Waste(less)

My first resolution is to no longer buy new clothes. Having said that, I looked back into the past year and realised all the clothes I've bought, except for underwear and one pair of pants, have been bought secondhand, which is so great. I would like to keep that momentum going and keep making an exception with underwear and basics.

Speaking of which, anything new I buy, clothes-wise, should come from an ethical brand, Good on You has written a few posts on ethical brands who sell such products, so they'll be my guiding light on this journey. Here are a few posts on the subject: The Ultimate Guide to Ethical and Sustainable Underwear for Men and Women, and Sustainable Bras and Bralettes to Support You and the Planet.

Lastly, I'd like to continue my low-waste journey. Although I don't think we'll ever be completely zero waste, we can all try our best to continue to reduce our waste. To do so, this year I'd like to make more of my own products, I already make my own deodorant (recipe here), my body butter (add link), my own ACV rinse (here's how), and I even shared my Ultimate List of DIY Sustainable Products, but I want to do more, learn more, be better. Two products I'm looking to try out this year are Georganics' Natural Toothpaste or their Toothpaste Tablets, so maybe I'll be finally able to forgo toothpaste in plastic tubes.

Let me know what some of your resolutions for the new year are, maybe we can hold each other accountable and make sure we follow through!

With even colder weather creeping around the corner, my warmer coats are making their way out of storage, so I thought a new installment on my Mindful Fashion series would be a good idea. Coats can be really classic pieces that you buy once and last you for years and years, but for that to happen we need to know how to take care of them properly.

Ingredients

Method

Over the past few years, I wrote a few blog posts about my favourite Christmas drinks and I loved it, for chilled out days I made my Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, for cold evenings my favourite Mulled Cider and even Hot Chocolate 5 Ways. This year I knew I wanted to do something different, my own Christmas cocktail.

If there's something I associate with Christmas time is oranges. I remember piercing oranges with cloves to decorate my aunt's house before Christmas and sitting in front of our fireplace peeling oranges and eating them as soon as the months got colder, throwing the peels in the fire and making the whole living room smell delicious. So when I thought about making a Christmas cocktail I knew it had to have orange in it somehow.

• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 shot (45 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 shot gin (I make it double for my mum)
• Tonic water

Lastly, for a more Christmas-y take on this Cocktail, you will need exactly the same ingredients as in the base cocktail, but this time switch the tonic water for ginger ale, which I think really makes it a step better. The ginger ale along with the honey and orange juice really scream Christmas to me, and if you want to go even further you can also add a few spices like a cinnamon stick and cloves, you do you. Also, if like me you don't like gin and feel as though the limoncello takes away from the ginger ale's subtle taste, maybe use something cleaner, like vodka, which can be a really great substitute for gin in any kind of cocktail.

And there we go, one cocktail three ways, all delicious in their own way. Which one would you try for Christmas? Let me know in the comments below.

I've noticed that the older I get, the smaller my wishlists are, and they tend to focus more on one thing rather than several. For instance, this year my list for my boyfriend consisted of cosy things, for my brothers it was books and tea, and for my mum it was plants and planters, what more does a girl need? 

I thought I'd share my list not with the intention of getting any of these from you, whoever you are, but rather as a sort of inspiration when buying for other people. 

If you know me, you know one of my favourite things to do is to bake, I honestly could bake every day as soon as the weather starts to get gloomy, and I don't really know why I chose a literary path instead of training to be a baker, but I digress. I remember baking these cookies when I was still in high school, I decided to bake them and give them to my best friends for Christmas and honestly, I think we devoured them before the school day was over. If chocolate cookies aren't really your thing, you can take a look at my Spice Scented Holiday Cake, which is to die for, and my Gingerbread Cookies, coming soon, a real Christmas classic.

