It is that time of year in our village when all the different groups and churches begin to hold their annual Christmas coffee mornings to raise funds for various charities. I always support the one at my local church that raises money for the charity Crisis – they provide shelter and a warm meal for the homeless on Christmas day. A long time ago I was one of the people who organised the coffee morning – so it is quite dear to my heart.
I try and provide a few saleable items each year for the craft and gift stalls. This year it has been a bit of a scramble because I have not been well with the Covid and my energy levels were less than zero. I cheated a bit this year and found these lovely inexpensive treat bags in The Works (6 for £3) and filled them with sweets from a tub of Cadbury’s Heroes. I would normally make my own bags from wrapping paper but these are so cute.
I still have some of the ‘free’ plant pots left that came from the lady in the village where our cottage is in Scotland and this year I filled four of them with miniature narcissi bulbs. To make them look more attractive I hand stamped a little label and wrapped the whole thing in cellophane using those very handy roasting bags that you can buy in any supermarket.
The shoots are just starting to poke through now so they should bloom in a few weeks time.
I am happy to report that the coffee morning was busy and the items I made had nearly all sold in the first half hour. I spent a happy couple of hours browsing the gift stalls and chatting with old friends over a cup of tea and a lovely homemade ginger biscuit. I was also given an invite to a party next Saturday evening and luckily that is a free evening for us.
Yesterday we had my grandson Freddie to play whilst mum and dad went to an appointment. It was lovely to see him and of course he can chatter away so much more now. When mum and dad returned I made a meal for us all – it was a bit makeshift as it wasn’t planned but broccoli bake always makes a quick and easy supper dish.
I am trying to keep Christmas low key this year but things are already starting to feel a bit hectic. My fruit for the cake is marinating with the brandy in a bowl and tonight, if everyone can make it, we will be connecting on Zoom to do our family Secret Santa draw and arranging a pre-christmas get together party for the big present swap. We have very few dates in December when we have nothing on – I am not sure how that has happened but I shall have to get myself organised to cope.
where the journey takes me 2 
You definitely are one to think outside the box – I’d have been wrestling with a roll of cellophane trying to wrap and gather nearly at the top of those pots , it would never have crossed my mind to thought to use roasting bags which look just like cellophane.
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The cellophane quality in roasting bags is safe for food use too so I use it to wrap homemade Christmas biscuits, mince pies and chocolates too.
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They’re wonderful little gifts, no wonder they sold out so quickly. I love the idea of the roasting bags too, I’d have never thought to use those.
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Not sure how I got the roasting bag idea but they come in very useful at Christmas for packaging.
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The roasting bag wrapped bulb pots look lovely, no wonder they sold so quickly, what a lovely gift to pass on … or for the buyer to keep for themselves.
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I had a few small bulbs left over so I might make up my own pot…..and I have a few of the chocolates left which DH has is eye on!
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The reindeer bags were perfect for a few sweet treats and were obviously well received. Wonderful idea with the roastig bags for the little narcissus pots. They looked great with the little tags.
I can just start to feel a flicker of enthusiasm as Christmas comes into sight. Enjoy your week .
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Yes Christmas is now in full swing here!
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Your Church coffee morning sounds like fun. I’m not surprised your gifts sold quickly, they were lovely.
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I bought one or two bits made by other people as well. It was very busy in the church hall but lovely to see a good turn out for a good cause.
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As always, your gifts are so artistic and thoughtful. Glad you were able to make it to the Christmas coffee morning.
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It was good to be able to sit for any length of time and chat with old friends.
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I love the things you made, great ideas for raising a few funds for such a worthy cause. I hear you on busy days, I always think I am not that busy and then I look in my diary and realise that I have no free time at all!
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I can only identify 6 useful free days from now until Christmas.
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