Friday 20 December 2013

A Christmas Gift From Olly


The nursery that Olly attends is just fabulous. It is a lovely place that encourages his individual interests while observing the government's rules and regs about foundation stage education. Olly spends most of his time in The Studio with Sam, Sarah and Kev. He is really lucky that there are several male nursery teaching staff working here. He loves going to his nursery. He loves his teachers and talks about them all the time.

Regular readers here know of Olly's love of crafting and our various baking adventures. So why not combine the two, and make a gift for Sam, Kev and Sarah. Just a little something for them to put under their tree. And as a thank you from me. I trust them with my boy implicitly. It's good to know he's thriving under their tutelage.


Home-made Pic n Mix and a Mini Christmas Cake



Olly and I made the cakes in October. I had this great idea to make mini ones. So that there were loads to go around. Of course I didn't factor in the different cooking times involved for half a dozen small cakes as opposed to one large one. It was all very stressful. And I dropped one on the floor.....

Anyway fast forward to this week. I decided to buy the marzipan and royal icing. Like I've said before, why make life hard on yourself (although I probably should have applied that logic to making the mini cakes in the first place). So knead, roll and hey presto! an iced cake. Add a bit of ribbon and a cute creature, and job done! 



For the pic and mix I decided upon fudge, nut brittle, peppermint creams and chocolate truffle snowballs. The fudge was a disaster. The first attempt burnt. The second attempt was taken off the heat too early. So I ditched it. I really enjoyed making the rest. Olly helped with the peppermint creams and truffles. I think his favourite bit was rolling the truffle in coconut. The recipes came from this book. They were all very easy to make, and looked really lovely in their cellophane bags tied with ribbon.






Olly decorated the brown paper bags himself. Lots of glitter, glue and sequins were involved. Add some jingle bells and a gift tag, and they were Christmas blinged to perfection.






Olly really enjoyed giving his gifts to Sam, Sarah and Kev. I hope they enjoy them too!

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So all three boys are now on holiday. Marc will be finishing in about half an hour. Then our holiday officially starts. We are having chippy tea to celebrate. I can't wait!!

Have a lovely weekend everyone. Think of me (as I shall think of you) while fighting the throng in Sainsburys, wrapping presents into the wee hours, losing the sellotape and possibly my mind.

Leanne xx

8 comments:

  1. These are lovely presents Leanne. A good nursery is just the best thing in the world. We went to visit "our" nursery today to say hello and wish everybody a nice Christmas. 3 of 4 kids went there and still go back to say hello every now and then.
    I have already lost mind and sellotape and have resigned myself to reading blogs instead. So much more relaxing. Have a wonderful Christmas with your family. Cx

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  2. These presents are wonderful! I love them all and the bags are beautiful. Olly did a great job. I love that he is so creative and artistic. He sounds like a really neat little guy. My son had a male preschool teacher and we liked that too. He doesn't work there anymore so our daughter never had him. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!

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  3. Absolutely perfect Leanne. I am making fudge tomorrow so wish me luck!
    I love your blog and wish your whole family a happy Christmas and an even better 2014.
    Love Linda

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  4. The mini christmas cakes and pick and mix are a great idea. I may pinch that one for next year.
    I think you have a little budding artist there in Olly. You can never have too much bling at christmas time!
    Happy Christmas to you all. Enjoy the Sainburys trip (that's on my list of things to do too!) x

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  5. Oh, so lovely, all of it! I've always fancied making mini-Christmas cakes. There is something so appealing about miniature cakes. And homemade pick n mix, that's brilliant. His nursery workers do sound fab. And I just love his homemade bags. What a star. xx

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  6. Three gifts are so special and lovely and I'm sure the recipients will be delighted beyond words. So sorry to hear the fudge was a disaster, would love to know more so I can offer some help. Well done mummy and Olly xoxo

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  7. What lovely gifts you both made and Olly did a fab job on the gift bags.
    Enjoy the run-up to Christmas ( hope the supermarket shop isn't too stressful).
    I really love your blog and look forward to reading your new posts as they pop into my inbox and seeing your lovely photos.Its good to see your number of followers steadily rising too.
    Wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas.
    " Joyeux Noel " from the Charente xx

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  8. Olly's presents look wonderful and love his decorations. Hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas.
    Sarah x

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