Here's to a good tidy!

The festivities are over, Christmas and New Year have been and gone, and there is nothing like a good old tidy up as we relax into the new year!

We have the perfect solution to storing all your Christmas decs with our Christmas Jumbo Storage Bag. It can fit just about anything in, and is perfect for your fairy lights, tinsel and hanging decs so they are stored safely for next year! They look good too!

www.ellieellie.co.uk

Happy Christmas!!

Happy Christmas from the team at Ellie Ellie 

We hope you have a wonderful day, filled with scrumptious food, family and games! 

Last Minute Christmas Ideas

Christmas Day is fast approaching and it's now time to get the last bits and pieces ready for Christmas Day! There are so many great ways to prepare some last minute treats that the kids can happily nibble on without the need to snack on chocolate all day. We've found some rather scrumptious Christmas treats which are easy to make and delicious to eat!

These strawberries turn into Santas with some whipped cream!

Use a marshmallow to turn these cookies into melted snowmen!

Little reindeer's made from a simple chocolate dipped marshmallow and pretzel for ears!

A nibble of a cheesecake with strawberries on top for Santas hats!

What Christmas treats will you make this year?

The Family Christmas Table!

Christmas Day is fast approaching, preparations are being completed for the Christmas holidays and the festivities are beginning (we love this time of year). As Christmas day approaches there are lots of things to do, including dressing your table full of Chrismassy goodness. We've found some great ideas for name cards and decorating your Christmas table this year!

Cinnamon is the classic Christmas scent, and putting something like this on the table will immediately feel festive! 

Christmas Jumper Day!

Hello everybody! As the countdown to Christmas begins the Ellie Ellie team got into the festive spirit to don their Christmas jumpers for Save The Children!

Last Friday, the 12th of December was Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save The Children, and didn't we look a festive bunch!

As we count down to Christmas, we hope you are having a great festive time!

Christmas Shortbread!

We got into the kitchen in October to make up some Chrismassy shortbread and to try our new Christmas Cookie Cutters set, which includes 6 festive shapes. The results were delicious, shortbread is so easy to make and the recipe uses ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen!

We used:
- 150g plain flour
- 100g margarine
- 50g caster sugar

The simple method:

- Preheat your oven to 160c, gas mark 6
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl, soften the butter first to make this easier!
- Gradually mix in the flour, and using your hands, knead the mix together into a smooth ball
- Roll out your mix onto a floured surface to about half a cm thick, and cut out your shapes
- Place onto a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes
- Wait to cool before icing, or sprinkle with icing sugar

The Christmas shapes were so easy to cut using these cutters, and looked so delicious when they came out of the oven.

Our icing skills could probably be improved! 

www.ellieellie.co.uk

Christmas Day Breakfast!

Christmas is fast approaching (ok, we know it is still the beginning of December but we're excited), and there is no better way to start Christmas Day than with a special breakfast with all the family.

We've been thinking about the different kinds of breakfast we would like to have on Christmas Day, and the only conclusion we came to was that it has to be something different and absolutely delicious! 

Salmon and scrabbled eggs is a favourite for Christmas Day, and is very simple to make with the added ingredient of the salmon to make it extra special!

We made some delicious egg breakfast muffins earlier in the year which are so simple to make. All you need is some eggs, chopped garlic, skimmed milk and parmesan cheese. Plus any other ingredients you would like to put in them, such as mushrooms, spinach, ham, peppers, sweetcorn, bacon, brocoli or peas. 

Method: 

1. Simply preheat your oven to 200c/400F or gas mark 6 and chop all your chosen veg or meat in pieces

2. Fry all your vegetables (and bacon if that is what you have chosen) and add the garlic 

3. Once everything has softened, remove from the heat and set aside

4. Whisk together the eggs, milk and half the parmesan and then add your vegetables

5. Grease a muffin tray with butter and divide your mixture between the tray

6. Sprinkle with your remaining parmesan and bake for 15 minutes until the muffins are puffed and golden!

You could also make these up on Christmas Eve ready to heat up on Christmas morning for all the family! 

Family Fun this Christmas!

Christmas is such a great time to spend with your family and friends, now December has begun, the lead up to Christmas has truly started. Spending time with the family and doing lots of festive things is just the thing to get everybody excited for Christmas. 

We've compiled a list of our favourite things to do this Christmas (we are a bit in love with Christmas at Ellie Ellie, can you tell?), whether with friends or family or the kids, they are bound to get you in the Christmas spirit.

1. Watch your favourite Christmas film to get into the festive spirit

2. Make your grandparents Christmas cards, ready to send

3. Bake and decorate Christmas biscuits

4. Make your own Christmas decorations

5. Listen to Christmas carols

6. Write your Christmas cards

7. Decorate your Christmas tree

8. Write your Christmas list to Father Christmas

9. Make some gingerbread biscuits

10. Make a wreath for you front door

11. Go and look at the Christmas lights on neighbours houses

12. Have a family board game night - make it festive with mulled wine

13. Roast marshmallows over a fire

14. Read a Christmas book

15. Make paper snowflakes

16. Sing Christmas carols

17. Write a Christmas story

18. Go ice skating 

19. Have dinner by candlelight

20. Draw a Christmas picture to display on the fridge

21. Learn to say Happy Christmas in different languages

22. Build your own snowman

23. Prepare you milk and cookies for Father Christmas

24. Share a favourite memory of the past year 

The Countdown to Christmas is on!

