Merry Christmas





We had a lovely Christmas shindig/street party at the neighbours house yesterday. We've been neighbours for thirteen years, and it's only been this year that I have socialised with them. They are lovely people and made us feel so welcome.



  

 

Santa dropped in, with goodies for the kids.

Summer charmed the pants of everyone when she sang Jingle Bells with another little girl. She has stage presence apparently. It was uber cute.

The past week and first week of the school holidays was a scorcher. Except for yesterday, we'd been at the swimming lake everyday! We are so lucky to have this awesome asset in our town.

We are as organised as we are ever going to be for Christmas. I have the urge to bake, but just seriously cannot be bothered! I am so looking forward to lunch at Mum's with all the family. Especially my brother who will be home in the next couple of days after his kidney transplant. We have so much to cherish and be thankful for this year.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas xx


An InLinkz Link-up

DIY family photo christmas greeting cards

I came across this site years ago and thought I would share it with you. 

If you are anything like me, SLACK, then you might find this an awesome and quick alternative to sending out your christmas cheer.

Nothing makes people ooh and aah, like a family photo of your gorgeous children presented on a professional looking card.

All you need is a decent photo, a printer and photo paper.

This link will take you to the Christmas Photocard section, of the WiddlyTinks website. 

Choose your frame.

You will then need to upload your family picture in the space provided. 

You can also edit the text to suit yourself.

Save your finished creation to your computer. 

Print out cards on photo paper.

Whack a magnet on the back and you have a printed card you can give out to your family and friends.

If all that seems to hard you could always share straight to Facebook on Christmas Eve and tag all your family and friends. I am sure they will love it.

This link will take you to the Christmas section of the Photo Tinks, which have some lovely scrapbooking themed templates that are good too. 

Now go and have a play on the Widdlytinks site. I hope it helps you this Christmas. In fact there are templates there for all occasions, not just Christmas. You could just about go absolutely batshit crazy creating stuff!

What's your hot tip for Christmas this year?

An InLinkz Link-up

Painted Christmas biscuits

Recipe for biscuits:

75 grams margarine

50 grams icing sugar

finely grated rind of a small lemon or orange(I like the orange ones the best)

I egg yolk( I used a duck yolk=fine)

175 grams plain flour

pinch of salt

Decoration:

2 egg yolks

food colouring(liquid)

Beat the margarine, sugar and rind until pale and fluffy.

Beat in the egg yolk, and stir in flour and salt.

Knead until smooth, flatten into a round, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees. 

Roll dough out gently with a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, use cutters to press shapes.

With a spatula, transfer shapes to a baking tray, make features with the end of a straw(like Rudolphs nose, buttons on the gingerbread men, snowmen and baubles on the trees, and place in the fridge to chill.

I slid the spatula under and then flipped them over on to the tray. The dough is
very fragile but makes great biscuits.

To decorate,  put each egg yolk in a cup and add a few drops of liquid food colouring.

I used duck eggs, the yolks are bigger and I split the yolks to make three colours, red, yellow and green. For the amount of biscuits, splitting chook eggs would be plenty enough to colour.

Using a paint brush paint on the colour as you wish, I just did it simply, but you could get way more elaborate with the markings you make on the biscuits, the colours you use and they way you paint them. 

Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes, or until the begin to colour at the edges. Transfer to a wire rack, I used the spatula again for this. 

The result, perdy, tasty biscuits!

Have you handmade anything for the christmas season? You know what, it's OK if you haven't! It's all sorts of batshit crazy this time of year isn't it? I am not the most organised bottle in the six pack by a long shot! Still in denial that everything will be ok, and you know what; it will. There will be shit loads of food, and laughter, love and most importantly FAMILY.

I hope you have an awesome Christmas. With lots of love and Christmas cheer, the O'Brien clan. Hugs and kisses xxxxoooo

Add your christmas cheer, love and #openslather below xxx :)