Altered Baubles

Good afternoon folks, I've had a lovely time crafting this week, dabbling in different mediums, allowing myself to be lead by the inspiration Ive found at Frosty Festivities.

Jennifer altered a bauble by painting an owl on it, now my painting skills are somewhat limited but I have been wanting to alter a bauble for some time. Inspired by Riikkas post using broken jewellery & found objects I went rooting through my scraps, christmas decorations & broken jewellery tub.

Plain, cheap read baubles covered in black netting with red bats on (not that you can tell they're bats like this), some ribbon, black chains & beads and some red flowers. I really need to get some more red flowers so I can create some more as I really do like them.

I also found some clear baubles I'd had for a while & thought they'd make perfect little snow scenes, a miniature version of Jennifers Scene box frames. A couple of broken wooden christmas decorations would work perfectly.

I added little dots of glue on the back half of the bauble & covered in glitter, rather hard to see them in this photo. I then covered the base in Snow-tex, a product I'd bought the first time I went to Hobbycrafts at the NEC & has sat in my cupboard ever since



This little lady had broken wings so I cut a couple of petals off a paper flower and covered them in gold gilding flakes before gluing them on, along with a silver thread.
I covered the inside of the bauble with glitter glue with the thought it would look like it was snowing. I then attached gold stars to more silver thread and left everything to dry

Once dry I could stick the string to the bauble making to stars & angel appear to be floating (almost)

Any one for candy canes?

The last pair of earrings I made were these ones....

Jennifer mentioning fimo in her Frosty Festivity inspiration prompts reminded me of the ones I made last year, but sadly one had broken, so this year I made another set & improved on them.

Rather than straight candy sticks I curved them at the top to make candy canes. I also had special looped screws I could put in the corks rather than wrapping wire round, much more of a smooth finish

Icicle Earrings

At Frosty Festivities Jennifer created a layout with icicles she made, this made me think how nice icicles would be as earrings, though the real things probably wouldnt.

So I made these beaded ones.

The part of the weekend I wanted to get the most inspiration from was Riikka Kovasin's mixed media trees. I'm not very good at seeing something that I would normally throw away as something else, but I went to the Recycling box to give it a go. I saw a plastic bottle & remembered seeing something about using similar containers as shrinky dinks & how the plastic can be manipulated.

TING! Light bulb moment!

Twisted plastic icicle earrings made out of a section of pop bottle :D

Christmas Earrings

As many of my regular readers know, I love making my own Christmas earrings and have more than enough for a different pair for each day in December, and yet I still like to make more. Yesterday Jennifers posts on her Frosty Festivities event spurred me to get cracking on this years. Jennifer herself is a Jewellery maker.

So today I'll be showing you 3 posts with the 3 stages I went through.

I started off thinking "Robins", which lead to "Robin Red Breast"

These are wooden robins with red felt on the back which shows through the gap to give them a red breast. The large ones are dangly earrings whereas the smaller ones are studs.
I made 2 pairs of the dangly robins, one for myself & one to gift to a stranger who finds them on black friday ... to learn more about this and the artists joining in check out the facebook page HERE, maybe you'd like to join in yourself.

I then started thinking about the prompt given for using a flower on top of a Christmas tree...

I attached the flowers & the stars to stud earrings, they can be worn with or without the christmas trees which just slide on & off the earring, I can chop & change them so they are both seasonal & can be worn at any time.

While looking at my supplies I also came up with....

Each of these pairs of earrings can be made for you & bought for £1.50p each plus a one off payment, regardless of how many you buy, of 50p to cover p&p. Just get in touch with me at blackangel (at) blueyonder (dot) co (dot) uk

Each block of words in red leads to Jennifer Grace Creates, Frosty Festivities where I've taken inspiration.

Yummy Christmas Decorations

For my last Christmas of the year (and for a little while yet) I'd like to share with you a few of my not so perfect looking, but definitely yummy tasting, Christmas decorations.

