Christmas is my favourite time of year and yesterday we took some time out to make a gingerbread house with my youngest niece. It’s become a bit of a tradition and this year we tried a kit from Dr Oetker, which included the gingerbread, icing and sweets. It was really simple to put together. Daddy assembled the house and placed strategic dollops of icing and my niece decorated with marshmallows, jellies and smarties. The finished gingerbread house – the perfect holiday craft and it only took 30 minutes!
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I’m loving my mum’s Christmas spirit at the moment. This evening we were in the kitchen making marzipan fruits and fudge for Christmas when there was a knock at the door. When she opened it a group of carol singers burst into song with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas. She said “I don’t think so, thank you” and shut the door! Then she muttered “That’s not even a proper Christmas carol”. Now my mum has spent the last few months preparing for Christmas and gets more excited than any of us so her reaction really surprised us (and made…
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We are a new little family and as this is our son’s first Christmas I want to start some of our own Christmas traditions which I hope will make it really special every year. Some we can’t do until he’s a bit older but here’s my wish list: Put up the Advent calendar I made which has plenty of room for a chocolate coin in each pocket Receive a letter from Father Christmas (via the NSPCC) Visit Father Christmas (this year we enjoyed a trip to see him here) Go to Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights or visit…
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We made our own soy teacup candles! Yep, our final present related task. This was on my to-do list for ages. I think I first saw them in Vogue and thought they looked so simple yet pretty and practical. Ever since, I’ve been looking out for vintage teacups and china beakers. Equipment to make soy teacup candles: soy candle wax candle dye candle wick wick pins sustainers How to make Soy Teacup Candles: You don’t need much equipment to make them and I bought a great candle making kit from eBay which contained soy candle wax, candle dye, candle wick,…
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We decided to go home for a few days! My husbands’ health is improving so much quicker than last time that we’ve decided to return home for a few days before Christmas. We miss being a threesome, miss our cats and doing our own thing although we are incredibly grateful to my mum for letting us stay with her. On Saturday we’ll be getting on the ferry and heading back to London. I am so excited as I’ll be able to attend the Julie Arkell workshop on Sunday too. Vintage blanket cushion Today I finished a cushion for my youngest…
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I finished some personalised Christmas presents: a snowglobe for my youngest niece and a calendar for my husband. I’ve already made a personalised paperweight and pen for my mum as I like giving items which feature pictures of Edward. I expect the personalised thing will only last year as it’s quite time consuming! Luckily everyone loves him – every time she sees Edward my niece says “He’s so adorable. I can’t get enough of him!”. We’re fortunate to spend plenty of time together so there are lots of photo opportunities. It was difficult to choose but I got some of…
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I was busy sewing, sewing, sewing…. I’ve taken part in a few handmade decoration swaps lately and made these lovely little birds for a garland from my favourite felt sewing book Fa la la la Felt. My partner asked for something red so I hope she likes it. We also managed a shopping trip for some more Christmas presents (see, I told you I was addicted to buying!). Edward now has some new socks, Christmas bibs and adorable suede booties.
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Tonight I am making the most random food stuff for Christmas – onion marmalade. It started off as an innocent conversation with my mother the other day. It ended tonight in me peeling 10 large onions and making marmalade for the first (and probably last time). I’m not sure how our jars of homemade marmalade will be received as Christmas gifts. I might stock up on some jars of sweets just in case. I’ve seen some lovely jars of fizzy gummies, white snowies, cola cubes and jelly babies which will go down very well. I’m hoping to have some time…
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On the seventh day of Christmas we decided it was about time Edward met Father Christmas. Our local Isle of wight Steam Railway are running Santa Specials on certain weekends in December so we decided to have a family outing. Included in the price of the ticket was a trip on the steam train, mince pies and mulled wine, a magic show, bouncy castle and a trip to meet Father Christmas. Isle of Wight Steam Railway Santa Special My 6 year old niece loved every second. She’s just the right age where she questions everything about Father Christmas but still…
