Quick Gift: Hot Chocolate Set

Still need some pressies? Yes, it is the same thing every year ;-) Here is a quick and very sweet idea

For... girl friends, sweet guys, child care taker, neighbours, colleagues, children, snow lovers and skiers

Why? Because everybody loves a hot chocolate. To warm up after a long day outside. To give one an emotional hug

Buy a beautiful cup. I found mine with the matching spoon in a 1-dollar-shop

Make a bag full of hot chocolate powder, a bag of chocolate sprinkles, a bag of homemade Ginger-Almond-Crossies (http://ninotschka13.blogspot.de/2011/12/homemade-christmas-ginger-almond.html)

Last-minute gift for little girls: Tutu

I love to make a lot of presents, but sometimes I just run out of time. Or I find something which is just perfect...

 

 ... like this little Tutu found at H&M for 5 EUR. My little ballerina will love it ;-)

Gifts from the Kitchen: Orange Ginger Jam

 

This year I started to do chutneys and jams and I love it!!! Such a satisfactory task. And it makes the whole house smell so wonderful. I always try to do unusual flavours which are not available in the supermarket and I usually make them less sweet and more fruity by using 2:1 or 3:1 preserving sugar.

One of my favourite new recipes, which is also a great Christmas gift, is this Orange Ginger Jam which I found in the Living & More magazine.

Orange Ginger Jam

8 small organic oranges with thin peel
2 organic lemons
1l boiling water
1,5kg sugar 0r 750g 2:1 preserving sugar or  500g 3:1 preserving sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon citric acid

Wash oranges and lemons and cut in 8 columns. Then cut columns into thin slices and put them into a pot. Cover with the boiling water and let it brew for a few hours. Bring to the boil with the sugar and ginger, and cook uncovered for about 1 hour. Dissolve the citric acid in a little cold water and add it to the jam when it is no longer cooking. Fill the jam in sterilized jars and store in a cool place.

The given amount make about 8 jars, enough to give a few as presents and enjoy the rest yourself.

 

Hmmmmm! I love that tart citron taste!!!!

Tutorial: The World’s Easiest Pillowcase

 

The world’s easiest pillowcase is an ideal gift because it looks a million dollars and it is really a piece of cake.

It is an envelope pillowcase which means that you do not need any buttons or ribbons to close it (which always feel uncomfortable on a pillow to me anyway). Nevertheless it is still a pillowcase which you can take off the pillow easily and throw it into the washing machine (very important with a little one with chocolate hands ;-))

It is so easy that I could draw the how to on a single page and I promise I haven’t left out a single step...

 

... except turning the pillowcase inside out in the end and stuffing a pillow in it. But I guess you would have figured that out yourself, wouldn’t you?

Don’t worry about the lengths and the width not including any seam allowance. It is a trick and not a mistake, because if the pillowcase is a tiny bit smaller than the pillow itself, the pillow will look wonderfully plush.

From my point of view a thicker cotton fabric works best, because it stays in place but is also pleasant on the skin. Stretchy fabrics are a bit tricky, but work as well. Really you cannot do wrong with this pillowcase.

Depending on the design you chose the pillow can look very feminine or very masculine, very subtle or screaming, very soft or a bit rustic.

Since I needed a Christmas present for my uncle who is the proud owner of a little forest in Bavaria, I opted for a masculine, wooden look with a soft interior...

that is the back - you can hardly see the opening in the middle, can you?

Doesn’t that wood effect look cool? I found this fabric at Ikea and immediately I knew it was the perfect fabric for this project.

12.12.2012: Great Gift for all Men in your life: Spiced Salt

12 days until Christmas, I guess it is time now for some last minute gift ideas. I don’t know why but I think presents for boys are not easy to find. Well, with the exception of small boys, maybe. But the older they get the more difficult it gets. And they are just not into all the nice little things that you could get your girlfriends, sister, mum or granny: shimmery nail polish, chocolate truffles, crafting books, little bags, ... Still, there are so many men in my life who deserve a wonderful gift that they actually like. And I bet they love this spiced salt...

