One Word for the New Year

Inspired by The Fable of the Table's organised flock of Homersfield geese, I have picked one word for 2011. The idea is that, instead of making an unmanageable list of resolutions, you choose a word that inspires you, or embodies who you would like to be, and you focus on living out that word during the year.

For me, the word that struck a chord was encourage.

To encourage others, to be encouraging to myself, to encourage good things to happen, to be encourageous. Plus, I'm planning to start a course this year, encouraging other mothers, and sharing ideas for ways to creatively record their children's lives and milestones.

If you've got a word for the New Year already, or if you've been inspired to find one, please leave a comment. I'd love to encourage you!

Adventures with a Can of Chalkboard Paint, Part VI

Enough with the fiddly little brushes and delicate strokes -- over Christmas, we added a seven foot chalkboard panel to the kitchen of my parents' Old Rectory.

It's the perfect outlet for my family's quirky humour -- each day, we have a new quote on the board, under the heading "Wise Piggy Says." As the border makes the chalkboard look rather like a door (I admit, I almost walked into it the first night it was up), characters tend to appear looking through the post box, or slipping in through the cat flap, and is an endless source of fun!

My Creative Year

2010 has been a handmade year like no other.

January was spent patiently knitting for unborn Tilly, on needles so small that the blanket took ten months to finish.

In February, Wodger and Wupert Wabbit -- the original Travelling Tillberries -- were sewn, though Wodger unfortunately disappeared into the mystery of the Chinese postal system.

In March, I made my first quilt. I discovered Lotta's "Simple Sewing for Baby" in April.

May and June saw me desperately stuffing foxes and hand-stitching tea cups during the eight weeks of any-day-now Tilly panic.

July was a month of simply creating ourselves as a family of three.

In August, there were many nights of cutting out felt letters.

September, scarily, was when all of the Christmas presents were started, which continued through October.

My Mum's visit in November threw creativity into overdrive -- cardigan knitting, apron embroidery, cross-stitched ornaments, and the lid of the infamous can of blackboard paint was popped.

And December's proudest achievement was the advent tea wreath, a tradition I hope we'll continue for many years to come!

What have you enjoyed creating this year? Let's hope that 2011 is just as full of inspiration!

Winter Reds

Christmas this year has been all about creating warmth in the middle of a chill, of being together with family whilst surrounded by vast bare fields, of finding moments of red against the bleak backdrop of a cold English sky.

Wishing you all the warmth and comfort of spotting a moment of red in your world today!

Nissemen International, Part 2

Christmas hats are still appearing from around the world. Thanks, all, so much for helping spread the Christmas spirit!

Here we have a very Zen Nisse from Thailand, a lovely Danish Nisse horse, a Christmas goose from Copenhagen, a little fluffy ball of fun from England, and a howling Christmas coyote from China.

To check out all the photos from my Christmas challenge, or to add your own, head over to the Nissemen Anonymous group on Flickr.

Christmas Paper Cuts

I'm a guest today over on the lovely Pickled Herring, as part of her Scandinavian Christmas series, with a tutorial on how to make your own paper cuts. They are really easy, and make great last-minute decorations.

Please stop by, if you get a chance! She's also got some delicious-looking recipes for some traditional Scandinavian treats, which are well worth a look.

Giant Quilted Basket

Ever since I got my hands on Kajsa's book, "Scandinavian Stitches", I've had my eye on her quilted baskets. With a little wire as the secret ingredient, her simple design means that you can make very large fabric baskets that still they hold their shape pretty well.

Yes, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist those quilt scraps for long! This is the seventy-four year old quilt, reincarnated as a lovely large, nice soft basket to hold whatever we need it too. At the moment, it is Tilly's toys that are taking over the living room -- so, into the basket they go!

Of course, once all of her toys were inside, Tilly wanted to get into the basket as well...

How lovely to have something so old, and with so much history, not only on display, but being useful. And, in case you're wondering just how big our big basket is, I made it 13 x 13 inches, which is the perfect size to fit into an IKEA Expedit bookcase!

Scrapwork Quilts

We go to so much effort to make our gifts look pretty, but as I discovered last weekend, the best presents can come in old cardboard boxes labelled "Frying Chickens".

When I opened just such a box last weekend, I found bags and bags of fabric scraps -- remnants of six different quilts, all beautifully hand-stitched, with amazing designs, such as the red and blue spools above. Some pieces are cut into strips, some into squares, but most are rough and random and full of personality.

