Christmas Cornucopias

Cornucopia ornaments were popular in the Victorian era when Christmas decorations were often handmade. The cornucopias were lavishly embellished using decorative papers and leftover scraps of ribbon, fabric and lace. The ornaments were made in the shape of a cone and were filled with flowers, fruit, nuts, candy, and small gifts.

These ornaments are easy to make and fun to embellish. Simply use a plate to draw a large circle onto a sheet of cardstock – I used heavy scrapbook paper. Cut out the circle, then cut the circle in half. This will make two ornaments. Fold each half circle into a cone shape and use double sided tape to stick it down. Punch a hole through each side and thread through a ribbon for hanging. Then decorate it however you like, using ribbons, lace, trims and pictures.

In my novel, Christmas in Wattle Lane, Neave makes cornucopias to hang on her tree for a vintage-themed Christmas. If you’re in a festive mood and like to read Christmas novels like I do at this time of the year, Christmas in Wattle Lane is available as an ebook and a paperback from Amazon.com.

Amazon.com

 

Beverley’s Blueberry Chocolate Cake

A recipe from my novel The House in Wattle Lane.

175g butter
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup cocoa
1 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa, and fold into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the mixture into a paper-lined cake tin. Bake for 1 hour. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. When cold, ice with chocolate icing.

Chocolate Icing

2 cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add the butter, water, and vanilla essence. Beat to a spreadable consistency.

The House in Wattle Lane (A Wattle Lane Novel: Book 2)
Available from Amazon.com

 

Guardian Angel

Angeline Dunwich, one of the characters in my Wattle Lane novels, is obsessed with angels. Her little home above the shop is full of angel figurines, angel art, and angel collectibles. She makes paper angels to display in the window of Wattle Lane Keepsakes, and she firmly believes that our lives can be touched by angels. In book three, Christmas in Wattle Lane, the reason for her obsession is revealed.

I, too, love angels. I love the idea of celestial beings watching over us and guiding us through difficult periods of our lives. When I was young, I used to see an old woman sitting on the end of my bed, knitting. I don’t recall if she ever spoke to me, but I do remember that I wasn’t afraid of her. I like to think that she was my guardian angel watching over me, perhaps an ancestor.

For this art journal spread I used scrapbook papers and acrylic paints for the collaged background, and I added a piece of old sheet music and a metal embellishment. I used coloured pencils and ink for the angel, with pressed flowers and tiny pearls on her dress. Her wings are made from a vintage lace doily.

Here is a close-up view of the details.

Granddad

My granddad was a special person in my life. Although, while I was growing up, we lived quite a distance from my grandparents, we would have a family holiday with them once a year, and I have some very fond memories of those holidays. Eventually we moved closer to them and, for the last few years of my grandfather’s life, he lived just around the corner from us.

I remember him as a kind, gentle man with a great sense of humour and, what we thought at the time, some crazy ideas, always trying to come up with new inventions and ways of making his fortune.

To me, he was an inspiration. He could play the piano by ear, never having learnt music, a skill I always envied. He took up painting later in life, creating many lovely works of art. I often wonder if I inherited my creative genes from his side of the family. His sister, my great-aunt, was also an accomplished pianist, as well as dabbling in many different crafts. My mother sewed all our clothes when we were young, taught me how to knit and to do tapestry and cross-stitch, wrote pieces for magazines, and has encouraged me in all my creative endeavours.

Creating this scrapbook page of my grandfather when he was young seemed like the perfect opportunity to use these tiny playing cards that I have had for a while.

I have always loved this photograph of Granddad taken during the years of the Second World War. The music-themed background paper seemed perfect for celebrating his love of piano music.The background paper with the poem and the bird was a free artist paper from the Somerset Studio magazine. I added the green ribbons and stitching to add a pop of colour to the layout.

I have many more photos of my grandfather taken over the years with his family, which I am looking forward to putting into scrapbook layouts to document his life and to remember the wonderful man who I was fortunate to have called my granddad.

Paper Snowflakes

 

While I was writing Christmas in Wattle Lane, I decided to have a go at making paper snowflakes, like Lily, one of the characters from the book. I looked at several tutorials on YouTube, and found that this one was the easiest to follow. Click here to see the tutorial. It took me a while to get the hang of the folding and cutting, but once I did I had fun with making different shapes. Each one is unique depending on the cuts that you make.

I practiced with making them out of computer paper. You can make four snowflakes out of one sheet. Once I felt I had mastered the technique, I made a few out of a pretty vellum paper that had a delicate pattern on it. Then I added a pearl embellishment to the centre of each and looped a piece of baker’s twine through one of the holes of each snowflake to hang them from.

They can be slightly addictive. Once you feel confident about making them, you keep wanting to make more to see what different patterns you can make.