For... foodies, savoury lovers, husbands, dads, brothers, teenage sons, uncles, maintenance men, craftsmen

Why? To pimp up any boring buttered bread, to add oomph to any dish, to get rid of all the sweet overdose of Christmas cookies and chocolate

Make I followed the recipe found here at Chefkoch and I translated it for all of you do not speak German

 

250 g sea salt, as coarse as possible, it will be grounded
3 tablespoons fried onions, possibly more
1 teaspoon pepper, ground black or colored, medium-fine
1 teaspoon black cumin, ground
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tsp dried thyme
½ bay leaf, finely crumbled
1 teaspoon chili powder, possibly more
2 tsp dried garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar Alpha

Mix all spices, except salt and onions, well in a mortar pestle and crush them properly. Then stir this mixture well with the sea salt and the onions and stir well and let the whole stand for 3-4 hours or even longer.  Stir and mix every now and then.

Now put it all into a blender and grind but not too fine, so that the salt still has a "rough" structure (you can also do this in the mortar, but it is very tiring).

Tastes great on bread with butter, scrambled eggs, and boiled eggs or as a condiment in salads etc.

I know you need a lot of different spices and you might not find all of the in your spice rack, yet, but it is so worth making this salt. I am addicted. Honestly! And I am so glad that I made 4 times the amount, because otherwise I would have not been able to give any away. Yummmm!

Are you addicted to Pinterest?

Because I am ;-) What a brilliant source of inspiration! Since I have discovered this website, my to-do-lists exploded. So many things I want to make, I want to cook, I want to decorate, I want to give as a gift...

Of course there are hideous things or stupid tipps (especially the whole weight loss which are actually ads), too, but overall I have to say: I am thrilled!!!

So in case you haven’t discovered it, yet, it is really worth a look: Pinterest

If you want to find out, what my fantastic finds are (which I keep rambling about), you can also click on the little Pinterest button in my right sidebar and it will take you straight to my folders:

At the moment I have 14 boards with topics ranging from Accessories to Yummy (Food). You see, all my favourite topics ;-)

Oh and just before you go, I have to warn you. Pinterest is highly addictive. You will forget to bring your children to bed, you will be late for work or dates, you will stay in your pyjamas all day, you will burn your food in the oven and stay up too long... but it is worthwhile ;-)

5 things to make a 36-year-old happy (or at least me ;-))

I promised you a happier post – and here it is. Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, my little one feels much better and I am my positive self again. Hurray!

I hope you are happy, too, and if not maybe I can inspire you with 5 things that made my very happy at my 36^th birthday:

Black Forest Cake – my absolute favourite! I could have eaten the whole cake, but fortunately (for my hips) I shared it with my loved ones

Yummy ‘Emperors Dream’ tea – I don’t know what I like more: the pyramid-shaped organza tea bags or the green box with delicate birds.

Lots of colourful birthday cards from my friends near and far – life would not be half as nice without you.

Lots of new books – well , if my little one wouldn’t be sick, I would have finished them by now ;-)

Going out with my lovely husband – all by ourselves with the grandparents looking after the little one, drinks, food, comedy,... perfect!

For me made pressies

Paula had a wonderful idea. She shows us not only what beautiful presents she made for her loved ones, but also what amazing self-made presents she got. And believe me creativity runs in her family. I love the idea to show how great and creative your family is and how much you like the gifts you have gotten.

So here is my tribute to my wonderful creative family:

My husband turn one of his beautiful photos into an amazing piece of art by getting it printed onto Alu-Dibond.

My little one made beautiful drawings, ok let’s say scribbling, for her grandparents.

My mum made me a beautiful hand bag. With my choice of fabric (top and bottom), my choice of handle, my choice of interior fitting (room for my mobile, for my calendar, my keys, my pens...). That is real luxury: something which caters for your individual needs and aesthetics.

My mum also knitted me another one of these wonderful warm scarfs. I never wear them outside (no need to this winter so far anyway), but love to wrap them around me when I am sitting at my sewing machine or laptop. It feels like a big hug.

My sister is also a kitting champion and made this beautiful woollen flower brooch for me. I love its vibrant colours and the combination of something so cosy and spring-like at the same time. I could never make something as delicate and as knitted.

My brother is a passionate photographer and made some amazing photographs using a special lens that makes the photos like a miniature landscape has been photographed. A bit like these ones. Real pieces of art.

And my dad made us all dinner. A family tradition, but still we appreciate your efforts every year, dad.

Thank you so much for each and every of these wonderful pressies, dear family. I love them more than any diamond ring and I thank you so much for making them for me.