You'll need:

• 250 grams of soft unsalted butter (or your favourite substitute)
• 150 grams of sugar 
• 40 grams of cocoa powder
• 300 grams of plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Nigella likes to use gloves to shape the cookies, but I find it doesn't stick too much to my hands so I rather skip the gloves and then have a reason to lick my fingers, but you do you. Roll small pieces of batter between your hands, I'm not very fussed about the correct size, I usually just go according to what looks right to me, but Nigella claims they must be around the size of a large walnut. Place them in the previously lined tray and flatten them a bit so they can rise somewhat evenly. They don't tend to spread too much but do space them well, you should be able to fit 12, but I always do 9 just to be safe.

Bake each batch for 15 minutes, once they're out of the oven let them cool slightly before removing from the tray and placing them in a cooling rack, they'll still look and feel a bit soft, but they do continue to cook as they cool so don't worry. I actually underbaked my last batch, obviously for research and not because I set my timer for 10 minutes instead of 15, and they still turned out great, they feel softer but thoroughly baked, almost like a soft brownie, so if you rather have them like that, feel free to underbake them as well. If you do this and feel they're too soft for you, you can just pop them back in the oven for a minute or two, and if someone comments on this, just call the cookies biscotti, we all know how much Nigella loves an Italian reference.

This is where my cookies differ from Nigella's again. You're now supposed to make a topping, whisking 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 175 grams of icing sugar, 60 ml of boiling water, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a saucepan over a low heat and then let it cool a bit and drizzle on top of the cooled cookies and then top with Christmas sprinkles, you could maybe even crumble some candy canes and use them as sprinkles. I instead prefer to simply dust them with a bit of icing sugar or let them be on their own, the first time I baked them I did feel they were a bit heavy because of the icing on top, but you do you, icing or no icing, these are the best chocolate cookies out there and I'm prepared to fight you on this. They fall somewhere between a crispy and crumbly shortbread and a soft biscuit, the best of both worlds. And as my mum doesn't like chocolate cookies, I'm bound to eat all 24 of them by myself, what a task...

There's no real intro to this post, the matter of fact is: we all know how wasteful Christmas can be, so how can we change that? Can it ever be a waste-free season? Probably not. Can we still lower our waste and its' impact? Absolutely.

Last year I posted my DIY Gifts I'll Be Making This Year (And Would Love to Receive)  post, and at the end, I shared my new favourite way to wrap gifts in a beautiful yet sustainable way, furoshiki. Even though I still love the look of it, and will continue to use it as much as I possibly can, I still also love the traditional way to wrap, albeit not the ideal to stay zero waste, there is a way to make it more sustainable.

Let's start with the base of it all, the paper. Traditional wrapping paper isn't recyclable, mostly because they are often dyed, laminated and/or contain non-paper additives, like glitter, gold or silver specks, plastics, which cannot be recycled. Also, some wrapping paper is very thin and doesn't contain enough good quality fibres for recycling. Because of this, it's up to us to find new and better ways to wrap our gifts. The internet is filled with beautiful and creative options, such as using old newspaper, re-using old wrapping paper (I'm usually laughed at for keeping every bit of wrapping paper for as many years as possible, but I've grown to ignore the laughs), using old bits of fabric... I usually even go to the extent of saving every bag of flour or sugar I use, or Kraft paper bags from bulk shopping, turn them over so you can't see the branding and use them as a blank canvas to wrap things, from gifts to things I sell online.

Another option is to get actual Brown Kraft Paper - which I'm yet to find at an affordable price in Portugal - and then get creative. My favourite way to do this is to use rubber stamps to create an original print all over the paper (although you should do this before wrapping anything to make sure the ink doesn't bleed into the gift itself). Here are some of my favourite options available on Etsy:

Christmas Jumper Stamp by TheStampPress

Christmas Bauble by LittleStampStore

With a simple search, you'll find thousands of beautiful options, but these are just a few of my favourites. Once you have the wrapping and decorating done and dealt with, it's time for the finishing touches.

