A cracker of a Christmas swap

I joined in with two swaps for the festive season.  I love these bloggy swaps - and it's always good to get some Happy Mail.

Tracy from the blog Mad About Bags hosted a Christmas Cracker Swap.  I was partnered up with Kimberley from Creative Chaos.  We had a good laugh about this as we have been partnered up for so many swaps.

Below is what I put together for Kimberley.

I filled the inside of the cracker with Chocolates and some Christmas craft pegs and wrapped it up with a Jamie Oliver tea towel (I know from her blog posts that she loves Jamie Oliver and tea towels).

Using the other tea towel I made up a parcel of treats that included a felted stocking decoration that I made, ginger biscuits, tissues, a wooden bird decoration, Christmas peg bunting and a recipe for fudge that I love to make.  I decorated the cracker and parcel with a artificial pohutukawa stem (native New Zealand flower) and mesh flower.  I hope she loved it, as I much as I enjoyed putting her Christmas Cracker and treats together.

Below is what Kimberley sent to me.  She knows me well and put together a really lovely cracker.

I love the reindeer decoration and heart magnets.  I'm thinking a girlie tea party with friends may be in order so I can put to good use the cup cake cases, mini flags and straws.  The stationery and stamps are sweet.....I will be hiding those as Bell has been eyeing them up!

 

 

Thank you Kimberley for being such a great swap partner (again!).  Even with the busy festive season it is always really nice to make time to do a couple of swaps.

 

Did you join in with any over December?

 

Do you know of any good ones out there in blog land at the moment that would be fun to join in with?

 

 

 

 

A very Kiwi Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

I woke up Boxing Day with (fuzzy head) aching feet from dancing, sore stomach from laughing, and a croaky voice due to epic Sing Star battles with my sister.

 

Our Christmas Day weather was great, the sun shone and it was warm.  The kids were well behaved, even though breakfast for them was mostly made up of the sweet contents of their Christmas Stockings.

 

Santa came through with my very much wished for Pink Flamingos............which I may have purchased/wrapped myself.  Sometimes you just need to take matter into your own hands.

 

We ate roast lamb and Christmas Ham which Mr H glazed and cooked on the BBQ.  Raw fish in coconut cream, lime and coriander was served along with roast vegetables and huge bowls of salad.

 

We sat in the garden under our big shady tree, I set a table and had three huge jars of hydrangeas from my neighbours garden as our centrepiece  Arms chair's in the shade were a favourite place to relax and sip ice cold beers.

 

We played tag, bulrush and touch rugby.  I hired a Sing/Dance Star console which was so much fun.  Apparently my sister and I hogged it most of the evening..........but I don't think that was true.

 

We have been away the last two years so to have Christmas this year at home was wonderful, it felt relaxed and easy going.  I'm so glad we have stayed home this year.  And now it is time to sink into full holiday mode.  No more gift wrapping ( I did my usual last minute power wrapping Christmas Eve), no more mad dashes to the Supermarket along with the rest of the town to do the Christmas shopping.  It feels like everything is done and dusted for the year.  Relaxxxxxxxxx.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

xo

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Hello!  Just popping in to say Merry Christmas!  The last month has been busy for us, lots of end of year functions and parties...........which for this homebody takes some getting used to.

Mr H and I finished work on Friday,  and my sister and her family arrived on Saturday so things are feeling really festive around here.  We have been swimming every day and enjoying the sunshine too.  Today I caught up on things around the house,  and even got some time in the garden.  The tree is up, the Christmas carols are playing around the clock (Mr H dislikes carols....all the more reason to play them) and the kids are counting down the days and hours till Christmas morning.

I have six weeks off and I am beside myself with the thought of the summer days ahead.  I have two more Portrait Posts to do for the year and maybe a post on how this Kiwi family spends Christmas Day.....and Mr H is now an NZ Citizen, so that's something else to celebrate.

 

So my lovelies, Merry Christmas!

