More Christmas craft

I wanted to share one more specific piece I made this Christmas, and show you two amazing handmade things I was given. A difficult post, because to mention certain gifts and not others is to show preference, but its not about that really. I was spoilt this Christmas and I have many new and amazing things that I shall use and treasure, but these two particular things have inspired further craft in me, so I thought I'd share them from a craft perspective.

Firstly, I made my sister a cushion. For Leif really, but he is too little to appreciate it, so I gave it to Emily. I was up ridiculously late, early morning even, the day before Christmas Eve finishing this and at the time I wondered if the effort was worth it - had I done enough? Emily's fabulous reaction confirmed I had and I am very pleased to say she loved it. Phew!

Then there are these!! These beauties!! These were made by Vikki and formed part of a larger gift that made me cry. She thoughtfully crocheted these for me - tankard warmers! I adore them and I swear my tea stays hotter for longer! HOW CLEVER IS SHE!!

Then there was this lovely skull person from Emma. That too formed part of a larger sewing gift, but I mention the purse specifically because the skull is just so perfect in its 'sugar skull' style and it inspired me to make a little card wallet to slip inside it this evening. Only took me an hour, using an inside out technique I learnt with the Owl Bags. I had perfect fabric already in my stash - ideal!

A thank you to Paul as well, who baked me fine cookies - a first, and hopefully not the last.

I have some pics of the kidlets craft to share, and loads of lovely photos from Christmas actual, that I will share with you over the next few days - even the one of me sleeping on the sofa in a Grappa induced snooze! Who took that I wonder? Mama? Papa? Emoose???

I hope you had a great holiday, and that you were able to both spoil and be spoilt by those you love x x

Owl bags

More scheduled blog action! I hope its Boxing day by now and you are enjoying your Christmas!

For Christmas, I wanted to make my Mum and my Sister matching tote bags, and my Mum has a great top with owls on that inspired me, so I found a great tutorial here and got sewing.

As is my way, I decided to upcycle a skirt that my Mum and I had both worn in our larger days, because we both loved the print, and coupled with the back pockets of some too large trousers we had also both worn, I had the majority of my fabric.

The tutorial was absolutely great and everything was written out very clearly, but I'm still not always 100% confident that what I'm doing will look as it should, so I tend to pin everything to within an inch of its life, turn it the right way, check it, double check it and then finally stitch it.

Getting the lining to sit correctly inside the out layer and make it all neat was easier than I thought it would be.

 I made the strap as wide as the bag and I'm pleased with how comfortable it is.

As with most things, I wish I had thought to make three - I would definitely use one of these cheeky little chappies and having matching with my Mum and Sister is no bad thing - 'Twins' is what we would chime, to show our appreciation for the three of us in the same thing.

Love you both very much xxx

Wreaths

I am having a go with scheduling some posts, so if this works, you will be reading this on Christmas day - assuming you have nothing better to do!

So! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

As I often mention, we always swap a Sabbat Wreath with the Tippers to mark the turning of the wheel of the year. At Christmas, my Mum always makes me and my sister a beautiful star shaped evergreen wreath, and then in January she takes it back in, discards the debris and stores the frame for the following year.

Wreath from my Mum

Sabbat wreath from the Tippers - smells amazing!

This year I thought it might be nice to make a festive wreath that would keep forever, and so I made Rag Wreaths. So easy, and very effective I think.

We all helped to make them, Paul reshaped the wire coat hangers for me and helped with stripping the fabric. The kidlets helped knot the strips onto the frame and then I made the finishing touches.

 I used two shades of green for depth, both of which were upcycled duvet covers.

The whole thing is a continuous pattern with red fabric popped in after every 8th knot - I guess you could do it randomly, but thats not in my nature!

Then I used red parcel ribbon to 'lift' the whole thing, to make it shiny and festive and the light really catches on the curls. They worked better than I dared hope for, and actually, I am proud of these - not least that we all got involved in the effort!

By the time you read this, the recipients will have opened them.. fingers crossed!

Sum it Up on Sunday

Father Christmas came early this weekend and my bike turbo arrived! I already love it!

 Paul setting up Amy for me - relatively easy!

 Fresh faced and ready for action

 My view from the saddle

 Not quite so fresh faced, 10 miles later - I got very hot!

The lovely little monitor that tells me what I achieved - VERY important!

So this week -
Monday
(40 x 25m lengths)1k evening swim. I am so delighted that Vikki has joined our Monday evening ladies swim team!

Tues 

'Rest' day

 
Weds

6k very wet beach run with Lucy and Niamh in the pushchair

Thursday and Friday 

'Rest' days - got some last min Christmas shopping in, and had such a good day! Although I tell you, I am better at a 5k run than a day spent walking round in boots! Did some baking and some babysitting. Thank you for your fabulous company Vikki x x

Saturday
10miles on my bike turbo in the dry of the shed, whilst the rain and wind howled outside (smug!)


