Make: A macrame planter

Projects to perk up the plant life in every corner of your home

Creative gardening need not be restricted to outdoors. Or, indeed, to off-the-shelf plant pots. Making a hanging plant holder is a craftier way to display greenery, and a great project for anyone finding themselves low on either time or space. 

The ancient craft of macramé was a hit with the Victorians, although it’s most associated with 1970s homespun style. Plant hangers are back, given a colourful – and, dare we say, tasteful – makeover. You can, of course, buy one (see page 8 of February’s The Simple Things), if all that knotting brings back painful memories. 

Hanging plant holder

 
You will need: 
textile yarn* 
scissors
2 plant pots, ideally already containing a plant

1 Cut five pieces of the textile yarn, each of about 4m long, and one more of about 40cm (you can adjust the measurements to your desired length).
2 Fold each of the longer pieces of yarn in half. Group all the folds together, then create a loop by wrapping the smaller piece of yarn around the grouped threads several times and tying firmly (A). 
3 Divide the 10 pieces of hanging yarn into five pairs (B). 
4 About 20cm below the top loop, take the first two threads and knot them together. Repeat for each of the pairs (C). 
5 Then, take the right hand thread from the first pair and, further down, knot it with the left hand thread from the second pair. Repeat for each thread until each piece of thread is tied to another (D). 
6 Repeat the process down the length of the yarn. The bigger you make the gap between the knots, the more space you’ll have for the pot, but you’ll need to make the knots closer together to hold the bottom of the pot. 
7 Test for size with your plant pot, before tying a secure knot underneath the pot with the threads. 
8 To add a second pot, repeat under the bottom knot using exactly the same knotting system. 
9 Finish with a large knot containing all the yarn and neaten the ends with scissors.

Project by Laetitia Lazerges, a Paris-based pattern designer who blogs at www.vertcerise.com and www.doityvette.fr. She has also written several DIY books and sells bright and fun paper goods on Etsy at www.vertceriseshop.etsy.com.

Read more:

From the February issue

Think posts

Mindfulness posts

Christmas gifts: Homemade tea bags

Gather together friends for a ‘crafternoon’ of festive food while you create bespoke handmade gifts

A truly personalised gift, you can make these rustic bags with your friend’s name on and their favourite tea.

Handmade tea bags

Makes 18–24 tea bags – six per gift

unbleached cheesecloth
fabric for the label, string, twine, linen ribbon, silver ribbon
a needle and thread
loose leaf tea
small brown Kraft bags seasonal foliage
black ink stamp
alphabet stamps

1 Cut the cheesecloth into 13 x 13cm squares.
2 Cut the string (that attaches the tea bag to the tag) into 15cm lengths.
3 Cut your fabric into a long 2.5cm strip and then cut that into 6cm pieces.
4 Fold down one short end of a fabric piece with the right side of the fabric facing away from you, then place one end of the string in the centre and sew into place.
5 Fold the fabric in half so the ends meet, and sew the sides together. Repeat until your required amount of tags are done.
6 Place around 2 tbsp of tea into the centre of the cheesecloth square. Gather the corners to make a pouch.
7 Tie the string from your tag to the pouch very securely, sealing the tea within.
8 Trim the excess cheesecloth and any excess string. Repeat.
9 Add 6 tea bags to each brown bag. Fold down the top twice, make a hole centrally with a hole punch and thread through and wrap around string, twine or ribbon. Add some seasonal foliage.
10 To create the name tag, cut a strip of wide linen ribbon, use a hole punch to create a hole at the top end, and use an ink pad and stamp kit to stamp the name. Attach to your bag with the ribbon.

Turn to page 30 of December's The Simple Things for three more makes - Stollen muffins, Peppermint creams, and Lemon, olive oil & rosemary body scrub - plus a menu fit for a crafternoon, including Chicken & bacon pie, and Eggnog with cognac.

Read more:

From the December issue

Christmas posts

Homemade gifts

December's The Simple Things is full of festive makes and bakes, wreaths of hawthorn and bay, and twinkly lights a-plenty. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Make: A hedgehog box

With an old wooden box and a few bricks you can host your own winter holiday home for hedgehogs

If you think you’ve got hedgehogs in your garden, encourage them to stay throughout the winter with a home of their own.

All you need to do is provide a wooden box (a wine crate is ideal) and bury it under some old leaves.

Before you bury it, make a small entrance hole in the box using a saw and, once it’s in place, build a covered tunnel (using bricks and a wooden plank as cover) leading up to the entrance hole to help prevent foxes, badgers and other predators from raiding the nest.