Only a year or two ago did I find out that you can't actually recycle duct tape, and I keep thinking of all the pieces I've thrown on the recycling bin over the years and wonder where they are now. To prevent this, you have a few options:

• don't tape your gifts and simply tie them up with Cotton Bakers Twine or any other twine of your choice, maybe even a string of leftover wool/cotton from your knitting projects;

• use paper tape, this Eco-Friendly Packing Tape is one of the many available on Etsy, but if you're in Portugal the best place to get some is Mind The Trash, where you can buy paper tape made from recycled paper, twice the goodness. If you'd like something a bit more festive sometimes, you can go with washi tape, everyone's favourite for the past few years.

Having said that, for the past few years, mostly because I moved out and wanted to start my own collection of Christmas decor, I've started buying a few bits every year, one for me, one for my mum and one for my boyfriend. Up to this year, I've always bought whatever I found cute and could afford, not thinking where it was coming from, all the while lusting over all the beautiful handmade items on Etsy, but this year, and going forwards, I'd like to keep my Christmas decor purchases a bit more mindful, buying from smaller brands or secondhand.

With everything going on this year, I think we've all realized the power of our own money, and how our purchases can influence the whole economy, by buying from smaller businesses we're supporting more ethical and sustainable practices, and Etsy is one of the best places to find exactly that.

So I’ve compiled a list of minimal Christmas decor that can pretty much go with whatever your aesthetic is, they're all handmade and each purchase supports a small business instead of big corporations, which is really what we should all do more.

Handmade Ceramic Mushroom by WildHarvestBotanical

Ceramic Trees by WildHarvestBotanical

Ceramic Stars with Gold Details by ChrissaCeramics

Advent Calendar Christmas Village House Kit by Headintclouds

Christmas Tree Origami Paper Ornaments by VioletAtelierStore

Cotton & Macramé Christmas Ornaments by 31deMarzo

Handmade Santa Ornament by CasaAbril

Handmade Porcelain Ornaments by CreatingComfortLab

Handmade Stained Glass Mistletoe by mayflymosaics

Handmade Wooden Christmas Trees by ROSTOKtoys

Hand Painted Ornaments by KemaKuBcn

Handmade Ceramic White Star by GXDesigns

Handmade Ceramic White Hearts by GXDesigns

Handmade Ceramic Hanging Mushroom by GXDesigns

Ceramic Cow Bell by 10FingersArt

Wooden Bead Garland by PortGardnerCrafts

These are just some of my favourite finds on Etsy, and ones I'd love to purchase over the years, let me know which ones you like best in the comments below. If you'd like to also make your own decorations, you can check last year's post on Zero Plastic Christmas Decorations for some inspiration!

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For this cake you will need:

A few years ago I wrote a few gift guides, which is something I love doing, last year I only wrote one, The Ultimate Sustainable Gift Guide, but this year I thought I'd go back to a few small gift guides instead, which are much less daunting to write and to read.

I've decided to start with one of my favourite ones, for the slow living folks out there, so if that sounds like someone you know, keep on reading.

The Knitter

Knitting is one of my favourite slow living rituals, picking up a bit of wool and making something new out of it gives me great joy, and there are a few essentials that would make great gifts. You could start with a pattern, like this Aran Sweater Knitting Pattern or the Patterned Cropped Cardigan Knitting Pattern, both great projects to keep your friends warm in winter. To keep these company, and to hold the yarn, a yarn bowl is the perfect buddy, these ceramic ones are just some of my favourites.

Rabbit Ceramic Yarn Bowl, also available in bird form, by LittleWrenPottery

A more traditional option, Speckled Ceramic Yarn Bowl by LittleBirdYarnCo

Set of Large Bamboo Knitting Needles by Craftboutiquenyc

Beginner Knitting by KniftyKnittings

For the Green-Thumbed

For the Candle Enthusiast

There's something so cosy and calming about candles, not only about burning them but also when it comes to making them, so I added a few bits for both cases.

I love the traditional candlestick holders, such as this beautiful Taper Candle Stick Holder by BBudgetChic

For the Drinker

And lastly, the drinkers. Both my brothers love a good gin, one also loves absinthe while the other reaches for a ginger beer, when I saw these kits I thought what a great gift to slow them down while at the end being rewarded with their favourite drink.

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