• baby - Christmas - handmade - sewing - vintage

    What do you buy the boy who has everything?

    I’m wondering what do you buy the boy who has everything for his first Christmas? My son has everything he needs and at 7 months he’s too young to hand me a wish list of toys he would like. My husband has been restoring some beautiful vintage wooden toys for him and I’m making him a dinosaur blanket to snuggle up with. I’m sure he’ll be spoiled by his extended family too. He is now sitting up independently so we’ve packed the baby gym away. I recently bought some colourful and noisy toys which he loves to play and interact…

  • Christmas - crafts - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    Felt gingerbread house

    I love this little felt gingerbread house I recently made. It’s just a couple of inches high so looks great on our mantle. It’s made from a pattern in the softies kit. It’s a really simple little project that only took me an evening but will look great as a Christmas ornament on our mantlepiece or hanging on our Christmas tree.  I’m getting stuck into my Christmas craft list which is just as well, only 9 weeks left!

  • Christmas

    Cocoboat

    My personal countdown to Christmas has begun! I always get a bit stressed about buying Christmas presents: there’s the expense, the actual shopping, worrying whether people will like what I’ve bought, and the logistics of getting to exchange gifts with family as well as retaining my sanity! Since having Edward I’m hoping to do a lot of my shopping online this year. I don’t want the added stress of wandering aimlessly around shops with a little boy in tow and shopping online can be down from the comfort of the sofa. I recently discovered a new online shop called cocoboat…

  • Christmas - handmade - sewing

    Handmade gifts

    I managed to make a couple of handmade gifts for Christmas presents this year. First of all I made this tree from some patchwork hexagons and framed it for my mum. It was completely inspired by this photo on flickr by the very talented Liesl. Then I attempted this doorstop from Clothkits which I picked up at the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally last November. The fabric was slightly different from the instructions so it took me longer than it should have. Again, I made this for my mum although it was quite difficult to part with 🙂

  • Christmas - crafts - Elf on the Shelf - handmade

    Felt elf clogs

    Ages ago I came across a cute  tutorial to make these elf clogs and it has taken my years to actually make them. However this weekend we were off to visit an aunt and I always make her something for Christmas. So  I thought it was time I tackled this little project. Then I was having so much fun I made a couple of them, stuffed them with chocolate and hand delivered them to my aunt. I hope she likes them 🙂

  • Christmas - Life

    Bah humbug!

    I have a post-office-Christmas-party-hangover, all my own fault, and am therefore feeling very sorry for myself. I am grateful I thought ahead and booked the day off. I have almost finished my Christmas shopping; presents for numerous friends and family, cards for over 50! How did people spend the month of December before Christmas became so commercialised? Who has time to work as well?