Once a month I meet up with a small group of friends to craft together. We take it in turns to hold it at our houses and provide snacks & lunch. In december its normally held at my house so I like to reflect the season in the food I provide.

 This time, for the snacks I made a "Roses tree" a polystyrene tree, covered in green tissue paper & roses attached with a pin after the top twist of the wrapper. This tree was very popular over Christmas and, at the current time of writing this, has been filled 2 & 1/2 times - 1/2 because, as the tree was half bare and there were no more Roses sweets left (it takes almost a whole tin for this 30cm tree), I opened the celebrations & started using those.

I also made gingerbread sleighs to hold Elizabeth Shaw chocolates in. I havent made anything 3d out of gingerbread before & need to find a better recipe as this one was quite tricky and could have done with cooking a bit longer. As you can see, I need to practice my icing technique as well.

 Here is a clearer view of the sweets inside. Elizabeth Shaw sweets (a range of amaretto & mint ones) with layered die cut circles in top & underneath.

Once the gingerbread was eaten they were then transferred to this sleigh.... 

Made using the Sizzix bigz die - Sleigh favor box that I borrowed from a friend. I do love these sizzix dies as you can cut thick card which is necessary when using heavy contents.

Simple Kitchen Decorations (& a tutorial)

Pinterest is a wealth of inspiration, so when I saw a pin of decorated kitchen cupboards I knew I wanted to try & do my own.

I bought some wired ribbon, and raided my box of spare christmas decorations.

 So I can use them easily year after year I attached the ribbon together on the back of the door with a pin

I then set about making the decoration for the front, 2 plastic candy canes glued together using a heat gun, 2 bells, threaded with bakers twine & then hung over the candy canes & finally a bow glued to the front. All this was then glued onto the ribbon on the cupboard door. This was repeated for all of the cupboards that hang on the kitchen wall.

A simple decoration that was quick to make but looks great.

A Yule Wreath

I currently really like Wreaths, I have one on every door downstairs. Some of these are card Wreaths (Check them out HERE), some made with tinsel, others sticks, the rag wreath you saw yesterday & the latest additions, 2 Wreaths made from evergreens.

It all started at the end of November (cue wavy, wobbly lines going down the screen as we go back in time)...
Our local town park holds the odd free workshop advertised online, this time they advertised a wreath making workshop for children aged 7 and above. Having been to a few of the workshops I got in contact with the organiser & asked (very nicely) if she'd let Kai attend (him being 6, but very well behaved). she remembered us and said he'd be fine to attend :)

On the day a lovely woman & her friend showed us how to make wreaths out of evergreens they'd found in the park (plus a couple of decorative pieces from her own garden). Zack & Kai were allowed to make one each which I really appreciated as they have very individual ideas - & I got to help Kai out :)

Kai's wreath was hung outside the front door & Zacks on the shed door which faces our lounge windows.

I learnt a few things about these natural wreaths rather quickly. If they are hung in a position where rain cant get to them then they need watering every 2 days which can be rather awkward, if they are in a position to be rained on then they are likely to be open to the other elements as well, including wind which can damage the foliage (aka blow it in weird positions & make them fall out); the berries die rather quickly, and a door frequently closed will shake items loose.

They lasted well for almost a month, by which time they need a bit of tarting up. So on our annual Yule walk Kai & I went foraging for evergreens. We only took a small amount from a number of areas but ended up with plenty. So we tarted up the wreaths. Though not as colourful as our previous ones, it was fun to create a new design.

Rag Wreath tutorial

Before Christmas is totally over I'd like to share with you a few of my christmassy makes, starting with a rag wreath.

So how to make it....
Start with some material, these can be scraps, ribbon - I mainly used a christmassy tea towel, tartan table cloth & an old pair of black trousers - a wire ring (or 2, 3 etc attached together), and some decorations.

