Home Sense

Get ready for Christmas

At Christmas, houses should be decorated to sparkle like gold, foods should come gift-wrapped with ribbons, and presents should be extra, extra special. HomeSense has all you need to help add a touch of luxury and to get your home ready for Christmas. Help make your guests feel at home with our easy guide to turning your home into a festive haven.

• Help them unwind by creating that soft, calming ambience with our selection of candles and room fragrances. Add a touch of luxury with large fluffy towels to wrap up from the cold.
• Make your guest bedroom a comfy place to be with designer bed linen scattered with cushions and layers of throws.
• Not enough chairs to go around? Not to worry – why not try out our huge range of floor cushions and bean bags for a comfy, stylish and cost efficient way to accommodate extra guests.

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Napkin Folding

The Fleur de Lys Napkin Fold

This elegant napkin fold will look fabulous on your Christmas table!

1. Lay the napkin face-down in front of you, oriented as a diamond, then fold in half with the open points towards you.

2. Fold the edges up so the points overlap the folded edge by about an inch.

3. Fold the napkin like a concertina from edge to edge.

4. Hold the base and place in the wine glass and gently pull out the edges to reveal your Fleur de Lys.

Visit HomeSense stores or shop online for all your Christmas entertaining needs.

Christmassy Fruit Cake

Ingredients

• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 250g Light Muscavado or Demerara Sugar
• 250g Butter
• 250g Raisins
• 250g Sultanas
• 150g Glace Cherries, halved
• 2 tsp’s Ground Mixed Spice
• 3 tbsp’s Brandy
• 4 Eggs

To Decorate

• 100g Golden Marzipan
• 100g White Royal Icing
• Silver Ball Cake Decorations
• Icing Sugar
• 1 tbsp Apricot Jam
• 3 Glace Cherries

Method

1. Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. Lightly grease an 8” loose bottomed cake tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper
3. Pour the mixture into the tin and level.
4. Place in an oven pre-heated to 140C or Gas 1-2 and bake for 2.5 hours (place some foil over the cake after about an hour or so to stop the top from becoming too brown and burning the fruit).
5. To check that the cake is cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it is clean then the cake is cooked.
6. Leave to cool completely before removing it from the tin and placing onto a cake-stand or board for decoration.

Decorating the Cake

1. Lightly dust your work-surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan and royal icing to about 1/4 “ thick.
2. Using a star shaped cutter, cut 5 stars from the marzipan.
3. Using a slightly smaller star shaped cutter, cut 5 stars from the royal icing.
4. Heat the apricot jam in the microwave for 30 seconds and use a pastry brush to dab a little onto the centre of each of the marzipan stars then place the white stars centrally on top of each one.
5. Push silver balls into the white icing stars in a random arrangement.
6. When you have decided where you would like each star to be placed on the cake, use the apricot jam and pastry brush to affix them to the top.
7. Place the glace cherries on the top if desired.
8. Add a piece of ribbon to the outside of the cake for that extra festive touch.

Get your home organised for Christmas

This week we’re dedicated to giving you ideas on how to achieve the perfect festive look in your home, with everything from stylish decorations to fantastic value dinner and glassware and those guest essentials to turn your spare room into a welcoming space for Christmas guests.

Deck your halls with our Red Velvet Look

For a modern twist on the traditional red, look for bold berry decorative accessories in abundance and accent with a small amount of yellow gold. Choose from our crimson red wreaths (from £4.99), yellow gold embellished baubles (from £2.99) and bright flock reindeers (from £12.99.) Team these with high gloss accessories, gleaming satin throws, playful tassels and opulent velvet stockings for that extra luxurious feel. 

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Action for Children

HomeSense has partnered with Action for Children, one of the UK’s largest children’s charities, to raise money for local projects which support vulnerable, neglected and disadvantaged children.

Each of our stores will be supporting and raising funds for local ranging from supporting young carers, providing equipment for disabled children, buying toys for local centres and developing services for disadvantaged families.

From Thursday 4th November, you can make your donation at the till in any HomeSense store, write your name on a bauble and then hang it on our tree.

So as well as saving up to 60% on our unique decorations and great gifts this Christmas, you’ll also be able to help us support vulnerable and disadvantaged children locally this Christmas.

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