DIY | Pocket hand-warmers

Since buying the set of Christmas fabric pictured below, every year around the start of the festive season I feel the need for a little craft project to keep me busy till the end of the year. I made bunting in my first year of university, and lots of tree decorations last year (that I will hopefully one day photograph.) This year I went for an easy little thing that makes for a great stocking filler (or additional birthday prezzie if your bezzie is a November baby) and will keep you warm(ish) until Spring. Here's my first great rugby-watching project of the season... Pocket hand-warmers!

(Yes, I did say rugby watching. Ahhh there are SO many things I don't share on this blog that I really, really like. Like, I love rugby, and beauty products, and playing Crash Bandycoot Team Racing. And many other secret things...)

You'll need: pretty cotton fabric, needles and thread, a pencil, a circle object to use as a tracer (I used a vase!), uncooked rice, scissors. Optional: essential oil, for scented hand-warmers!

1. If you're using essential oil, start by putting a few drops of it in your rice. Mix and let it infuse while you sew.
2. Place your two fabric right sides together. Trace a circle on the fabric using whatever object you have on hand, then cut a square of fabric around the circle, leaving 2-3cm around the circle.
3. Start sewing the two pieces of fabric together following the line. I recommend using extra needles to pin your pieces of fabric together and avoid mistakes.
4. Leave a little opening at the end.
5. Turn your fabric over and make sure to push the seams out so the circle shape is all good and nice.
6. Fill your hand-warmer with rice... I used the end of a spoon as I like to keep the opening as small as possible — makes the final stitching easier!
7. Stitch your hand-warmer closed. I wish I could explain how, but I (badly) self-taught myself sewing.. Meaning I have no clue what I'm doing.
8. You're all done! Now pop your hand warmer(s) in the microwave for 30s and stick them in your coat pockets to keep you warm when you go out...

Believe me, I'm a beginner, and I can make these under 30 minutes... So you can too! Go forth and craft, and don't forget to show me your finished little pockets of warmth... An early merry Christmas to you! x

Christmas in Instagrams

A few snapshots of my December and Christmases, from my iPhone that I still had not introduced to the blog! He's called Alfie. He's a good kid.

 

 

1. Our tree in London town. 2. Filling in my secret Santa duties by making biscuits.

3. The tree drowning in presents back in my French home. 4. Homemade trifle for our family Christmas meal in London.

4. New Year's day recovering walk in Gloucestershire. 5. Another tree at my grandad's.

5. Bredele are a compulsory Christmas treat in my family. 6. Christmas Eve toast.

Christmas wishlist

Dear Santa,

I've been a good girl this year. Sort of. Most days. Please focus on my pretty smile and all the times I've given free cake to people when you set off to distribute presents. I know you're pretty busy and stuff, so I've made it easy for you. Here's a list of things I wouldn't mind under the tree.

I'm sure some of my friends will find inspiration in there so make sure you've got plenty of all of these in stock.

Much love,
Gaëlle

P.S. See mum, this year I'm posting my list way before Christmas!

1. Vintage globe / 2. MAC Divine Desire: Quite Coral / 3. Ring from Old Gold Boutique / 4. and 5. Earrings from Urban Outfitters / 6. Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo / 7. Anthro pie pan  / 8. Anthro candle / 9. Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf / 10. Kindle case / 11. Nautical earrings / 12. Bumble & Bumble BB Curl Conscious shampoo / 13. iPhone case  / 14. for the lolz: Acne black Clover boots / 15. Bake More Cake print / 16. Cameras print / 17. Hot air balloon print / 18. A subscription to Jamie Magazine because it is the BEST

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Cher Papa Noël,

J'ai été bien sage cette année. A peu près. La plupart du temps. Si tu pouvais te rappeler de mon beau sourire et de toutes les fois où j'ai offert des gâteaux à mes amis quand tu distribueras les cadeaux, ce serait chouette. Je sais que tu es bien occupé et tout, donc je t'ai prémaché le travail. Voici une liste de choses que j'aimerais bien trouver sous le sapin.

Je suis sûre que mes amis vont y trouver de l'inspiration donc assure-toi que tu as le stock.

Des bisous,
Gaëlle

P.S. T'as vu Maman, cette année je poste ma liste bien avant Noël !

Christmas at home (I'm not dead)

Hello again, and a very happy new year to you all! I've been back in London for a few days now, and finding myself in that strange couple of days between having to say goodbye to my friend Morgane who stayed with me a few days, and having my friends back at uni. I've done everything boredom calls for: I've slept in, I've been on a Quest For Food (full story coming up some time this week), I've watched countless episodes of TV shows... Worse than all, I've spent money on clothes I probably don't need, and certainly don't have any room for... The only logical thing left to do was a blog post!

I wish all of you good luck with going back to school, taking exams and surviving the cold!