You can then watch the prickly visitors come and go. 

A finished hedgehog box

Read more:

From the October issue

Makes

Gardening posts 

October's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

October's The Simple Things PLUS pressed leaves craft ideas

On sale now, October's The Simple Things is all about the FORAGE. With such a beautiful cover, we've been inspired to get outside, hunt for colourful leaves and put them to crafty use. 

Try one of the ideas from our pressed leaves Pinterest board and let us know how you get on - share your pictures with us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Follow The Simple Things's board Pressed leaves on Pinterest.

Read more:

From the October issue

Make a homemade reed diffuser

Pinterest ideas

October's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

Chalkboard art PLUS win one of five tote bags (closed)

From signage to prints to The Simple Things’ own back cover, chalkboard art is enjoying a bit of a revival. Requiring only chalk, a blackboard surface and a spot of creativity, it’s easy to understand its appeal. In the October issue of The Simple Things we share the step-by-step instructions for creating a chalkboard party invite, taken from Valerie McKeehan’s The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering.

The book is filled with helpful tips for aspiring chalkers, and projects ranging from birthday greetings to vintage-style store signs. If you enjoy that, we recommend you also taking a look at the incredible 1909 Blackboard Sketching book by Frederick Whitney (discovered through The Public Domain Review).

Bulrushes and baskets, cosy fireside scenes and glimpses of the great outdoors all come to life through Whitney’s mastery of chalk. With the whole book available to read online, it may help equip you with the skills to sketch up a quick igloo. At the very least, it should give you a few “wow” moments.

As Whitney describes, “Such drawing is a language which never fails to hold attention and awaken delighted interest”.

Competition

We’ve got five tote bags celebrating The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering to give away. Enter below

Read more:

From the October issue

More chalkboard back covers

More competitions 

Learn something new: Origami

Master how to fold a flapping bird (or ‘crane’ as it’s correctly known) and you will always have a dinner party trick up your sleeve. A paper napkin can, with a bit of dextrous folding, be transformed into a thing of wonder. Your fellow diners’ jaws will drop as you crease and sculpt and then reveal a creature whose wings flap when they tug its tail.

One of the marvels of this Japanese art is that all it needs is one piece of square paper. Pre-cut squares, some bi-coloured, some patterned, can be bought at Paperchase, £8.29 for 49 squares, which is not too crippling an expense when you consider that no glue, scissors or tape are necessary. Ingenuity is all that’s needed, that and some good, clear instructions.

Back in the Seventies, the king of origami was Robert Harbin who introduced the word* to the British public via TV programmes and a series of books. His books are still as good a place as any to learn but there is plenty of advice on YouTube and on dedicated websites such as origami-instructions.com and origami.me. The trick is to master a few basic folds (inside and outside reverse, the petal fold, the valley and mountain fold) and a couple of bases (bird base, diamond base, kite base, waterbomb base) and then a world of paper folding will, well, unfold for you. Soon you will be surrounded by ninja stars, hopping frogs and lotus flowers and a circle of slack-jawed friends.

* The word ‘origami’ comes from the Japanese ‘ori’ meaning folding and ‘kami’ which means paper.

Words: Clare Gogerty

Want to try more? Head over to Pinterest where you'll find paper ideas galore.

Follow The Simple Things's board Origami on Pinterest.

Read more:

From the September issue

Learn something new

More from The Simple Things' Pinterest boards

September's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

Event: Thornback & Peel screen printing workshop (closed)

Want to get into print? Come and learn screen printing at a special workshop hosted by Thornback & Peel at their London shop. You'll print your own mixed box of Christmas-themed hankies.

If you’ve ever fancied giving screen printing a go, here’s your chance. The people at Thornback & Peel are offering the chance to print your own mixed box of festive hankies, at a special workshop evening.

You can take your efforts home, so you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to getting organised for Christmas. It’s an intimate event with just 12 places, so hurry to book yours.

About Thornback & Peel

Thornback & Peel was established in 2007 by Juliet Thornback and Delia Peel (Delia’s home is featured on the previous pages). They celebrate the quirkiness of British humour and design by borrowing imagery and combining modernist geometric patterns with 19th-century wood engravings. Their work is inspired by an eclectic mix of Victoriana, Mrs Beeton’s household management, Mr McGregor’s garden, 17th-century microscope imagery of the natural world, and Norfolk and Devon.

