Homemade Christmas tips. Save money this Christmas

by whitemoss

Make your Christmas special by adding a few homemade touches to your decorations , gifts and celebration meals Tried and tested over 30 years!

I'm not suggesting a totally homemade Christmas - life's too short! However having hosted our family Christmas for the last 35 years, I've found ways of using selected homemade items that get noticed, win praise and admiration, and let you bask in the glow of a job well done, without expending huge amounts of time and money.
In summer, think about saving and drying flowers and herbs from your garden. This will be a great resource when Christmas comes around.
I've got tips on decorating the Christmas home and Christmas dining table, homemade Christmas candies to make and give, and a special traditional recipe to spice up your Christmas desserts.
I'll also tell you where to look for more easy homemade Christmas ideas.
These homemade tips work for me. They may work for you!

Break out the tea lights for magical Christmas decorations.

Nothings creates a warm Christmas glow like candles and tea lights.

Tea lights are my #1 choice for easy homemade Christmas decoration.All you need to do is to buy lots of tea lights and use them imaginatively- no hard work is required to create a fabulous display.

Here are the ways I use tea lights for my homemade Christmas decorations.( Safety warning- always be aware of the dangers of naked flames, especially when children are around)

  • Set tea lights on a mirror, placed in the middle of your Christmas dinner table. The lights are reflected, giving of a warm glow.
  • Take a large glass serving bowl, half fill it with water, then float lighted tea lights on top. Everyone loves this! It makes such a pretty Christmas decoration for your table or windowsill.
  • Collect together all the tea light holders you can find. Save glass jars in the weeks before Christmas ( I use jars that have had relish or pesto in them). Try arranging groups of holders  on trays, large plates or table mats. You can then move these into windowsill, onto shelves, or onto tables- trail and error will show you how to get the best effect.
  • Line up a row of tea lights in holders or jars along windowsill, mantelpieces, down the center of  a table
  • Key Point - one or two tea lights look miserable. You need a lot of tea lights for the best effect. Tea lights don't cost much, but they look fabulous. Dim the electirc lights and let your tea lights make you Christmas home look magical.

Here is a really great value pack of unscented white tea lights

I would buy two packs of these tea lights to make fantastic homemade decorations for Christmas
Tealight Candles White Unscented Set of 125

The Tealight Candle is a self-contained, versatile little candle. It's efficient and very inexpensive . The Tealights featured here are compression molded and set in aluminum cu...

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Scented tea lights are more expensive, but can be mixed with white tea lights in your homemade Christmas decoration.

These are scented with a perfect Christmas fragrance
USA Tealight Warm Apple Tealights, 30-Pack

100% made in USA beautiful clean burning tea light candle, perfect for weddings, restaurants, parties or any occasion. Produced with only top quality made in USA components to e...

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Cumberland Rum Butter - a traditional Christmas treat from North West England

Cumberland Rum Butter - a traditional Christmas treat from North West England

Yummy melted over hot Christmas puddings, mince pies, apple pies, hot toast....

Prep time 10 min  -  Total time 10 min
Ingredients for 6 servings
6 oz butter (unsalted butter is best)  • 6 oz dark soft brown sugar,( moscovado sugar or any soft sugar is best)  • rum to taste ( 6 tabs dark rum is best)

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together, stir in rum to taste, store in fridge until needed ( or you can freeze the rum butter)

That's it folks!

To serve, place in a pretty dish, and allow everyone to help themselves, or place a rounded scoop on each serving of pudding.
You can use brandy instead - this is then Brandy butter- also delicious.

You will have made something very easy, yet very unusual ( unless you come from Cumbria, and there are not many of us!)


This photo is with thanks to Cumbria Tourism and Grasmere Gingerbread shop, not for reuse.

Recipe  5.0/5 Stars (1 Votes)

Read more about Rum Butter here

Rum Butter recipes and Rum Butter History- it's all here.

Cumberland Rum Butter recipe from Delia Smith
Delia Smith, one of Britain's favorite cookery writers, shares her recipes.

Here's another recipe from Food.com
This simple recipe gets a 5 star review.

This recipe comes from The Great Brtish Cookbook
This is an excellent website if you're looking for traditional recipes.

Cumberland Rum Butter - History and recipes
This article tells you the history of Cumberland Rum butter. It's actually an article written by your author, and I think you'll find it interesting!