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Bonjour à toi lecteur, et une très bonne nouvelle année ! Cela fait quelques jours que suis rentrée à Londres, et je me retrouve dans cette période bizarre entre le départ de mon amie Morgane qui a passé quelques jours ici avec moi et le retour de mes amis à la fac. J'ai fait à peu près tout ce que l'ennui me pousse à faire d'habitude : j'ai fait la grasse mat', j'ai entrepris une Quête de la Nourriture (histoire complète à venir dans la semaine), j'ai regardé un nombre incalculable d'épisodes de série... Pire que ça, j'ai dépensé de l'argent dans des vêtements dont je n'ai probablement pas besoin, et certainement pas la place de ranger... La seule chose logique qu'il me restait à faire était un post pour ce blog !

Je vous souhaite à tous un bon courage pour la rentrée, les partiels, et la survie au froid !

PS: This is the last Christmas related post, I swear! :)

Christmas at uni...

I'm home, so the blog is going to be quite slow over the next two to three weeks... Happy holidays to each and everyone of you!

SC#10 | Jamie's mince pie cookies

I've been almost three weeks without recipes on here! I must have some kind of strange illness. I'm then taking a break inbetween writing essays and helping Mrs Chef (a.k.a Laura) cooking our flat Christmas dinner to post this delicious recipe that I found in the Christmas issue of Jamie's cooking magasine...

Makes about 40+
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 140g sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- Grated zest of 1 clementine
- 300g flour
- 1x411g jar fruit mincemeat
- I added 1tbsp of baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until creamy. Add the egg yolk and clementine zest and beat again to combine. Sift in the flour then fold through most of the mincemeat and stir until the mixture starts to come together.
Pull off little biscuit-sized clumps of dough, space them evenly on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Dot a little of your save mince meat on top of each cookie. Pop in the oven for about 10mns, until they're golden but still doughy in the middle.
The batter can be frozen instead if you want to keep some for later!

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Ca fait presque trois semaines que je n'ai pas posté de recettes ! Je dois avoir attrapé un truc. Je vais donc faire une pause entre l'écriture de mes disserts et l'opération j'aide Mme Chef (a.k.a Laura) à cuisiner notre repas de Noël des colos pour poster cette recette pour des cookies délicieux que j'ai trouvé dans le dernier numéro du magasine de cuisine de Jamie Oliver.

Pour environ 40 cookies :
-250g de beurre doux mou
- 140g de sucre
- 1 jaune d'oeuf
- Zestes d'une clémentine
- 300g de farine
- 1 pot de 411g de mincemeat (la mincemeat est une mixture typiquement anglaise, à base de saindoux, pommes, fruits secs, et épices, et qui sert à faire des mince pies. J'imagine que ça se trouve en France en épiceries anglaise...?)
- J'ai ajouté une cuillère à soupe de levure chimique

Préchauffer le four à 180°C.
Battre le beurre et le sucre dans un grand saladier jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit crémeux. Ajouter le jaune d'oeuf et les zestes de clémentine et fouetter le tout. Ajouter la farine petit à petit puis presque toute la mincemeat ; mettre ce qui reste de côté. Mélanger jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit vaguement homogène.
Faire des petits tas de pâte et les placer régulièrement et bien séparés sur une plaque de cuisson recouverte de papier cuisson. Etaler un peu de mincemeat sur chaque cookie. Mettre au four pour environ 10mns, jusqu'à ce que les cookies soit dorés mais encore tendres au milieu.
La pâte peut être congelée si vous préférez les garder pour plus tard :)

It's never too late for a Christmas wish list...

You might have noticed, I have a burning love for lists. Also, I have a burning love for procrastination, which explains why I suddenly stopped working on my essay, thought about something else to do, and went for this article.

Back to the point. A third thing I love massively is... Christmas. I'm a sucker for December. From December 1st, I turn into an elf. I only listen to Christmas songs (here is my playlist for this year), I get my mini Christmas tree out of the cupboard and have it standing proudly on my desk, I spend hours lovingly staring at my advent calendar... Also, I decorate. I decorate a lot. At home, we would have a full day of turning the house into Santa's freaking place. Alas, this year, this will only happen next week. I've been going a bit mental here though; I've got (fake) sprigs of holly, garlands and ribbon chains all over my room-- and even in the bathroom.

I am therefore going to share my festive mood with you... by sharing my Christmas wish list!

- Pretty masking tape from mt.

 

- All sorts of cake tins like those I saw in Lakeland. Also, this Deco Pen.

- A custom calligraphy stamp from paper pastries.

- Mumford & Sons's Sigh No More, because I can't stop listening to it.

- Pretty jewellery from UO and Forever 21.

 

 

- A poster of London from orkposters.

- A sewing machine.... Old, small, basic, I don't case. My stitches look terrible :(

- Reindeer skirt from UO... Perfect Christmas outfit!

- An Instax mini. Yes. One more camera.

- Plenty of nail polishes. OPI and American Apparel are my favourites, Santa!

- A piggy bank.

- Unlimited funds for The Hummingbird Bakery & Ben's Cookies.

 

I could go on for ages, but I'm afraid this essay really needs to be written... So, you tell me what you want for Christmas, while I go... pretend I'm working and really keep on crafting (that's a word. yup.) more Christmas surprises!

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Trad française à venir :)