The Simple Things screen printing workshop

All equipment will be provided, just bring your enthusiasm. Enjoy a glass of fizz to get you into the festive mood, then pop on a pinny ready to screen print your very own Christmas- themed hankies.

Date: Thursday 12 November 2015, 6.30–8.30pm
Location: Thornback & Peel shop, 7 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QT
Price: £25 per person
To book: Contact Emma on emma@thornbackandpeel.co.uk
Find out more thornbackandpeel.co.uk 

Read more:

Enter our competitions

Another reader event

Ready for Christmas?!

September's The Simple Things is on sale today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Make: Build an outdoor oven

Who says outdoor cooking is restricted to the barbecue? Take your pizza and bread baking al fresco as well with a DIY clay oven.  

In August's issue of The Simple Things, we're all about eating in the garden. This isn't a particularly tricky or expensive project, but does require a bit of space, a fair amount of planning and a full three days. That said, when the job’s done, it’ll give you summers of baked goodness. 

Download the instructions for making your own outdoor oven.

August's The Simple Things is on sale 29 July. Get your issues early by becoming a subscriber - you'll save money, too.

Read more

• Bread recipes
• More DIY projects
• More from the August issue

Make: Homemade reed diffuser

The roots of homespun alchemy lie in the play of childhood – sneaking bits and pieces from the garden and mixing them in jam jars, hoping for a magical scent. This kind of experimentation is no less fun as an adult, but with these recipes from Rachelle Blondel, author of Forgotten Ways for Modern Days, you’ll get far more satisfying results. Harnessing the natural power of the likes of beeswax, nuts, seeds and rosewater, these are great weekend projects that will reward you – or, in the case of the perfume, perhaps someone else – with some gentle, natural pampering throughout the working week.

To make a reed diffuser you will need:
5-6 thin bamboo skewers
50ml surgical spirit
50ml light oil (grapeseed, sweet almond or light olive oil) 
Narrow-necked vase or bottle 
30-40 drops of your favourite essential oil or blend

1 Remove the pointed ends of the wooden skewers with a pair of sharp scissors and put them to one side.
2 Place the surgical spirit and oil into the vase or bottle and swirl around to mix the two.
3 Add the essential oils and swirl again.
4 Place as many skewers into the bottle as will fit, but don’t over-fill as the skewers will need space to release the fragrance.
5 Leave for several hours, swirling the liquid every now and again, then flip the skewers so that the dry ends are in the liquid.
6 You can repeat the previous step until the wood is completely saturated with the oil and then flip the skewers every couple of days to keep the fragrance wafting. The volume of oil and surgical spirit can be increased according to the size of your vase or bottle, but keep the ratio 1:1. Essential oils can be added at 10 drops to 100ml of base oil: experiment with this volume for a stronger or weaker fragrance.

Taken from Forgotten ways for Modern Days: Kitchen cures and household lore for a natural home and garden by Rachelle Blondel (Kyle Books, £14.99). Photography by Catherine Gratwicke.

There are more homemade projects in June’s The Simple Things, available from all good newsagents, supermarkets and our official online store. Sold out? Download it from Apple Newsstand or subscribe now.

Make: Terrarium PLUS introducing the Urban Jungle Bloggers

Creative gardening need not be restricted to outdoors. Or, indeed, to off-the-shelf plant pots. Making a terrarium is a craftier way to display greenery and is a great project for anyone finding themselves low on either time or space. Building terraria is a revival of a past craze, which - hopefully much like your plants - has refused to die. Turn to page 106 of May's The Simple Things to find out how to make your own.

Got a taste for the green stuff? You're a born Urban Jungle Blogger.

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a mutual project initiated by Igor of Happy Interior Blog and Judith of JOELIX.com. They share a passion for plants and living with plants and decided to kick off a monthly blog series about living with plants, which soon turned into a thriving green community with almost 600 international bloggers joining in.

The Urban Jungle Bloggers team announces a monthly topic around styling with plants and informs the community through a monthly newsletter. Everyone who wants to can then join in and interpret the given theme according to their own style and home. There is no obligation to join in every month, so Urban Jungle Bloggers can pick whatever topic they like and share their green inspiration. Every blogger's efforts are then shared with the community on www.urbanjunglebloggers.com and on social media.

Don't have a blog? You can still join in. The team uses the hashtag #urbanjunglebloggers on Instagram which allows everyone to share and tag their green pics, with the images then shown in an interactive gallery on the Urban Jungle Bloggers website.

To join in, sign up for the monthly newsletter here. 