Sunday 
Early morning gym session with Lucy, 3k run, 5k bike and 20 x 25m lengths in the pool 

Here we are on the treadmill this morning, its rather blurry because I was running! I am the tall one on left, Lucy is beside me to the right and then there is a random chap to her right.
 
Summary:
W/E 23.12.12
Cycle: 10 miles
Run: 9k mix of road/treadmill running
Swim:  1.5k in 2 sessions

Rather excitingly, I have found and booked a set of 6 swimming lessons which start on the 13th Jan. I have opted for the improver group, so that I can concentrate on technique. Take a look here. I can't wait!

Gingerbread house

In our house, we can't have Christmas without a gingerbread house. There are a lot of things I make and I hold my hand up, I don't always make life easy for myself with projects.. But for us a gingerbread house is all about the decorating and eating, not the biscuit or the shape so we love a good pre-fab and this year our house comes from the king of shops - Ikea!

A lovely lovely afternoon decorating what I hope will be the centre piece for my sisters Buff-et on Christmas eve - assuming I can get it to Reading in one piece anyway!

Christmas baking

Today is the Winter Solstice, or Yule. Today is the shortest day and the longest night. Today we welcome the return of the sun, and look forward to the wheel of the year turning and bringing us back to spring and eventually the Summer Solstice. Today was also the end of the Mayan Calendar and the predicted end of the world. Well, here I am typing up my blog, so clearly the world didn't end. You can't be too careful though, so Lucy and I decided that we'd rather die together happy, festive and baking, then on our own, so we got together at my house and together with Niamh, we did my annual Christmas Bake Off.

For starters I made some Hazelnut Crispies (recipe here) to give as gifts. I have two lots of friends who are dairy and/or wheat free, so these were a no brainer. I used doves farm wheat free flour and they were easy peasy. Taste great too!

Then iced biscuits (recipe here), these are a simple gift to make and I like to hand them out to our neighbours, as well as have plenty to take to my parents house. I made two lots, one of which was dairy free - substituting the butter with 'Pure' a soy alternative.

Lucy was the star of the show, making me some of my favourite Christmas treats - lemon curd tarts! She made a sweet pastry and used a small, but deep tart tin and I can assure you that these will not last long! I have yet to use the mincemeat I made back in September (see at the bottom of this post here), but it is tradition that I make the mince pies with my Dad on Christmas eve and its an event I look forward to. So don't worry, we aren't lacking in the mincemeat department, I just haven't made them yet.

Lastly, the other traditional thing that I make is what we call 'Praline' but is actually just a chocolate biscuit cake. The closest recipe is here although I use rich tea biscuits, I use a mix of dark and milk chocolate and I add dates to break up the richness a bit. These are currently setting in the fridge and I will then ice them ready to go to Reading. This is Paul's absolute favourite treat at any time of year, so much so that I make it for his birthday instead of actual cake. These are the only two occasions when I make it.

Niamh was an absolute delight today, eating more ingredients than were possibly added!

School finally broke up today, and I am excited to have Lochie and Brenna at home for two weeks without a timetable. End of term is so late this year that we haven't done any of the things we usually do for Yule. Like walk up the hill at dawn with the tippers and make pancakes, or this weekend, the weekend of Yule, we normally take the kidlets to Glastonbury and celebrate the Solstice there. However the weather warnings for the rain due over this weekend mean that we shall re-think our plan and celebrate at home.

Whatever you do, wherever you spend it, I hope you are full of glad tidings. Happy Solstice, I hope the sun warms your face as it returns, leading us into spring xxx

WIAW #15

What I ate Wednesday started with... You guessed it...! Porridge and banana!

With 6 days until Christmas, Lucy and I decided it was high time we had a festive treat and we took ourselves out for lunch. Not before we had been for a run though, obvs! Niamh had a nap in the pushchair whilst we ran at a very wet Hill Head. We then got changed and got our nosh on. Yum!

Lucy had a curry, Niamh had fish, chips and peas and I had a butternut squash bake with salad and chips and most of Lucys naan.

This afternoon I had a herbal tea, and I am really enjoying this Chai range. These were a gift from the Good Food show and I have loved trying them.

For tea we had what I term as Cottage Pie (for Paul's sake!) but it is really whatever veg and leftovers I can find, cooked up with tomatoes and topped with mashed potato. Paul has cheese on his. Tonight's was from the freezer and was a mix of quorn mince, pulses and grated courgette - the last one from the garden quite a while ago. Actually pretty tasty!

And remember - ALL herbal tea should be served specifically in a glass cup/tankard, thus making the drink 'special'.  Herbal tea is 'special' because it makes you feel virtuous.  I like to drink out of a glass half pint tankard, so I get to feel like a warrior in a tavern - virtuously obv.!