Christmas Fruit Mince Pies

I love to make fruit mince pies every Christmas. For me it isn’t Christmas without these little spicy fruit tarts that are a once-a-year treat. Although it would be easier to just go out and buy them, I love the whole process of making them, and the lovely smell that wafts through the house when they are cooking. Also, since I don’t eat dairy, I know that these ones haven’t got anything in them that I can’t eat. This year I added plum jam to the fruit mince to make them a little bit different.

Christmas Fruit Mince

2 cups sultanas
2 cups cranberries
1 cup raisins
Grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 apple, peeled and grated
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons plum jam
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons brandy

Process sultanas, cranberries and raisins until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a screwtop jar and refrigerate. Will keep up to 3 months.

Pastry

3½ cups flour
½ cup custard powder
4 tablespoons sugar
250g butter or non-dairy spread
1 egg yolk and water to mix

Sift the flour and custard powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Cut in the butter or non-dairy spread until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg yolk and water and mix to form a stiff dough. Chill for 30 minutes.

To make the pies:

Roll the pastry out to about 3mm thick. Cut out rounds and line 24 greased patty tins. Place 1 tablespoon of the fruit mince in each round. Roll out the remaining pastry. Cut out star shapes and place one in the middle of each tart. Brush the stars with beaten egg. Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. Dust with icing sugar when cold.

 

 

Free eBook Deal

For those who haven’t read my Wattle Lane novels, Amazon have a book promotion running for Scrappy Cupcake Angels, the first book in the series. For 5 days only, the eBook is free on Amazon Kindle. Click here to get your free copy. The promotion runs from December 16th to December 20th.

Here is a description of the book:

Nothing can quell Angeline Dunwich’s excitement as she stands before Wattle Lane Keepsakes. As she opens the door to her scrapbooking shop for the first time, Angeline hopes to encourage the residents of her small New Zealand town to explore their creativity and capture memories. Little does she know that Wattle Lane Keepsakes will very soon become the weekly destination for four women drawn to scrapbooking for widely different reasons.

Every Thursday Angeline teaches the Scrappy Cupcake Angels how to find joy through scrapbooking, and each of the four learns to confront her fears and to understand what is important in life. As Grace works on a scrapbook for her mother who has dementia, she wonders if it will help her mother cling to her last memories. Tegan scraps her travel photos with an insatiable wanderlust while contemplating where her heart really belongs. As Jodi creates beautiful layouts of her daughter, she questions whether any of her efforts will help mend her broken family. Kayla finds it easiest to express herself through her art, but secretly speculates whether she will ever gain the confidence to realise her dreams.

As Angeline opens her home and her heart to her new friends, only time will tell if the Scrappy Cupcake Angels can help her overcome her own greatest fear and fulfil a lifelong dream.

Goodreads Giveaway

I am doing a giveaway on Goodreads for my new novel, Christmas in Wattle Lane. To enter for your chance to win a signed paperback copy, click here. The giveaway runs until December 20th.

Good luck!

Ancestor Christmas Ornaments

We often think of our dearly departed at Christmas time and wish they were with us to join in the family festivities. These little ornaments were fun to make, using scraps and bits and pieces from my craft supplies. I used copies of old photographs of my great-aunt and my aunt, who are no longer around to share the festive season with us, but by hanging these ornaments on the tree, it feels as though they are a part of our Christmas. You can even use vintage photographs of ancestors whom you’ve never met. Hang the ornaments from the branches among the other decorations and turn your Christmas tree into a living family tree.

I made these ornaments by gluing squares of burlap to cardboard, then adding random touches of gesso and acrylic paints around the edges. I adhered the photos to corrugated cardboard and placed them on the burlap. Next I added scraps of vintage lace doilies, buttons, ribbon, wooden stars, beads, and embellishments. Once I was happy with the layouts, I glued everything down. I printed sentiments onto paper, added a few random splashes of colour and adhered them to the ornaments. Then I punched holes through the tops, attached ribbon, and they’re ready to hang on the tree or across the mantle.

I also made one of our beloved Cody, who passed away three years ago, but is always in our hearts and minds.

Lemon Shortbread

 

This is one of the recipes that Beverley, from my novel Christmas in Wattle Lane, likes to make. Just like my own grandmother when she was alive, Beverley always has her cake tins full of homemade baking. At Christmas time she enjoys baking food for others who are rushing around preparing for the festive season and who don’t have time to spend in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

225g butter or non-dairy spread
125g icing sugar
grated zest of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon lemon juice
375g flour
25g cornflour

Heat oven to 160° C. Cream together the butter and icing sugar. Mix in the lemon zest and juice, then the sifted flour and cornflour. Knead well. Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick. Cut into squares and prick with a fork. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire tray. Before serving, dust lightly with icing sugar and sprinkle a little grated lemon zest for extra tang.