Here Comes Santa...

I love Christmas it is one of my favourite times of year.  I start my preparations for Christmas many months in advance, crafting a lot of gifts, cards and tags in the privacy of my own craft room.    I don't like to be put under pressure so enjoy the process throughout the year.  Imagine my surprise when we went to the garden centre yesterday and there in all its glory was Christmas décor in every shape and form ready for their opening evening today.  I will not lie I did have a stroll around, as did my husband, Mum, Dad and brother.  I think it was the shock that kept us walking, one beautiful display after the other.

 

Now do not get me wrong some of the decorations were stunning and the displays were jaw dropping.  In September really!!!!  Much too early for me I have to say.  I appreciate that stores are competing for sales but if it gets much earlier we might just as well have it all year around.  What is your view do you like to see all the Christmas décor on sale in September?

 

We did also have a stroll around the dinosaurs, to see if it was suitable for the children of course not for us.

 

 

They would love it.  There was also a secret garden which was a delight for the children with trampolines and play park, definitely worth another visit.  We checked out the restaurant too, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  A lovely family stroll.

 

See you soon.

 

Family Weekend

We had visitors over the weekend our eldest daughter and her little family arrived Friday night.  Mike was a great help doing some of the outside jobs for us, clearing the gutters and doing a couple of small repairs so very much appreciated.  We did do the obligatory stroll around a car boot sale but came back with very little. 

However, Wilbur and I did have some real fun in the craft room creating a Halloween wreath.

 

He loved using the stamps and the concentration on his little face with the hole punch was a real delight.

 

 

All ready to hang up for Halloween.

 

We had a wonderful barbeque on the beach.  It was the perfect kite flying weather so we had a great time flying the kite and beach combing.  Wilbur and I were pirates looking for treasure, we came across lots of exciting things to put into our buckets.  I got lucky with a lot of driftwood which conjured up lots of ideas for future projects.

 

We were blessed on Sunday with a surprise visit from Amie and the children which thrilled the boys, they really do enjoy each others company.

 

 

My lounge room looks like a tornado has hit but I wouldn't want it any other way. 

 

 

Hector is worn out, bless him.  I am surprised he managed to get a nap with all the noise going on around him.

There was of course a craft project, a mixture of wooden stamps and rubber finger stamps.  The hole punch was a great treat to use.

It was a joy to have everyone for Sunday lunch although a little scrunched up without the extra table.

Fun family times.  Just look at little Honeys hair, already been tied up.

Growing up so quickly, but I am enjoying every moment.

As you can see I have been busy with family and we had a wonderful trip to Boston yesterday for some shopping.  I have my brother coming to visit for a few days tomorrow so once again beautiful family times that I cherish.  I have made a start to try and catch up with you all but certainly will endeavour to catch up over the next couple of days.  What is keeping you busy at the moment?

See you soon.

More Christmas Tags

I had such fun making the tags from my last post that I thought I would have a repeat performance in the craft room, focusing on Christmas tags.  I have such a lot of tiny scraps of Christmas fabric that I thought I would experiment with it.  The end result is beautiful but it does take some time waiting for the glue to dry.  I used glue to adhere the fabric to the tag which did hold up proceedings slightly but worth the effort if you have the time.

 

The candy cane was made using two pipe cleaners.  I do like the overall finish and it is a great way to use up oddments of fabric.

 

 

Whilst waiting for the glue to dry I played around with stamps simple but effective, with the addition of a button is a quick and practical make.

 

 

Finally using oddments of card and buttons a Santa evolved, a must for children.

 

 

 

It would have been nice to have the Christmas music on doing this but I resisted and sang along to Herman's Hermits, Rod Stewart and UB40 with a track or two from Take That.   I have to admit to enjoying my time in the craft room but I need to get some of the household chores done, so I will love and leave you.  Take care.

 

See you soon.

Tags

I woke yesterday morning to a very dull, overcast and utterly miserable day weather wise that quickly turned to that horrible fine drizzle.  Yes, the perfect excuse to ignore all the outside jobs and retreat to the craft room.  I had a fantastic few hours playing around making tags.  I have a box that I keep all the scraps and oddments in that I use for tag making the perfect way to maximize materials.

 

The papers are all oddments from scrapbooking and card making, pieces that are too small to be of use.  I had such fun selecting papers and trying to match some of the toppers.  It certainly passed away a pleasant few hours.

 

 

I also started to experiment with oddments for my Christmas tags.  A rather large job so needs to be done in small sessions.  But I impressed myself with some of the results.  As some of you may know I am a great lover of buttons so using some to decorate the tags was a real thrill.

 

 

I loved the snowman and thought this might be a nice addition to packages for the Grandchildren, although the vintage papers above with the Santa embellishment was also a contender, decisions, decisions!   I thought I might make some more Christmas pudding tags to write the heating instructions on, attaching them to the pudding when I have made them nearer to Christmas. 

The weather is pretty good today so I had better finish off and get back outside to the mundane jobs of clearing the garden.  

See you soon.

 

Autumn Preparations

Autumn is fast approaching so the preparations are ongoing.  I have phoned and booked an engineer to come and service the boiler.  Logs have been ordered and will be delivered next week.  Garden furniture has been oiled and stored with only a couple of chairs remaining so that we can still enjoy the bursts of sunshine that we keep getting.  I still have a few panels of fencing to paint but we have run out of paint so a trip to town is needed.  Herbs have been harvested and some have been prepared for the freezer and some for drying out.

 

Basil is hanging on the back door and should be dry in about 4 - 6 weeks, I am going to use it to make some salt meat rubs.

 

Whilst I haven't started to add the Autumn décor I have changed the candles and a few cushion covers in Autumnal colours.

 

 

My tomato crop this year has been a complete disaster but I managed to bag a bargain at the car boot sale over the weekend and get an enormous bag for £1.  I roasted them with basil whilst I was roasting the beef for Sunday lunch.  They are now all packed into the freezer ready to add to winter stews or soups, the perfect taste of summer.

 

 

Another bag of apples purchased for £1, has made 7 jars of apple sauce and with the addition of some blackberries picked on a stroll down the lane we also have a couple of pie/crumble bases.

 

 

I still have red cabbage and onions to pickle and some more jam needs to be added to the store cupboard.  I feel as if the majority of the preparations for the new season are almost done.  How are your preparations going? 

See you soon.