Jenson Button is returning to his home town this evening to switch on our Christmas lights (a Button on the button makes me grin) and Advent begins on Sunday – I am beyond excited! You can read a little bit about our advent traditions here, and I have one or two surprises up my sleeve for this year, but this week has been all about The Baking.

That is just a small selection of my Christmas cookie cutter and baking collection! Christmas gives me the chance to indulge in the silly as well as the traditional, to go a bit over the top, to indulge my inner creative. So, when Bonus Boy pleaded with me to buy a bucket of mini meringues as we were trotting around our local supermarket, how could I resist? These….

Were crying out to be these!

Who can resist meringue snowmen? Now that I can buy ready-made coloured icing which is suitable for vegetarians and vegans and which isn’t rammed full of nasties I can allow myself the occasional indulgence – Hoorah!

I sliced the top off two mini meringues to make the snowman base and his tummy and used a whole one for his head. They are stuck together using icing glue (2 tablespoons of icing sugar and a drop or two of water). I let them set before I started decorating them and used more icing glue to hold their scarves and ties in place – so dapper!

Their noses are made with a pinch of ready-made orange icing shaped into a triangle. Their neck wear is red and green icing rolled into thin sausages and then gently flattened with a rolling-pin. The star on Mr Frostie’s bow tie and the Christmas trees on Chilli Joe are also edible, their eyes are little blobs of chocolate writing icing.

Tonight, no matter how hard they plead with those teeny eyes, their heads will be bitten off by certain family members who are very much looking forward to their sugary goodness!

What have you been up to this week and what have you planned for advent this year? Link up your posts and spread a little Christmas cheer!