Well, the silly season is behind us and I'm already thinking about what was successful in 2013 and what I can add to my steadily growing list of DIY gifts.
The big smiles this year were from:
First the do ahead ones....
After Dinner Mint Liqueur
Limoncello (a perennial favourite)
Home made Baileys
Onion Confit
Tomato Relish
German ivy plants in small terracotta pots trained over circlets of wire to look like a miniature wreath
Ribbon and rhinestone bookmarks
Monogrammed pillowcases
Lace trimmed cotton knit (tshirt material) scarves
Teatowels, hand embroidered with Scandinavian style birds
Pillow case dresses for the granddaughters, machine embroidered with characters
DIY facial serum and toner
Goats milk soaps (very popular)
....and the do-closer-to-Christmas ones...
Raw chocolate truffles
White Christmas bark
Caramel fudge with Anzac biscuit toppping
Coconut ice, both traditional and black/white
Craisin and nectarine Christmas Cake
This year I'm working hard on gifts for the men in the family. So far I'm doing:
Burlap sachets filled with blokey dried herbs like Cinnamon, Allspice, Bay Leaves, Rosemary, Mint and Lemon/Lime rind, to put in their sock drawers. Well, men like their stuff to smell good too, you know!
Blokey soaps scented with Cinnamon and Coffee
Cinnamon coffee hand scrub with garden gloves
And I'm on the lookout for old garden tools and workshop tools to restore and gift as is, or turned into some sort of artwork for the workshops and gardens
That's as far as I've got, but I've worked out I have to make 3 gifts a week to be able to gift generously without breaking the bank in 2013. It's not so hard if I start now, but being consistent is the key.
Join me if you want...don't dilly dally!
