'Tis the season to be creative...

This Christmas I decided to give myself the mammoth task of hand-making almost all of my Christmas gifts..and I wouldn't have it any other way :)

I saw chocolate 'slabs' similar to these in Marks and Spencers, but at a ridiculous price! So, I decided that I would make my own for a fraction of the price. I melted a (huge) bar of chocolate into a silicone cake tin, baked some mini gingerbread men and placed them in, used letter moulds to make white chocolate letters and added some marshmallows. 

I knew that my sisters were in need of a sewin box, so I decided to make them one each. I covered a gift box with fabric and sewed on some cut-out felt letters. I made little pins and needles booklets by sewing together sheets of felt and cutting out their initial letters with the same fabric from the box. I then filled the boxes with thread, scissors, tape measures and all the sewing essentials..

This was a dress that I customised for my best friend for her birthday. I bought some cute bird fabric and cut out heart shapes, and sewed them onto a lovely recycled-fabric dress..

This was a birthday 'cake' that I made for my sister's birthay..I decided that I would make something a bit different, so made up the recipe for Millionaire Shortbread and let it set in a circular mould...

Whilst at University, I thought I would take advantage of the Silkscreen Printing facilities. For my future mother-in-law, I drew a chicken design (she owns 3 chickens and loves them!) and printed it around the collar and on the pockets. I incorporated her name (Di) in the design.. 

My boyfriend's favourite computer game is the Half Life series, and hence his favourite character is Gordan Freeman! So I put my fear of the pen tool aside and created a silhouette of the character's face, so that his only his key features (beard and glasses!) were shown..  

Finally, I printed a shirt for my boyfriend's brother, who recently received a personalised number plate for his birthday. I reproduced this number (again using the pen tool) so that he could wear it with pride, even when he wasn't driving!