If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know I’ve been obsessed with Skillshare for quite some time and have been suggesting it a lot lately! Whether you’re a creative and like a bit of DIY, a designer and want to learn new topics in your sector or simply someone who likes art and learning new things just in general, I couldn’t suggest giving it a try enough! There’s always something new to learn on there, from basic Photoshop skills to how to run a successful business, and the fact that teachers are both experts and normal people like anyone of us, makes learning even easier and nicer!

Today, though, I’d love to share some more Skillshare classes I loved, but this time all around the lifestyle category: these are basically all classes that will come extremely useful in the everyday life, and that hopefully you’ll find handy and interesting as much as I did!

01 :: Happy Houseplants: Caring For Your Plants
It was probably because houseplants have always been such a mistery to me, but I’ve loved this class and found it so enlightening! Botanist Christopher from The Sill will teach you how to take care of your plants based on their variety, suggest how to pot and re-pot them and everything from what to do when leaves turn yellow, how to deal with eventual infestations and how to manage watering. This free class is something you don’t really want to miss out on if you love adding a little je-ne-sais-quoi to your flat with houseplants but are not very sure where to start with caring about them!

02 :: Easy Chocolate Making: All the Basics from Bean to Bar
Another free class and this one is a sort of chocolate-centered documentary, so whether you’re ever going to give making chocolate at home a go or not, if you love chocolate as much as I do you’ll find this class extremely interesting! Peter and Nate from Raaka Chocolate explain how they got started with making chocolate at first and how you too can go from raw beans to a chocolate bar with minimal equipment.

03 :: Still Life Photography: Make a Perfect Breakfast Picture
Photography to me is always an on-going experience, a skill I always strive to get better at. This class would be so helpful for complete beginners but was extremely handy for someone like me as well, who, with blogging, has been introduced to most photography terms already, but who is always after some smart tips to improve and get better! Ever since joining the class, I’ve been implementing some of the tricks Mariya suggests every single time I take pictures, and now I don’t really know how I was doing without them before!

04 :: Candle Making: Scent Your Way to Paradise
I don’t know about you, but the art of homemade DIY candles has always intrigued me and I’ve given it a go a couple of times already before. So hearing about some great tips from an expert was totally up my street! John will teach you how to get started with your own DIY candle, from picking the best wax for your project to deciding on the scent and everything in between!

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And that’s it! Four online classes you should really check out!
Any other Skillshare fans? x

I like handmade things. Handmade gifts especially. Every Christmas I feel like between the many gifts I buy for others, the ones I create with my own hands are the most special and most appreciated. I’ve been putting together a cookies mix in a jar to give as gift to my favourite people the last few Christmasses – just a fun way to share my favourite recipes with them, but this year I thought I’d change things up a bit and have put together a bit of a different couple of handmade gift ideas!

These are great if you’re after a last minute DIY gift idea, or are planning to go for something made with your own hands this year! They both only require simple, easy to trace down, natural ingredients and make for festive little gifts perfect for wintertime!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients ::
2 teaspoons grated hot chocolate
1 teaspoon white flour
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Smashed peppermint candy canes

Place the ingredients in the previous proportions in a small 150ml jar repeating the same doses until the jar is full, then smash the candy canes and add them to the jar as well. Use a small teaspoon to stir all the ingredients together into the jar so that they’re all well combined. Download the labels here (or write them yourself!) and tie one of them to the jar with your red and white twine!

Rosemary + Lemon Sea Salt Body Scrub

Adapted from The Simple Things‘ body scrub recipe.

Ingredients ::
450g coarse salt
juice of 2 lemons
7-8 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Measure out the salt in a small bowl, add the olive oil and lemon juice, then grate the zest of 1 lemon and chop the rosemary leaves. Mix all the ingredients together until nicely combined. Spoon into small 150ml jars until full, then seal the lid and add a hand-written gift tag tied with your red and white twine. Suggest to keep in the fridge on the back of the gift tag!

Homemade Hazelnut Brittle Sachets

Ingredients ::
Follow my recipe here

Brittle is extremely quick and easy to prepare! Follow my recipe here, then cut little squares of parchment paper and place each brittle piece between two foils, then pile them up, so that the singular pieces don’t stick together. Place them into transparent food sachets and tie with a red bow, add a small gift tag, and you’re done!

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Here in Italy bringing a real pine at home to be used as Christmas tree is not really a thing (which I’m totally OK with), yet I love how pines smell and I’d like to associate that scent with Christmas as most of the people do! We’re not starting to bring home a real tree, but this year, instead of dusting off the usual artificial wreath, we thought it might be nice to try our hands at making our own real pine-smelling Christmas wreath!

I reckon we’re quite lucky to be able to go out and come home with two bags full of branches of all type of conifers out there (aside from pines which are mandatory, we found also beech and cypress work quite nicely), pine cones and holly; however I think if you’re not that lucky, you’ll be still able to find your supplies at your local florist and I also saw some boutiques selling decorative pine cones that could work nicely! Obviously nothing can beat going out and picking up natural wide branches smelling like only Winter does!

I can’t describe how lovely our home smelled after we brought all of our supplies in and started arranging our wreaths. Nothing could beat that, mixed with the smell of the finest hot chocolate you’re sipping in the meanwhile and the sound of Christmas songs whistled in the background, I’ll tell you!

To make our own wreath, we used small and medium branches of pine and cypress, as well as some small and medium pinecones, some hand-picked holly and red berries from our backyard. We totally improvised, but after two wreaths we saw some improvements in our technique, so here are some tips we learnt along the way:

• Make a thick circular base with some garden wire, at least three layers, then seal the layers with other wire twisted all around the base. This will create a solid starting point for your wreath.
• Start with the thickest branches and firmly link them to the base with the wire.
• Always make the branches follow the circumference in only one direction.
• Use smaller branches to cover any hole or poor space.
• Only add decorations like pine cones, holly and berries when you’re completely happy with your base!

We’re so pleased with how our wreath has turned out and you won’t believe how incredible it smells! I think, from now on wreath making must become a Christmas tradition of ours – the whole going out and picking up your own branches and then putting all the elements together surrounded by the most classical festive scent of all, this whole process might be even more enjoyable than decorating a Christmas tree, and I’m not joking!

Mittens ℅ Yoins

Will you give wreath making a whirl this year? x