Chocolate Indulgence - Making Christmas Week 10

 Another week gone and time to check on progress or the lack of for

This week Making Christmas is hosted by Susan at The Bored Zombie so don't forget to check out her post and link up your lists whilst you are there. 

By the time you read this I am hoping that this post's title will be particularly accurate as I will be working my way round the stalls at the Christmas Market in Brussels, and I will be very disappointed if chocolate isn't featuring heavily in my day :)
 
Before heading off to pile on the pounds I had some chocolate therapy of the guilt-free, diet variety to even things up.

My sister-in-law is a serious chocoholic but is also a serial dieter (do you think the two might be connected!!), so when I was trying to think of an appropriate Christmas present for her chocolate was always going to be in the mix somewhere.

When I saw the instructions for mint chocolate bath melts in the latest issue of Making magazine it occurred to me that I could combine her two interests in one by giving her a calorie-free chocolate hamper, so I set to work :)

This is what I came up with - a DVD of Chocolat, Johnny Depp and Chocolate, what a brilliant combination :), a White Chocolate Truffle candle and some handmade goodies. 

Earlier in the year I found these china pillboxes in a small vintage shop and knew that they would make great containers for handmade lip balms, so that is finally what they have become. The lip balm is flavoured with a square of dark chocolate and some sweet orange essential oil. I had enough to make extra pots for my daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law to be and still have some left over for myself. The lip balm contains beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter and almond oil so we will have the softest lips around :)

Then I added the mint chocolate bath melts, which were simplicity itself, just melted dark cocoa butter, peppermint essential oil and almond oil poured into mini cupcake cases and left to set. The brown sugar body scrub has rose essential oil and chocolate scent added, naturally, to keep to the theme!

All I need do now is find some smart labels and ribbon and they are good to go and another gift can be ticked off the list!

My son and daughter-in-law are going to visit their relatives in Scotland next week so are taking all of the presents for them with them. As there is no way I will get the fairytale cushion for my grandniece made before they go I am going to scrap that as a Christmas present and make it instead for her birthday in the New Year.


So speaking of lists, here is how it is looking now

• A Christmas Table Runner for our new dining table MADE
• Two Pleated Pouches to fill with make-up/nail polishes for my daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law to be
• One Liberty and linen jewellery roll for my sister-daughter-in-law
• Dieter's Chocolate Hamper MADE
• One Triple Zip pouch for my sister-in-law MADE
• A Knotwork Christmas cushion - for me!
• A Fairytale Cushion for my grandniece using one of Quiet Play's Happily Ever After paper-pieced patterns This is going to have to be a birthday present in the New Year!
  
• Homemade chutney for my brother and son MADE
• Homemade relish for my brother MADE
• More dishwasher vodka!
• Biscuits for cheese for my brother SCRAPPED!
• Something to go with cheese! - A Cheeseboard :)This might get done in time!
• Meat rub, BBQ apron MADE and oven glove for my b-in-law ?
• Pyjama trousers for my youngest son - MADE
• Appliqued pyjama top for youngest son MADE

Hope you are making progress on your lists too. I shall be checking them out if I manage to waddle back on to the train for the journey home :)

Linking up to 

 

Beside the Seaside

Aren't these fun?

These are seats on the promenade at Whitley Bay, where I went for the Wire-knitting workshop. The shelters were designed by Richard Broderick and are definitely needed at this time of year!

I don't think mine or my sons' sandcastles were ever as impressively straight-sided as these.

Wire-knitting was my second workshop in a week at Made.

The first was called "Get Gorgeous" and involved lots of grating, melting and mixing to produce these.

We made a chocolate-flavoured lip balm, variously scented bath melts, scented bath salts, a brown sugar body scrub and a lemon and lime hand scrub. All in the space of two hours too!

So if you are anywhere in the North East of England and come across a very fragrant and buffed to within an inch of her life female licking her lips, say hello won't you :)

Linking up to Really Random Thursday