"Naughty or Nice? My Christmas Spoil & Hint List"

Our Thursday DIY post on the prettyblog today. Thank you to Nicola and Christine for all of their support this year. What a wonderful opportunity to be apart of their DIY team.

The party's on. The feelings here. That only comes this time of year. Simply having a wonderful Christmas time!!! 

We're getting into the Christmas spirit here at Elephantshoe and we thought it would be great to share some Printables with you to help make this Festive Season less of a frenzy and much more merry.

Little is greater than the feeling of sharing. 

I love to visit markets and stores to hunt and find the little bits and bobs that I know my friends and family would simply love to receive for Christmas. It isn't always that easy though, we can spend hours trying to work out the perfect gift for each special person. To give you an example my brother has sent me a couple of messages this week that go a little something like this, "What do you think dad would like for Christmas?", "What should I buy James for Christmas?", "What would you like for Christmas?", and I find myself sending out similar e-mails and sms's.

So I was thinking why not ask everyone to fIll out a stocking stuffer survey.That way you will know what people like and don't like, need and don't need. It makes things so much easier and it is also fun. 

Download our free Stocking Stuffer Dream List at the bottom of this post. Simply print, trim and hand these out to the lucky folk in your life.

Now for some organised fun. Compile a master list from these cards by downloading our "My Christmas Spoil List" at the bottom of this post. This will make your time in the stores a tiny bit easier while everyone else is dashing in a shopping mania. 

O.k so you now know what to get to bless everyone but what about those earrings and those shoes that you have been hoping and dreaming about all year round? Download our handy hint card at the bottom of this post and leave "Santa" a little reminder of some of the items you may like to receive.

It is close to Christmas but it also happens to be my Birthday today, yipppppeeeeeee! So we have come up with a small give away and you have the opportunity to WIN WIN WIN!! 

Simply "LIKE" both the Elephantshoe and the Blackframe facebook pages. Send your photographs of any of the DIY/Printable Elephantshoe projects that you have downloaded and used from theprettyblog this year with a short description on how it has made your life a little easier to sam@elephantshoelove.com. We will post them on facebook and announce the winner in the second week of January. 

 O.k O.k - so what do I win? 

Win a customised/personalised addressing stamp with your name, telephone number, address, e-mail and web address (if you have one) - designed by Elephantshoe just for you . Plus a stamp pad. This is really handy and serves as a letterhead on any stationery. I use mine on the letters I send out, my packaging and as a business card. 

Looking forward to hearing from everyone!!

Blackframe photography - we love you and we love the photography you have kindly taken of our Festive Season Printables. Thank you. Everyone head over to their blog. If you are planning a wedding in the New Year you know who to go to. 

Have a VERY MERRY Christmas and don't forget the real reason we celebrate.

Fa la la la la la la la la.

Happy List making!

love Sam 

from the "Elephant factory"

{DOWNLOAD YOUR STOCKING STUFFER DREAM LIST PDF HERE} 

{DOWNLOAD YOUR CHRISTMAS SPOIL LIST PDF HERE}  

{DOWNLOAD YOUR HAND HINT CARD PDF HERE}

My Brand Spanking New Organised Pantry

It's International Choose Glass Week and we are honouring the beauty, versatility and recyclability of glass by bringing you a DIY project on theprettyblog that you can use in your home to get your pantry in order.

Having a spick-and-span grocery cupboard can be difficult when the ingredients we buy to make our delicious meals are often sold in a great deal of packaging. Thank you to the quaint glass mason jars from Consol paired with our easy to use labels you will be able to store some of your basic food items in a beautiful way.

These labels are available in black and grey to match every kitchen or you have the option to use them in colour.

Simply download our "from my pantry" labels at the bottom of this post.

