INFITINY SCARFS FOR MUM'S AND KIDS

Last December, Patricia from the blog Pequeno Mundo a 3 had the greatest idea ever: she decided to ask several Portuguese bloggers if they would like to make a Christmas gifts for the kids living in a Charity named Mum's & Kids , a nonprofit association that helps and shelters mothers and their kids. This was the kind of thing I was willing to do for long time so I immediately said yes.

Patricia created a spreadsheet for us to choose the kid we were going to sew for but, as usually, I was late signing in and all children were already taken. So I thought their mothers would also be glad to receive a Christmas gift and I made infinity scarf. Who doesn't like a soft and colorful infinity scarf?!

PATTERN: Infinity Scarf by Imagine Gnats. I love infinity scarfs! And Rachel has put together such a great tutorial with all the tips there is to easily make them. I love that these scarfs are all sewn from the wrong side so there are no raw edges showing on the finished garment. Perfect easy and fast project to sew and perfect piece of garment to wear!

(I had lost my dummy's "neck cover" when I took the photos but I am glad I have already found it. So sorry for the photos!)

FABRIC: Solid knits from my local shop (Feira dos Tecidos). I went fabric shopping with my blogging friends Ines and Rita and we all thought these fabrics were perfect for infinity scarfs. They are soft and have a beautiful drape. Plus, I had lots of fun matching the colors…

The Christmas cards were made with a helpful hand from my daughter Teresa. She was really fund of this project! And so was I!

 And don't forget to check all gorgeous clothes my blogging friends made:
Ana Sofia
Carla
Magda
Maria João
Patrícia
Rita
Sara
Soraia









 

THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS . MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hoje trago de volta a casa os pijamas que fiz para a série The 12 Days of Christmas, organizada pela Suz e pela Laura. Desculpem o post estar escrito apenas em Inglês mas a asáfama da época natalícia não deu tempo para mais...
FELIZ NATAL!

Today the pajamas I made for the great series The 12 Days of Christmas hosted by two lovely ladies Suz and Laura are back home. Hope you like it!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! My name is Marta, I blog at DoGuincho and I live in Cascais – a seaside village near Lisbon – with my husband and our two daughters.

I am thrilled to be part of this great Christmas series! Thank you so much for inviting me, Rachel and Suz. What a great idea this is!

For me, this time of the year is all about having my family together! My mother had 7 sisters and brothers and my father 5, so we are a big family. Some of us are not living in Portugal so this is the perfect occasion to see all my cousins and their families.

Since we have dinner at my grandmother’ on Christmas Eve and my daughters always come home (very late in the evening) already wearing their sleepwear, I decided to make them pajamas!

(Ines and Teresa with just out of bed hairstyles!)

 

Though I am not a great fan of Christmas prints, I found this lovely fabric (Holiday Frost by Jan Shade Beach for Henry Glass & Co.) at my favorite local sewing supplies store and bought it even before knowing what I was going to sew… Then I matched it with a polka dot “everyday” fabric and added some details made of bright green ribbon and vintage buttons for a real Christmas look.

As I wanted a tuxedo like shape on the blouse neckline, I had to draft myself the pattern for these pajamas. I absolutely love the look as it is clean and simple but has some wonderful Christmas details. Teresa and Ines were already having fun with the fabric stars I added at the end of the blouse ties during the photo session…

I think my daughters were really please with the result too. But they were a lot more excited about our advent calendar (it will be hanged on our living room wall as soon as I find a way of doing it…) with all its little presents and treats!

 

THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

 

Hoje estou no blog CraftStorming da inglesa Laura com um projecto de costura para o Natal.
Passem por lá e vejam a Teresa e a Ines com os seus novos pijamas!
Obrigada Laura e Suz por organizarem uma série tão divertida!

 

Today I am at CraftStorming, Laura's great blog, sharing a sewing project for Christmas.
Check out Teresa Ines and with their new pajamas here!

Thank you Laura and Suz for such a great series!

 

CARAMELOS DE CHOCOLATE . FUDGE

Este ano, além da Granola, fiz caramelos de chocolate e avelãs para oferecer no Natal.