Find the terrarium make in May's The Simple Things. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Craftier and Craftier: White Rabbit & Cheshire Cat Masks

Celebrate the birthday of curious classic Alice in Wonderland with this easy make.

This year is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The world would be a considerably less curious place without the likes of the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. From 2 May to 1 November, the V&A Museum of Childhood in east London will be hosting a free display called ‘The Alice Look’, exploring how Alice has been a trendsetter over the years, or to mark the anniversary you could simply curl up with one of the beautiful editions of the book (see page 115 of April’s The Simple Things) and transport yourself to Wonderland.

You could also try your hand at a make or two, taken from Everything Alice, a whole book of Wonderland-inspired craft projects. The masks are perfect for parties and festivals, and should put a smile on your face worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

White Rabbit & Cheshire Cat Masks

You will need:
Templates - download cat or rabbit templates
PVA glue
White mosaic grout
Tile clippers
Hot glue gun

For the White Rabbit:
1 sheet of white A2 mount board 
10mm square mosaic tiles: approx 230 white, 100 cream, 90 pink
35cm length of 5mm dowelling rod, for the handle
White acrylic paint

For the Cheshire Cat:
1 sheet of black A3 mount board 
10mm square mosaic tiles: approx 120 black, 50 grey
35cm length of 5mm dowelling rod, for the handle
Black acrylic paint

1 Print out the templates and cut your selected mask shape from the mount board (or you could cut them out from sturdy card and decorate with crayons for an ultra-speedy make).
2 Paint your dowelling the corresponding mask colour – white for the rabbit and black for the cat – and allow to dry.
3 Cover your work surface with a protective sheet – mosaic work can be messy! Apply a small blob of PVA glue to the back of each mosaic tile and adhere to the first mask shape, leaving a 2mm space between each tile. Get creative and make up your own pattern. Trim away any overhanging tiles with the clippers. Allow to dry thoroughly for at least two hours. 
4 As an alternative to readymade 10mm mosaic tiles, you could make your own tiles from old pots and crockery. Wrap the crockery in sheets of newspaper, then place into a thick plastic bag. Put the bag on a durable surface before smashing the crockery with a hammer. Remove the pieces carefully – they’ll be sharp!
5 Mix the white mosaic grout to the manufacturer’s instructions in a jam jar or plastic container. Keep a bowl of water and a sponge nearby. Use your hand to spread the grout over the mosaic, working it into the spaces between each tile. Try to keep the surface of the grout as smooth as possible. Leave the mask on a flat surface and allow the grout to dry fully. It’s best to leave it overnight.
6 Once dry, wipe down the mosaic with a damp cloth to remove any excess grout. Allow to dry for a further few hours, then give it a final polish with a soft cloth.
7 With a hot-glue gun, stick the second mask shape onto the back of the tiled one, with the dowelling in the middle.

Make: Homemade salt scrub recipes

Seen our interview with David and Alison from the Anglesey Salt Company in the March issue of The Simple Things? They've been making Halen Mon (Welsh for Anglesey salt) for 17 years, and shared their wisdom with us. Turn to page 46 for Rachael Oakden's interview PLUS notes on salt from page 50.

Salt isn't just for cooking, though, and we've rounded up a few recipes for DIY salt scrubs for you to try.

Exfoliating salt hand scrub

An exfoliating hand scrub is just what weather-beaten paws need - try this recipe from The Kitchn.

Citrus Salt Scrub

Fresh and zingy, this citrus salt scrub from Offbeat & Inspired will wake you up.

Lavender vanilla salt scrub

After something a little more soothing? Lavender's natural relaxing properties should do the trick, with this recipe from Building our Story.

Salt and sugar scrub gift

Scrubs are simple to assemble but make great gifts. Try this set from the Gold Jellybean.

Not got your March copy of The Simple Things? Buy now,  subscribe or look inside

Make: Crochet carrots DIY tutorial

Heirloom veg are a favourite of The Simple Things, particularly when they come in all kinds of unusual colours. Take heirloom literally and crochet these beauties - they'll never go off.

Thanks to Lara of Messyla for allowing us to share her crochet carrots. Lara is a designer, stylist and photographer, living in a little cottage in Scotland. She loves baking and crocheting, living simply, collecting kitchen gadgets, wearing stripes and pottering in her greenhouse.

Head over to her blog for the pattern to make your own crochet carrots.

More makes from The Simple Things.

Not got your March issue of The Simple Things? Buy now,  subscribe or look inside now.

Jazz up your jumper

Try four no-sweat ways to put life back into an old but much-loved woolly jumper. Turn to page 109 of March's The Simple Things for the DIY Heart jumper tutorial above, or try one of these ideas. 