Homemade Christmas: Ginger-Almond-Crossies

It is almost Christmas. Unbelievable, but so true.
This year I decided to make my Christmas as homemade as possible.
Because I love crafting and doing lots of crafts as decorations and presents
make my day uhmm December. So I try to share one idea for a homemade Christmas with you
as often as possible and hope that you feel inspired, amused or simply festive.
Happy Christmas time to all of you! 

I have one last Christmas recipes, because if you are anything like my family all the other cookies have been eaten by now. It just seems impossible for us to save some cookies for Christmas ;-)

Anyway, this is one of my favourite recipes, ever since I learnt it from my friend Anna a couple of years ago. It is extremely chocolaty, a bit tart, crispy and so easy to make. In short, just my piece of cake.

For about 100 little pieces you need:

600g dark chocolate couverture

70g crystallised ginger

200g almond slivers

200g cornflakes

Roast the almond slivers in a pan (without any fat, so you have to pay close attention, stir it constantly and quickly get it off the heat before they burn). Let them cool off a bit.

In the meantime melt the couverture in a big metal bowl over a pot of boiling water.

Cut the crystallised ginger into very small pieces and mix it very well into the melted chocolate.

Add toasted almond slivers and cornflakes and mix until everything is coated in chocolate.

Fill baking tray with mini muffin papers and then add a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture to each little paper cup. Be careful because the mixture is very hot. As tempting as it might be to stick your fingers into the bowl: please don’t do it. With 100 paper cups filled there will be enough for you to try once they are cool.

Let them cool for a couple of hours and voila. Simply irresistible, I promise. And please don’t worry about the colour differences in the chocolate. This is only due to the fact that I put it into a box before they were completely cool. So don’t do that if you want to give them away as a present. If you ‘just’ want to eat them yourself, don’t worry about it. You will eat them so quick that you don’t even  shoot a glance at how they look ;-)

Happy chocolate mood!

Homemade Christmas: Leather Jewellery

It is almost Christmas. Unbelievable, but so true.
This year I decided to make my Christmas as homemade as possible.
Because I love crafting and doing lots of crafts as decorations and presents
make my day uhmm December. So I try to share one idea for a homemade Christmas with you
as often as possible and hope that you feel inspired, amused or simply festive.
Happy Christmas time to all of you!

I know it is really unbelievable how fast time flies in December. Just another week until Christmas Eve. And how are you doing with presents for your loved ones? I feel quite well-prepared this year – oh well that is not an achievement when you have time off in December ;-), but anyway. I haven’t finished all the shopping and all the crafting, yet, but at least I have ideas for all my loved ones. Because I hate nothing more than running around through shops without having a clue what I want. For me that is just a waste of energy, extremely frustrating and stressful.

Because I want to spare you this situation as well, I today want to share an easy but fancy crafting project with you, which would be a perfect gift for your mama, your sister, your best friend or – like in my case – for my favourite aunt.

I saw a necklace decorated with leather pendants a couple of weeks about at COS. While I loved the style of the necklace and the idea, I wasn’t too fond of the colour and the price tag. Therefore I had a close look and made something very similar myself. It is really easy, not too expensive and something really special, I promise.

All you need is a little piece of leather, a glass, a pen, scissors, a small circular punch, transparent fishing line, some beards (optional) and a fastener.

First I drew as many circles as possible onto my piece of leather. I used a water glass as pattern, but you can use every round object. Just remember the leather pendants on the necklace will be a quarter of the size of the original pattern.

Then you have to cut your circles…

… fold them in half…

… and then in half again, so that you end with a quarter circle.

Then punch a hole into the top corner of the quarter circle (where the two straight edges meet). This is the hardest bit, because punching through four layers of leather requires some ‘oomph’.

After unfolding your leather quarter it should now look like this. A bit like a four-hole button. Then you repeat the same for as many other circles as you want – or have.

Now you just have to bead the folded circles onto fishing line...

... and adding beards is optional. I added some translucent beards to keep the leather pendants apart from each other, but that is really a matter of your own design.

At last you just have to adjust the lengths of your necklace and finish it off with a fastener. I used a magnetic one, because I hate to fumble with the little screwing ones.

Voila, that’s it. It won’t take you more than an hour and you might have a lot of the ‘ingredients’ lying in your craft room anyway. At least if you are as crafting addicted as me ;-)

Happy crafting!