 

Já é tarde para os fazer e oferecer como presente de Natal mas podem ser ótimos para levar para um jantar de passagem de ano em casa de amigos.
São deliciosos e facílimos de fazer. Aqui fica a receita:

Ingredientes:
350gr de chocolate negro, 1 lata (390gr) de leite condensado, 30gr de manteiga, sal q.b.,150gr de avelãs (ou outro fruto seco)
Preparação:
Coloque o chocolate partido em pedaços, o leite condensado, a manteiga e uma pitada de sal num tacho e leve ao lume. Deixe derreter mexendo de vez em quando até que todos os ingredientes estejam ligados. Retire do lume quando levantar fervura. Misture as avelãs inteiras e envolva bem. Coloque a mistura num pirex previamente forrado com pelicula transparente e alise a superfície. Deixe arrefecer e coloque no frigorífico algumas horas. Quando estiver duro retire do frigorífico e com uma faca corte o chocolate em quadrados. Para guardar envolva-os individualmente em pelicula transparente.

Para oferecer usei de novo sacos de papel pardo e etiquetas coloridas com a receita impressa no verso. Desta vez achei que as molas de roupa não eram apropriadas para fechar os pacotes, preferi uma linha de algodão lindíssima da Antiga Drogaria que comprei na minha última ida a Sintra.

This year, besides Granola, I made ​​hazelnut fudge to offer at Christmas.
It's already too late to make it for Christmas but it’s a great treat for New Year's Eve dinner.
Fudge is delicious and so easy to make... Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
350gr dark chocolate, 1 can (390gr) of condensed milk, 30gr of butter, salt to taste, 150gr of hazelnuts (or any other nut)
Preparation:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it along with the condensed milk, the butter and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it melt stirring occasionally until all ingredients are mixed together. Remove from heat before it boils. Add the hazelnuts to the chocolate and stir well. Put the mixture in a baking dish lined with transparent film and smooth the top surface. Let cool and place in refrigerator for several hours. When hard remove from refrigerator and with a knife cut the chocolate into squares. To store wrap them individually in clear plastic wrap.

As I wanted the fudge to look like a gift, I put it into kraft paper bags that had colorful labels with the recipe printed on the back, as I did with the Granola. This time I thought the wooden clothespins were not appropriate to close the packages, so I used a beautiful cotton thread I bought in Antiga Drogaria on my last trip to Sintra.

FELIZ NATAL . MERRY CHRISTMAS

A nossa árvore de Natal tem sido feita ao longo dos últimos fins-de-semana e só ficou pronta hoje.Foi feita por nós e é totalmente ecológica: a árvore em cartão canelado tirado de uma caixa que encontrei e as bolas e a estrela com rolos de papel higiénico. As miúdas pintaram e a mãe cortou.

Feliz Natal!

Our Christmas tree has been made ​​over the last weekends and was only ready today.
It is totally homemade and ecological: we’ve used corrugated cardboard for the tree and toilet paper rolls for the balls and the star. All painted by the girls and cut by me.
Merry Christmas!

PRESENTES DE NATAL . CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Nos últimos anos os presentes de Natal para os “crescidos” têm sido comestíveis.

Este ano aproveitei o sucesso que a granola tem feito e fiz uma quantidade grande para oferecer.
Empacotei em sacos de papel pardo comprados na MadeinPaper (uma perdição, esta loja!), fiz etiquetas com a receita no verso em papel para origami da Tiger e fechei com uma normalíssima mola de roupa de madeira.
A ideia inicial era fechar os pacotes cozendo com a máquina de costura mas a minha máquina não tem andado grande coisa (por isso não tenho mostrado projetos de costura ultimamente) e preferi não arriscar… Fica para a próxima!

In recent years my Christmas gifts for "grown ups” have been edible.
This year I went for Granola as it has been such a success since I first made it.
I packed it in kraftpaper bags I found at MadeinPaper, made the tags (that have recipe on the back) with some colorful paper for origami from Tiger and closed it all with wooden clothespins.
The initial idea was to close the packets with some stitches made with my sewing machine but, lately, it hasn’t been working properly (that’s why I haven’t shown any sewing projects in the past weeks) so I went for a safer option... I just love sewing paper so I will do it next time!