Use online resources or your own arts and crafts skills to make these bespoke gifts
PERSONALISED CALENDAR
Take 14 happy photos and use Apple’s iPhoto to create personalised calendars that will brighten up the darker months for someone (or make them cringe). Don’t be put off by the technology, it’s just a matter of downloading iCollage for Mac (which is free) and following the very clear instructions.
FACEBOOK PRINTS
Do something useful with the hours spent on Facebook by going through a friend's photo albums and printing off the pictures. Facebook has just added an option to download photos in high-resolution. Just save the chosen ones on to
a USB and print off in a shop from 10 cent per standard print.
DIG OUT OLD FAMILY PHOTOS
The thought of old family photos being boxed away and forgotten about in dusty attics or between pages of books is sad, so dig them out and frame them (Ikea's basic frames start at €5.99) or arrange them in albums. Somebody will thank you
for this, and probably weep.
MAKE A SNOW GLOBE
For this you will need: an empty jar; two photos; Sellotape; scissors; glitter and sequins and buttons; clear (light) corn syrup; water; grated white PVC pipe for snow (shredded plastic). To make, trim the photos to about a half an inch
shorter and thinner than the bottle or jar, leaving enough space to let the photo float freely but snug. Waterproof your photos. Measure out enough tape to cover both sides of your photos, with a little bit extra for a border. Lay down a strip of tape, sticky side up, and press the first photo face down on to it. Ease it down from top to bottom, pressing gently to
remove air bubbles. Use a second piece of tape to cover the rest of your photo if your first piece wasn't wide enough. Now turn your photo over and put the second photo down on top of your first photo, so they're back-to-back. As before, use tape to cover the surface of the second photo, making a photo sandwich. Remember that the tape is waterproofing your photos, so don't leave any areas untaped. Watch out for tears, and make sure the edges are tightly closed. Finally, trim the edges so there's no more than a quarter of an inch on each side. Roll up the photo and quickly put it through the
opening at the top of the jar. It'll unroll on its own after a while. Pour water, corn syrup, and glitter into your bottle. A 50-50 water/corn syrup mixture slows down the falling glitter perfectly. Ta-da! Shake and smile.
CREATE A SLIDESHOW
UseWindows Movie Maker to create slideshows by uploading your own photos, videos and adding whatever music and soundbites you like.
PERSONALISE A JIGSAW
Hopefully you’ll be less likely to lose a piece if it’s made from a Communion shot from the 1990s you’re trying to piece together. See pictureparcel.com, where 96-piece, A3 puzzles start at €30.
SCRAPBOOK/COLLAGE
Now that everything is digital, we forget how exciting it is to create (and receive) scrapbooks and collages. Increase the fun with DIY photo-caption stickers and banners. Urban Outfitters sells multi-photo frames, starting at €12. Transform your pics into stationery by slapping a sticker on the back and making a postcard. Sarah Geraghty
SECRET FAMILY RECIPE BOOK
Turn a pretty notebook – we used a pink Moleskin one, above – into a Secret Family Recipe Book filled with all those special family recipes, from the failsafe – Dad's special cheese toastie – to the comforting – Mum's stew and dumplings. Spend a couple of weeks grilling Mum, Dad, Granny and Grandad for the secret ingredients in their own unique versions of much-loved family meals. Print out copies of the recipes – make a few copies if you are making more than one recipe book- and stick them in. Alphabeticising the dishes makes it even more useful and adding photos of special family meals is a nice touch. Children will be keen to help out with making this present and every family member will be delighted with this little piece of family culinary history. For more inspiration see squidoo.com/personalized-recipe-binders. Róisín Ingle
GIFT CERTIFICATES
Get creative with your computer and design some thoughtful gift certificates for the special people in your life. Certificates for a night of babysitting will go down well with hassled parents, while a bed and breakfast certificate (you make a gourmet breakfast while they eat it in bed) is also a sure winner as a marital gift. Ditto a book of vouchers offering services such
as doing the washing up, a free pass to the remote control, back rubs and cooking dinner. Staple the vouchers together and disguise the staples with some colourful ribbon. If your calligraphy is not up to scratch just use a fancy computer font.