GET NIFTY WITH A NEEDLE

Embroidery doesn’t have to be limited to a sampler. A few colourful stitches can also brighten the neckline of a grey sweatshirt. This gorgeous embellishment was created by Donna Bramhall. There’s more fashion and fabric inspiration from around the world on her blog, Haute Culture, www.hauteculturefashion.wordpress.com.

ADD SPARKLE WITH SEQUINS

Give your poor, worn-out elbows a Strictly-style makeover with this tutorial from Cathy at the Trinkets in Bloom blog (a great source of fashionable DIYs). Sequined patches are a simple no-sew way to add a bit of sparkle to a sweater. Cathy’s blog is at www.trinketsinbloom.com.

PERK IT UP WITH PAINT

Why restrict your doodles to paper? Fabric paints and transfers mean you can proudly show off your talents on your sweater. Laura from Wrapped Up In Rainbows created herself a ‘lucky house-hunting jumper’. See her site at www.wrappedupinrainbows.blogspot.com. 

Learn a new skill with The Simple Things: make your own desert boots

Join other readers of The Simple Things for a special one-day shoemaking workshop with Green Shoes at its studio in Devon

The classic desert boot is ideal for beginners to tackle. Choose from a wide selection of leathers or vegan material and learn how to cut, stitch, shape and attach to the traditional crepe rubber sole. You’ll take home a pair of boots that are made-to-measure in the colour of your choice.

Green Shoes has been handmaking shoes since 1981 and uses the same low-tech methods as the original makers of this classic field boot. All their footwear can be resoled, ensuring they last for years.

The day starts with coffee and instruction. An experienced shoe-maker is on hand to help at all stages. The morning is about cutting and stitching. After lunch at a local cafe, you’ll learn how to shape them on a traditional last and they’ll be ready to wear home at the end of the day.

The course takes place on Saturday 21 March at the Green Shoes workshop in Moretonhampstead, Devon and costs £280 to include all materials, instruction, lunch and a pair of boots to take home.

How to book

There are just five places available for readers on the course. Travel to and from Green Shoes workshop is not included. To book, call 01647 440735 or email info@greenshoes.co.uk

Chef’s brights: DIY oven gloves and apron

Colourful kitchen kit you can create at home and wear proudly while you cook.

It’s a tough one to call: is it more gratifying to whip up something new on your sewing machine or in the kitchen? Well, no need to choose, because we’ve cracked the dilemma with these crafty projects: you can create something in the kitchen while modelling the new apron and oven gloves you’ve made for yourself.

These two colourful sewing projects by Chloë Owens are a reminder that even the most useful of items will benefit from a dash of pattern and fun. Don’t be put off by the number of steps – they both use straightforward sewing (and a bit of sticking), rather than anything too challenging.

Turn to page 106 for the project instructions and download the project templates.

Projects by Chloë Owens. Taken from the book All Sewn Up (Cico Books, £14.99). 

Natural Christmas

Make your table worthy of your Christmas feast by creating one of these last minute decorations using pickings from your garden, window box or hedgerows – simply gorgeous. Vases of larch cones, crab apples and winter berries are quick and easy to do

What you'll need: Jars; ribbon; natural decorations from the garden and hedgerows

1. Keep hold of empty jars in the run-up to Christmas as they can be

recycled into vases.

2. Tie some ribbon around the necks to add a festive touch and fill

with pickings from the garden and hedgerows. Evergreen herbs

such as rosemary and bay work well, providing a lovely aroma.

3. Add a few stems of hawthorn berries or pyracantha for a shot of

Christmassy colour.

4. Even more simple is to fill a few jars with larch cones and crab

apples. On crowded Christmas tables smaller decorations like this

work much more effectively, taking up less space, allowing guests

to chat without being obscured by plant material.

Plenty more festive ideas for gifts, food and fun in December's issue of The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe now. 

Recipe: Stollen with dark rum and lemon marzipan

Stollen is the German Christmas cake. Dip it in coffee or eat with a piece of Hafod cheese.

The original German Christmas cake was from Dresden. It was a moist heavy bread filled with fruit, and the first recorded mention of it was in 1474. This official stollen is produced by only 150 bakers in the city, is still sold at the local Christmas market and has a special seal. All very interesting, but we bet it doesn’t taste any better than this one.

