Sarah Cawood

Inside Sarahs Notebook

"God Bless Us, Every One"

Saturday Dec 24, 2011

Well hello there Christmas Eve!

I thought I'd never make it;(. I had a lovely couple of days prior to getting the hell out of Dodge. Saw Lady Cotton and Friends for a festive gathering at her gaff after her radio show (Kasabian in the kitchen anyone?!). Then onto festive drinks with all my girlfriends in the evening, then a mammoth packing sesh followed by a lengthy drive back to Mama Cawood's yesterday evening soundtracked by a stellar Christmas playlist compiled by Andy.....

So here we are! I've just made my nephew his coconut ice which is a brilliant last minute homemade gift if you've errored and need to look like you've made a massive effort for a forgotten guest.... It only took about 20 minutes to make. Recipe is here kidz.

Oh and I've put a gallery of wrapping down below as well in case you've left it to the last minute and need some inspiration. I think the white tissue paper and red and white ribbon is my favourite. You can buy a massive bundle of white tissue paper from Lakeland for about a fiver and if you've got any left over, you can use it throughout the rest of the year for birthday gifts and the like. If you're really on a tight budget, brown paper and string is the way forward but I like to use tartan ribbon to give it a little bit of a luxe look.

I've used paper luggage tags on some of my gifts which I've stuck little wooden Xmas decs on. Again, my selection is from Lakeland. Now it may seem like I've spent a lot of money on all the little flourishes BUT here's my tip: buy them all in the sales then squirrel them away for next year. You'll save a fortune! My felt Santa bags that I put all my chutneys and jams in were about £3.99 before Xmas last year but I got them for £1.50 each in the sale last January. And it's so lovely to unpack all your Xmas stuff next year and be reminded of the little bargain bits you got last year.

Anyway, that's probably about it for me this year: stick a fork in me, I'm DONE!

For the next week, I will mainly be eating, making merry and playing games with my families, old and new!

I hope you have a really lovely time everyone! I also hope you've enjoyed the Cawood Ramblings here. I've really enjoyed getting my little blog up and running and I'll be continuing all the tips in the New Year.

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas. Much much love,

Sarah xxxxxx