To make my gift preserves extra special I also think it's important to decorate or doll up my jars. So I've been collecting bits and bobs of paper and ribbon all year and tucking them into my craft basket in anticipation (yes I'm that person who saves ribbon when you give me a gift).
Those who also know me know how competitive I can be - basically I make Monica from Friends look tame. So when the fantastic folks at Well Preserved announced they were bringing back their Pimp that Preserve contest I knew I had to enter. I then proceeded to twitter taunt friend and fellow blogger Laura from Cubits (she was a finalist last year) that I was going to beat her this year. I'm actually not sure what I like best - winning or the leading up smack talk....I think it might be the smack talk.
If you haven't read Well Preserved you should. Excellent, excellent preserving posts of all kinds - not just jams people but we're also talking fermenting, drying and all sorts of other ways to preserve your food. Plus there are good recipes and ongoing conversation about our food and where it comes from.
So the rules of Pimp that Preserve are simple - embellish, package or otherwise 'dress up' your favourite jar of preserves with anything you like as long as it doesn't damage the contents or break the seal. All photos of entries are shown on the Well Preserved facebook page. So head on over and "Like" them and then have a look at the pictures. You need to "Like" Well Preserved in order to vote but I bet you'll enjoy their community so much it won't be an imposition. There are some awesome ideas from the other contestants - for the preserves and the decorating. I am in wonder at the creativity in the community!
You can vote for me and my pimped preserves by "liking" my photos - there are two. Here is some info on my entries and photos so you know what to look for.
I like to do gift themes each year. Like a couple of years ago almost everyone in my life got a scarf. They came from all over and were all sorts of designs and materials but having chosen the same item for everyone made it life much easier, when shopping I just had to look for scarves and it narrowed down my hunting quite a bit.
This year many of the ladies in my life are getting brooches and such for Christmas - everything from lovely handmade things from local artists and craft shows to vintage sparklers from flea markets and vintage stores.
Plus I had my stash of preserves I'd made for holiday giving so for Pimp That Preserve I've done my fig preserves with red Japanese paper from the Paper Place and these amazing ceramic flower pins that I picked up from artist Julie Moon at the City of Craft event this past weekend. I think her flower pins look almost like the flowers in so many of the Japanese papers and I only wish now I'd bought one for myself!
Then so the boys wouldn't feel left out I got a bunch of these stag buttons from Kid Icarus and packaged up pickled hot peppers from our garden for them with brown paper and some printed masking tape (also from the Paper Place). I think they look very Scandinavian next to the Japanese paper don't you think?
Then to be super glam (because pickles are glamourous!) I did up my spicy garlic dill pickles with leftover yellow wallpaper from our dining room and silver satin ribbon, this one has a vintage bee pin. Insect jewellery was especially popular during the Victorian age and then regained popularity in the 1930-1940s and those later ones are quite reasonable at some of Toronto's antique and vintage shops.
So there we go - it's a handmade Christmas! Now head on over to the Well Preserved facebook page and give one of these photos a like!