Tell me how you will be celebrating December 25th?

Will have snow on Christmas day or will it be stinking hot?!

Little Anahera Fairy giveaway winner!

 

Thought it best that I draw the winner!  This week has got away on me.  On Wednesday I thought it was Friday.....I'm hanging out for the weekend.

So thank you to my sister n law Em from  Little Anahera for making this beautiful Christmas Fairy - I hope the recipient enjoys her.

And the winner is..........Emma Elliot.

 

(Make sure you get in touch, the last giveaway the winner didn't and a new name was chosen!)

Emma please drop me an email with your address details to

alittlebitcountrynz (at) gmail (dot) com

 

Don't forget you can view more of Em's beautiful Fairies/Angels on her Facebook page.

 

Enjoy your week!

 

 

 

 

A Christmas kitchen.......Ginger Ale Fruit cake

 

 

This was me on Sunday.  Playing Christmas Carols and baking fruit cakes.  I found a couple of small cake tins in a kitchen store in town and they are the perfect size for gifts.  Using the recipe below I was able to make 5 small cakes.

I measured out the fruit and poured in the ginger ale before I went to bed Saturday night and placed in a covered bowl.  It is an easy to follow recipe (Dulcie May Booker) and you can tweak it to suit your tastes or add more brandy (or not) if desired.

I just need to wrap in cellophane and ribbon and they will be ready to give out this week as teacher gifts.

I love baking at Christmas, and next on my list is Chocolate Fudge. I use a Nigella Lawson Recipe - delicious!  Jars will be filled again this year and then decorated with the usual Christmas ribbons and tags.


Ginger Ale Fruit Cake

You will need:

225g Sultanas
225g Dates
225g Currants
225g Raisins
2 tablespoons Lemon Rind
240ml Ginger Ale (I made sure the fruit was well covered, and tipped the excess out in the morning)
225g Butter
225g Sugar
4 Eggs
280g Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Almond Essence
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 tablespoon Brandy (I used about 2)

Method:

Soak fruit and lemon rind overnight in ginger ale.

The following day - cream butter and sugar very well.  Beat in eggs one at a time, then add sifted flour and baking powder.

Add soaked fruit and, lastly, essences and brandy.

Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (depending on the size of tin you use - mine were done after 1 hour 15 minutes) in a paper-lined tine at 320F (160C).

Intially when I put in all the fruit ready for soaking it looked like way too much - but once the other ingredients are added the consistency is great.  It is a VERY fruity cake!

Enjoy!



What Christmas treats do you enjoy making this time of year? 

Feel free to share your links in the comments section below.

Don't forget to enter this beautiful Christmas giveaway.



 

Christmas Giveaway...........a Little Anahera Fairy

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the festive season approaching............one lucky reader will win a beautiful Little Anahera Christmas Fairy.  Handmade here in New Zealand by my clever sister n law Em using wool and silk.

Along with  flower in her hair, this beautiful fairy is holding a tiny Christmas wreath.

Perfect for the top of your Christmas tree or displayed with other decorations around the home.  These sweet fairies are lovely as a "keep you safe" sleep angel and a few hung along a twisty branch make for a magical mobile too.

Little Anahera is the name of Em's business and you can visit the Facebook page here to see all of the beautiful fairies she has made.  You can also make contact through this page for custom orders and queries.

To enter the Little Anahera Fairy giveaway all you need to do is:

Comment below - tell me what you are hoping
Santa brings you this year.
(for me it is more uninterrupted sleep, a smaller waistline and flamingos for my garden!)

 

Feel free to share this giveaway via Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog).

This is an International Giveaway.

 

Giveaway closes on Wednesday 3rd December at 11.59pm (NZ Time) - and will be announced the following day.  The winner will have 1 week to get in touch or a new name will be drawn.  The sooner contact is made the quicker I can get your fairy posted out - and hopefully in time for Christmas.

This giveaway is now closed.  Click here to see who won.

