glossy. Pour quickly into a greased 20 cm cake tin. Mark the fudge into squares and break into pieces when it is cold.

N.B. I always use a sugar thermometer when making my fudge as I am not very good at guessing when it is ready.

Enjoy!

Hugs

Rose x

My red and gold Christmas tree with candles

Usually I decorate my tree with white lights, but this year I decided to have real candles. I bought the candles on Ebay from Germany and the little candle holders from Latvia on Ebay. I was so excited to find them.

We used to have real candles on our Christmas tree when I was little and living in England. They were so magical to look at, it is such a lovely memory. I won't be lighting these candles as it isn't safe to do so, but I just wanted the effect.

I added to my vintage collection of spun cotton characters this year (also bringing back childhood memories). I am slowly building up my vintage/antique Christmas ornament collection year by year. Some of the decorations I have collected date back to the 1920's or earlier. I have mixed these with modern favourites too.

Happy Christmas preparations.

See you again soon.

Rose x

I made my Christmas cake earlier

Usually I make my Christmas cake around 3 days before Christmas because I am never organised enough with my Christmas preparations. However this weekend I used my "Last Minute Christmas Cake" recipe early.

It is such an easy cake to make, it takes no time at all. This is a lovely moist and light fruit cake. I haven't acquired the taste for rich fruit cake yet, so this one is perfect for me and is always eaten quickly by the family. Just wonderful with a glass of Damson liqueur or Port. My mouth is watering thinking about it. I must put Damson liqueur on my Christmas shopping list, yum!

Further details on how to make my last minute Christmas cake are here and here.

If you don't want to ice the cake it can even be made on Christmas morning and is ready to eat once it has cooled. But when using Royal icing and marzipan you need at least 3 days for the icing to dry and set. You can make the cake longer in advance if you want to feed it daily with brandy before icing it.

Happy baking

Until next time

Hugs

Rose x

Getting Ready for Christmas - Deck the Halls

After being missing for 3 years my little green Christmas tree, with the hessian base, was found by Dad in a box in one of the sheds! Dad has a habit of putting things away like that and most are never found again. I had thought my little Christmas tree had been packed by accident with a large tree which I had given away to a thrift shop. I never thought that I would see it again, so you can imagine how delighted I was to have it back.

I decided to put my little tree in the hall this year and to decorate it simply using little red and gold baubles. Then I put tree-themed Christmas cards next to it. I save my Christmas cards each year and love to display my favourites in themes like this. Maybe I will get more cards for my Christmas tree collection this year.

I hope you are having as much fun decorating your house for Christmas as I am.

See you soon.

Hugs

Rose x