Homemade Christmas: Lemon Rosemary Bath Salts

It is almost Christmas. Unbelievable, but so true.
This year I decided to make my Christmas as homemade as possible.
Because I love crafting and doing lots of crafts as decorations and presents
make my day uhmm December. So I try to share one idea for a homemade Christmas with you
as often as possible and hope that you feel inspired, amused or simply festive.
Happy Christmas time to all of you!

Today, I finally want to show you another of my homemade Christmas craft projects.

It all started, when I was looking for little Christmas presents for the ladies at child care. They are notoriously underpaid, yet they are incredible motivated, lovely and enthusiastic about their job. And therefore I really wanted to show them, how much I appreciate what they do to keep my little one (and all the other little kiddos) happy every day.

Something homemade I had in mind. And something they would really enjoy. Something for themselves. And not just another child’s painting. My mum is a paediatrician and therefore I know that you can keep just so many pieces of art and that you can only enjoy that many child-made cookies every Christmas ;-)

Somehow the idea of a relaxing bath ticked all the boxes and therefore I started to do some research on home-made bath salts. There are a lot of lovely recipes online, e.g. at Martha or ehow. After a bit of searching and a little research on the effects of different plants and fruits, I decided to do a lemon rosemary bath salt, because rosemary is said to be particularly relaxing and lemon helps against stress. Plus I found the fragrance combination simply delicious.

I tweaked the recipes which I found online a bit and came up with this recipe:

Lemon-Rosemary Bath Salt

8 tablespoons of basic oil (olive, rapeseed oil etc.)

1-2 tablespoons of rosemary essential oil (depending on the desired intensity)

Lemon zest of 4 lemons

A few dried rosemary leaves

6 packs of baking powder (about 15g each)

2,5 kg coarse sea salt

Mix basic oil with rosemary oil and lemon zest in a non-metallic bowl, add coarse sea salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly with a wooden or plastic spoon. Sprinkle a few dried rosemary leaves for the visual effect. Fill into resealable glass containers. Voila!

This mixture is enough for six jars of bath salt – yes, I am sure you will need that many: your cleaning lady, the ladies at school or daycare, the nice postman,... they all need a bit of recognition and relaxation during the Christmas holidays – plus don’t forget to keep one jar for yourself. You deserve it too ;-)

It is actually quite nice to have coarse sea salt in different sizes. I bought different packs from different brands, because I haven’t bought enough in the first place, but when I stirred them together, I liked the differences of the salt in shape, size and colour very much.

I tied a little wooden spoon to the glass preserving jars for a little touch of spa, a little red band for the Christmas feel, a sticker describing the content and most importantly a little Christmas cards with a big written thank you.

And since I didn't had enough preserving jars I also filled two big sugar sprinkler. Looks quite good, too, doesn't it?

 Quick and easy, not expensive, but pretty impressive, ne?

Happy soaking!

Nikolaus was here

I know it was very quiet here. Despite my promises to post everyday and share with you lots of homemade Christmas ideas. Reason why as so often – a sick baby and then a sick me. Yeap, this time I couldn’t avoid it. I had to surrender, lie down, watch stupid daytime TV, drink pots of peppermint tea, even take paracetamol to bring down the fever... Oh, well, I am sure you know these stories... on to something more pleasant.

Nikolaus was here.  My little one checked on her stocking every 5 minutes after she understood that there might be something in it later on

But then she suddenly and quite unexpectedly fell asleep at the dining table. So she opened her little present this morning. And it was ...

... a xylophone. What a delight! She almost refused to go the day care because she loved hammering away on it so much. Well, let’s see when our neighbours come around to confiscate this means of pleasure (or pain?) ;-)

Wedding Anticipation Set

I am so excited! My little sister is getting married next year. She and her boyfriend just came back from a trip to South Africa and announced the good news. I am so happy for her. He is a great guy and they are a wonderful couple (for more than 6 years). So I think it is wonderful that we will celebrate them and their love big times. Because that is what weddings are all about, isn’t it.

picture found here

Since we live 800km apart, sharing anticipation and taking part in the preparation is not easy, but I still wanted to let her know how excited I am and to give her reason to dream and plan. Therefore I sent her a little

Wedding Anticipation Set

It contained:

A bridal magazine – most of them are horrible and consumption focussed, I know, but I think they are a great way to see what is out there in bridal world (which can be a scary world I can tell you) and make up your mind about what you want and most importantly what you don’t want.

