Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Just a quick note to wish you all a lovely Christmas. Glenn is on holidays for a couple of weeks so I'm going to sign off for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Beautiful Art...

Finally, we picked up our painting for the family room the other day. And here it is on the wall.

I also picked up some beautiful photos that we had taken of the kids a few months ago. They look lovely in these beachy, white frames. Gradually, the house is coming together the way I was hoping it would.

Nothing to report on the crafty front today. Although I am in the process of making another crochet garland for the tree....I'm loving this crochet thing...it's so relaxing. I find I can't sit and watch tv unless I'm doing something with my hands, so crochet is the perfect thing. And anyway, tv is rubbish at the moment.

Childhood Memories...

And finally, I've finished the last of the three skirt and top sets. So now I can get wrapping and put them under the tree.

I've been teaching myself to crochet recently (I have lovely childhood memories, sitting with my dear Nana as she PATIENTLY taught me how to crochet....the first project I can remember making is a doll's carrier with a blanket for the little doll. We used the base of a plastic cordial bottle, then crocheted a drawstring style bag that the plastic base sat in and you could turn the top of the bag down at the sides so you could access the inside. And inside was a tiny little mattress, a tiny little doll and a tiny little blanket.....crocheted by me!!! And once you'd finished playing with it, you rolled the sides of the bag back up, pulled on the drawstring, slung it over your wrist and off you went to play, with your little doll close by. I wish I had a photo to show you, but unfortunately as a teenager, I didn't think I would ever play with something like that again so I must have got rid of it. It makes me angry to think that I would have got rid of something so precious. Chloe would have loved to have had a chance to play with it and admire it.) But thankfully, I do still have lots of my nana's other knitting and crochet work.

So with my very faint crochet skills, I have recently been re-teaching myself to crochet. I made a VERY SIMPLE garland for the Christmas Tree. It's just a chain with little dangly bits all the way along (I'm sure there's some very technical name for the 'chain' and the 'dangly bits'). I like the way it's turned out, in all it's simplicity and uneven crochet stitches.

Totes...

I managed to find a spare hour this afternoon after picking Chloe up from school and before getting dinner ready, so I sewed up the tote bag for Chloe's teacher.

She's due to have a baby early next year so we thought we'd go with bright colours on the bag, for the baby to look at.

Finally got most of my Christmas shopping done today so that's one thing I can tick of my list.

Christmas Festivities....

The weekend is almost at a close and I have to say, I couldn't be happier!!! It's been way too busy for my liking.

On Saturday night, we took the kids in to the city to see the Christmas Pageant. Glenn, myself and the kids stayed overnight in a hotel close by so we could just wander down there and wander home again when it was all over. My sister and her family met us at the hotel and we all walked to the Pageant together at about 5.30pm to secure our front row spot...very important!!! They close the roads at 6.30pm so the kids could mess around on the road while waiting for the pageant to start. The lady next to us took some pavement chalk so the kids played hopscotch and drew portraits of each other. The pageant started at 8.30pm and finished about 9.30pm. The kids had a ball...it's such a fun night for them...and us!!!

Here are some pictures of my boy, Will and his cousin Conor (Will is the blondie) and Chloe (in the mauve jacket) and her cousin Cayley at the Christmas Pageant.

No sewing, crafting etc. to report of this weekend....but I must make a bag for Chloe's teacher that she has on Thursdays, so I'll post about that when it's done.

Thanks Dad!!!

Just a quick post today....some time ago, we were given a lovely old meat safe from my Great Aunty. It was beautiful but in need of some serious restoration work. I started to sand it back and realised it was covered in LOTS of coats of paint. I was talking to my dad about it one day (well, probably more like complaining) and he offered to restore it completely for me. Of course, I accepted his offer and only a couple of weeks later, here it is looking way better and more beautiful than I ever thought it would. And having said that, if I was restoring it myself, there is no way I could have got it looking this good. Right down to the original latches, dad has cleaned and scrubbed and sanded and painted and here is the end result. I LOVE IT!!! I'm still fiddling around with ornaments etc. to decorate it, but I'm happy with it like this for now. The outside is painted a semi-gloss off-white and for the inside I chose a very pale mint green. Have I already said how much I LOVE IT??? Well, I LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much dad.

This afternoon I made a couple of little things for Will's teachers at kindy. We've all put in money to buy them vouchers for a day spa, but I still like to do something else just from us. So, we've made tissue huggers and little Christmas decorations. Cute!!!

The Kitty Cat has a Moustache...

Oh my goodness...I've just checked my last blog entry and have realised that I've made a cute little kitty cat for Chloe that has a MOUSTACHE!!! I think I've sewn the 'whiskers' too close to the mouth/nose and now it looks like it has some serious facial hair!!! Woooooooooopppppsssss.

Luckily the little princess hasn't realised my mistake.....

'Tis the Season...

The tree is up, decoration making is in full swing....yep, Christmas is almost here. The kids have been niggling each other (to put it lightly!!!) for the past few days so a craft was in order this afternoon to distract them. Of course, even that started in an argument, but once they got into it, we had some peace and quiet. The result is the paper chain hanging on the Christmas tree. These are such a simple decoration that are easy for the kids to make without adult supervision and they really do look great.

The kids have been nagging me to make some little soft toys for them over the weekend....nothing too complicated for Will....just a TRUCK and a REINDEER. I think he's forgotten that I'm a BEGINNER to sewing. I got away with making a very small felt truck, but the reindeer gave me some grief this afternoon. Will had it in his mind exactly how he wanted me to make it, so instead of me forcing my opinions, I decided to make it as he wanted and it turned out ok. He's happy so that's what's important. And the cute thing is, whatever I make, the kids think it's wonderful and they want to take it to school straight away to show for news!!! Ummmmmmmmmm, I may have to do some explaining to the teacher about all these weird creations.

And for Chloe, I made a little kitty (based on the miny moopy design that has been floating around blog-land). It turned out pretty cute for a first attempt. I made it last night just before she went to bed so I let her choose all the fabrics, then told her I MIGHT get started on it when she's in bed. I actually finished it and put it at her bedroom door so she could find it when she woke up. She loved it.....so I'm happy!!!