Join me for a handmade Christmas!

Like so many of you out there, money is a rather large issue this year! So I have decided that where possible Christmas will be completely handmade. I will be making as many gifts for the boys as I can and what I can't make I have a plan for! The lovely Garreth from ScENT has started a swap shop on Creative Connections here. This is where crafters like myself can trade my items with those lovingly created by fellow members. This should hopefully keep costs down. 

I have also started having ideas for some gifts. I will probably make cuddly toys for each of them (if I find time) as I have done that for years and they seem to like them. I will update you on this when I discover what they want. This morning I also picked up a couple of chocolate moulds on ebay. One for dinosaurs and one for Christmassy shapes. The plan is to make some festive chocolates for them, sound good?

Another idea I had was to fill some nice jars with some of their favorite sweets. Yes, I know it sounds like lots of confectionery but it is Christmas! Here are the jars I got (plastic)

 

Now I need gifts that aren't edible. Any ideas?

Keep Calm It's nearly Christmas!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! Well, actually it isn't all that bad. I say this because I totally miss out on Christmas sales EVERY YEAR! Usually because I am too busy with CRAFTfest and Creative Crafting. By the time December comes along and everything slows down it is way too late to actually think about getting Christmas Sales from my jewellery.

Well, not this year! Oh no, I am going to be prepared. STOP LAUGHING! I AM!
I am so prepared (I need the money, I really do!) that I have opened a WowThankYou shop and listed a few bits on Etsy. I will also be actually taking all of the advice (if I get time) that we give out during the CRAFTfest events about internet marketing. Sad isn't it that we give all the advice but don't take it ourselves. Sad or downright stupid! So, I am going to actually make an effort to have Christmas sales this year. I shall let you know how I get on.

Now, has anyone actually got to grips with Google plus as it seems a handy platform that people are flocking to from Facebook but I'm having an issue with it? I can't stay on it for more than five minutes before the boredom kicks in. Anyone?

Right then, I am off to continue with the mission. I shall leave you with a little inspirational message.