Róisín Ingle
THE HALF-FULL WALL PLANNER FOR 2011
Give the gift of collective positivity this Christmas. The Glass Half Full Wall Chart has been specially designed for Irish Timesreaders by Detail Design Studio in Dublin as an inexpensive, original present to help your friends and family plan the events they are looking forward to in the year ahead.
The gift, personalised by the giver, is not the place for dental appointments, exams, MOTs, meetings with the accountant or niggling chores. The Half Full planner should only be used by the recipient to mark the highlights of the upcoming year – days off work, festivals, outings, birthdays, weddings, special family dates and anniversaries, keeping the outlook optimistic all the way.
You can download the original, one-of-a-kind planner here: http://blog.detail.ie/half-full/. The size is A1. We have already included some of our favourite national events and you’ll be adding more events that you know the recipient will enjoy.
The wall chart can be easily printed at a digital print or copy centre, just bring the file along on a disc or USB key. Read’s of Nassau Street in Dublin charge from €5 – a better quality print out will cost €20 – and the price will vary depending on the shop you use.
Once you have the print-out you will need to prepare the Post-Its which will highlight important dates, plans or events and add splashes of colour to your year. (You can also write events directly onto the chart.)
We have used the smallest size Post-Its which are 51mm x 38mm. They come in a variety of colours. You will need to cut the blocks in half then punch a hole in the top left corner using a standard two-hole paper punch (if you have a single-hole one, then even better).
It’s best to do the Post-Its in small amounts, you won’t need too many. Add events to the chart that will mean something to the recipient, and pop them and the chart in a mailing tube.
Harissa paste
Harissa is a hot north African paste made from chillies, herbs and spices. You can do so many things with it. It makes a great rub for meat, a tablespoon will transform your couscous, and mixed with yogurt it makes a great marinade for
lamb and chicken. It can be stored in the fridge for a month and can be frozen for up to six months.
50g dried chillies
100ml olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
Juice of 1 lemon
25g fresh mint leaves
25g fresh parsley leaves
25g fresh coriander leaves
2 tsps salt
Soak the chillies for 30 minutes in hot water. Blend them with the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth paste. Pour into sterilised jars and label with the date.
Lilly Higgins
Mulled wine sachets
These make a gorgeous present for Christmas and are a lot more special than just handing someone a bottle of wine. You can buy larger bags of spices in some speciality Eastern shops. This gift only costs as much as you want to spend on the wine. You can also make a personalised label for the wine bottle.
Per sachet:
2 sticks cinnamon,
12 cloves,
15 black peppercorns,
8 cardamom pods
4 star anise
1 bottle of red wine or cider
A square of muslin and some string Place the spices in the muslin square and gather up the edges, tie with string and
attach to your bottle.
Lilly Higgins
Toasted Christmas nuts
A jar of these nuts looks really pretty and they are a great stand by when visiting people for Christmas drinks. You can use any mixture of spices you like – cinnamon and cumin add a festive warmth. This makes four jars.
1kg mixed nuts
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
60ml olive oil
50g demerara sugar
5 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
A few pinches of salt
Mix together the oil, sugar, spices and rosemary. In a large bowl, coat the nuts with the spice mixture. Spread the nuts evenly on a lined baking tray and toast in the oven at 180 degrees/gas mark four. Stir them after five mins and cook for a
further five minutes, making sure they don't burn. Once cooled, place the nuts in sterilised jars. Tie with a ribbon and give away.
Lilly Higgins
Fantastic feta
Feta cheese
Fresh herb selection
Pink peppercorns
Dried red chillies
Olive oil
Use a firm block of feta that is easily cut into cubes and doesn't crumble. Use fresh herbs – whatever you like. We used fresh basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Use the best olive oil you can afford, but even regular stuff tastes good in
this. Pink peppercorns and dried chillies are optional extras to add some colour. Fill some glass Kilner jars with boiling water just before using to sterilise them. Put the herbs on baking trays in a very low oven to roast. Some herbs dry faster than others, so keep an eye on them. Once they have dried, crumble them. Cut the feta into cubes and roll them in the roasted herbs. Place the cubes into jars in layers, with the peppercorns and chillies if you're using them. Once the jar is full, pour in enough oil to cover all the feta. This will keep for ages. It lasts longer in the fridge, but the oil will congeal, so it won't look as pretty, although it will taste just as good.
