Wednesday 21 December 2011

4 Sleeps!

4 sleeps until the big day!! Preparations are coming to a close and even the Christmas haters are beginning to join in with excitement! Christmas puddings are at the ready, we're already sick of fruit mince pies and the (pre) midday cider doesn't seem in the least bit naughty, even if you are at work...

So before you crack your next cider and undo the top button of your jeans, take note of my top five Christmas movies; you might need them when you're all preparing to have food babies on Boxing Day...

FIVE

"All I want for Christmas"


This was mine and Tenille's (my little sis) second favourite Christmas movie when we were growing up. We stumbled on it by accident when it was shown on Christmas eve one year and were pleasantly surprised when it continued to be shown every Christmas Eve from then on... Sadly, I haven't seen it in a while, but that MAY have something to do with the Left Bank calling my name most Christmas Eve's since I turned 18... The story is about two New York kids who launch a scheme to get what they want most for Christmas - their parents back together. Cheesy - but much loved by the 7 year old me and my sis.

FOUR

"Off to Grandmothers house we go"


 

Now THIS was our favourite Christmas movie. Considering the Olsen twins are around my age, you can tell how old this movie is! The film follows two naughty (but nice) little girls who decide to hitch a ride to their great grandmothers house, after they overhear their Mum explaining what a handful they were. In typical 90's movies style, the girls find themselves in a bit of a pickle when the van they're in is stolen...It's funny, when I think of this movie I immediately think of a scene where they take a chicken drumstick from home to put in their little 'running away from home pack', what does that tell you!?

THREE

"Dr Seuss' - How The Grinch stole Christmas"



Dr Seuss is the bomb. If you've never seen this movie - do it. It's great fun, especially if you're 25 and still very much into kids movies. The Grinch is a nasty cave dweller, with a heart "two sizes too small", who happens to live on a mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry Who's. Not understanding the happiness of the Who's, The Grinch plans to deprive them of their Christmas presents and decorations and prevent Christmas from coming!

TWO

"It's a Wonderful Life"


 


I remember this film sitting in our cupboard for years and years before I finally watched it. I wonder now, why on earth I waited that long! I have always been fascinated with old movies and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ would not only be one of my favourite Christmas movies, but one of my favourite movies of all. George's dream was to see the world however he repeatedly sacrifices his dreams to help others. The film shows George beginning to take his frustration out on his family and friends which lands him deeply troubled on Christmas Eve. Crashing into a tree during a snow storm, he finds himself staggering onto a bridge, intending the worst..... I will stop there and insist you watch it!
 
 
ONE

"Love Actually"


How could anyone forget this scene? In fact, I'm almost sobbing just thinking about it. A British film following ten separate stories which throughout the film are shown to be cleverly interlinked. A story about love, loss and Christmas...with a bit of singing thrown in too, how could this not be my number 1?!

Tuesday 20 December 2011

20 Home Made Jar Gifts!!

Home made gifts are so special and when coupled with beautiful presentation, you're not only giving someone a gift you can be proud of, but doing it on a budget as well! Just make sure you start collecting jars early in the year or you'll end up spending a fortune! I have found the Moccona Coffee jars are the best for gifts, so get onto the coffee quick smart!

Here are 20 of my favourite jar gifts, a few of which I've made and a few that are on my Christmas to-do list (which seems to be piling up by the second with only a few days left!!!).

Home Made Vanilla

Sewing Kit

 
Home made Chutney

Cup Cakes in a jar!

Jandles

One for the kids - Candy Cane Playdough


Jar pies!

No Bake Fudge Balls

Craft Jar


Everyone loves honey
  
Not so much a gift in a jar - but around it!

Lemon Salt Scrub

Toffee Blondies


Cookies in a jar (I made these last year - they were a hit!)

Chocolate tasting jar


Nutella!!

Oil burner in a jar
   
Gooey Dessert


Apron + Recipe


Home made jam + bread and tea towel

Friday 16 December 2011

What you've all been waiting for...

I can't lie, this post about my 'famous' Rocky Road was drafted on Sunday and ready to send today. All that was left to do was purchase the ingredients, make the Rocky Road and capture its fabulousness in a photo.

The ingredients were purchased on Tuesday and sat patiently in my cupboard waiting to be chopped, melted and mixed, then eaten by 7 lovely girls on Sundays Annual Christmas Party (and perhaps a little bit extra for 2 very sweet toothed girls at work this afternoon).