Homemade candies for Christmas

Here are two very easy homemade candies you can make to eat or give at Christmas

How to make easy homemade chocolate truffles- click hereHomemade chocolate truffles- the perfect easy to make homemade gift..Personalize the flavor of your homemade truffles for a special friend or family member. 

How to make homemade peppermint candy- click here
Homemade peppermint candy is one of the easiest homemade gifts you can make. These peppermint candies look good and taste great. You could make these for a homemade Christmas gift.

See how wonderful a simple fruit decoration can look on your Christmas table.

Glass Bowl of Berries & Xmas Baubles as Table Decoration
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Use fruit and other food to make edible Christmas decorations.

You can see how pretty fruit looks in the picture above.

Here are some ideas for easy, simple homemade decorations that you can eat!

  • A pretty sparkly fruit bowl- just coat grapes, plums or other soft fruit in beaten egg white, sprinkled with fine sugar,and allow the sugar to set and dry, for frosted fruit which is delicious to eat.
  • Cover a large plate or tray with leaves or greenery, and pile it high with oranges, satsumas or tangerines. This looks lovely and colorful, and the oranges release their scent in a warm room.
  • The old favorite, clove studded oranges, goes back centuries, but still works well.Pierce holes in the orange skins, and stuff the holes with cloves. If you want, you can tie ribbons round and hang the fruit, or line up a row along a windowsill or mantle, or done the middle of the dinner table.
  • Make simple cookies to hang, as in the picture below. There are more links to help you under the picture.

These red Christmas Ball ornaments are the ones I recommended for my simple, inexpensive decorations.

You get 96 balls in 4 different finishes. I bring these out year after year, and use them with fruit and greenery for superb Christmas decorations at bargain prices.
96ct Red Hot Shatterproof 4-Finish Christmas Ball Ornaments 1.5" (40mm)

96-piece set Color: red hotThese dazzling ornaments are done in 4 amazing finishes: shiny, matte, glitter drenched, and holographic glitter sparkleThis special club pack will al...

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Use fruit and greenery for simple homemade Christmas decorations

Use seasonal Christmas fruits and greenery from the garden for simple decorations
Christmas Fruit and Flowers
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Christmassy Window Decorated with Biscuits and Candles
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You can buy Christmas cookie cutters to make your homemade decorations

Here's a choice of cookie cutters to make your homemade Christmas easy.
Wilton Holiday Grippy Cookie Cutters, Set of 4

Safe, easy cutting, with a comfortable grip and deep plastic sides. Four shapes include stocking, tree, star and gingerbread boy

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Wilton Holiday Cookie Cutters, Set of 9

Put variety in your cookie-making with fun Christmas multi-shape sets. There are styles to please everyone.

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Finally, my very own easy , best homemade Christmas dessert

Here's my family recipe for a Traditional Sherry Trifle- for every celebration meal.

Sherry Trifle- mmmm that just has to be the best dessert for a Christmas Holiday party. Make ahead of time, no fuss, just very impressive . A traditional dessert that just keeps on giving.

 

Here's my Christmas recipe for Sherry Trifle. It's an old English recipe. Mrs Bridges would be serving something very similar at Downton Abbey 

 

Find Grasmere Sue's Sherry Trifle Recipe by clicking this link. Here's the trifle just ready to finish off.Sherry trifle

The finished Sherry Trifle- a great homemade Christmas triumph.

From Grasmere Sue, White Moss House, Grasmere
Sherry Trifle
Sherry Trifle
Updated: 11/05/2015, whitemoss
 
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DerdriuMarriner on 04/21/2017

WhiteMoss, Thank you for the hand-me-down, old-fashioned, traditional suggestions that make me think of a velveteen rabbit that never suffers abuse, neglect and oblivion. In particular, I like all of the fruit plates and tea lights suggestions as well as rum butter with brown sugar. How would it taste with dark instead of light brown sugar?

Mira on 11/14/2012

I took a look at your sherry trifle on squidoo! I knew something about sherry but didn't quite remember the connection sherry -- vino de Jerez! How fascinating. Also nice to read the recipe, which sounds truly fabulous.

custombetty55 on 11/09/2012

Last Christmas my best friend gave me a really nice wooden Christmas ornament. It had my name and a picture of a reindeer engraved on it. It was super cool and I found out that a firm out in Colorado called Unique Custom Products made it. I am considering ordering from them this year...check them out if you like wooden itemswww.stampworldonline.com.

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