Rachel Collins
ORANGE CONFIT
3 medium-sized seedless oranges
85 ml (3 fl oz) white wine or
cider vinegar
225g (8 oz) sugar
4 cloves
1 teaspoon allspice berries
7.5 cm (3 in) cinnamon stick
Scrub oranges with a brush in warm water. Using a very sharp knife slice each one into a 5 mm (one quarter in) slices,
discarding the ends. Lay the slices flat in a medium pan and add just enough cold water to cover. Bring to simmering, then cover and cook very gently until rind is tender. Use a draining spoon to transfer the slices to a bowl, then discard
the liquid left in the pan. Measure the vinegar, sugar and spices into the same pan and warm over a low heat until the
sugar has dissolved. Return the slices to the pan and bring to boil. Tilt a lid over the top of the pan and boil gently until
the juices take on a slightly carmelised appearance and the oranges are translucent. Spoon into a hot, clean preserving jar. Cover and leave to cool. Seal, label and keep in the fridge for several weeks before using (or giving). Delicious with cold meats and hard cheeses. Makes a 500 ml (17 fl oz) jar.
– Geraldine McGuire
Mendiants are the new macaroons
Mendiants – chocolate discs topped with dried fruit and nuts – are the thing just now, and they're easy to make. The history behind these French sweets is that each of the nuts and dried fruits represents the four monastic orders – Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Carmelites. The colours of the nuts and fruits are said to reflect the colours of the robes worn by each order – raisins for the Dominicans, hazelnuts for the Augustinians, dried fig for the Franciscans and almonds for the Carmelites. Less traditional takes on the mendiant can incorporate dried apricots, cranberries, cherries – or whatever you have in your baking cupboard. Beggars can't be choosers. To make them, melted dark, milk or white chocolate is smeared onto greaseproof paper, or a lightly oiled baking tray, in something approaching a circular shape, before being studded with fruit and nuts and allowed to harden. Rachel Allen, whose books are excellent sources of inspiration and recipes for edible gifts, suggests in her latest: Entertaining at Home (Collins £25/€29) topping dark chocolate mendiants with a few flakes of crunchy sea salt. Marie-Claire Digby
Cookie mix in a jar
Children, and anyone with a sweet tooth who enjoys baking, will appreciate cookie mix in a jar. Layer all the dry ingredients for a funky sand-art effect. Put the flour at the bottom otherwise it will ruin the visual effect of the other layers.
The same idea will work with a Hot Chocolate mix – add a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon to regular powder – a sweet treat for those freezing winter nights. Tie a couple of cinnamon sticks with ribbon to the lid and your jar gift is good to go.
For the mix
175g unsifted flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp of salt
90g soft brown sugar
90g caster sugar
175g dark chocolate crumbled or chocolate chips
Write the following instructions on paper and attach to jar: Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas five. Combine half a teaspoon of vanilla extract, one egg and 110g butter in a bowl and mix until creamy. Gradually beat in the jarred cookie mix. Form the dough into a sausage-shaped log approximately five centimetres in diameter. Cut the log into slices around two centimetres thick and lay them on a baking tray spaced widely apart. Bake for nine to 11 minutes. Enjoy. Róisín Ingle
Sweet and salty crunchy nut bars
We saw Nigella making these on the telly and reckoned they would make great emergency gifts that can be stashed in the fridge for when unexpected guests call. They are as easy to make as rice crispie cakes but have loads more character.
They go great with a glass of red wine.
