Chances are it is really cold where you are right now so as Christmas approaches, here is our favourite mulled wine recipe to start the festive season with a punch (ahah!).

Serves 8-12

1.5l (2 bottles) red wine

6 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

juice of 1 lemon

150g brown sugar

500ml orange juice

100ml vodka

Orange slices, to serve

Gently heat the wine with the spices and lemon juice, until hot, but not boiling. Gradually stir in half the sugar, then the orange juice and heat for a few minutes, without boiling. Turn off the heat, stir in the vodka, taste and add the remaining sugar until it's sweet enough for you. Let everything mingle in a sociable way for 5 minutes or so. Put a slice of orange in each glass, before laddling in the grog. Reheat gently if necessary.

Enjoy!

For more luxurious treats, try Weleda skin food (for softer hands), Akamuti organic virgin coconut oil (perfect against that hot/cold drying effect on your skin), raw chocolate bar (so you can still indulge yourself without feeling guilty) or even any of our high quality and pretty gift boxes.

This guys are so much fun! I love the banter about how recycling can be made so complicated sometimes when really.... what could be easier?

They mention nappies so if you worry about your bin being constantly full of them (how can babies poo so much?), we have the answer: don't buy plastic nappies anymore and switch to cloth: easy to use, no touching the poo, lots of money saved thanks to the NapNap Cloth Nappy Gift Voucher.

In the meantime, .... enjoy!

Have you entered our Christmas Competition yet?

It is a lot of fun and you could win big. All you have to do is match our 6 funny baby pictures (yes, 2 mums, 6 children) with their names. Not as easy as it sounds but will you be able to spot a Romily? A Sara? Beware, a boy is lurking among all the girls.

The competition will close on Wednesday 5th December and the winner notified soon afterwards. If it's you, you will have time to enjoy a bit of Christmas shopping with your £20 Really Eco Baby Voucher. Our bestsellers include raw chocolate, wooden construction kits, Kenana fair traded soft toys, organic  Ella & Otto playsuits and our latest arrivals: Sew&Tell dolls from around the world and wooden calendars. If you are giving a gift to a new mum of baby, you could include a NapNap Cloth Nappy Gift Voucher.

Enter our competition here.

Something for the girls this Christmas!

Meet the girls: 

• Aapti: Her purple blue and pink elephant detail sari and pink ballet pumps are good enough for any Bollywood starlet.
• Zhen: With fierce leopard print socks and matching scarf she stands apart in a crowd.
• Anna: Her bird print skirt and nautical striped top are c'est chic!
• Abeo: Her bold African print dress and fabulous 'fro make her a freak unique!

They come from all around the world and although this make your own doll kit is great for all eco kids, boys and girls, the makers of theses print dolls (2 sisters) designed them for a purpose: to make a great gift for a special little girl in your life. They are easy enough to make so you can do it together while talking about other cultures as well as learning to appreciate the way things are made.

10% of every sale goes towards the charity "girl effect" which invest time, energy and funding into adolescent girls to help them find their voice in their community. Visit "the revolution" page to be inspired and see where your money goes.

Check our Sew&Tell Askeyprint Dolls product page and ... Get sewing!