Cut the material to strips of about 1" by 6", then knot them to the wire ring

Keep going until the ring is full.

At this stage it'll look rather flat, all you need to do is turn a few of the pieces of cloth so they stick out at odd angles.

Finally add your decorations, you can glue them on (glue gun works well) wire, or tie them on. I wired on a "I believe in Santa" & tied on a Santa ornament.

Finally add ribbon to hang it up by.

EDIT: I've been asked where/how I got the wire ring, I got mine from a florists though I have seen them on markets & I'm sure craft shops which have flower arranging items would also have them.
Of course you might be clever enough to make your own with some thick wire & some soldering.

Home made Baileys

One of the gifts we gave at Christmas was Home made Baileys

400g (1 tin) sweetened condensed milk
375ml (1 tin) carnation creamy evaporated milk
2tsp Vanilla extract
2tsp glycerine (optional but gives it a smoother feel)
1tbsp coffee granules mixed with 1tbsp off-the-boil hot water
Whisky (quantity to taste)

Mix everything together except the alcohol, add this a bit at a time, tasting as you go.
I added Tia Maria instead of Whisky as I prefer the taste.

As soon as I find the link I'll let you know which blog I got the design for the stickers from as they truely are beautiful and came in very handy over Christmas.

Mmmmmmm, homemade baileys really is delicious, though its not particularly good for your waistline :-)

I'm writing a list, checking it twice.

It was a busy busy day yesterday, with 2 weeks worth of food shopping delivered I wanted to prepare a few things to make the following weeks a little bit easier so yesterdays main jobs involved....

• Getting the turkey out to begin defrosting
• Cleaning the oven
• Put the shopping away
• De-boning 2 chickens & dividing up into tubs of white meat & red
• 2 meals worth of meat balls made up
• Made pigs in blankets, put them in a baking tray & put them in the freezer, ready to defrost on Xmas eve.
• Started making a batch of mincemeat - it is currently sitting, absorbing the flavors ready to cook & Jar tomorrow.

 

Jobs yet to be done before Christmas....

• Wrapping the last few presents
• Writing my Christmas Dinner timetable
• Writing a couple of cards for the Christmas eve visitors
• Christmas day food preperation on christmas eve.
• Bake mince pies
• Give the house a last thorough clean through, no more housework to be done (except for the dishwasher) until the 27th.

 Woohoo, we're almost ready!!!!

 

13 squirrels, 3 robins, 4 ponies & 4 dinosaurs..

..thats what we saw on our Yuletide walk, HONESTLY, its true, thats what we saw & I have the photos to prove it.

The other male folk were all out so Kai & I took our Yule walk together. We talk about the way things have changed along our route, whether by nature, the seasons or by man. We also spot wildlife as we go. Establishing this curiosity, a link with nature from my children, is very important to me, how can you expect someone to respect nature (or anything else) when they dont know about it.

We were out for about an hour & a half, it was fairly warm for this time of year and very peaceful.

"These are going to take FOREVER!"
Kai while walking up the steps.

Having spotted 3 squirrels in a short space we decided to start keeping count of them.
Kai also kept count of Robins, this Yuletide definately has a Robin theme due to Kai being a Robin in the school play, I have made robin hair clips & have robin ear muffs now as well ;-)

Along the route we walked past Wonderland. I'd already told Kai that if we were lucky we might spot some dinosaurs, he gave me his "Mom, are you being strange again?" look and queried "Skeletons?", "No", I answered "dinosaurs!"  I did tell him they'd be behind fences so he'd be ok though.

As I spotted the diplodocus I excitedly said to Kai "ooo, I think I can see something!!!!" He warily stepped forward looking nervous, until he spotted it & realised it wasnt real

See, proof, a real dinosaur!!!

We came across a bench so took some time out to sit down & listen to the bird song, look at the greenery, as though its winter there was a lot of ivy, ferns and holy around giving almost a fairy glen effect.