Unfortunately I am one of 'those' people who was never allowed things of the yummy variety as a child, so anything that sits in the cupboard for more than 2 days and has more than 400 calories also has a death wish...

Suffice to say, the red snakes were devoured shortly after arriving home from work last night and the chocolate melts scoffed soon after, while discussing the days events with Mum over a glass of red.

I won't apologise.

Instead - I will give you my recipe and use someone else's photo.

(Modest) Nicole's Famous Rocky Road

Ingredients:

500g of chocolate melts
1 packet of marshmallow’s (I use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut each marshmallow into quarters)
1 packet of red snakes (chopped)
Half a cup of toasted coconut (if you like that sort of thing, I generally do one batch with and one without as I have fussy family members)
150 grams of chopped pistachio’s OR
1 packet of crushed Oreo cookies

Method:

Chop everything up and pop in a bowl, melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and pour over the ingredients. Pop in a lined baking tray and leave in the fridge overnight.
This makes at least 20 pieces depending on how big you like them!
Enjoy x
NB: mine would have looked much better

Thursday 15 December 2011

The Ugly Christmas Jumper

Self explanatory, no?

Considered a competitive sport back in the 80's, rellies trying to outdo each other in the tacky dress stakes at Christmas time. More glitter, more pompoms, more fur (or felt), more knit.... Endless embellishment possibilities. Jumpers dedicated to St Nick and Rudolph and not to mention, the accompanied festive cheer. If you're not donning an ear-to-ear smile 24/7 and finishing off sentences with Fa la la la la lalalala, then I'm sorry, you're out of the running. Matching earrings, mittens, socks or hats earn bonus points. It's about the WHOLE package. So dear old Nanna Norma really did mean well when she gifted you that fine piece of Christmas attire many moons ago. She got you in 'The Club'.

We may have forgotton about these heinous fashion crimes for a decade or so, but guess what?!! Ugly is making a comeback.... It's the new black. Time to dust off the moth balls ladies and show us your best (worst) Christmas apparel. Don't think that living in the hot Southern hemisphere gets you off the hook either. We know YOU and your fam rocked the T-shirt and singlet versions around the pool.... Well, mine did anyway.

"Briiiiaaaaan!!! Throw another shrimp on the barbie!"


Vin Diesel?? Not so fast and furious here


Just plain creepy, however an appropriate 'sleeveless' choice to suit the Aussie climate


Family photo anyone? Credit to him for the ugly layering effort. Is that a lamb on her lap?


Hot Ugly Jumper. I'll take one of these anyday!


Brotherly Love


DIY- if you want to join the Ugly Jumper Club, stick a heap of Christmas shit on an old 'pullover' and wear a snowman hat/mask as a disguise. No one will ever know its you.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Wrapped!

Sick of the same old tacky Christmas wrapping paper? Want to dazzle your giftees this year? Try some of these wrapping styles and you might just get away with that lump of coal you're giving them....

Chic

Pretty

Newspaper

Fabric ties

Made by Mika (pretty sure the one at the back has my
name on it!)

Lovely lemon



Doily love


Gorgeous!


Bakers Twine

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Get your Christmas on - A D'Adamo girls' tradition

It is tradition that each year around this time, My Mum, sister and I find some sneaky way of farming the boys off for an evening and use the time to transform the house into a Grinches nightmare.

Things start relatively low key; dinner and a vino followed by the donning of our Christmas nighties (Tenille dropped the ball on this one this year) and scrambling under the stair case for the Christmas decorations.

We reminisce for a short while over decorations been and gone;
  • 'Mr Kalamanis' bauble' which Tenille received as a Christmas gift in year 4 (this always leads to the discussion of how old it is this year, which then leads to our dog Harley and how old he is compared to the bauble);
  • 'The knitted Christmas Tree Stockings' that were purchased in 1990 with the 50c we were each given at a school fete purely because they came with a packet of life savers and last but not least;
  • 'The singing bauble', this is the mood setter of all mood setters. Starting with a loud clap from Mum, followed by the singing bauble (who's accent seems to change every year) and ending with Tenille throwing it back in the box, Mum still singing much the same as Sister Maria would in The Sound of Music. 

It's business time. 