 

Thank you Emma from  Little Anahera and good luck!



 

A Christmas Cracker swap

The weekend has begun  And it's a long one too!  I've just watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the first time and loved it.  I always enjoy easing into a weekend with a good Friday night movie.

Here is another great swap to get into the swing of the very fast approaching festive season.  Head over to Tracy's blog Mad about Bags for her Cracker Swap.  Click here to read the details and to sign up.

Have a wonderful weekend, wherever in the world you are.  I have a list as long as my arm to tick off.......Mr H thinks he is in for a relaxing few days off............huh!  Little does he know!

Happy weekending! xo

"Send us Christmas" Swap

I know.........(insert eye rolls).  Don't panic - there is still plenty of time till Christmas.  But you know how much I love Christmas and a good swap to go with it.

Kimberley over at Creative Chaos is putting together a Christmas Swap.  Click on this link here to take you through to Kimberley's blog so you can read all the details of the swap and to sign up.  I will be, so don't be shy.

Just to let you know - sign ups close November 10th and parcels must be sent off by

December 10th at the latest.

This is open worldwide - you can let Kimberley know if you would like to post internationally or locally (where possible).

 

 

Go on!  Sign up, you know you want to!

 

 

 

 

The best Advent gifts..........ever!

In December I participated in the Christmas Advent Swap 2013 - I was very lucky to partnered up with Tracy from the blog Inside the Scrap Heap.  Along with the most wonderful Advent calendar tree that Tracy sent for my three children, I also received 25 gifts to open each day of December until Christmas day.  This is a very overdue post - that should have been done a couple of weeks ago.

Thank you so much Tracy for all the time, thought, love and energy that has gone into every gift.  I swear you must have been peeking through my windows - you were spot on with colours and I love every single gift you sent.

I felt so spoilt and it was such a fun thing to do in the lead up to Christmas day.  Each morning Tom would hunt out the correct day and stand by the bed with my gift in hand ready for me to open.........Princess much?!

Come take a sticky beak at what I was given.................

 

Christmas cookies in a jar, yum!

 

Smiggle notepad, eraser and pens.  Coloured twine and a stack of washi tape.

 

Retro fabric (perfect for my growing stash) and nail polish...........in Christmas colours.

 

The sweetest little tea infuser I have ever seen.  Organic teas......lovely.

 

2014 diary.  Perfect colour and size for me.  I don't do digital diaries so this will be well used.  A very dinky shopping list organiser.

 

Christmas craft supplies and a card making set - I will use these this coming Christmas.

Chocolate............ummmmm ok, there was actually ALOT more chocolate and a tin of delicious biscuits.  But they have long been eaten.  I won't point fingers.

 

An alarm clock.  The colours are my favourites.  And it is so retro looking!

The best pin cushion, EVER.  I think Tracy must have made this.  In a Crown Lynn mug, genius.

I may have squealed (loudly) when I opened these.  Flamingo Fairy Lights..........how does she know I LOVE flamingos?

Sweet little artworks all bundled up together.

 

And these beauties were my Christmas day gift.  Four hand towels.  Made by Tracy I'm sure.  In my bathroom colours too.  With a clever button to make sure they stay securely on the rail.  Our hand towels are always slipping onto the floor.  Not these ones, they stay put.  I love the retro material and I KNOW you must have been peeking in my windows after unwrapping these!

 

 

 

 

 Thank you so, so much Tracy.  You are amazing!  Elaina xo

 

Below are all the gifts that were wrapped up and ready to be shipped to my swap partner, Kimberley from Creative Chaos who I already knew quite well from reading her blog.  Kimberley has published a few posts on what she received from me.  Pop over to take a look.  I loved putting together all of Kimberley's Advent goodies.

 

 

 

If you get the chance this year, I really do recommend signing up for an Advent Swap.  I've read that  Cat who organised this one will be including Australia in this year's swap.  Fun!

 

Have a great weekend!