So this year i have decided to celebrate Christmas in July.  This is more of an American idea, as we do not have it here in the uk. Although lots of companies give sneak previews of their ranges in July.

When it comes round to Christmas I usually have a big list of things I want to make, every year i get more and more festive bakeware, cutters, moulds in the sales and do not get round to using them all.

Some of the stuff I have  does not really fit into the fairs i currently do as they would be more expensive to sell, so finding the right bakes for the right fair or event  is crucial but always hit and miss.

As I am busy for some part of December  going out to fairs with Jams and baked goods I sometimes do no get the time and end up eating leftovers.

Having leftovers  can sometimes be a good thing  which inspires new recipe ideas, left over Gingerbread Cake off cuts ended up as GIngerbread  Cake balls which proved popular at a fair I was at. Leftover Gingerbread men  makes its way into  Festive Rocky road bars.  I had an abundance of Mince pies  left, I swear I am cursed to not  to sell them ! So made these into mincemeat mince pie muffins.

There are moulds and cutters from many Christmases ago still not used, waiting for the right place to go with them. So this year hopefully I can get some of those festive bakes done in July  ahead of the festive season and test out new ideas.  As I know There will  be some more festive stuff come post xmas in the sale I will get.

I have kept a little bit of Christmas  going throughout the year on my Christmas  jumpers  hunt, companies still have them on sale, some are just joking asking full price still like peacocks! Managed to bag a few sale ones here and there and get me on my way to 100 jumpers !

I recently managed to bag some unusual XMAS  fruit tree ornaments, i picked them up from a post I saw on schpock the bootsale app for £11 for 22 pieces   fibreglass type design originally from Harrods she said. These type are quite pricey  but not easy to find over here and quite pricey on ebay,  one cost more than the whole set!  These will go great for my festive Jam stalls as they are also flavours I make funny enough.

And I am always on the lookout for Christmas cake stands on eBay.

The best by far are from the state’s  and the few i found on Alibaba aliexpress need to be ordered in thousands  as a supplier  damm it!  Hopefully tkmaxx can bring some quirky ones out this year as good and as many as the Halloween  range they had.

Last post Christmas I needed up with quite a haul indeed  from the sale reefs, singing  reindeers, boxes, decorations, snow rolls ,jumpers so may have to slow down this year. I certainly do not need any more wreaths or lights. We shall see what  they bring out this year to tempt me !  Wilko Is the culprit post Xmas sale as I discovered that some items are online still when the 50/75% off discount comes round. So you can order and pick  up rather than scramble for leftover stock in store which sometimes can not be much.

I shall report at the end of the month with what I come up with bakes, ideas etc until then

Happy Christmas (in July)