Directions for Labels:

1. Please print page 2-5 of the downloaded document onto a very thick A4 card stock. (Ivory colour preferable). 

2. Trim each circle by cutting along the outer edge. There are 16 labels in total.

3. Spray the back of each circle with spray glue and attach onto the top disc of each mason jar.

4. Fill each glass jar with the corresponding ingredient.

I find having everything organised in my kitchen gives me a little more energy to get down with some baking. We thought you may feel the same. Here is a cute and different way for you to share your sweet treats with your family and friends instead of serving in your usual cups or bowls. The jars are inexpensive and I love that you can see the layering of ingredients, it somehow makes everything look more scrumptious.

Simply follow the directions below to assemble a yummy Caramel Nougat Cheesecake.

Caramel and Nougat Cheesecake

Your Shopping List

• Consol Glass Jars
• Tennis Biscuits
• Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Icing Sugar
• Double Cream
• Vanilla Pod
• Caramel Treat
• Nougat

Method

TO MAKE THE BASE : place the tennis biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Mix the melted butter and these crumbs in a large bowl until all the crumbs are coated with butter. Press this mixture into the bottom of glass jars to create an even layer. Place these jars in the fridge to chill .

TO MAKE THE FILLING: remove the seeds from the vanilla pod and beat with an electric mixer together with the cream cheese and the  icing sugar until the mixture is smooth. Slowly combine the cream.  Once all the ingredients are combined spoon the mixture  over the biscuit base in each glass jar.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING : spread the caramel treat over the filling and decorate with nougat. 

Directions for Labels:

1. Please print page 3 of the downloaded document onto a very thick A4 card stock. (Ivory colour preferable). 

2. Trim each circle by cutting along the outer edge. There are 3 colour options available.

3. Punch a hole at the top of each circle and attach to each cheesecake jar with twine.

4. Serve to your guests or give as a gift.

The loveliness and charm of these bottles has been captured thanks to Blackframe Photography. Your work is beautiful and it is a privilege to partner with you in putting together this weeks DIY. To view and admire some of their work please take a peek at their blog.

Happy organising.

love Sam 

from the "Elephant factory"

{DOWNLOAD OUR PANTRY LABELS HERE}

 {DOWNLOAD BLANK PANTRY LABELS HERE} - Should you wish to fill in your own product names in the language of your choice.

{DOWNLOAD OUR "SOMETHING YUMMY FROM MY PANTRY LABELS & RECIPE CARD HERE} 

Wrap it up : Tags | Cards & Stickers

YIPPEEEE, it's a Thursday and our day at the Elephantshoe Studio to post up a new DIY project on the pretty blog. Today we are doing a follow on project from last months Birthday Calendar. Please take a peek.

Okie Dokie, so you've mastered the art of remembering everyone you knows Birthday, {thanks to our Free Birthday Calendar from last month}. Now you find yourself hunting for a small card or tag to attach to the gift you plan to give. 

 To make the gift giving and blessing process hassle free, we have designed a range of tags, stickers and cards based on our calendar design. Simply print these out onto a thick paper stock or sticky label and voilá you have a care free way of attaching a Birthday message on any gift, be it a bottle of wine, flowers or a jar of sweeties.

We had great fun photographing the project for today, wrapping gifts surrounded by tags and twine. A huge thank you to the folks at Blackframe photography, their photography is just beautiful. To see more of their work and their alluring wedding pictures please take a peek at their blog.

DIRECTIONS

TAGS

1. Please print page 2 of this document onto a very thick A4 card stock. (Ivory colour preferable). 

2. Trim the tags using the crop marks as a guide.

3. Punch a single hole at the top of each tag and use plenty of ribbon and twine to attach to your gift.

STICKERS

1. Please print page 3 of this document onto an A4 sticky label.

2. Trim the stickers using the dotted lines as a guide.

3. Peel of the backing and apply the sticker to your gift.

CARDS

1. Please print pages 4-8 of this document onto a very thick A4 card stock. (Ivory colour preferable). 

2. Trim the cards using the crop marks as a guide.

3. Fold the cards along the dotted line.

4. Pop into an envelope and attach to your gift.

Happy printing, tag attaching and gift giving.

love Sam 

from the "Elephant factory"

{DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE FILE HERE}