Further along were four ponies, very cute, short & stumpy, just the way ponies should be :-)

By the time we got home, Kai had worked up an appetite so I let him help get some toast spread. It definately wore him out as by 6:30, an houe before his usual bedtime, he started to fall asleep on my lap & asked to go to bed early .... well I wasnt going to argue with him now was I ;-)

Christmas Decs

A Blessed Yule everyone :-) We've been enjoying our small celebrations here, but I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, as for today

Having done a BIG tidy up the other day our place is still tidy, woohoo!! So a good time to take photos of the decorations

My lounge ...... from the door

...from my seat in the lounge.
A candle in the middle of the table, ready to burn tonight..... & as if by magic, the photo currently on the digi frame is a snowy one (total coincidence that I've only just noticed).


The hallway, with stockings down the stairs, & a big red bow outside the front door

Little tree in the kitchen, with table runner, made out of 2 thin scarfs.
The purple table cloth you can see is actually a kind size sheet & is big enough to nicely cover the box of pressies under the table, shhhhhhhh.

What is it with my cats & wanting to get in the photos!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Dinner

I often hear that Christmas dinner is just a big roast, well I dont want it to be JUST a big roast, I want it to be THEE big roast, the best, most special roast of the year. In striving for this exceptional meal I have made mistakes, got timings wrong, made it too complex so by the time its all done 1/2 of its stone cold so this year I will simplfy it slight while still making it a special roast.

I prepare as much as I can on Christmas Eve, & then follow a timetable on Christmas day to have it all finished by 1o'clock

We're starting with a small sea food starter - cherry tomatoes, cucumber, prawns, mussels, crab sticks (cubed) & squid rings with a homemade thousand island sauce

For the main we're having a traditional roast turkey with packet stuffing (yes, I'm cheating on this one as I havent mastered stuffing making yet), roast pork with apple sauce, roast potatoes, carrots roasted in OJ with rosemary (these are the lil touches I dont normally do to make it special), honey roast parsnips, boiled sprouts which are then fried with a little garlic, what I call sprout mush but is actually a creamy sprout bake, boiled carrots & peas, pigs in blankets, & finally, it isnt Christmas for me unless theres bread sauce.

We sit in the lounge, pulling crackers between courses, watching a good christmassy movie.

Pudding comes later as we're normally very full, in the mean time the dish washer is filled & turned on (thank goodness for dish washers). The kids play with their new toys, Ry normally has a nap & I craft.

When we get peckish again theres a choice of puds, Mint Vienetta (a perfect contrast after a rich, heavy meal), mince pies, black forest gateau, chocolate trifle, fruit or chocolates.

Theres always plenty of left overs, non of it goes to waste, but I'll share that with you another day.

The Perfect Gift...

...thats the aim when we go buying presents, frequently things get in the way though, price, avalibility and probably the worst mistake, misinterpretation, & getting the wrong one. I find the last ones the worst as I'd get soooooooo excited at the thought of their face when they see it & then the disappointment of their disappointment.
But sometimes, just sometimes, with a lot of listening & a bit of luck that perfect gift is achievable, & I think we might have one of those this year, or maybe even 2 of them :-O Of course I cant say who or what just incase they read this, though I dont think they do.

I've had a few gifts over the years that were perfect for me, but probably the most important & memorable one was on Christmas Day 2005

We were going to Christmas dinner at Ryans parents, he'd already told me that my Christmas present was there, a tv for my craft room, as it was too heavy for him to carry home. It sounded a bit suss to me as his parents bring the kids presents over in the car on Christmas eve anyway, but I went along with it.

We arrived, settled down & Ry told me to close my eyes & hold my hands out. I heard he & his Mom whispering & I was told to open my eyes. I looked round, his Mom was in tears & so was his sister. There in front of me was Ryan on bended knee holding out a ring in a box asking me to Marry him.

