christmas

I bought these in the 1990s in Florida, the sunshine state, being from the UK it seemed so wrong buying Christmas things in semi tropical heat! These skinny santas only see light of day for a couple of weeks a year so it's nice to give them a little outing out of their season.

Christmas preparations have got the better of me, where has the time gone? My friend Sue suggested, for one night only, we turn her son's games room, at the bottom of their garden, into a 'Winter Wonderland'. We would invite friends for mulled wine, mince pies, a get together and a chance to buy unique gifts. We planned it, made and baked things and It all went extremely well, quite overwhelming really!

What you will need to make a lantern

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas. 

Over the last couple of days I've been getting familiar with my new sewing machine, especially the embroidery stitches, a novelty to me!

If you are in St Albans this Saturday, and you have the time, pop into the Jubilee Centre, on Catherine Street, they are holding a Craft Fair. The Fair has been organised to raise funds for their elderly clients so they can have a free Christmas dinner. I will be having a stall, come and say hello. You might even find a few unique Christmas gifts.

In our garden we have a Scots Pine tree, a few weeks ago I picked up all the large (15cm/6ins) pine cones that had dropped on the ground. Now I'm making the cones into Christmas decorations, very easy and very cheap. First of all, with my handy Dremel, I drilled a hole in the top of the cone, to pass wire through for hanging. Using ordinary household emulsion I painted the cone white. While the paint was still wet I sprinkled white glitter on the cone, just to give it that touch of sparkle. When the cones were dry I added ribbon bows to finnish them off.

I've had enough of the snow now, pretty as it is maybe through the window, it's starting to get in the way. Today is the day to take down and put away Christmas decorations, I want to put the snow away too!

I must tell you how kind Kathie from Massachusetts is, she sent me a key. It's a key for my wind up, tin toy, Russian dolls. Thanks to Kathie I can now watch my pair of Russian dolls rotate and twirl.

All in all we did have an enjoyable family Christmas. Alice, my daughter, played nurse when I wasn't feeling well and she came good helping with the Christmas dinner. As you can see from the photo, Alice is proud to show the roast vegetables she cooked, a la 'Jamie's Family Christmas'.

Christmas preparations, for me, have been on hold for the last few days. I've had a nasty virus that made me take to my bed, I'm beginning to feel a bit more human today and trying to get Christmas back on track. Steve, Ashley and Alice have been great doing the shopping and Alice is prepared to cook the Christmas dinner if needs be, I think she is looking forward to the challenge!

Here's wishing you all a very happy Christmas.