New Year

New Year is always about resolutions and things that we are going to do differently. I'm hoping that 2012 is going to be quite exciting for me, there's definitely change ahead. So to get me in the mood for the odd challenges that might be coming my way I've search for some inspiring quotes/pictures.

This one reminds me that you should always do a little reality check. No matter what happens we always have something to be thankful for.

But this one seemed best...... combining a great quote with a little bit of creativity. Hits the mark perfectly for me.

Happy New Year. May 2012 be happy, healthy and prosperous for us all.

XX

And in a flash it was over.

So where did Christmas go? 

We had a cracking time and that week off work beforehand really allowed us all to unwind and enjoy the run up to christmas. It made such a lovely difference. 

Christmas Eve was not mad running around but rather a little bit of crafting. The girls both made concertina books, they're dead easy and are the format that I use each year to make photo albums for the grandparents. (Another tradition that I started about 10 years ago)!

I helped Niamh with hers as she chose to do a patchwork style with fabrics and then we cut out one large flower to use as an accent. She was very pleased with herself and I think it might be going in to school on her first day back.

Meanwhile I finished off the purple doily cushion that I started back in November. I found a linen tablecloth in our antiques market which has proved just perfect for the back and it even had a lovely embroidered edging which meant, cut the right way, it didn't need any extra hems.

After that it was a lovely walk in the local woods to collect holly and foliage to decorate the Christmas day table.

And then all to quickly it's over!

Shoe Baby

There are many joys to being the mother of a child under five and, for me, one of those is picture books. There is nothing that I love more than a trip to the library to discover a book that we've not read before with stunning illustrations. Sometimes the story doesn't feel that important because the illustrations are so wonderful. Today, one of our favourite story books came to life for us. If you haven't read the Shoe Baby by Joyce and Polly Dunbar you must.

And when you've read the story you should see the Puppet Show. I first took Niamh a couple of years ago and it was stunning. Today we went again with a few of her friends and their mums from school. It was just as wonderful. I would thoroughly recommend it. Not only is the attention to detail fantastic but it is set to some music by one of the musicians from Gomez. To top all of that at the very end some of the puppets are brought out for the children to see up close and then an amazing giant shoe appears! The whole thing is a fabulous experience. Whilst I am on the subject of raving.... The Komedia in Brighton, where we saw todays production, is such a great venue for kids. They were all allowed to sit on little beanbags in front of the puppet theatre with the tall mums and dads on seats at the back. What I found really charming was that the refreshments were a cup of squash at 30p. When life can be so expensive it was great to see such a fantastically realistic approach to giving young children a lovely time.

It's been one of the highlights of the week so far but tomorrow we're off to London for the day and on Friday we are all going to see The Nutcracker so there is lots still to come.

It's funny though.... whenever I have time off from work looming I always think of a cup of tea and a little time to sit on the sofa to read a mag. Why does that never happen?

Maybe because I like having fun and being busy!

Gingerbread House 2011 is now made!

Clearly we were pro's now, this being our second construction, because it was an awful lot easier than I remembered it being last time. I think the trick is to trim the side into straight lines before the gingerbread cools too much. It makes getting the icing to bind an awful lot easier. Niamh and Cait had lots of fun with the sweets whilst I wrapped Mr B's presents.

And just to remind us it's Christmas here's our infamous Christmas Twig.... often one of my favourite of our decorations.

However this year I'm loving my festive cake stand even more. I do like red and white spots!

Christmas Shopping

Despite heading off to Newbury to celebrate the 40th birthday of a good friend this weekend I did manage to find some time to fit in a little Christmas shopping. Looking for inspiration I decided to avoid the main line shops and I headed for some antique/second hand shops for something original.

A few presents later, which obviously I can't talk about, I stumbled across a small selection of christmas decorations which were calling out for a new home.

These ones were such lovely colours and grabbed my attention due to the feathered glitter accents on them. I'm not sure how well they'll compliment the decorations on our big tree but there's always the 'Christmas Twig" to contemplate.

And I thought this collection of small glass balls might work really well with them.

These ones grabbed my attention due to the great mix of bright colours and the silky finish. I'm still contemplating where they might work but I know they will somewhere!

We popped out this morning and bought the tree, a big 7 foot one, and it's sitting outside the back doors waiting until we are all together tuesday to decorate. My only fear is how well behaved Caoimhe is going to be when she see's all the sparkly things! She's been growing at quite a rate and it won't be long before Cait or my lap just isn't big enough.

I have uploaded a couple more things on to my Etsy Store now (link on the right hand side bar) and have taken lots of photos to list more over the course of this week. Last week was mad with social and work commitments but it's calmer this week so hoping to get a bit more done.

Advent - the countdown

Great excitement in our house this morning when Niamh realised that it would be time to open the advent calendar. Simple design this year for Niamhy........ the trick will be for her to find the numbers that are all jumbled up

Different for Cait as hers are become more and more sophisticated!

She has been into origami recently and taught me a few things... so this year hers is based around origami boxes! We've rather busy bookshelves but you can just about make them out. Must get a close up photo tomorrow morning.

So the countdown begins and I can't wait.

Birthday Decorations

It's been a tradition for as long as I can remember that I decorate the house on Caits birthday. I can't remember when/how it started although I think something from "Fairy things to make and do" may have been involved. I seem to remember fairies made from cardboard and straws dangling from our fireplace.

As is the way with traditions they grow every year and the same can be said of birthday decorations! We've had everything from painted flowers and stars with dots on them to cut out birds inspired byPetra Boase.

This year I challenged myself to stick to the bird theme, which incidentally reigned also last summer for Niamhs birthday. This time though I found something three dimensional to have a go at.... bird cages!

I stumbled across a blog called the the BridesCafe which has a fab tutorial for the following birdcages and they are so simple.

I got busy over the weekend and came up with my own versions.

One nice thing was that they were simple enough that Niamh was able to help and she made the one all in pink in the middle of the shot. The most important thing though was that Cait liked them!

Birthday decorations down.... just two advent calendars to sort now!

Light Up Hassocks

I managed to cram everything for the stall into three large bags and had the handy help of my folks to carry it all round for set up time. I draped a few vintage tablecloths over the trestle table and I was in business. Everything fitted on just perfectly and all my little props and baskets seemed just the ticket for adding a bit of character to the set up.

My beautiful cushions.

The bits and bobs end, including my popular decorations.

These are Caits fab rag dolls but I can't work out how to rotate the photo so you'll have to tilt your head!

The whole evening was such fun with a little procession down the main street. The lights were switched on by Harry, the son of one of our friends, and the school choir, including little Niamh, sang a selection of festive songs.

My stall was in a really good place in the main hall and I had lots and lots of people come to browse and buy. It was great talking to people and getting good feedback on the items. The best sellers by far were the rings and decorations, with the brooch kits coming in third. I had as many requests for the bright version as I did the vintage and have made some kits up over this weekend. I aim to get up and running on Etsy this week (lots of people asked if I was online) and they'll be one of the first things I post. 

I manned the stall with Cait all evening bar the school choir moment when we had the fantastic help of the Watson family on the stall. A glass or two of mulled wine seemed to keep me going. The second half of the evening was quieter but it was still quite fruitful in the sales stakes and there was more time to talk to the browsers. On top of all that it was lovely to see everyone I knew that stopped by to say hello and give me a little support.

It was a great experience and I am really glad that I did it. It's got me thinking about doing a little more locally. 

Between now and Christmas my personal challenge is to get the Etsy shop stocked with some of the main things. For 2012 I'd like to think I could do this again somewhere else.