A blank notebook – for taking notes of all the beautiful things and amazing ideas which you come across during your bridal research, I lost a number of papers with fabulous ideas because they just got lost in my stash of paperwork, therefore I love to have everything bound and in the same place.

Post-Its – to mark the page with the beautiful idea in the magazine full of things you don’t want to read or see again or for little ideas, but please make sure to stick them into the notebook, they will get lost otherwise, I promise you

The list of my favourite 5 wedding blogs – which you can easily find at the righthandside of my blog, I like them because they are different to the fairy-tale-pink-princess-stuff that you often find in bridal magazines, they offer warm-hearted, affordable, creative and alternative ideas which makes a wedding so much more beautiful

The Ultimate Wedding To Do List – I know you can find such extensive To-Do-Lists in every bridal magazine, but I found them always quite daunting, they included millions of things which I didn’t want to do, traditions I have never heard about, but forgot important legal things which are mandatory in Germany, therefore I created my own version and offered sister to use it as a guide and change it into her Ultimate Wedding To Do List

Unwanted advice – yes, I already started with this slightly annoying tradition, just to help her get used to them J, no honestly I think most people give you advice because they want to help you and it is really up to you what you do with them: ignore them, take them into consideration, forget about them, act on them, discuss them with your loved one,...

Of course you could also add a bottle of bubbly, chocolates or the like, but I wanted to give the post no excuse to delay the delivery and it worked. They delivered it into her office in record time  ;-)

Birthday in a Box

It’s my lovely brother-in-law’s birthday and since he is on the road today – without a proper birthday party – I gave him a birthday in a box to take with him.

It contains:

·         A self-made garland
·         Some balloons
·         A birthday candle
·         A chocolate “cake” – well actually it is one of these
·         Some birthday music
·         And of course: a birthday surprise

Well, it won’t replace a party with 50 of his closest friends, a real chocolate cake or a girl jumping out of the later one, but I am sure he will get this once he is back at home anyway.

So, have a happy, happy birthday, dear T.! I hope you have a wonderful day! And yes, the chocolate is all yours, you don’t have to share it with anyone today! Not even my lovely sister.

A Casual Christening – Preparations

I love parties! I love to go to parties! I love to throw them! I think there are many things to celebrate, not only birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Easter. Therefore I now dedicated my Friday posts to parties: to creative party invitations, to easy-to-make party food, to party decorations that make all the difference... I hope you feel inspired by the festive atmosphere on Fridays and celebrate many small and big events.

I am in the final stages of preparations for my little one’s christening. Since we decided to make it a special but casual celebration, I am not stressed at all, but look forward to celebrating with our closest family and friends. While organising the christening I faced two “challenges”: deciding on how to handle the religious traditions (plus I had to do some research because I wasn’t familiar with all of them) and putting together a little wish list (and I am not a fan of silver rattles and spoons).

picture found here

Religious traditions

• Godparents – in former times they often had a provider role in case the parents died, but for me they (ideally) become adult confidants, who offer the child help and advice
• Baptismal motto – here is a great source for German Taufsprüche, this motto shall guide the child throughout its life
• Christening gown – often handed down from one generation to the next, the white dress should symbolise the child’s purity before god
• Christening candle – more common in the Roman Catholic church, represents that Christ is the light in our life)
• Intercessions – typical read out by the godparents during the service, often follows this scheme (1. for the child to be baptised, 2. for the parents and godparents, 3. for family, 4. for present friends and relatives, 5. for the community, 6. for all in the world who are in trouble or sickness 

picture found here

Presents

• A special toy – something that is loved by the child for more than a few months, maybe a beautiful doll or a teddy bear
• A piece of jewellery – for me it doesn’t need to be a classic cross, it could also be a fish (the ancient sign of Christ), a little heart or a single pearl
• A savings account – on which the godparents pay an amount occasionally and the child can spend it on a holiday, a car etc. when it turns 18
• A quilt – I love fabrics and I love the idea of turning scrap fabric into something useful and something full of memories by using fabrics from baby clothes, blankets etc.
• The first tableware and cutlery – made from plastic or more classy from porcelain and stainless steal 

Oh, I am starting to get really excited! I cannot wait for next week.