Rocking My World Friday

Phew, what a day its been!!! I spent a fantastic morning running around Jungleland with 2 coach loads of kids & adults (a ratio of 1 adult to each 6 children). While climbing around the place I'd pause to help smaller children climb up the levels that were a bit too tall for them ... or just to speed them up. We positioned ourselves at the top of the big wavy slide to ensure the children went one at a time, at times sliding down ourselves to then take up positions to make sure they kept away from the bottom of the slide (or at least it was a good excuse to have a go ourselves). I did get a bit over zealous with this roll & ended up helping kids up & moving them along when they werent even in our large group, oops! With a break for hot chocolate, lovely company and lots of fun it was a morning well spent. It has got to be my highlight of the week.

At about 2 I got a phone call to say Kai was ill with a funny tummy, could I go & get him, but even this was fun as we got to walk home in a blizzard of HUGE snowflakes before it turned back into rain.

Lastly, to make the day even better, the last of the pressies have arrived, woohoo! I'm not a smug "its all finished, I am soooooooooo organised" kind of person because its not over until the fat lady sings, or should that be until Santa goes to bed after a VERY long night. Theres still a few things to wrap, & the food delivery closer to Christmas day, plenty of time for things to go wrong if I get a bit too lax, over confident, or cockey.

Other things Rocking My World this week are ....
Posting out the last of my PIFs (pay it forward's), fingers crossed they arrive on time, this also means I got some crafting time in woohoo, they shall be revealed once I know they've arrived.

My bed, its lumpy, needs a new mattress but, o it is divine when you snuggle down after a hard day.

Zack for saying "your not THAT old", closest I'm likely to get to as a compliment like that from him, and Kai's friend Cloe for saying I was barely an adult ... seeing she's only 4 I'd have thought she'd see me as an ancient, I know I would have done at that age, lol. Or maybe I'm just that immature ;-)

Ryan for bringing in a big gooey chocolate brownie on a cold evening to share, mmmmmmmm.

Soooooooooooo what are your positives of the week, dig deep, have a think & join us over at Celtic House to link up.

Christmas Visitors

Today was spent with my Mom & I sitting on my lounge floor, watching Neverland, with a cuppa, wrapping presents. Mom had brought over the presents she'd bought for us to wrap (except for mine which she wrapped last night :-) to save her having to carry loads on Christmas day, & being the last School Day that I had totally free I wanted to get as many pressies wrapped as possible.

No more visitors are pencilled in until Christmas eve, though others are likely to turn up before then. In preperation I do a quick tidy up & clean each morning, rewarding myself when done with a cuppa, bowl of cereal & an internet break. I'm also planning on making mince-pies & ginger biscuits to give out. I've stocked up on different types of drinks to suit all tastes, but shall also be making mulled wine & home-made baileys .......... I like to be prepared.

On Christmas Eve its usual for people to pop by to drop off presents, to see us & have a cuppa. For us its a very lazy, peaceful day so I make sure all housework is done the day before, then our visitors take us how they find us. This year I've bought Connect 4 & Guess who for the kids so I'm sure visitors will join in for a game or two of those. I've been told that the atmosphere is very warm, welcoming & relaxed in our house that day, which I took as a huge compliment, and exactly what I wanted :-)
I do a few simple steps to create a festive atmosphere, all the air fresheners in the house, be they sensor sprays, times sprays or simple press-the-button spray air fresheners, are all swapped for spicy apple/mulled wine scent. There are Christmas lights & decorations going up the stairs, in tha hallway, kitchen & largely in the lounge. The place is tidy but not overly immaculate, I like people to feel like they can relax, then I can relax.

Then theres the most important visitor of the day ... SANTA!!!! Of course we dont see him but we do leave out a mince pie and a glass of Pepsi for him. Leaving out a caffinated drink started when Zack was young & didnt want a drunk Santa flying around so we give him a drink with caffeine in to keep him going. We also leave a carrot out for the reindeer.

