Christmas countdown Day18

Through out this Advent calendar adventure I have applauded my forward thinking and shook my head in disbelief in equal measures.  Today is the perfect example, no chocolate today, instead I have a lovely festive vintage brooch on one of my homemade felt hearts, this is great timing as I am braving the big shops in Nottingham today and I can wear it on the lapel of my coat.

My choice for photo shoot on the other hand has left me wondering why I thought this would be a suitable subject! "stripe", the only thing I can spot is the stripped bags on the Advent calendar so instead I have taken a few snaps of some of the decorations on my Welsh dresser, if I set myself a similar challenge in the future I will add a few allowable substitutes.

One of the joys of decorating for Christmas is seeing bits and bobs that have been with us for many years and enjoying the memories that are associated with them.  I have been very active in providing lots of homemade decorations this year however, I did succumb to temptation in Sainsbury's yesterday, the "Christmas wishes" picture above was reduced to £4.75, I was immediately drawn to it and my first reaction was "that is nice but I could make it myself", but when I thought about how much it would cost in time as well as components I gave in and plopped it in the basket maybe next year when I take it out of storage the memory will be sitting and writing this blog!



And finally...today's groany joke

"What goes Oh, Oh, Oh?5"

"Santa walking backwards!"




How are your "to do lists" I am getting to the rationalisation stage ie need to do rather than it would be nice to do.

Christmas countdown Day 17

The photo shoot subject today is "wrapping" and I am guilty of buying far more gift wrap than I need, there are a number of reasons for this

1. I usually buy my wrapping paper in the sales and always get carried away as I find it hard to resist a bargain
2. I use more gift bags as I think they are more environmentally friendly as they can be re-used by the recipient (hopefully with a gift to me.
3. A lot of the gifts that get exchanged around the family are experiential so a token or voucher is usually all you have to give on the day

I recently saw a top tip for storing rolls of wrapping paper in a suit carrier bag in the wardrobe, I think I will give this a go, mine are currently stored in a bin bag!

Its joke time again

"Knock Knock"

"Who's there??"

"Snow"

"Snow who?"

"Snow use - I've forgotten my name again!"

The good news is there are only 7 more bad jokes to Christmas!!

Christmas countdown Day 16

The photo challenge today is"Stars" and this gave me the perfect opportunity to revisit the Christmas wreath I made here

I chose to hang it indoors rather than on the front door as I love the red against the light blue wall. this also meant that I could use some of my many homemade clay decorations.  I am quite pleased with the overall look but feel it needs just something else but I haven't quite decided what that might be.

Ha ha I have just seen surfing Santas on the BBC news, I love a seasonal good news story.

Here is your joke for day 16 on the advent calendar


"What falls but never hurts itself?"

"snow"

A proper groaner that one!

Christmas countdown day 15

10 days of festive fun left before we get a visit from the man in red suit.  In the Advent calendar today I got a massive six Hershey kisses to share with hubby.   The obligatory Christmas joke

"What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations?"

"Tinsel-itis!"

My Photo shoot challenge today is buttons.  I have made a couple of Christmas decs using a pot of white buttons that I picked up in a charity shop in Cromer on our weekend away, they were such a fabulous bargain at only 30p!and I still have loads left over for other projects.  I wish I lived nearer I would be in that shop all the time.

The button that will be seeing the most action over the Christmas period will be on the TV remote control.  Gone are the days of getting the double TV magazine and highlighting all the shows you want to watch, nowadays you just click your way through the planner and hope there are too many clashes.   We always watch the Dr Who Christmas special, we never bother with it at any other time of the year but for some reason it has become embedded in our Christmas rituals.  If the Italian job is not included in the TV schedule we will be knocking the dust off the DVD it is our favourite family movie and I am already filling up on everyone's favorite Morecombe and Wise




Lots on the to do list is still to do :{

Christmas cards are still unwritten - I must get them done tonight or tomorrow at the very latest

I have now decorated to the hall

The "tree" is a bit of a work in progress but is not too far off.  I just need to decide which other bits are going out in the front room.