200g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate (use more dark chocolate than milk if you
fancy a richer treat)
125g unsalted butter
1 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup
250g ordinary salted peanuts
2 x 80g Crunchie bars
Line a medium-sized rectangular or square tin, Nigella suggests disposable foil tins as an option. Get the butter and the golden syrup melting on a low heat in a heavy-based pan, break up the chocolate and add that to the golden sludge. Put
the peanuts into a medium mixing bowl and break and crumble in the Crunchie bars. For a bigger honeycomb hit, don't make the pieces too small. When the chocolate mixture has just melted, pour it over the nuts and honeycomb and mix well. Pour into the prepared tin, spread out and flatten using a spatula. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before cutting into around 24 chunks or wedges. (The delicious crumbs are a pay off for the chef.) Store in nicely wrapped boxes of eight in the fridge.
Róisín Ingle
Sloe gin
Sterilise the bottle with boiling water and then fill it quarter full with sugar. Fill another half of the bottle with sloes (prick them to release their flavour or put them in the freezer for 24 hours and they will burst). Then top up the bottle with gin – it should be more than 40 per cent proof. Then comes the shaking (and there is a ritualistic element to this). For the first two weeks shake it every second day. Then, shake it once a week. The older the better, so get shaking. You get a wonderful, pink-coloured liquid. Strain out the sloes and put them aside. Evan Doyle from BrookLodge in Wicklow says you can use them in stuffing or in a game gravy.
Books to work with
These two books by food stylist and writer Annie Rigg, who works with UK glossy publications including delicious, Olive and
Good Food Magazine, are full of stylish, seasonal things to make and give away. Gifts from the Kitchen (Kyle
Cathie, £16.99/€20) has lots of attractive savoury ideas such as nicely presented terrines, pates, pickles and chutneys, as well as sweet things, and the presentation suggestions are approachable rather than intimidating. Christmas
Cupcakes (Ryland Peter & Small, £9.99/€11.70) has some useful as well as some fanciful cake decorating ideas. The candied clementine cakes with pistachios are festive without being too sweet, and the white chocolate and cranberry
GREETINGS CARDS
Home-made cards are a great way of making sure everyone gets a personal token from you at Christmas (they're cheaper than shop-bought ones, too), and you don't have to be a great artist to make them look good. Collage and cut-outs don't involve drawing skill, and are fun to make. You can get sets of blank cards in a variety of colours, or you can just fold your own. Then cut out some basic shapes in vivid colours and patterns and layer in an interesting way. Who needs Hallmark?
YVES SAINT LAURENT COLOURING BOOK
Beautifully produced by Walker Books, this is a quirky compilation of previously unpublished sketches by the French-Algerian fashion master. The original sketches are laid side-by-side with fabric swatches and a note on inspiration, which ranges from African and Middle Eastern cultures to art-works by Mondrian, Picasso and Matisse. Laurent was also a prodigious designer for the theatre, and the final section of the book provides glimpses of his theatrical designs – harlequins, clowns and a stunning costume for Jean Cocteau's Les Monstres Sacre. Printed opposite the completed sketches are blank templates which you can colour in to your own taste and there are also several incomplete sketches, so you can test your fashion drawing skill too. The pages are easily removable from the spine for framing if so desired: a double boon. Yves Saint Laurent Colouring Book, €10, The Marvel Room, Brown Thomas.
SILHOUETTE ART
The bookshop at the National Gallery is always full of eye-catching art books, but it also stocks a variety of craft manuals. On my last visit, Vana Chupp's beautiful paperback book Silhouette Art: Papers, Instructions and Patterns for Making Modern Heirlooms was proudly on display. The book contains materials and instructions for creating personalised paper presents – a family tree, greeting cards, wrapping paper, place cards, paper weights and pendants. While the book contains typical silhouette templates – the clean lines of children's heads, animals and antique furniture – there is also a useful section on creating silhouettes of living subjects from photographs. It is a perfect kit for designing your own presents but it would also make a crafty gift to inspire someone to get creative. Combine it with a trip to the gallery's fine portrait and miniature collection for inspiration, and you have the perfect personal package.
Silhouette Art by Vana Chupp is available from the National Gallery Bookshop, €15.99.
