December 17th- Homemade Presents- Part 3- Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffles 

Our other baking and cooking blog posts haven't always gone to plan...! But this one involves hardly any cooking so I think we'll be just fine. Pop these truffles in a sweet box and you've got a lovely, cheap and thoughtful homemade present. We've used a recipe from our favorite Good Housekeeping cook book.

You'll need;

225g Plain Chocolate

2 Eggs Yolks

25g Butter

15ml Single Cream

Drinking Chocolate Powder/ Chocolate Sprinkles

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water.
Add the egg yolks, butter and cream and stir until the mixture is thick enough to handle.
Cool slightly, then form into balls and roll in chocolate powder.
Leave until firm and pop them into paper cases.
We made approximately 24 out of this batch!

The best thing about this recipe is the flexibility it offers you! We added vanilla essence to our mix, but you could also try spiced rum, black coffee or some chopped nuts.
So get in the kitchen and make some truffles!

Alice x 

December 16th- Mulled Wine

Mulled Wine

We are a household divided on the subject of mulled wine so this blog post is all tried and tested by me! I love the way mulled wine makes the house smell and how it warms you up. You cant beat having a pan on the go at your Christmas party!
You can buy mulled wine spice kits, but I like to keep it simple. An orange, some cinnamon and some nutmeg is all you need. This bottle is from Asda, but any "spiced/ mulled wine" will do!

Pour the required amount (read ALL) in a saucepan on a low heat. Add the spices to suit your taste. While this is warming through, slice your orange. When the wine is warm, remove from heat. I like to serve it from a large jug, with the slices of orange floating on the top!
There are no pictures of the end product, I was too busy tasting, oops!

Alice x

December 15th- Decorating The Tree

Decorating The Tree

Putting up the tree in the fox household is the biggest time for family traditions! We have the day booked in, weeks in advance to ensure everyone can be present. I've not lived at home for 5 years and still head home every time to help.

It tumbles out of the attic, along with box after box of decorations. We've had the same fake tree for as long as I can remember. The box is so tatty, its tied around the tree with string. We'd get a new one, but we're a sentimental lot! 

We don't have a theme for our tree, but we like to mix up old and new, with some classic Christmas decorations and some of our own. We love our old decorations the best. Most are hand me downs or have been given to us. These old glass ones are from my Grandma from the 50s and they're super fragile so we keep them in egg boxes to protect them. There are have been a few smashes and tears over the years! A few years ago, I found these replica baubles in Paperchase and they go on every year.

 

Every year we purchase a new decoration, and this year was no exception. How could we resist his little foxy charms?! 

You can find him, and lots of other treasures over at Belle and Blue.

Last year, we stumbled upon these in Asda of all places. They're wired at the bottom so you can pop them straight on a branch. In case it wasn't blinding obvious, we are big fans of the British countryside so to us, they're perfect. 

Following on with toadstools are these birds. They were a present from an old friend and we always find them a home on our tree.

This year we were lucky enough to recive a foxy decoration from the beautiful Kitty Lou! New tradation staring from today! Thank you!

Other things we like to include are bells, candy canes, wire hearts, handmade decorations we made when we were little and kitsch things that we've picked up on our travels. Elvis guitar anyone?!
So there's a quick glimpse at what we put on our tree! What decorations do you use and love every year?

Fox girls x

December 14th- Christmas Market

Christmas Market 

Today we had a stall at our first ever Christmas market! This time last year, we were dreaming about such things. It was at our local City Farm where we were often taken as little foxes to go play and have a look at the piglets! If you're Bristol based and have never been, we thoroughly recommend it as a fun day out! 

 

We have had the best day out! We've met so many lovely families and stall holders, like Quilting Demon who we had the pleasure of sharing a gazebo with and the ever sweet Gemima Lou!
Thank you to all the farm staff for putting on such a wonderful market and their cheerful support, even when the winds kicked in!
We sold all of our Hornsea and Pyrex, so I guess we're going treasure hunting again soon!

Alice and Suzan x

December 13th- Christmas Jumpers

Christmas Jumpers 

Christmas jumpers are everywhere this year, but I can honestly say, that I've not seen a single new one that I like! Now, I love a bit of tat, but, as always, retro is always better!

These are all from my personal collection and have been found in charity shops. I love how charity shops have seasonal window displays, and they go all out at Christmas! If you're after a unique, jumper to wear on Christmas day, that's the best place to look. But here's a little treasury we've put together from independent sellers on Etsy.

Have a vintage Christmas jumper? Show us! We'd love to see!
Alice x

December 12th- Music

Music 

I don't think Alice believed me when I told her that Christmas day when I was a child always ended in a sing-song around the piano. That was until I found the old reel-to-reel tape with the recorded evidence!

Grandma Alice (yes, it's a family name) played the piano and we would all take it in turns to sing a popular song of the day such as "Send in the Clowns". A particular favourite group were the Seekers so I was very pleased to find one of their song books at our favourite Bristol charity shop (not telling!). I would have included a picture of it on the blog but it has disappeared into the vintage black hole that it is the fox loft!

Oh well, how about "The Girl from Ipanema". I love this LP cover picture which includes a BOAC 'plane in the background.

Not many homes have pianos now but that shouldn't stop you enjoying a sing-song with the family. Check out Cerys Matthews' Hook, Line and Singer book for inspiration.

Mama Fox

December 11th- Fims

Films

Who doesn't love curling up with a blanket, the fairy lights twinkling on the tree and watching a movie? We're not big fans of Christmas films, but you can guarantee that we'll be watching the same films as we did last year. And the year before that! As with most family traditions, I can't remember when this one first began, but I know it's one we'll never change and the list will continue to get longer! 