 Decorate the dresser and the mantle in the back room and put out the nativity scene.

We have loads of food in the freezer and the pantry so just a few bits of fresh and some treats to pick up a bit closer to it.

I still have all my presents to wrap  and indeed some to buy so that will be my weekend taken care of!

Christmas countdown Day14

Day 14 means we have just 11 days of Advent left how will we cope with out chocolate, photo challenges and not to mention the cheesy jokes!!

The boxes came out of the loft and after blowing a years worth of dust off the top I was soon reacquainting myself with lots of old friends and delighting in some treasures that had been forgotten. I usually have a clear plan in my head of colour schemes and themes when it comes to decorating for Christmas, this years alternative tree is dictating some of what will or won't work, due to it's special nature balance is key and there have been a few moments where I have been juggling twigs and baubles! Happily there haven't been any casualties so far.

A little music for you to listen to while pondering the photo shoot today as the subject is "white" it can only be White Christmas courtesy of Mr Bing Crosby & Mr Danny Kaye and taken from one of my favourite Christmas films.  One of the best bits of the film is this number but this version, if you are not familiar with the film please watch in order to enjoy the joke.

I made tons of Das clay ornaments and still have some clay left to use so I need to have a little think about what to do before it starts to dry out.  I love their simple classic shapes and the how easy they are to make, I have seen the same type of thing made with a homemade salt dough concoction which may be a cheaper option. If you are thinking of making these for next year have a look around in the sales for cookie cutters, I also brought a child's rolling pin but a bottle would be fine to use. I did buy from Tiger stores a letter set to print the words on the decorations but I found it a bit of a pain to use as it wasn't very easy to move the letters around in the holder.

Hold on to your Santa hats its joke time

"Why does Santa have a garden?"

"Because he likes to HO-HO-HO"

Any thoughts on ways to use up the air dried clay would be very welcome, please drop a message in the comments or if you are a fellow blogger leave a link .

Christmas countdown Day 13

Day 13 on the Advent countdown, and happily my cold is starting to subside so I can enjoy my Hershey kiss today.

Photo challenge today is tree or in my case not so much tree and more branch

 I am not entirely sure if this is a branch or a root, it was growing around a log we collected for the fire back in September.  When I first removed it I thought it was one continuous piece but as it dried it became apparent that it was three separate pieces which made it easier to hang.

I have made some white Das air dried clay ornaments to hang and I will raid my not unsubstantial collection of baubles and trinkets.  I will of course post some pictures once it is decorated.

I was planning to make a beach find driftwood tree from the treasure we collected off the beach at Wells next the sea last weekend, however, I am not sure I will have enough time to fit it in now so it may be one to save for next year.

I am lucky enough to already have this lovely driftwood tree that the family brought me a couple of years ago.


Just time for the festive joke

"How do snowmen greet each other?"

"Ice to meet you"

And a liitle festive tune lets rock around the Christmas tree


I hope your plans are progressing a little faster than mine, I seem to take one step forward and two steps backwards at the moment.

Christmas countdown day 12

Day 12 on the Advent countdown and it is one of the felt gift tags I made on my failed attempt to sew for 30 minutes a day.



This ties in nicely with today's photo shoot "RED", my cold is still making it's presence felt so only a couple of quick photos to share today

Some lovely Scandi inspired paper chains I put together last week ready to decorate the hall way.

I love this little red spotted jug I picked up from a charity shop when we were on holiday down in Sussex in September. When I finally get round to decorating the dresser this will hold some holly from the garden.  The holly bush is of personal significance to me as it one of the plants we brought back from my Mum's house after she passed away.

Playing around with spotted cake cases for the previous "spot" photo shoot.




Joke time

"How do angles greet each other?"

"Halo there!"


Just time for a festive tune before I disappear in search of more tissues:(