spice angels revisited

Super busy this week getting ready for my final market for the year,

 making sure there are lots of gift ideas for my customers, 

I will be back to share them with you when I have time.

But just so you don't feel too neglected and to get into the Christmas spirit, 

I thought I would share this oldy but a goody, 

in fact it is my most popular post ever and is always at the top of my stats, 

nearly 10,000 people have looked at this post- amazing! 

So without further ado, pop over to here to find out how to make your very own spice angels just in time for Christmas.

I recently demonstrated these at a Christmas craft night and they were a big hit. 

Great for the tree or as a little Christmas gift.

 The kids put the tree up on Saturday as I knew we wouldn't have time on Sunday, but the rest of the decorating is yet to happen, I am aiming for next week after the markets.

I will try to pop back later in the week with some makeovers.

And if you happen to make a spice angel or two I would love to see your piccies, 

just post them to my facebook page.

christmas 2012 all wrapped up

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas.

I have been enjoying some quite days reading books, watching DVD's series one of Once Upon a Time (the kids are hooked too!), catching up with friends over a very long lunch etc. etc.

But before the new year is upon us I thought I would share some photos of some decorations I hadn't yet shown you and some highlights of our festivities. 

As you can see I changed my scrabble pieces to read

"Peace on Earth"

 I set up another one on our wood stove to read

"Glory to God"

Here is a little tree B5 and I picked up at Bunnings,

I wrapped it in hessian and added some battery operated lights and a star on top.

 I also have these red baubles in a vase with some red lights because they had run out of the clear.

Notice how I deliberately left the battery pack out so you could see how it all works.

Someone requested a photo of the ladder tree lit up - so here it is.

This lovely little joy is at our back door.

The "j" I found at an op shop a couple of years ago, the little red wreath I bought at the same shop I got my drink dispensers at, on a half price special, and the "y" was a stick B4 found in the yard.

This is also at my back door.

I added this little touch of Christmas to the pool cabana, 

inspired by Tania's giant snow globe, although mine is just a tad smaller.

and this little wreath on a towel hook.

I like adding a little touch of Christmas here and there.

Here is a scene from our big party.

VCH changed the lights to yellow ones- they made a huge difference in the number of flying insects about, and I like the warm glow they cast much better.

 This is what our lounge room looked like on Christmas morning before we started unwrapping presents

VCH put the sheets on two presents that were too large to wrap.

 B4 (my gift giver) came in dressed like this with a huge sack of presents that he had bought and made.

I was laughing so much the first time I had to get him to go and get dressed up again so I could take a photo!

This is him in the afternoon just after a huge storm hit.

 It had been so hot and he ran outside to run around in the rain in his undies and then he decided to play a little basketball, VCH and his helpers had just got the hoop erected before the storm.

The storm came half an hour before VCH's family was due to arrive for Christmas tea. 

The undercover area was soaked, but the three big boys were wonderful, they went up and put the furniture back that we had tried unsuccessfully to move out of the rain and changed all the wet tablecloths and wiped all the water away etc. while we entertained the guests in the house.

So with that I will leave you with this thought.

I will try and pop in tomorrow with some highlights from 2012.

merry christmas ramble

Just popping in for a catch up and chat.

It is Christmas Eve and I should be running around like a chook with my head cut off I am feeling surprisingly relaxed  lethargic  

(we have had some very hot and humid weather which really knocks me around, 

well that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!)

We have had a busy couple of days and a break with tradition,
so today is not following our normal routine.

Firstly our party on Friday night went very well and everyone had a fabulous time.

The beverage dispensers worked very well. 

I filled one with water and one with punch,
and in spite of dire predictions from some of my children none of the guests broke them!

Saturday saw me venture to a local market to check it out as a possible "redeemed" venue
(not sure: lots of stall holders, not many customers- had a chat with a "neighbour" from another market day, she gave me some suggestions)

Then in the evening we went to Carols on the Grass at our sister church across the river, where our kids go to kids club, it was lovely!

 

Yesterday was Church in the morning and I did the kids talk and the Bible reading, 

then last night we had what is usually our Christmas Eve activity.

