Good morning everyone.
Here is the last blog for 2023, and then blog posting returns more leisurely in the New Year.
D and I wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas with family and friends, and enjoy the holiday season.
Three Nativities in our house:
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| My husband made this last one from matchsticks. |
Good morning everyone!
Today is the last of this year’s new craft-made items. The Poinsettia
was a free pattern with a knitting magazine. It used a small amount of red and
green double knitting yarn, a brooch back, and some beads that I added.
The pattern was
simple to follow, although the instructions for sewing up were open to
interpretation. Just ‘look at the picture’, it said. Not helpful!! However, I
think I did a reasonable job.
I always sew the brooch back onto a piece of felt first
before attaching it to any knitted item. I pinned and steamed the knitted poinsettia
overnight and was greeted by the finished flower this morning.
Festive wishes to you for today!
B x
Good morning to you all.
Preparations for Christmas are almost complete in this small corner. Presents are wrapped, cards written, and the kitchen is filled with Christmas baking.
I bought some white ceramic baubles that were perfect for a bit of paint and glitter, and yesterday, I finished the last of the 2023 Christmas tree decorations.
I used a couple of tester paint pots for the bauble base and then dribbled copper-coloured paint over the top. I then sprinkled some glitter and waited for the paint to dry.
Have a good day whatever your plans are.
B x
Good morning to you all.
This year, there have been several new decorations made for our home.
Today's little crafting project was a new one for me.
Bargello is a type of needlepoint tapestry which uses upright straight stitches to make a mathematical pattern on canvas.
I used 7-count plastic canvas and DK yarn to make my design and created two identical pieces joined together with a gold-coloured thread to make a bauble. A hanging thread finished the work.
Good morning to you all.
Yesterday was a busy day here with presents wrapped and the final food list prepared. In between all the other activities, I finished my Christmas tree mobile.
I had plenty of green felt and red ribbon and used a small wicker wreath for the base of the mobile. Initially, the trees were going to hang on the family Christmas tree, but sometimes, little ideas pop into my head, and then they get bigger and bigger.
Three trees have various coloured ribbons decorating them, and the others have seed beads sewn on them. The long red ribbons will make it easy to hang up.
Whatever your plans are for today, have a great day x
Hello all! D here.
Well, it was straight home from work and into the kitchen on Monday. The baking bug kept biting me, so I made Christmas Rocky Road. This sweet treat is always very popular in our small corner, and now we have some Chocolate Orange Rocky Road and some Chocolate Mint Rocky Road ready for Christmas.
Chocolate orange version
Hopefully, it will last until then!
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I'm not sure that D's Rocky Road will last very long :-)
While D has been busy in the kitchen, I have started putting together some felt trees for a project. You can see the trees today, and I shall finish it tomorrow.
Have a good day, everyone.
B x
Good morning everyone.
I am still feeling a bit fluffy-headed, so I thought I would share a few photos of the Christmas tree, Advent candles wreath and a Christmas window decoration at our church carol service last night x
Hello everyone.
After Mum's rather 'unsubtle' hint about gingerbread, I spent yesterday afternoon baking some gingerbread biscuits, ready for Christmas. I need to decorate them with icing closer to Christmas Day.
While I was in the mood for baking, I also made some chocolate orange cupcakes, which I will decorate this week. For now, we shall keep the cupcakes in the freezer.
Hello from B.
I took a mini break yesterday as D baked her gingerbread biscuits and chocolate and orange cupcakes. Instead, I found a gingerbread puzzle to work on. It only has 108 pieces, but it is challenging to complete. Hubby was able to finish it quite quickly, though.
Enjoy your day
B and D xx
Good morning everyone.
I made this festive decoration yesterday. The jar is an old preserving one I found in a cupboard, and the string is from an odds and ends drawer. The rest of the materials, snowy flakes, berries and leaves, came from my stash of useful items. This version used artificial greenery but would work equally well with ivy, berries and holly from outside.
I poured some clear glue into the base of the jar and swirled it around before adding the snowy flakes, some of which stuck and the rest heaped up on the base. I used a small battery-powered candle as the light source and attached the greenery to the lid with several rows of string. It was a quick and satisfying seasonal project.
Have a good weekend, everyone x
Hello friends 😊
I love the smell of Christmas baking, and you all know how much our family enjoys D's baking treats in particular.
I made this small felt gingerbread house yesterday to add to our Christmas decorations, and I hope it's a hint for some real gingerbread at the weekend. The pattern is from ' Quick and Easy Christmas Crafts' by Search Press Studio.
Enjoy your day everyone 😊
B x
Hello again from Our Small Corner.
I'm still keeping thoughts short on here until the foggy brain and cold germs clear away.
Yesterday felt dark for most of the day, so I made this sweet, twinkly decoration to brighten things up. I bought the beads and pattern for the Christmas tree at a craft show earlier in the year and can now also make my alternative versions with different beads another time. It took me a while to unscramble the instructions, but I finally got there.
