The edible mixture inside these homemade baubles resembles a sea scene and is ideal for Christmas Eve cosiness. Words and photographs: Shore Cottage Studio
We have a tradition of going for a long walk along the beach after dark on Christmas Eve, as it serves to blow the cobwebs away and wear out the younger members of the family before bedtime. Our torch-lit family trek is always followed by hot chocolates around the fire, and we’ve found a way of making our snuggly beverage even more special this year. We came across these baubles – more usually filled with feathers, glitter, or sparkles – and thought we’d try something new. These decorations can be made early and displayed for the whole festive season, then plucked from the tree on Christmas Eve and swirled into hot milk.
We chose a lighter coloured white hot chocolate for our beach-inspired bauble, but malted drink powder would have the same effect and bring back childhood memories to boot. A crushed honeycomb chocolate bar, such as a Cadbury’s Crunchie, is a brilliant sand-and-pebble combination, and then you can go to town or keep it simple for the rest of the contents. Snapped cinnamon sticks look brilliant as driftwood dupes – just make sure you remove them from the final drink before serving to children. A simple adornment is to slip some slender seashell-shaped chocolates inside – eating the ones that are too large to fit is the crafter’s prerogative! The more confident can fashion starfish from fudge squares, folding their little arms in to fit. Super-advanced folk may want to try pulled sugar spirals in shades of blue and turquoise as waves.
WHAT YOU NEED:
• Fillable baubles
• White hot chocolate powder
• Honeycomb chocolate bars
• Seashell-shaped chocolates
• Fudge
• Small funnel or paper cone
• Rolling pin
• Cinnamon sticks
• Chopstick or skewer
METHOD:
1. Use the funnel to fill about ¼ of the bauble with the white hot chocolate powder
2. Crush the honeycomb chocolate inside its packet and add to the bauble as sand
3. Break up the cinnamon stick to resemble driftwood pieces and add to the mix
4. Add seashell chocolates or fudge starfish and arrange with chopsticks
Click through the gallery below to see the baubles in progress.
If you like arts and crafts, click here for more coastal makes or pick up a copy of the magazine.
ABOUT SHORE COTTAGE STUDIO
Shore Cottage Studio consists of three generations of artists living and working on the Wirral Peninsula. They run short creative courses in fused glass, photography, textiles and laser-etching, taking inspiration from their surroundings. They also exhibit their work and produce commissions. Oh, and there’s usually cake. You can book a course or commission a piece from Shore Cottage on their website (shorecottagestudio.com).