We had our traditional roast pork, crackling and apple sauce and roast veges
 and a trifle (minus the cake this year) for dessert and then headed out to see the Christmas lights

- I collapsed into bed exhausted at 10:30pm

Today, I have cooked turkey and made snickers ice cream 

(I have ready in the freezer candy cane ice cream and ginger ice cream) for tomorrow night
 (Christmas tea at our place with VCH's family)

I am yet to make the gingernut biscuits I want to give as gifts and the muffins for tomorrow's brunch at my SIL's but maybe I can do them later tonight!

I am hoping that VCH who took today off and has only just ventured out of bed will finish wrapping the presents- he is much better at it than me!

Tonight (the reason for our change in tradition) we are heading to the neighbours for Christmas drinks and nibbles - this is the first time they have done it and invited all the neighbours so we didn't want to miss it.

I have also in my spare time, which probably is contributing to my lethargy, 

started a Nicholas Spark's marathon - I have borrowed a heap from the library and while some weren't supposed to be ready until after Christmas (someone must have returned them early) I now have about 10 to read.

So far I have read The Best of Me and The Choice, of course I had the tissues handy!!!

I feel like a little nap now before I do some cooking!

So on that note I will leave you.

(this actually now reads Peace on Earth but I can't be bothered taking a photo - sorry)

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Christmas!

ladder christmas tree

Today I thought I would show you my ladder tree that I put up in our entertaining area.

But before I do I just wanted to share with you that today the 21st December is a special one in our household. 

On the 21st December 1986,

 VCH and I went on our first date, 

I was 18, he was 20.

We went with some friends (his and mine) to a nearby beach.

When we got back to my house, 

we sat in his car and talked for hours.

 During this time I had a feeling wash over me, and I knew that this was the man I would marry.

The other special thing that happened on this date, 

this time in the year 2000, 

was that we moved into this house. 

So we have now lived here for 12 years!

One day soon I will come back and show you photos of what our house first looked like when we bought it and compare it to now, 

but because they are all pre-digital, I will have to scan them in and that takes time, 

time I don't have today 'cause we are having a party tonight!

So now back to the ladder tree:

I actually wanted to do this last year, 

but it never quite happened, 

so this year I was determined to have a ladder tree, 

and yes just like all the other ladder tree bloggers my kids thought I was crazy

- but hey they should know me well enough by now- 

that I don't really care what they think, 

I will just do it anyway!

This ladder is actually quite tall, 

I picked it up from a garage sale last year for $5.

It has lots of lovely paint drips all over it, the kind that money can't buy!

 I wanted to keep it fairly simple and keep with silver and white.

I started off stringing two sets of battery lights around it,

you know the $2 ones from Big W

 - love them - 

I must have 10 sets around the house in various spots.

I also wound around some silver star tinsel.

I hung some silver snowflakes that came with some decorations and then added a lovely white star to the top,

I bought this last year but can't remember where from.

It is a bit hard to see it all with the light, but trust me they are there!

 I also added some herbs in those lovely lacy IKEA buckets, and some candles out of my cupboard.

 The final touch was to put my NOEL that I made a couple of Christmas's ago on one of the rungs. 

The noel, has since had and accident, a bit like Humpty, he fell off the ladder and broke, but unlike Humpty I was able to fix him and glued him back together, he is now tied on with some grey and white string so he won't try jumping off again!

So there you have it my version of a ladder tree.

Have a lovely weekend!

Only 4 sleeps to go!

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add a little bling to your christmas

Remember when I showed you my cute little union jack table?

 I said I would show you how to make some pretty glitter glasses of your own to add a little bling to your Christmas table.

These are so fun and easy to make- even your kids could do them!

I am making several sets as gifts this Christmas,

add a nice bottle of wine and you have a lovely pressie!

So today come with me into my little craft/ sewing room I will show you how!

 

To start with you need some glitter, I got mine at a cheap shop for $2 a bag, one bag goes a long way!

