Our Make Do and Mend Christmas

Well, we did it. We made it through Christmas without buying anything new!

We had ‘alternative’ Advent calendars

I had a small rant about Christmas and ‘stuff’

We did a Gift Exchange with the lovely Pugh family from A year without supermarkets

Our gift to them

Our fabulous ‘quillow’, handmade by Beckie

We made a Christmas tree from egg boxes (Which I am sure you are all very sick of me banging on about!)

A peg star to go on top

Upcycled and homemade decorations

A wreath for the front door from baubles

An Inn-keeper’s costume for the Pre-School nativity play

Cutest Inn Keeper ever..?!

And all the presents were either homemade or we found them secondhand-here are just a few..!

Dino hats for the Smalls-this isn’t one of the Smalls, obviously…

Dino mittens for the Smalls

Little Star bath bombs for my Little Stars!

Reindeer poo (balls of homemade fudge) for the stockings

The finished article-the woolly jumper hat/mittens/scarf, complete with crocheted trims!

Knitting bag, festive fudge and bath bombs for my mother in law

Homemade flavoured oils in etched glass bottles, complete with a secondhand stir-fry book for my Dad

I’m pretty sure this was hubby’s favourite present from me…

An old Reader’s Digest Repair Manual-got to make sure he’s doing it right…

Not to mention batches of fudge, mince pies, Christmas cookies, bath bombs, festive Rocky Road, and a Christmas cake which I decided needed a crocheted trim (I didn’t have piece of ribbon long enough, what else what I supposed to do…?!)

This may have been a step too far…

and Chelsea buns for breakfast on Christmas morning

followed by turkey with all the trimmings!

We have had a fabulous time, and I can honestly say that having a Make Do and Mend Christmas has made this Christmas even more special. I said at the beginning of December that all I really wanted was the chance for the family to spend some time together, and do all the things that families do at Christmas, like eat too much, make lots of poo and fart jokes (or is that just my family..?) bicker, play stupid games, laugh, hug…and we did all of that.

We have had a bit of a pants year as a family, and we have no idea what next year will bring, so it was important for us to all make the effort to get together and celebrate being together this year, and I’m so glad we did.

But now, please can I have a sleep…?