Thinking of you all, especially if you have been feeling unwell.
Have a good day.
B x
Good morning everyone.
I am slowly opening the door back into blogland after a really rough week. I am not writing much today but want you all to know how much I have missed this place and my friends here. Thank you so much for your kind words of support.
My brain is still trying to drag itself back from the depths of this germ fest so I am taking my time. I know I won't get all the things done that I had planned but I think that is ok. Christmas will still arrive and be enjoyed, just a little more slowly this year.
I look forward to start revisiting you all again.😊
Hello everyone. D here.
Unfortunately, Mum has been suffering from an awful migraine all day yesterday, so there hasn't been much Christmas crafting.
She hopes to be feeling a little bit better soon.
Enjoy your day!
D x
Hello to you all.
I'm beginning to feel more human after having the worst cold I have had for ages. It knocked me out.
Thankfully, I finished this cross-stitch last week before the cold germs descended on us.
Santa had yet to be featured this year, but someone really needed to chat with him quickly. Who says Facetime is only for humans?
One of the kittens adopted by my son, C, and his fiancée had been up to mischief and needed to check which Santa list she was on.
After discovering an entertaining game called: 'Let's climb the living room curtains', you can see why Lola needed to see Santa. Her sister Nala is just watching, so she's probably okay with Santa
Lola, however...
Lola gives a purr of relief as she discovers that Santa will still visit her on Christmas Eve.
Have a good day 😊
Hello everyone.
We are still feeling very rough here, so thank you for your well wishes. Hopefully, we'll both start to feel better soon.
Although I have not been up to much, I put together this cute little snowy owl with a bright red scarf, ready for the winter season. She does have a brother, but he will join her in a few days. The pattern was from a book called "Quick and Easy Christmas Crafts" by Search Press Studio.
Whatever your plans are for today, we hope you have a good one.
B and D x
Hello again from this rather poorly small corner.
D and I are battening down the hatches as far as possible until the germs decide to move on, but that doesn't mean we won't be doing any crafting, baking or other Christmas activities. Just less than we anticipated!
So here we are on day 8. A whole week since we began this adventure. Today is the arrival of the penguins.
Years ago, I subscribed to Craft Creations, a lovely magazine that had many card-crafting ideas. Unfortunately, the company no longer exists, and after a while of the magazine being online with access to all the designs, it is no longer available. The design for these penguins is based on one of those ideas by Shirley Young.
The original card had the penguins in front of a Christmas tree but I wanted something simpler and therefore chose a simple watercolour paint wash. The mistletoe is wooden crayon with a few peel off stickers.
Hoping you all stay warm and dry.
B x
Hello, and thank you for visiting this small corner.
I am not feeling great at the moment. I have picked up a nasty Christmas bug, which means paracetamol, honey, and hot lemon for a few days. Still, Christmas won't wait for me to be 100%, so I did this yesterday.
You will have seen the ribbon wreath I made a few years ago, which was my first attempt. This year, I am trying a little natural greenery from the garden to decorate a wreath. It is pretty small but is fine for a trial run. The cones, ribbon and berries were from a craft store, though.
Hoping you are all well and wishing you a lovely Thursday xx
Good morning everyone. Well, that last 24 hours went quickly!
Today, the much-loved robin is taking centre stage.
The robin is one of our native British birds and is often seen in gardens, especially if a gardener has been working and turning over soil to reveal tasty worms and other bug treats. They are friendly little birds but are fiercely territorial regarding their nesting and feeding sites.
According to the Woodland Trust, robins appear so often on Christmas cards due to postmen in the Victorian period who wore red jackets and, therefore, had the nickname 'robins'.
Truth or legend, it is a nice thought.
Here is my little robin, again based on another of Jean Greenhowe's patterns.
I used different yarn from my stash, which makes him look like a rather well-fed little bird, but he makes me smile.
Happy Wednesday to you all.
See you tomorrow x
Hello to you all. Thank you for visiting.
It rained here all day yesterday, and the light levels were very low. I hope you are all okay if you have had a lot of the wet white stuff. I am thinking of you. If you enjoy Advent in the sunshine, I'm also thinking of you.
I found some quilling papers I bought for a previous project and made this candle and white flower card. I didn't have any white quilling paper, so I just cut up some white paper to make the flowers.
I shall have to be careful when it gets packed away to make sure it doesn't get crushed!
Have a good day everyone.
B x
Hello, and welcome to day four on our journey to Christmas Day.
Yesterday, we woke up to a very small amount of snow on the ground, and the garden disappeared for a few hours until it melted away. Underneath the snow were still plants that would survive the winter; some have their brightest colours now. There are also several plants inside the house that flower now or take centre stage at Christmas.
A visit to a local garden centre found a few more plants to enjoy at Christmas. These flowers and plants made me smile yesterday.