If you've not seen any of the above films, get yourself to Netflix and get watching!
Alice x

December 10th- Homemade Presents Part 2- Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House 

With gingerbread houses steadily growing in popularity in recent years, we thought this would be the perfect time to try and make our own! Plus, if it turned out alright, wouldn't it be the sweetest home made present?! 
We got this kit from Sainsbury's. It comes with everything already included, all we needed was some butter. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. You make your gingerbread mix, roll it out and cut to shape using the stencils. There was even enough mix left to cut out a few shaped biscuits too!

Unfortunately, it appears that our lack of patience got the best of us and we could not, no matter how hard we tried, stick the other side of the roof on! Every time we did, it just collapsed! 

However, it was still pretty tasty, so after decorating what we had, we broke it up and ate the lot! Well, it is Christmas! It turns out, our baking skills aren't as refined as we thought. Luckily, its possible to buy pre-made ones. Which we might sneakily say we made anyway....!

Alice and Flossie x

December 9th- Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards 

If we're at a jumble sale and there's a box of old greetings cards, you can guarantee i'll be there rummaging through it! The cheesier the better. I always plan on sending them, but they more often that not just end up on display!

So this Christmas I've been on the look out for some cute, vintage cards for ages! And today, I finally hit the jackpot! In my local Salvation Army, I managed to get 29 cards for just under £2.
Here is a sample of my favourites. 

If you've got the time and patience to do a bit of digging around, getting beautiful and second hand Christmas cards isn't really that difficult. Plus, you'll be supporting your local charity, which is always a good thing.
We don't have a mantle-piece at home, so we string up a long piece of ribbon from the bookcase and paperclip our cards so they can still be shown off.
I'm looking forward to sending out these cards already!
Seasonal Greetings!
Alice x

December 8th Babycham

"I'd love a Babycham!"

Christmas, wouldn't be Christmas without a cheeky Babycham! And as we are South West girls, it'd be rude not to! Plus, it's their 60th anniversary this year, so what more excuse do you need?!

We picked up this glass from a carboot a while ago, but they're getting rarer and harder to find. So snap em up when you see them! Ours is from the 1950's. We'd love to own a full set one day! This lovely blog, shows you how to date any finds you stumble upon.

Big supermarkets have got, lovely, special edition bottles on sale at the moment and these, ever so cute gift sets! Is it wrong that I bought one for myself? "To Alice, lots of love Alice"
So why not treat someone, or yourself to bit of a modern retro? It is the happiest drink in the world after all! 

Alice x

December 7th - Christmas Party- Part 1- Make Up

Vintage Inspired Make- Up

To those who may not know, I trained as a make-up artist when I left school. I didn't really keep up with it, because I never thought I was that good! It's still something I enjoy experimenting with, just using my own face! Plus a couple of girls I know, have gone on to do amazingly well, so there's always someone I can call on for help and inspiration! If you're heading to a Christmas party this season, why not try imitating a vintage make-up trend!

The 1960's was quite youth orientated, with various fashions and make up becoming readily available. 

I've chosen a classic 1960's look to do a tutorial on as it was my absolute favourite when we did it in college. This is a pic of me modelling it back then! This is quite an over the top variation, so today i'm going to show you a really quick, easy and cheap way of getting this look without needing any make-up experience.

I've used my regular day-to-day makeup, with the exception of some new false lashes. These cuties only cost me 50p from Wilkos!

You'll need;
Foundation (Rimmel Wake Me Up- Ivory)
Face Powder (Rimmel Pressed Powder- Transparent)
Brown Eye-shadow (Natural Collection- Crushed Walnut)
Pale Eye-shadow (Natural Collection- Sea Shell) 
Mascara (Rimmel Scandal Eyes- Retro Glam- Extreme Black)
False Eyelashes (Wiko Glamour Eyelashes)
Pale Pink Lipstick. (Barry M- 100)

First, a bit of common sense! Start with a nice, clean and freshly moisturised face.

I like to start with my eyebrows and work down, but everyone has a different routine. Due to a serious case of over- plucking in my teenage years, I have very sparse brows! I like to fill them back in to create quite a fake, look, but that's just the fashion right now! The girls in the 1960's used to fill in their brows too, so this bit is up to you! If you've got good eyebrows, rejoice and skip this step! I used a really dark eye-shadow and a slanted brush to colour mine in. I followed the natural, arched shape and add extra to the ends to elongate them. If you just want to fill them in a little bit, small brush strokes look the most natural.

Next, on to the eyes! To prep your lids, dap a bit of foundation on them to create a base. Use a large, flat, rounded brush and apply pale eye-shadow all over the lid, going right up to the eyebrow. Apply more if desired.

This next bit can be a bit tricky! Use the same, slanted brush and shadow that you used on your brows to draw an arch on your lid. I've smudged mine in, but you can leave it sharp and defined if you like. It's all about personal preference! Don't forget to add some onto the lash line too.

Next, apply your false lashes! Cut down to size if they're too long and always wait for the glue to go slightly tacky before applying. Once you've pressed your lash down, keep applying pressure and open your eyes slowly after. Sometimes, they might need a little extra glue just to keep in place. Apply lots of black mascara to both top and bottom lashes. 

Apply your foundation and powder as you normally would. Remembering to blend into the hair and neckline! I like to use my fingers to apply foundation as it warms it up and goes on a bit smoother, but a brush works just as well.
If you have naturally quite pink lips (like me!) its best to just pop a tiny bit of foundation and powder on your lips to help your lipstick set.
You'll need a matte, light pink lipstick to finish off the look. I've used a Barry M one that I already had in my kit which is pretty perfect!

Lip liner isn't necessary, all you need to do is give it a quick, slick across your lips and you're all done! Now go flutter those eyelashes!

For more inspiration, have a look here!
Alice x