Quick gift ideas part two

This is the follow up from my previous post but I've since realised to make this aspect you need a lot of time and ergo not exactly a 'quick gift idea'. Apologies if you have been offended by the misleading title. You can forward all complaints to:
12 never never street
Impossiville
Movingon
So for this side of the gift you are going to need to spend the day at home slowly cooking orange slices on a very low heat in your oven to help them dry out. I did a massive batch all at once and then stored them in a tupperware container so that should I want a quick gift I have them to hand. As my husband wasn't a fan of leaving the oven on all the time I was guilty of putting my oranges back into the oven after every cooked meal. Thankfully the orange smell beats other cooked food smells.
Once you have these you buy a soap base, there are loads of choices out there but I use Bee Beautiful from Amazon and it's always been delivered quickly and is easy to use.
You need to heat up the soap base - I use the microwave - and then add colours and flavours to your heart's desires layering them up as again you please depending on the look you want. These soaps are chocolate orange with a dried orange in the bottom so as you use the soap you will be exfoliating too. I also did a batch that had the orange on the top - much more striking aesthetically but not as practical so you can go for again whichever your giftee will appreciate the most.
For my Christmas gifts some people got a box of one massive soap, some a box of smaller varying soaps and the others a box with the candle and wash cloth. I will go back to being very British soon I promise.
These were all sent out in the boxes I made (there is another blog on here about that if you'd like a visual) and largely the gifts were well received. I'm curious to know what people think of the gifts after they have used them for a while, so feel free to comment below.
The varieties you could do with these are endless and you could brighten up the boxes to make them mother's day gifts or birthday gifts.

Quick gift ideas part one

I've finally caught up with one of my best friends and been able to hand over some very delayed presents, but actually this is a good thing because now I can share them with you lovely bunch of coconuts and maybe you can use the idea for an up and coming gift swapping festival. Not dropping any hints but you could share this blog with some of your fellas, they need a nudge around February time.
This part of the gift looks pretty shoddy without its other half but I hope you'll appreciate it. The candle was bought but then embellished using jute string, dried orange pieces and cinnamon. It smells amazing already but when it's lit it's so much better. The candle cost very little to make and chances are you have everything you need to make it already in your craft stash or fruit bowl. I'm thinking dried apple would make a nice spring occasion alternative. Then the wash cloth (I've become American here because my blog is actually read more by Americans - yes I check the audience and thanks American followers - and also because the English equivalent of 'Flannel' just sounds awful, I mean how many of you are thinking of grandma's spit being rubbed off your face right now?) Anyway, then the wash cloth was just rolled and unrolled using a YouTube clip I found. It's supposed to be a rose for those of you that lack imagination.

Craft presents... for me!

I've found a way to blog about handmade gifts without spoiling gifts -yep I've still not given all the gifts out. For the record I'm not a social recluse it's just my nearest and dearest live far away. Anyway, these blogs are going to be about gifts I've received and although I'm in danger of upsetting a few people I'm going to put my neck on the line and say this is my favourite.
This is the friend that gets cross at me for making her stuff, she claims she can't make stuff. Clearly she has been lying.
You may be asking why I would stay friends with such an obvious liar, however she knows too much about me and we have too much in common for me to ever consider not treasuring this friend.
One thing we have is Grey's Anatomy. After I had a really rough week about 18 months ago my friend bought and had delivered the entire 1-8 season boxset. She claimed the reason I needed to watch it was one of the main characters reminded her so strongly of me she was sure I would love it. She was right. As my husband and I watched the programme even my other half saw the resemblance to Christina Yang - clearly the best character. When I told other Grey's addicts of the links to the character they were shocked my bestie could think something so mean of me. See Christina Yang is a harsh character. She has an insane work ethic and is prepared to sacrifice friends for the benefit. She says what she thinks even when it's not socially acceptable. She is completely unable to control her facial expressions and lastly she is an ugly crier. Beautiful the rest of the time but when she rarely cries - it ain't pretty perhaps a reason she doesn't do it very often. She also only lets a select few in.
Maybe now you're wondering why my friend is still invested in a friendship with me. Seeing all these things makes me happy that my friend is my person. A concept from the show. Your person is someone who you can rely on. They know how ugly you can be and happily take a selfie with you. They are the person that if you rob a bank they drive the getaway car. Or as my person wrote on my gift: 'if I murdered someone she is the person I would call to help me drag the corpse across the floor'.
I'm not advocating murder. For the record I'm against murder. But I'm glad I have my person.
This gift is my favourite because I love the type written quotation, I love the scrabble tiles and the black chunky frame. It's already up on the wall. But mostly I love what the gift will remind me of. By the rules of written work I should now systematically round up all the things I love about my friend. That wouldn't be very Christina of me though would it.