The Greatest Gift!

Love! Nothing beats it, if we do things without love, the word of God tells us that it equals nothing. If we do good works without love, it profits us nothing.

There's not much I enjoy about commercialism, however I love that Valentines day is based on, well, love! All those red and pink items shouting out love and romance, chocolates, stuffed toys, red roses and restaurant bookings to be made for that love connection over a meal. If we don't want to 'buy' into yet another retail merchandising episode there are plenty of ways we can celebrate and show some love to those around us. Here's a couple of things I've done in the past -

Nothing says love quite like heart shaped pikelets - made using heart shaped egg rings

These are cupcakes I made for my daughters 1st birthday

but would look great for sharing on Valentines day.

A little bit of love displayed at a ladies morning tea

How easy to make some cookies! These are placed in blank cd envelopes.

A mini love bar for my family, candles, flowers and sweet treats!

I cut out the fabrics hearts, sewed them up after filling with a 

bit of stuffing and put them in a jar for a cute display.

Here's my youngest daughter sharing the love

 on Valentines day 5 years ago now!

With only a few days left to go, I'll have to get my thinking cap on for how to show some love this year!

The Humble Basket

Just like an apron is to some homemakers, a basket is to me. I love that they are so practical and add that homely feel. I have a few baskets around my house that I use for different purposes, I use them when I'm transporting food or craft projects out and about, I have mending in another, books and notecards in the one in the photo above and even my 5 year old has a couple for her bits and pieces. They are timeless really. 

One morning when I was reading my Bible (still yet to come up with a blog name), I read how Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves of bread to feed the multitudes. Baskets were used to carry the food and I suddenly found myself thinking about the use of this practical item, used back then and still used today. Jesus took what was in the basket and multiplied it. I guess in the same way, I want to use what's in my basket to be a blessing, whether it's craft, baked items or a note of encouragement. Hence the name 'The Humble Basket'. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I recently came across this crocheted candy cane holder and thought it would be perfect to whip up for my church's ladies Christmas break up morning tea. I teamed it with some hot chocolate that I picked up in a pack of 9 from Kmart for $10. White chocolate, salted caramel, choc mint and double choc just to name a few. Something sweet and easy!

I used 100% cotton from the Bendigo Wool Mills for the white 

and a Bamboo Cotton from Spotlight for the red.

Hot Chocolate Mix's from Kmart

A little humble basket with my gift offerings

These are Nativity Ornaments I had made as gifts for the ladies on a previous year.

I made these little patchwork baskets last year and thought 

they would be good for putting some baked goods in.

The candy canes were quite easy to crochet and I was happy how quickly they were made, the easier the better at this busy time of year. I'm hoping to make a couple more things for family members in the next couple of days, I'll see how I go, and of course there will be some baking of some sort squeezed in between all of the present wrapping.