Day 11: Here we come A-caroling

Its much debated whether carols are the best or worst part about christmas, but here are some of our favourites...

Aussie Jingle Bells (Jess)

 

O Holy Night (Lauren)

Happy Xmas (War is over) (Tatum)

What's your favourite Christmas carol?? Are you for them or against them??

xx The Green Dandelion Girls

Day 10- Painting Snow

School holidays are nearly here and today we have a fun activity for the kids to help decorate for Christmas!

Painting on windows is super fun and made a breeze to clean off with the help of a little magic ingredient.
All you will need for your kids to create their own masterpiece is:
Acrylic Paint
Dish washing Detergent
Paper plates
Paint brushes

On the paper plate mix the paint with a good squirt of detergent, until it is smooth and combined.
Paint your little hearts out!!
Easy :)

When it comes time to clean the window, it should all come off with a bit of hot water and a sponge...make the kids clean it for you!! The detergent is what makes the windows a breeze to clean.

xx The Green Dandelion Girls

Day 9: Tradition - Lauren

Christmas is such a special time, to me the best part (apart from my grandmothers Christmas pudding) is spending time with my family- especially the ones who I don't get to see very often.
A few years ago my mum started a new tradition that I have really come to admire.
Centre place on our table is a collection of candles. Each year, before we eat lunch we take a moment to make a toast and light each candle to represent our family and friends who aren't there with us at Christmas. Family who are overseas, family who have passed away and family who can't be there.
The candles always burn for the day and are a great reminder of what a fabulous family I am lucky to have.

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Do you have any Christmas Traditions??
Have a wonderful weekend,
xx Lauren

Day 8 Fudge-alicious!

Today we have a quick and easy recipe to share with you. Perfect to wrap up as a gift or bring out as a finale to your christmas lunch.

Chocolate Fudge
500g Chocolate
75g Butter
1 tin Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 C cocoa powder, sifted

Melt the chocolate, butter and condensed milk together over a low heat until smooth.
Stir through the vanilla and pour into a lined shallow rectangle dish.
Place in the fridge to set- leave for at least an hour.
Using a hot knife, cut small squares of fudge and roll in cocoa.
Serve with coffee or wrap in cellophane and you have an impressive gift.
Keep the left over fudge in the fridge.

There are so many variations you can create with the recipe, I made my batch using 200g milk chocolate, 150g dark cooking chocolate and 150g Haighs dark orange chocolate. You can add in any nuts, dried fruits or lollies you want to make the fudge even more exciting.

xx The Green Dandelion Girls

Day 7: Gift Wrapping differently

There is nothing better than a fancy wrapped present sitting under the tree and today we have a different way to wrap your presents this christmas.

For something a bit different we wrapped our present in a dressmakers tissue pattern, you can pick them up cheaply from the op-shop and they are perfect for wrapping, especially presents that are delicate or odd shapped.

To wrap your present you will need:

• scissors
• tape
• dress pattern tissue
• a piece of scrapbooking paper (or if you don't have any on hand try a newspaper or magazine!)
• a large circle punch- or trace round a small circle and cut out.
• a sewing machine and thread
• your present

Begin by punching out approx 20 circles

Run the circles through the sewing machine on a straigh stitch, creating a chain of circles

Wrap up your present in the tissue, use a funky bright tape to hold it together.

Wrap your chain of circles around the present and hold them down with a spot of tape or glue.

And your done!
All that is left to add is a gift tag- either one you bought at the shop or visit here for a large collection of printable gift tags for something different.

Hope you are having a fabulous day,
xx Lauren

Day 6: Princess Leia Christmas Style

Today we are sharing with you a funky hair-do that is easily worn, and turned festive with the addition of some christmas ribbon (if you dont have ribbon, theres always tinsel.. hehe)

You will need:

Ribbon cut to length (or similar)

4 hair ties (plastic bands work best)

Bobby Pins

Step 1:

Create a centre parting and place hair into two pigtails

Step 2:

cut ribbon to size (length of the pony + a little extra) secure the ribbon around the hairtie

Step 3:

Section pony into two, take one section and plait incorperating the ribbon as if it is hair.

Step 4:

secure plait with a band.

Step 5:

Twist the remaining hair

Step 6:

and wrap around the base of the pony.

Step 7:

Do the same with the plait, placing where you see fit

Step 8:

Secure with bobby pins

i used approx 5 pins, it all depends on the volume of hair

Step 9:

show off your fancy new do!

When you give this hair-do a go share it with us on our Facebook wall, we would love to see your version of our 'Princess Leia Christmas Style'

xx The Green Dandelion Girls

Day 5: Summer Sangria

Spending time with friends and family over the busy christmas period is always fantastic, and even more so when you have a delicious cocktail to share.

Today we have one of our favourite recipes to share, Summer Sangria which is guaranteed to bring good times and lots of laughter...at least it always does for us!

To make the Sangria you will need:

• Large jug
• 1 bottle of white wine (Sav Blanc works pretty well)
• 1/2 cup Vodka
• 1/3 cup Cointreau
• 1 bottle of Appletiser (it works better than the other brands)
• 2 Pink Grapefruit juiced
• 2 Nectarines sliced
• Ice

Mix all the ingredients together in a large jug, serve with lots of ice & enjoy in the best company!

There is no absolute fixed recipe for Sangria, which makes it an easy cocktail to make with whatever you have at hand. Just as long as you include wine, spirits, juice, fizz and fruit you will be all set to party...half the fun is in creating your own concoctions!


xx The Green Dandelion Girls