Christmas Past, Christmas Present & a Yule Future

Christmas Past
When I was very tiny, too small really to remember, Christmas day was spent at my Grandparents. My Moms side of the family was only small by the time we'd come along so it was Wowah (my Grandmother), Gramp (my Grandad), Nikki (My aunt) as well as my Mom, Dad & Marcus (My big bro). From the photos it looks a big tado - Lots of presents, the place fully decorated all christmassy, & knowing how Wowah liked to entertain the Christmas Dinner would have been a wonderful spread.

With my lil bro on his way we began staying home for Christmas day. I was always felt a bit miffed as we would have to have breakfast, get washed & dressed before being allowed into the lounge ..... which my parents would want to vaccum etc as well before opening the door. I understand now this was so they could have a bit more sleep, & so the place would be tidy for visitors.
A traditional Christmas Dinner was served at around 3, & if we felt hungry in the evenings we'd have pickles with left overs.

Christmas 2000, the first one without my Dad, we wanted Christmas to be totally different so Marcus, who'd moved out by then, thought it would be a good idea to have everyone round there for Christmas Dinner. After that he took it in turns going having Christmas dinner at his in laws & at my Moms, we did the same when I moved out, though the first Christmas in our new house we did invite my Mom & younger siblings over for Christmas Dinner. We'd get up, wake up Zack (if he wasnt awake already), exchange gifts & then get ready to go out, returning late evening.

When Kai was born we decided it wouldnt be fair to pick a parents house to spend his first Christmas at, or rather it wouldnt be fair on the grandparent(s) who'd miss out on it so we stayed at home. We did go out the following couple of years but decided that it was better on the kids if we had it at home, it meant they could play with all thier new toys rather than taking one with them.

Christmas Present
Christmas eve is spent relaxing in our new PJs, I always get the kids something to do such as a new board game or creative activity, & I prepare as much of the Christmas meal in advance as I can. To maintain the relaxed feeling I dont cook that day, we have crackers and cheeses for lunch (or as I grew up calling it "snacky"), and then the big treat of Pizza delivered for Tea. In the evenings we all settle down to watch a film after having a bath each with new toilettries, as the kids are too excited to sleep we allow them to each have a new dvd on in their rooms to watch in bed

Christmas day we wake up & slip on yet another set of new PJs (helps with everyone looking nice for photos ;-) the kids have a little present in their room, just incase they wake up early. One of them usually ventures into the others room.
I try to get downstairs first, initially to pop the Turkey in to cook & then to sneak into the lounge so I can get a photo of everyone walking into the room, with that curious "what have I got?" look on their faces. Presents are opened before I set about getting breakfast - croissants with a couple of pieces of chocolate melted inside.
The rest of my morning is usually spent cooking the Christmas Dinner & helping kids open the boxes to get to their toys ..... isnt it mad how much packaging they use & how annoying the plastic ties are.
Phone calls are made to family to thank them for presents & wish them a Merry Christmas.
Christmas Dinner starts with a sea food starter (Ryans opting out of his starter this year as he gets too full other wise :-) followed by a traditional Christmas Dinner. We then ususally have quite a bit of a break before having trifle or chocolate cake for pudding. If anyones hungry later they can help themselves to left overs.
The afternoon is spent playing, napping & watching TV.

A Yule Future
Even though we celebrate Christmas I'm not a Christian, I am Pagan & therefore my religious celebrations are held on the 21st of December - Yule.
Currently in the UK we are fairly well geared towards celebrating Christmas, almost everywhere is closed that day, there are decorations everywhere, its when the best programmes are on etc etc etc & it is a time of year I love. Its not something I want to see change, and think that there is a lot of hype that the PC police are slowly destroying it - personally thats all I think it is, hype, I see no proof of it.
Christmas to us is not the story of Christ, you will not find anylink to it in my celebrations or decorations, they are all pagan based, which is very easy to do but my post would be HUGE if I started to explain that. Christmas is family time, a time of fun, to exchange gifts & show our appreciation for our loved ones. Its a time of togetherness.

