A Recycled Christmas

We ventured out today despite the rubbish weather and went to Wentworth Garden Centre we didn't really need anything it's just not that far and I do love to go and look at all the Christmas decorations.  They were gorgeous and as I was looking at the silver and white selection my husband said 'oh are you finally thinking about changing the colour scheme on the tree?' Well no I'm not and I  really don't see why I would, I mean how fed up can you get with something that is only up for a couple of weeks a year?  Also if I was I certainly wouldn't be buying them on the run up to Christmas.

My current decorations have been used for  the last eight years maybe more. I remember buying them from Matalan after Christmas in the sale and they were ridiculously cheap, if not I wouldn't have bought them as I was quite happy with the red and gold I had before.

So the ones I have now are gold, orange and purple they are biggest at the bottom and gradually get smaller. I love them and complete with gold tinsel they cost about £8.00 for the lot and fill a 7 ft tree!

The ones we were looking at in the garden centre today were gorgeous but they were between £2- £4 per bauble! Let me tell you the queues were long in the Christmas  shop so many people did not find this expensive but that is ok my focus is on how I manage my money. 

  Another decoration that I love that comes out again and again is this little Christmas village that lights up, it used to go on a coffee table but  it sits in front of the fire now and it is very cosy to look at.

I think it looks better in real life, the flash on the camera spoils the effect.

I have a star on my tree that my 16 year old made in Y1 and a couple of baubles at the bottom that they painted when they were tiny. These things did not cost a lot but they are very special I don't think we need to be updating Christmas do you? It should be recycled every year.  

If I did ever need to start again with the decor I would hope that  I could make or purchase it all as frugally as possible.  Some of the best rooms I have seen online have been done with such style,  a lot of imagination and creativity but not cost.

I would recommend looking at the gorgeous Christmas decorations of  junkaholique in fact look at the whole blog, I also love her work shed.  She has lovely touches around her home that spring from recycled items, nature and handmade.  I think these are always the best sources and you get a unique feel. She has some snow scenes in jars which I may have to have a go at, I have some jars I have saved, I was thinking I might use oasis so I can preserve the greenery though, I will have to look around and see what I can find.

We don't have a lot of people to buy for as we all opted out years ago (the family members that is) we buy for the children and a couple of friends and that's it. A  lot less stressful, the wrapping I do use is usually recycled gift bags and we have a few Christmas boxes that we have used for the boys stuff for years now. We carefully fold them down and put them away for the following year. We have had the odd roll of paper but we try not to go over board, beautifully wrapping something for it to be thrown in the rubbish really bothers me. I would urge everyone to use gift bags if they can as people often keep and re-use these. 

There are plenty of ideas on eco wrapping out there and a few here on inhabitat 

Yesterday a quick look in the charity shop resulted in this CD (yes I still buy CD's )

£1 bargain! Some really good tracks on here.

Revamp and Resize Jeans

Usually when family or friends are getting rid of old jeans I ask if they can pass them on to me and I use them for bags and pouches.  If you have a bit of a search on pinterest you will find there are all sorts of things that you can do with them.
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine gave me a bag with a few pairs in and straight away I used a pair to make a bag (which I  shared on here). However there was another pair that was such good denim and although not my style or size I thought I will save that pair and see if I can do something with them.
Today I took the scissors to them and thought why not? If it all goes wrong the denim will go on other projects as originally intended.   They have a bit of bright fabric in the pocket if you read below you will find out why.
These are the finished jeans...

I tried them first and they were a couple of sizes too big, they were also loose all around the bottom and the style of leg was a wide boot cut.  The jeans are from Gap and have a slight stretch.

First of all I pinned them at each side of the waist how much they needed to come in.  Then I stitched that part first to see how the fit was.
 I had to cut a 'V' shape out of each side before I stitched to get rid of the rivets or the machine would not have been able to stitch over them .  If you are only adjusting  the waist of your jeans by a small amount then cut this 'v' out from the centre back seam only.
I also removed the belt loops at the sides at this point to add them on after if required.  Because of the amount I needed to take my jeans in I also had to remove the small riveted pocket within the front pocket.

I know one side is bigger than the other but that is easily trimmed to match.

Because I had removed this inner pocket I then added a piece of fabric that I like along with a piece of scrap denim beneath it for strength. I stitched this by hand over where I had removed the small pocket.  You don't have to add contrasting fabric you could just use another bit of denim.

Once this was done I stitched down the sides then tried them on for fit, I had to take a little more off.

Then I turned them inside out, tried them on  again and pinned all the way down each leg to make them fitted and straight legged at the bottom.

Then I sewed the seams following my pins as a guide.  Next trim away all the excess fabric and zig zag to finish.

I am very happy with the finished result and these are probably my best fitting pair of jeans now! It is very rare you can get a pair that fit you properly all over.

Here is the front...

Much better I think

I also like the fact that they come up higher at the back than most jeans now, I have a couple of pair that you don't want to bend down in without forever hoisting them up!

Charity Shop Bargains and Baileys & Sultana Cake

The weekend has felt really bleak the weather has really taken a turn now and going out for a walk means adding on the layers.  There have been a couple of times the dogs have had to be pushed out of the back door to go out because they really do not like heavy rain. The puppy has a little coat but obviously he doesn't wear that just to nip out for a wee! The dogs also get really dirty at this time of year as well, more so as they are all small and close to the ground.
We have been watching a Swedish crime series on the T.V called Arne Dahl I like watching
dramas from other countries and I think you become more engrossed in them as you have to concentrate more.
Yesterday we had a quick look in a couple of the charity shops near us St Lukes and Bluebell Wood (which supports the local children's hospice) We had a go on the raffle in both and I got a fantastic little next jacket for £6 I'm so pleased with it. I always have a look if I'm passing but I don't just buy stuff for the sake of it.

I thought I could wear it at Christmas, I will wear the same dress I made for Christmas last year as it has only been worn once.

Really pretty lining too I like little details like that.

I also got a couple of books for my son who I am trying to encourage to get back into reading.  At 13 he appears to have lost interest and the selection at the library for teens is a bit poor. Its all werewolves, death and vampires.  I don't know how the two I picked up will stand up to the challenge but we will see.

They were 70p each and in good condition.

Today I was making the dinner and I decided to quickly make a gluten free cake for me.  Everyone else was having banoffee cheese cake and sometimes I just want a desert, all the GF pre made stuff is such a rip off.  

So like I said very quick...

Baileys & Sultana Cake

4oz GF flour

4oz margarine

4oz sugar 

2 eggs

2 handfuls of sultanas (didn't weigh them!)

1 tsp mixed spice 

1tsp baking powder

 A glug of Baileys (about a double measure)

Splash of soya milk

Cream sugar and margarine, beat in the eggs, sift in dry ingredients, fold in, add the sultanas, Baileys and soya and  give it another very quick stir. I have a loaf tin but it is a bit big for this mixture but never mind, in it went.  In the oven at 200 for about 20-25 minutes.

Now it slopes a bit to one side due to wrong tin size, but it is really nice. I cut it in half so half can go in the freezer, had  a slice straight way and wrapped the rest to go in the cupboard.  It will not win any beauty contests but it's cake.