There is only a couple of days left until December kicks off (how fast has the time gone), and everybody starts to tuck into their advent calendar. If you are after something a bit different this December to the shop bought chocolate filled advent calendar we've got some great ideas which are perfect for the lead up to Christmas for a family. 

You could fill this envelope calendar with positive messages for your wife/husband or partner to open every morning! Everybody needs inspiration in the morning! 

This advent calendar could be filled with little treats for the kids, little festive chocolates, a happy message or a pack of cards for them to play with. 

These matchboxes are a great idea for the lead up to Christmas, you could fill them with something different every day for a fun surprise.  

This peg idea is easy to do and would look very festive in your kitchen this Christmas, simply pin a little gift, message or sweets to the peg everyday!

A great Christmas decoration as well as an advent calendar, place little boxes of treats on the tree for the family to open everyday, when you get to Christmas day, you will still have a lovely festive tree for decoration! 

Which one is your favourite?

Who needs a real tree anyway?

The time has come to start thinking about selecting and putting up your Christmas tree and choosing your decorations. This year however, you could select a different kind of tree altogether, if the traditional tree doesn't take your fancy! We've found some great ideas for alternative Christmas Trees we might just have to try out at Ellie Ellie HQ! 

Made from cardboard, old baubles, fairy lights, pieces of wood or a wreath, these trees are a great way to show your festive spirit in a not so traditional way! 

Which one is your favourite? We may just have to try the cardboard tree at Ellie Ellie HQ!

Homemade Christmas Decs

Christmas is such a jolly time of year and there is no better way to prepare for the festivities than with homemade Christmas decorations. We've made a vintage inspired Christmas tree decoration, which can be made in different sizes for a hanging decoration, or be made slightly bigger for a table top decoration! It will look great with the rest of your Christmas decorations this festive season!

Firstly get all your materials together, now you don't have to use music score sheets, you could alternatively use Christmas wrapping paper or old pages from a book. You will need some scissors, 10 sheets of your chosen paper and a pencil and stapler.

Cut out a Christmas tree shape from all your sheets of paper. You should have about 10 sheets in total.

Pile your sheets up and then staple them all together in the middle of the tree shape.

This means you can now fold over all the sides of paper to start making the structure stand up

Voi La! You now have a standing Christmas tree decoration! This one is slightly too big to hang on the tree but if you make it smaller you can easily attach some string to attach it to the tree! 

Happy making! 

Christmas Markets!

Every year, towns, villages and cities get ready for their annual Christmas Markets, we've picked a few of our favourites we can't wait to explore!

Oxford Christmas Market: 11th December - 21st December
- Located at the heart of Oxfords historic Broad Street, Oxfords market includes a selection of Christmas gifts and seasonal treats.

Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market: 20th November - 21st December
- With an ice rink to keep the kids entertained, this Christmas market sees a bustling festive atmosphere with an array of Christmas gifts and festive food.

Brighton Christmas Fair: 15th November - 16th November
- In this two day Christmas shopping event, happening this weekend you will find loads of Christmas gift ideas, as well as festive home accessories and food and drink.

The Hop Farm, Kent - Weekends in December
- Hosting a series of weekend Christmas markets, you will find locally sourced products, crafts and seasonal food and drink at the Hop Farms Christmas Markets throughout December.

What Christmas Markets will you be visiting?

Ellie Ellie's Late Night Shopping Event!

We are very excited to introduce our new Christmas shopping event launching next week for the festive season.

Our new Late Night Shopping Event will take place every Thursday leading up to Christmas from 6pm - 10pm. During this time, you can have a good rummage through our shop and enjoy free delivery on your order.

Our Late Night Shopping Event will start next Thursday on the 13th of November (Don't worry we will remind you). Our other events will happen on Thursday 20th of November, 27th of November, 4th of December, 11th of December and finally the 18th of December. Plenty of time to get your Christmas shopping done!

Happy Shopping from the team!

www.ellieellie.co.uk 

Homemade gift tags

Making homemade gift tags for Christmas is a great activity for the whole family, getting the kids involved and giving them a chance to be creative. Gift tags are so easy to make, and they can be made from any materials you have at home. They are a great addition to give with your gifts for grandparents and family from the kids.

We've get together some materials we could potentially use for our Christmas gift tags. We have some old music score sheets, old Christmas cards and some kraft paper. See what you can find and get it all together!

We are going to use the kraft paper for the gift tags, and then the little shapes made from the music score sheets can be glued onto the tag for a simple and vintage design. You can create the gift tag shapes easily and cut them out ready to be designed by the kids. 

We've simply cut out Chrismassy shapes and stuck them onto the tags, using a whole punch to make the hole for the string. They are now ready to be stuck on your Christmas gifts. Easy peasy! 

The circular shape we used to make a bauble shape, using a pen to create the handing string to finish off the design! 

www.ellieellie.co.uk