Stollen with dark rum and lemon marzipan

50g dark rum
75g raisins
75g sour cherries or cranberries 

Vanilla butter:

100g butter
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Marzipan (or buy ready-made): 

100g ground almonds
35g icing sugar
10ml lemon juice
15ml dark rum
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 large egg

Cake:

50g milk (room temperature)
250g strong white flour
5g quick yeast (7g fresh yeast)
25g caster sugar
5g fine sea salt
2 large eggs (room temperature) 
Chopped zest of 2 oranges and
2 lemons
5g ground spice – 50/50 cardamom/ cinnamon
100g butter, diced
Icing sugar to finish

1. Warm the rum and mix it with the dried fruit, cover and leave at room temp for 24 hours. To make vanilla butter, melt 100g butter and sprinkle with vanilla pod seeds; leave to infuse. 
2. The next day, make marzipan. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, cover tightly and place in the fridge.
3. Warm the milk, add 25g of the flour and all the yeast. Mix well with fingers and cover tightly. Leave for 45 mins.
4. Add the rest of the flour, sugar, salt and eggs and mix it with the foaming yeast. When all flour is incorporated, turn dough onto the table and knead for 4 mins, cover tightly and rest for 30 mins.
5. Uncover dough and press out into an oblong. Put zest and spice on top of the dough, along with the butter. With your fingers, massage it all together. It’s very loose at this stage – almost a batter. Massage until the dough becomes a consistent colour. Scrape together into a ball, cover well and leave to rest for 30 mins. Use a very small amount of flour on your hands and work surface while shaping if you need to.
6. Add soaked fruit and massage into dough to combine. Sprinkle some flour on the table, scrape up dough, place on the flour and top with another sprinkling of flour. Stretch dough to create four corners and fold them in on themselves. 7 Turn dough over, bottom side up, shape into a ball and put back in the bowl. Cover tightly and leave for 2.5 hours.
8. Scrape dough out onto a well floured surface. Halve dough and gently press down to create 2 oblongs, arranged with one of the longer sides towards you.
9. Divide marzipan into 2 and roll each half into a sausage shape. Place each in the middle of a dough oblong, leaving a 2cm gap at either end. Fold the side nearest you over the top of the marzipan and tuck in on the far side. Then fold the side farthest away over the top of the marzipan and gently press the seam in. Make sure the seam is totally sealed by pinching with your fingers if necessary. 
10. Lift stollen carefully onto a baking tray covered with baking parchment. Bend it slightly so you’re left with a semi circular shape. Leave for 90 mins.
11. Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F. Bake stollen for 25–28 mins, then remove from oven and leave to cool on tray for 30 mins.
12. Melt vanilla butter and pour evenly over the stollen. This will help to lock the moisture in when it cools down. Leave the stollen on the tray for 1 hour.
13. Cover stollen all over with a thick layer of icing sugar. Ideally place the stollen in a tin and leave until the next day to eat so the flavour can develop.

The stollen should last two weeks kept in a tin.

Turn to page 24 of December's The Simple Things for our baker, Alex Gooch's other Christmas recipes, including potato and onion bread with pickled chilli and Hafod cheese, and toasted hazelnut, apple and prune loaf. 

Buy, download or subscribe now.

Make: Bug hotel

Build a bug hotel for your garden. This multi-storey insect hotel will soon fill up with guests, from ladybirds to lacewings.

You will need:
24 old bricks
Some old curved roof tiles
10 short pieces of wood
Corrugated cardboard, bamboo canes, drinking straws, old pots, logs, egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves
A selection of hollow tubes, such as empty cardboard tubes, loo rolls, plastic pipes and bottles

1 Find a quiet, sheltered spot in the garden and make sure that the ground is flat. Lay two rows of bricks, two bricks long and two bricks high, so that they are the same width apart as the length of your pieces of wood.
2 Put a curved roof tile between the two rows as a shelter for toads and frogs.
3 Lay three pieces of wood, spaced evenly, across the lines of bricks. Add another one or two courses of bricks and some more wood to build up the storeys. 
4 On the top layer, add an extra piece of wood at the back of the stack to make the tiles sit at an angle, so the rain runs off. 
5 Roll up pieces of corrugated cardboard, slide them inside the cardboard tubes then put these inside the hotel. Fill the other tubes and plastic pipes with a selection of hollow stems like bamboo and drinking straws. These make perfect winter ‘rooms’ for small insects.
6 You could also drill holes in the ends of logs or add other materials such as egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves.
7 Place more tiles on top of the final layer to form the roof of the hotel.
8 Find a flat tile or piece of slate and write the name of your hotel on it with chalk.