DAINTREE PAPER GIFTS
The Daintree shop on Camden Street in Dublin is a cornucopia of visual delights. Handmade paper in tissue weights comes in gilded sheets of ostentation or in paper so light it is near translucent. It ranges in size from A3 wrappings sheets to thin columns for enlivening cards and envelopes. The shop is often seen as the first stop for wedding-planners. However, it also does a range of paper-inspired gifts: Indian-influenced notebooks, photo albums and picture frames, heavy card boxes in beautiful prints, paper garlands and lanterns for decoration. I bought a mobile crib a couple of years ago that still takes pride of place over the hearth.
Daintree also does a great value Goodie Bag for €10, which contains a variety of blank cards, printed papers and embellishments. Or, if you want the nicest dressed presents underneath the Christmas tree, five sheets of lustrous wrapping paper cost €10. Daintree, 61 Camden Street, Dublin 2.
PAPER DOLLS
Fashion illustrator Mel Simone Elliott, who operates under the name I Love Mel, has designed a series of hip paper dolls based on contemporary pop culture icons. There is Lady Gaga and her outrageous costumes, slightly less scary in two-dimensional form; Kate Moss pouting in a Burberry trench; Gossip Girls Serena and Blair in stylish sexy party dresses; and, a personal favourite, Joan Holloway and Betty Draper dolls wearing a variety of the wasp-waisted full-skirted dresses that delight viewers in every series of Mad Men.
The retro sketch books include two cut-out dolls and a variety of 20 outfits to choose from. They are perfect for teenagers who think they are too cool to play with dolls. With a bit of cutting and pasting they can have fashionable accessories and the coolest BFFs around. I Love Mel Paper Dolls are available from The Marvel Room, Brown Thomas, €10.
MAKE YOUR WRAPPING PAPER
If you don't have time to make gifts for family and friends, consider adding a personal touch with customised wrapping paper. All you need is a PC, a printer, and selection of different sized papers. Simply open a Word document, cut and paste a suitable motif or message into your blank page, and repeat it like a pattern. If you have a colour printer, even better, but black and white works just fine.
It works especially well for Star Wars-themed wrapping paper (make your pattern with Stormtrooper heads), but also with any bold black image for a silhouette effect. Print at A3 size if possible.
Why not turn your Saturday edition of the Irish Times into gift-wrap? Pick a bold or eye-catching photo as your centrepiece and finish with a ribbon. Alternatively, if you don't mind getting a little messy, spray paint the newspaper silver or gold, the print will come through with dramatic effect and it can even be used to provide subliminal messages to the receiver.
CHRISTMAS POT POURRI
The house is looking lovely, now you can make it smell gorgeous too. Festive pot pourri is easy peasy and really effective.
You will need:
3 handfuls of orange slices
5 broken-up cinnamon sticks
5 whole mandarins
1 handful star anise
1 handful dried rose hips
1 handful cloves
10 drops of cinnamon and orange fragrance oils
Just put everything in a plastic bag, give it a shake, then display in a large bowl for a full-on Christmas aroma.
THEATRE IN A BOX
For regular visitors to Covent Garden, Pollock's Toy Shop is must-visit. Tucked away in a tiny first floor market shop, it is a treasure trove of old-fashioned toy trivia but its most impressive stock are the pop-up Victorian theatres, which the original Benjamin Pollock, a theatrical printer working in 1800s London, was renowned for. Pollock's specialises in the classic Victorian style, but over the last few decades contemporary illustrators have been producing paper theatres too.
Edward Gorey designed the sets for a pop-up Dracula, for example, while Olivia the Pig, familiar to child-readers of the popular Olivia series and adult-readers of the New Yorker (the illustrator Ian Falconer is one of their cartoonists), has a pop-up pig-sized theatre that can just about accommodate the diva's ego. Indeed, most book shops usually carry a selection of contemporary (often ballet-themed) versions.
However, the more kooky designs can be easily found online through Amazon and Ebay, or if you are in London you should drop by Pollock's: it is like stepping back in time. Some toy theatres come with scenarios, most come with figures, and all come with hours of potential fun.
Marie-Claire Digby
