Getting that festive feeling!!

I'm beginning to feel really festive now... as I walk around town everyone is busy getting their Christmas shopping done which makes me think that I need to get myself organised and write a list of what I'm doing for each person. I bought some wrapping paper which is about as far as I've got with the whole thing!

I want to get all of the decorations up but Ray is putting off decorating the big tree for a while as he thinks Rose will pull it down. To be honest... he's probably right. She did pull the clothes airer onto herself a couple of hours ago... 

We're trying to come up with somewhere to put it that we can limit the access she has to it... anyone have any ideas as to how to keep a baby away from the tree?!

Even though I can't have the proper Christmas tree up yet, I've started decorating a few other areas of the house. How gorgeous are these colourful baubles from Paperchase!?

 I love them! :-)

I had a lovely surprise when I got back from playgroup with Rose this afternoon, my friend had sent me some belated-birthday gifts. She knows just How much I love Cath Kidston! It means so much that she bought me such lovely things because I know how short of money she is.

Mum sent Rose her own Advent calendar, she can't possibly eat all that chocolate so I Maayy have to help her out a little... what a shame! haha

My advent swap goodies arrived from Cupcake jojo, I'm so glad I entered into this swap. There were a few times though when I felt a little stressed by the pressure of having a deadline to finish all of my gifts! But now that I've seen all of the presents from Jo, I'm so excited knowing that I have a present to open up every day until Christmas..! :-)

Jo even included a present for Rose to open at Christmas! So, so kind of her because she didn't need to do and it is such a lovely thought. Thank you Jo xxx

Okay, I'm off to carry on with my current crochet project. I WILL get at least one present finished!

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Macaroon mayhem!

This is my first attempt at making macaroons, they are mint chocolate flavour... I think I added a little too much green food colouring though as it just looks like they're filled with green slime! They're pretty wonky and the swirls aren't very neat as I had to make do with sandwich bags instead of a piping bag... all a bit messy I have to say!!

I loved watching The Great British Bake Off when it was on the TV and as a surprise Ray came home with this book the other day. I was completely over the moon with it as it's layed out so brilliantly inside and the photo's are gorgeous.

I decided to give macaroons a try as I've never eaten them before and wanted to see what the fuss was all about. To be honest... I'm not that impressed. I didn't have a clue what to expect but their just too sweet... I thought they'd be a bit crunchier like a cookie but the texture of them is completely different to that. Plus they were just so fiddly to make and I had to manage doing all of the different stages in between dealing with Rose, cooking us dinner and putting Rose to bed. I'm much more of a fan of simple cakes and things!

I finished wrapping all of my Advent swap gifts today, all a bit last minute... as usual for me!

I completely forgot to take pictures of everything before I wrapped it up and so I'll have to rely on my swap partner to take a picture once she's unwrapped everything.

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