I have done at least half a dozen glasses, five book Christmas trees and I still have plenty left out of one bag of silver, I bought two bags and haven't even had to open the 2nd one yet!

I got several colours red, green, gold, silver, black and white.

I put them into some little round containers that I got at another cheap shop.

You will also need some glue- I used some PVA and a clean wine glass, you can find them cheaply at the op shop or use some you already own.

 

 Brush on the PVA glue around the base of your glass and a little up the stem, 

as you can see my able assistant doing in the photo.

You could go all the way up but then it might get in the way of where you hold the glass.

 Once the glue is on spoon over your glitter until the glue is well covered, give it a shake to get rid of any loose glitter, set aside to dry.

I usually stick mine on a tray.

 Once it is dry give it a few coats of clear spray paint.

I usually go for 3 or 4 letting it dry between each coat.

The clear gloss coats the glitter so it won't come off on your hand or when you wash it.

These hand wash fine- but I wouldn't recommend putting them in the dishwasher!

 Voila, a gorgeous glitter glass, even glams up my drink of choice water!

It is stinking hot here today and I can here the pool calling my name!

Ciao for now, I will be back tomorrow with a fantastic bargain I picked up just in time for Christmas parties.

a little christmas

I have been seeing for weeks blogs with decorations up and little crafts to do, 

and while I was making a few little things to sell for "redeemed",

 at home Christmas really was the furthest thing from my mind.

Now all my stalls are out of the way I am thinking Christmas.

I let my three little ones get out the decorations and put the tree up last week,

 none of the teenagers cared less!

(although to be fair B1 is working full time 9-6pm up until Christmas so he wasn't even home to care)

I have had red and silver for a few years and this year added the aqua, 

next year I might remove the red and just leave the silver and aqua in.

This week I have been redeeming my house after a couple of months neglect.

Cleaning up, decluttering, removing furniture from my entertaining area,

so it doesn't  look like a half junk shop, half furniture store gone wrong! 

We have the teenagers' youth group here on Saturday night for a party and then we are hosting a Christmas party next Friday night for our friends.

As we are going through each room in the house I am slowly decorating.

 

Today I thought I would show you my hallway.

 Since we put in the bench and shelf earlier this year,

 I have what appears to be a mantel without a fireplace attached to it,

so I had some fun decorating it.

I put up these three little trees that I bought at one of the cheap shops last year.

The wreath was there so I left it and I added a little stack of pine cones that we collected from the neighbour's tree last year.

The musical bunting that I won from Kate earlier this year has made its home here, so I left it.

Even though I was trying to be neutral, I couldn't help but add a little red handbag, an old green lantern (dump find) and a berry garland that I got at B1's shop.

I wrote JOY TO THE WORLD in scrabble letters, 

I think I might change this a few times leading up to Christmas,
it presents so many opportunities!

You may notice that this mirror has found a home for the moment.

Do you see that gorgeous lamp? 

I will be back next week with a post all about her and 

I will also share how to make yourself some cool sparkly glitter glasses as promised weeks ago!

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Have a great weekend, everyone!

 



 

 

inside the outside inn

Yesterday our four youngest children participated in a musical at church as part of their Kid's Church end of year service.

B4 was asked to play the male lead Max- a guardian angel, 

even though he actually graduated from Kids Church last year, 

as they didn't have any boys old enough to take on this major role.

B4 was one of the wise men.

B5 was a shepherd with a singing part,

and The Girl was part of the choir

The Girl singing and B3 is at the side in his "formal angel attire".

 The children have only had about 40 mins to practice each Sunday this term.

They did very well despite the short amount of practice time, 

even after the "innkeeper" fainted right off the front of the stage during the first song (thankfully we have several doctors in our congregation who were able to see to him) and had to be quickly replaced by one of the older teenage girls in our church, who enjoys acting and was able to walk on stage at a minute's notice.

 

Here is a lovely photo of B3 and The Girl, outside after the service, B1 is in the green shirt in the background.

I take no responsibility for the photos, 

VCH and B2 handled that while I helped feed, water and keep the little ones in one place while they were off stage.