Our night is always broken up into these three categories:

1. The Erection
2. The Bauble Dance Off
3. The Topping

The Erection

Bing Crosby was our album of choice for this years erection ceremony. Over the years, we've managed to get this down to a fine art. Tenille - THE sister, was the erector and it was her duty this year to erect our pop up tree in less than 1 minute (last years record) - while dancing (in time) with Mr Crosby. If she failed, the consequences were dire. She'd be elected this seasons Gift Wrapper. Considering Mum usually cops this duty, she started her heckling early. The pressure was intense.

After a slow start, five clumsy pirouettes, a few not so graceful arm flaps and an attempt at a leg lift, the mission was completed IN...........35 seconds!


Time for a wine.

The Bauble Dance Off

The tree was up and that meant one thing...'The Bauble Dance Off'. Please note that our darling Mum pulled us out of Betty Bently's Dance Academy at the ages of 9 and 7 respectively, in fear of her public humiliation and death by stoning, so Tenille and I are blessed with the unco genes. Mum goes alright.

A quick CD change - We pulled out the big guns - A Very Mariah Christmas.

Baubles are placed one at a time onto the tree but much the same as 'The Erection' must be done in time with the music, with moves to match. Shit gets real when you're trying to attach a bauble to the tree and Mariah ups the tempo. 

Mum won. Typical (just because her Mum let her stay at Betty Bentley's Dance Academy til she was 12).

Time for another vino.

The Topping

A very special tradition. One lucky girl is chosen to place the star on top of the tree. This year it was me!

A back breaking effort by Tenille meant I was launched up to the top of the tree and managed to 'delicately' place the star.

I apologise for any damage this photo may have caused

Mum hit the lights and our tree was a DELIGHT! fizzer. (I blame the clock on the wall for stealing the limelight).



By this stage we were all too tipsy and sleepy to decorate any further, so we reverted to chocolate and made our annual vow to drink less next year.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Random Act of Kindness

I don't care if you're Mr or Mrs Grinch this Christmas, this is a concept we can all get something out of, by giving something so small and simple- a random act of kindness. This time of year can be stressful for many, so why not brighten up someone's day by doing something they least expect. It can be an anonymous gesture for a stranger or a useful errand for a neighbour or colleague. Just make sure you leave the 'Kindness Card' behind so they can keep passing the kindness on!


Here are some suggestions:


- Buy a coffee for the person 3 people back from you in the line (leave the card with the barista)
- Help an old lady take her groceries to the car (drop the card into one of her shopping bags)
- Leave coins in a public phone booth or in a parking meter
- Send flowers to a hospital ward and write to staff to please give to a lonely patient that has no visitors
- Mow your neighbour's lawn
- Take a prepared meal to a family you know

Get creative with your random acts of kindness, it doesnt matter how big or small they are. Someone could be having a shite of a day until your random self comes along and turns their frown upside-down! Now wouldn't that be nice?



Here is your own Kindness Card to print



My Random Act of Kindness for the co-worker Miss Bridgey Didge
(not entirely random, we do this for each other almost every other day)
...but it's the thought!

Saturday 10 December 2011

Online Christmas Goodies

It's always hard to find a unique gift for a special person so here are a few that might make your Christmas shopping a little easier!

Rebound Books - $45

Rebound Books much loved handmade 2012 Rebound Diaries are made with hard cover Little Golden Books and contain every page from the original book. The diary pages are printed locally using vegetable based inks on Australian made, 100% recycled paper. This year they have also included a gorgeous bespoke locally woven ribbon that also doubles as a tape measure!

Distracted Merchants of Fancy - $159

Distracted's framed vintage soda labels make a unique wall adornment for anyones home.

Foxes of Fancy - $13.95 each


These lovely Vegetable Bags are made from organic cotton and hemp and they gather and close at the top with 100% hemp twine. They are hand screen printed using water based ink. Being organic cotton and hemp they are naturally mould, mildew and bacteria resistant making them ideal to store your vegies, either in your pantry or your fridge. I may already own two of these!


Shop Until $69.95

I fell in love with this gorgeous vase by designer Rob Ryan the minute I saw it. Rob Ryan also produces lovely dinner plates and many other gifts! If you're not into online shopping, you can also find his products in Pigeon Hole in Shafto Lane in Perth city.

Ruck Rover General Store - $39

Perfect gift for the worldly man friend.

Bear & Thomas - $49.95

Hanging wall organiser! The fabric used is made from hemp, recycled plastic drink bottles and recycled polyester. There are 9 pockets for storage of various sized items. There is also a balsa wood rod at the top for rigidity and a secure strap for hanging sewn onto the back. There is a loop on the side so you can always keep a pen handy.