Christmas countdown day 24

Yipee made it to the end of the challenge, you will be relieved to find the last of the cheesy jokes is just as bad as all the others.


"What do monkeys sing at Christmas?"

"Jungle bells, Jungle bells"


Sorry as promised cheesy and groany to the very end! now for a little music to get us in the festive mood


The photo challenge is "Advent Calendar" and this is what remains, I will sort through and find any reusable bits for future projects, the remainder will be recycled in one way or another.

I wanted the final Advent post to reflect on the homemade elements of my Christmas preparations

Draw string Advent calendar bag

White clay Christmas ornaments

Button Christmas decoration

Our twiggy Christmas tree

Free Christmas Wreath 

Best mince pie recipe

Thank you for taking this Advent countdown adventure with me I hope you enjoyed it, I am planning to spend some quiet time with family and friends over the next few days so there may not be any more posts this year.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, thank you for all your support in 2015 and I hope you will pop in to catch up with what is happening in my little corner of the world in2016.

... Christmas countdown Day 3

Day 3  and today's bag has a lovely new treat of Hershey kisses, these are not readily available in the UK as they are from the US, so I was chuffed to bits when I found them in B and M for only £1.99 for a big bag, I don't think my waist line will be quite so happy!

I did ponder the idea of trying to craft with them as they often appear on my Pinterest feed in many different guises but I already have too many unfinished projects that I need to concentrate on, not to mention a growing to do list!


Photo challenge today is "spots" so I will start with the bag from my Advent calendar, I must have had something in mind when I put this on the list but can't for the life of me remember what! so I have gone for a very brief walk round my house and I didn't have to look too far to find spots!

My Winter Cath Kidston handbag in a lovely cranberry colour with the classic white spot, I have personalised it with a homemade flower brooch.  The brooch is fairly easy to make and I will post a how I did it at some point in the new year.

Puddle tested pink spotted wellies, I think they will be seeing plenty of action this weekend if the weather forecast is correct.

I still have plenty of spotty sweet bags left and you can be sure that you will be seeing more of these before the end of Advent

I couldn't resist having a little bit of fun with these cute little picnic plates, they are so useful for buffet meals as their shape allows them to slip between round plates.  I purchased them from dotcom online gift shop I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this store as it has so many lovely items that are very reasonably priced, however, some of the sizes and the quality can be a little disappointing, they are worth a visit at this time of year as there are loads of little "stocking filler" type pressies that everyone seems to love.

OK I now this is what you really dropped by for its joke time.....


"Who hides in a bakery at Christmas?"

" A mince spy!"



Right I am off to dig out the Christmas cards so that I can cross at least one thing off my list!  How are your preparations going? Have you sent any cards yet?

...Advent Calendar ...the count down is complete

The final steps in my Advent Calendar extravaganza involves blowing the dust off the sewing machine and using a combination of scraps from my Summer sewing and one of hubby's old shirts to make some little draw string bags.  After Christmas they can be used to house some of the baubles when they get put away on 12th night or I might find a use for them around the house.

I am trying to tap into my resourceful side for this project and make do with things I have around the house or that I have left over from other projects, this does exclude the chocolate treats that will be going in.  If you are interested in these fabrics they were brought from Abakhan Fabrics in the Summer but there may some left still

I have kept it really simple, cut out a rectangle of fabric and attach your decoration to what will be the outside of the bag.

Fold over the top of your fabric leaving a gap large enough to thread your drawstring through and sew.

Sew up the sides but do not sew into the channel at the top that you have just created. Thread your drawstring through the channel on each side and tie the ends together to create a loop. Turn through the bag and draw up your bag.

I have created the three bags in different sizes to add to the eclectic nature of my Advent calendar and also to fit with the scraps of fabric that I have available.

The final make for this project is some air dried clay ornaments, although you could use salt dough. These have been a long time in the planning and I picked up some cookie cutters and a child's rolling pin in the sales last Christmas.  It was just a case of rolling it out to a suitable depth, I still haven't worked out exactly what that is. Cutting out the desired shape, popping a hole in the top using a drinking straw so there will be somewhere to hang the ribbon.

So that is the last of my makes and the Advent calendar is now complete.  The Advent photo challenge starts tomorrow and I will put up the list for anyone who wants to join in, although I don't think that it will come as a great surprise that day 1 is a photo of my Advent Calendar.



My gift tag give away will be drawn tomorrow and I will announce the winner on the blog on Wednesday so get in now if you want to be entered just leave a comment on this post there is currently only one entrant so the odds are favourable.