It was the best of times & the worst of times...

...Christmas reminds me a bit of friday the 13th, odd I know but bare with me while I explain.
On friday the 13th, if we spill something its "because its friday the 13th", its a day where we focus more on the bad things that normally we'd let slide with barely a thought. At Christmas we can dwell on things that have gone wrong, wring our hands & exclaim "all is ruined" when really no-ones really noticed, or laughed it off.

My favourite Christmas was Kai's first one, it was also the first one I'd done at home for my kids & Ryan. It was so relaxed, Ry & Kai were still asleep so Zack and I made Christmas morning muffins (nigellas recipe) & I popped the turkey into cook, by the time they were cooked everyone was up. We opened our presents, each receiving things we wanted - I got my infamous long leather coat. As I prepared dinner the kids played with their toys, all of us still in our PJs, except Kai who was in an elf costume.

The christmas dinner wasnt quite upto scratch, it was nice but not quite Christmas. It was something for me to work on & practice for the upcoming years.
The cats sat outside the closed kitchen door, wanting the left overs.

While Kai & Ryan had a nap I watched tv & Zack played on a new game.
We had visitors towards evening, exchanged gifts & had fun
It was a peaceful, easy day in contrast to our usual Christmasses of getting ready & rushing to a relatives house to have dinner there & coming back late.

My worst memory of Christmas is the one I cant remember, its not so much because it was a bad Christmas, its just I wish I could remember the last Christmas with my Dad.
I can remember the build up to Christmas, I was almost full term with Zack due on Christmas eve. Dad let me have some of his Christmas bonus, originally it was going to be for baby stuff but as that was all bought he said I could use it to buy presents for the family.
I know he was rather moody at the time but being preoccupied & rather used to Dad being a bit moody due to tiredness (he would work long days) I paid little attention to it.
I can search & search my mind for memories of that day but there are non, maybe due to it being less important at the time than the following events.

My local midwives werent working on certain dates over christmas & new year so on the thursday (new years eve) we saw the dr who was quite amused to be giving me a check up which the midwives would normally do. He said if the baby wasnt out by Monday I'd be sent to hospital to be induced, obviously Zack didnt like that idea as he was born on the sunday.
3 weeks later my dad unexpectedly died.... I'm just glad I have so many other memories of him, maybe in a way I'm blessed not to remember that last Christmas, because now I cant pin point that single memory, ripping it apart in my mind, focusing on individual parts & have it almost tainted by the thought that our last Christmas together wasnt the  perfect Christmas

Advent Calenders

My memories of advent calenders as a child are vague, I can remember them sitting on the piano (I say them as I'm 1 of 4 siblings), I can remember wanting to fold down the in built sheet music holder on the piano to place my advent on. We had the bought chocolate advent & my biggest decision was whether to remove the door after eating that days chocolate, leave it open or close it again.....I usually left it open wheras my older brother would totally remove the door. & if I was very lucky I'd get a comic that came with a free advent calender, the sort where you'd turn back the door to see what picture was below, then I'd have 1 more advent then my other siblings.

I've always bought my children a chocolate advent each, when Zack was younger we'd have to put it out of his reach otherwise he'd open it up at one end & nick all the chocolate out of it. Kai enjoys sitting on my lap after school & going through all the numbers until we get to the date, we then have to study the design on the chocolate before he eats it.

I tried refillable ones one year thinking they'd save us money in the long run but found they actually cost us more, 50 individually wrapped sweets cost more than a £2 for 2 calendars

My favourite advent though was my advent swap with Ruth & Noonie a couple of years ago. I had so much fun making & choosing items for them. I was sooooooooooo excited to open my gifts each day, it felt like I was 5 years old again, with all the excitement & magic of Christmas.

You can see what I gave them HERE

& what they gave me HERE