Made by Justin's Great-Grandmother Razor, these quilts were rescued from attics and basements and lives as mattress pads by Justin's Grandma Thies, who later decided to reuse them, and make them into patchwork teddy bears and lampshade covers, among other things. And now here they are, ready for more cutting and stitching -- ready for a whole new life.

I love looking at all the fabrics used. The quilt below seems to be made up of scraps itself -- hundreds of different prints and colours, cut perhaps from worn-out clothes and even older quilts!

On one corner, I can make out initials and a date: M. E. Hollis, 1936. It's amazingly fresh and intact for a seventy-four year-old!

So, watch this space to see what becomes of these beauties. I'm sure my needles won't be able to wait too long before digging in!

Christmas Aprons

With only a week until we leave for England, I've been trying to finish up my share of the linen Nisse aprons for the Christmas kitchen. The cook's little helpers will wear them over the holiday season, and then, after Christmas, the three best workers will get to keep one.

Here is the first finished apron, which features little a Nisse boy and his piggy. The designs by Danish company Maileg were used for inspiration.

In keeping with the Christmas spirit: 'God Jul' ('Happy Christmas' in Danish), and the year, to celebrate the first Christmas at my parents' new house in England.

Here is one of the aprons my Mum is sewing up -- a Nisse girl with her baking tray full of pepperkaker!

Let's hope the aprons get put to good use, and there's plenty of Christmas baking this year!

International Nisse

The Nissemen have been busy! From around the world, photos of Christmas hats are coming in, and what creative Nisse there are this year. Here are a few of my favourites:

In China, Chairman Nisse is writing his Christmas list. In England, the Dala horses are going for a trot. Here in Texas, a little Christmas frog is out for a chilly bike ride. In Denmark, the Little Mermaid is keeping her head warm (if nothing else). And, a British pheasant is going out caroling.

If you want to get your neighbourhood in the spirit, too, then make a hat or two using our tutorial, and upload your Nisse photos to our group on Flickr.

Pepperkaker

We dusted off our aprons and oiled up the rolling pin today, and got baking some pepperkaker (or 'papa-nacker', as Justin calls them!) using this recipe. With lots of golden syrup in the mix, our dough was extremely sticky, hence the flour everywhere! 

With rather a shortage of cookie cutters, we ended up freehand-cutting our little pepperkaker people: a Justin, an Astrid, a Tilly and a (rather horsey) Bella.

Yes, Tilly is about twice the size of Justin and I... we're not winning any prizes for photographic accuracy!

They're very tasty, although perhaps a little thick -- the recipe said it made 30 to 40, and we got about 12 out of our dough!

And if you're in the mood to make a batch of your own, perhaps try out some of these beautiful designs:

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And there's a delicious-looking recipe for fancy-schmancy pepperkaker (or 'Pfefferkuchen' as Mum calls them) over at The Fable of the Table, if you're up for a bit more of a zesty biscuit!

Tea Wreaths

{update: If you'd like to join in with the tea swap 2011, check out this post!}

As promised, here is the advent tea wreath in its entirety. With so many bright and interesting tea bags, I thought it would be fun to create a colour chart of sorts, so during advent I'll be working my way through a rainbow of teas! 

Now, for a round up of other lovely tea wreaths:

 Jadyn's Tazo-tastic advent wreath

Jen's lovely purple and yellow Yogi wreath

Gem's fantastic advent tea tree

 Carole Ann's tea packet wreath

And, of course, the Kojo Designs beauty that inspired it all.

So far, we've sampled Lipton's Asian white tea, which was deliciously light and unusual, and the Twinings Traditional English, which was perfect with a chocolate biscuit. 

Up today: The Emperor's Bride, a Finnish tea in a beautiful red packet. Off to put the kettle on right now...

And the Winner Is...

Bramble put all of the names of our subscribers into a basket, and then climbed in himself to mix them up really well. After a good rummage, he came up with just one slip of paper that said...

Carol Browne!

Thank you so much to all you brilliant people who read and comment and follow and subscribe and support and inspire. My goal is to give you all a little Travelling Tillberry, eventually!

The First Day of Advent

Who says you can only have one advent calendar? Round here, advent is an all day event! 

We'll start the day with a cup of advent tea (Lipton's Asian white tea, today)...

...turn over the first letter of the advent message...

...have a chocolate from the advent train to keep our energy up...

...discover what our little mystery Christmas activity will be...

...and we'll finish it all off by picking who will be adopting little Mr. Bramble the grizzly bear! In case you're not subscribed yet, go ahead and do it now. You've got until I go to bed tonight!

Simply enter your email address here:

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