One last Christmas post.

Our lovely tree which I wanted to document as we have to take it down soon. Christmas seemed to fly past super fast this year- the fake tree was a bit of a bummer as I love the thrill of going out and purchasing the real one and the gorgeous pine-y scent. Not to be this year with a new kitten in the house who is a leaper and a climber. My husband forbade it on the grounds of possibility of electrocution. (According to him, flying kittens + water + electricity= dangerous mix. I guess I can’t really argue with that! )

I love the handmade decorations we try to add to each year. In particular the paper chain we made last Christmas and the stunning angel my little preppy brought home from school this year.

Not quite as professional as the gorgeous gingerbread house gifted to us on Christmas Eve is the one we made ourselves. This is a great activity to do do in the lead up to Christmas as it takes two whole days to make!

We made the dough on the 23rd, refrigerated it, rolled it out, cut the shapes out with our templates, baked and cooled on a wire rack. In the evening I made the royal icing and piped the walls together, then left overnight to dry. (I have a metal piping gun and just wrapped the end in glad wrap so that the icing wouldn’t harden). Morning of the 24th I iced the roof into place, propped up with glasses to prevent slippage and left until the afternoon. By late afternoon we were ready to pipe the rest of the icing on and add lollies. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar “snow” and it was ready to take as a very impressive dessert present on Christmas Day.

All the better received because it had been completely made by the grandchildren. Who were so excited to eat the lollies and so proud of their achievement. Personally, this kind of activity sings to the Queen of Kitsch lurking inside me. A not very cunningly disguised one at that!

Merry Christmas.

It’s a funny old thing, Christmas. I’m not little anymore so it’s not quite so magical. There’s been some tricky stuff going on in the past 12 or 18 months too. The kind of stuff that takes the shine off things. Still, sometimes things happen that make you realise life can still surprise you. In a good way. And that just because nice things arrive from unexpected places, it doesn’t make them any less special.

Like the doorbell ringing on Christmas Eve and someone you don’t know , but who knows you- bringing you and your boys a gingerbread house. Just because they thought you might like it.

And spending the afternoon making lemony cupcakes with lemon frosting to take for Christmas day with your four year old who loves to bake.

Or the same four year old who’s over the moon with his new sewing machine (the one he asked for I might add!)- although a little dubious about the fact that santa bought him a girl’s sewing machine. So excited he went to my sewing room and helped himself to the Japanese kei spot fabric. Expensive taste, my child.

And finally the husband who knows you well enough to know how much you love Kirstie and her homemade home. And how you’ve had something of a creative blockage recently and maybe a crafty self help book might assist to get everything moving again.

These are the little things that make tricky stuff better. I hope yours was an awesome Christmas, but if not I hope you had lots of little things to help make your tricky stuff better too. xx

Christmas Joy.

Wandering ’round my local ‘hood today, I saw this delightful display out the front of a florist called Troubadour Flowers and had to photograph it. It’s so English looking, with the berries and white roses and little green things (I’m very botanical!) in the shape of a Christmas Tree. It would make the most wonderful table centrepiece.

There were also these wonderful white centrepiece displays with candles in them…

… and these hysterically funny posies of hebs and veggies (which are right up my alley, ’cause they’re funny and quirky and cute!)

 I love the idea of giving a herb posey as a little Christmas gift. Or better still, receiving one!

Oh, Christmas Tree.

It’s times like this (Christmastime, that is) that I wish I lived in the Nortern Hemisphere. I’ve just been ogling Anna Maria Horner’s blog, which is always so beautiful to look at. Look how pretty her tree is!!!

We have a two foot tall fake one this year, because having a wee one is like having a puppy, he can’t be trusted with it- maybe next year I’ll have a glorious, ceiling skimming real pine tree I can hang my extra special glass baubles on, with twinkly lights. A lovely pine-y infused living room, how blissful.

I think I’ll go spohisticated and European-ey next year, like this one, I just love her shining star on top. We currently have fake flower lights that look like an Hawaiian lei with one of those dashboard Hula girls as our angel. It’s super kitsch!

Miscellaneous Christmas stuff.

We had Pumpkin’s Christmas concert this week.

My little shepherd…

ooooh, our earnest little tea towel head, what a sweetie! We’ve also been doing a spot of Christmas giftwrap in the shop. It’s actually tres chic if I do say so myself- and free! All you have to do is ask.

Tick tock though, we’re fast running out of shopping days before Christmas!

Pumpkin and I also really enjoyed reading/ singing “The 12 days of Christmas”, which was my copy from when I was about six. I had drawn all over the pages and he thought it was hysterical how naughty I had been. I it’s quite a new concept for him to think of me as being his age- in fact, he asked me the other day if I was the first mummy. Kind of cool if you think about it, he thinks I am the creator from which all other life was born! Of course I tried to set him straight and ended up trying to explain the theory of evolution to him! Big mistake, the next night he wanted to know why some monkeys turn into people and others don’t- like a whole Gremlins type thing I think, where they turn into people if you get them wet?

I don’t know, now I’m confused and it’s going to take years of schooling for the teachers to iron out all of this well intentioned misguidedness on my part. It’s all downhill from here, tonight I was asked what was the name of certain girl’s body parts.

!

Tags: Christmas

Christmas Part 1 (Of 25).

I have something I think I need to clarify. Ummm… not my tennis court. They’re spoilt, but not that spoilt!

Anyway, we’re starting to get a little festive in the shop and I found some super cute kitschy Christmas photos (have a look at the front page). If you have some to share, I’d love to see them. Nothing like a bit of retro Christmas to make you all whimsy and nostalgic.

I also came across this one.

Soooo beautiful and quiet and muted and soft and lovely and American Shaker Quilty…. thought I’d share.