{merry christmas}

Hope you had a lovely Christmas! We were in San Antonio this year, celebrating with icy wagon rides, too-cute T-shirts, and lots of playtime with Tilly's little cousin, Will. 

Tonight, we're busy eating all of our Christmas chocolate and having a restful night, just the three of us and a pot of left-over advent tea. What a lovely end to the holiday.

{abstract art, junior}

This Christmas, we decided to take advantage of Tilly's new colouring craze. I saw this lovely idea on Pinterest, to frame a child's art along with a photograph of them creating it. 

So, out came the crayons and the camera, and we got to work.

(Can you spot Justin's drawing of a baseball bat bat? Genius)

Of course, when buying the frame, I didn't think to check it was the right size for my photo -- a 5 x 7 frame for a 4 x 6 photo. Rather than leaving blank space around the photo, I cut out an extra big piece of art -- enough to fill the lower frame, and serve as a mat for the photo in the top frame. I love how the colouring overlaps -- because, really, what fun is it to stay within the lines?

Signed and dated, of course, for future reminiscing pleasure. It seems we've got another lover of red in our midst...

Note: Our quilt for this month is finished -- have a look here.

Also Note: I was lucky enough to be a part of The Pickled Herring's Scandinavian Christmas again this year. You can read my post on the Danish nisse here. 

{most of a part of a bit of a quilt}

Roaming the pinboards for inspiration, I stopped short when I saw this piece of patchwork, from haven. 

I've been wanting to use some of the old quilt scraps that Justin's grandma gave me to make a new quilt -- to take some of that beautiful hand-stitching and not just recycle it, but take it back to its old life a little bit. And maybe transfer some of that seventy-year-old magic to my slightly more modern choice of fabrics. Red, white and grey -- the official sponsors of Christmas 2011.

Can you spot the antique?

(No, Justin's ten-year-old shirt doesn't count!) 

Happily, my giant pile of "nice fabric" old clothing is shrinking down to a single box. The lid doesn't quite fit on it yet, but we're getting there.

Also in the mix: a pair of baggy Thai trousers from our honeymoon that never quite looked as hip once we were back in America, mikodesign's lovely russian doll fabric, a great stash of red fabrics from my Mum, a rather more revealing top than I'd ever like to admit to wearing, and a couple of those $1.99 a yard! fabrics I see now and then at Walmart and can't resist, though I don't know what to do with them.

Of course, even after cutting and piecing six king-size rows of strips, the whole thing is looking a little short. Wrap it around yourself on a chilly morning and you'll have some frost-bitten ankles. So, back to the cutting board for now...

{diy: stamped ornaments}

Beautifully heavy, these lovely ceramic baubles felt much fancier than the $1.99 price tag (and 40% sale) suggested. I came home with three, fully intent on hanging them, pristinely white, on the tree. "It'll be so simple and Scandinavian," I told myself, happily imagining a whitewashed house, ten feet of snow, and a sauna in our (imaginary) basement.

And then along came this pin. Abby, of Aesthetic Outburst, had found the same baubles, and drew on hers. Is there anything that woman can't draw geometric shapes on?

After our anniversary plate painting, though, I'm a little wary of ceramic paints. Our fancy-schmancy Porcelaine pens dribbled, spat, globbed, or did nothing even after twenty minutes of furiously bobbing them up and down. So instead, out came the stamp pad. Two minutes later -- with no arm bobbing and minimal dribble (from the stamps, at least) -- ta da!

This is the point where everyone says, "Who on earth is Matilda?" -- yes, that's Tilly. Spin Tilly's bauble around and you'll see the year she was born printed on the back. (Spin mine around and you'll have no such luck... I'm predicting that there'll be a point in the not-so-distant future that I won't want that information available to the public).

Now, should I run back and get another one (two? three?) to save for imaginary, possible, hypothetical future family members, or is that really just asking for trouble? 

{pinterest challenge: little houses}

The Pinterest Challenge is back! The idea: to take an idea you've pinned, and make it a reality. Last time, a blurry shot from a room set became a giant canvas. This time, I'm working on a smaller scale...

Inspired by all the miniature clay houses on my Little Houses board, I picked up a few packs of Sculptey on sale, and a jar of enamel paint. How hard can it be to make a pointy square?

Turns out, not hard at all, with the help of a steak knife and a rolling pin. The difficult thing was preventing crumbling. As you can see, lots of my houses have that chalky rubble-sort-of-look of a thousand-year-old Danish church.

Spread out across a map, it was just like looking across the fields in Jutland as we drove across Denmark this summer, seeing spire after spire poking out of the trees. (Just pretend it's not a map of Japan, where, I'm sure, mini skyscrapers would be much more appropriate)

A bit of stamping...

...and we're red-dy to write our own little house messages. I'm playing with the idea of an advent town -- twenty-four houses, stamped with the numbers 1 through to 24, one of which will appear each evening as Christmas grows near.

P.S. Bonus Pinterest Challenge also completed: to use a map, somehow, anyhow. Since Sophie kindly sent in the antique French map, I've bought a hand-drawn map of Bungay in Suffolk, been given the Japanese map above by my Dad, and a map of Bahrain by Justin. Now, to put them to use!

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!

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.

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.

Christmas Challenge

Now that Thanksgiving is over, turkeys everywhere are putting on their Christmas hats to prepare for the next holiday.

And, to spread a bit of Christmas joy in the next few weeks, lots of other things around here will be donning Christmas hats, too. In fact, I'm on a mission to cover the neighbourhood in Christmas cheer.

But why stop at one neighbourhood? With your help, we can cover the whole world in little Christmas hats!

So, I challenge you to join me. I've written a little tutorial on how to make Christmas hats yourself, using either red and white paper, or red and white felt. Whip up a few hats of your own to adorn the statues and garden folk of your home and those of your neighbours!

 

How to Make a Christmas Hat:

You can use either paper or felt, and the same instructions apply. With paper, you'll need tape and glue; with felt, you'll need thread and, optionally, fabric glue. For both, you'll need a pompom for the top.

Cut a cone shape from your red material. I like to use a corner of the paper or felt, as shown below. The longer the straight sides are, the bigger your hat will be. Usually, two sizes will fit most statues: 4 inch sides for a small, 8 inch sides for a large.

Place the rounded edge of the red shape on top of a piece of white paper or felt. Cut along the edge, so that you get a matching edge on the white paper.

Now, cut a parallel line along the edge of the white paper, to make the band at the rim of the hat. For a small, the band should be 1/2 an inch wide; for a large, it should be 1 inch wide.

Now, you have these two pieces:

Glue along the rounded edge of the red material if you are using paper. If you are using felt, use fabric glue, or stitch the band in place with white thread.

Place the white band on top of the glue, making sure all the edges line up.

If you are using paper, add a strip of tape along one long side. It should be sticky side up. You will then roll the hat up into a cone, and stick the edges together. If you are using felt, roll the cone up, and then stitch along the long sides to hold it together.

Your cone should look like this:

Add glue to the point, and stick on a pompom. You can also stitch it on, if using felt.

Ta-da! Now, go out and put in on some garden statues!

So, have a go at making a hat or two (or buy yourself a couple of cheap ones -- they are everywhere right now!) and put a smile on your neighbours' faces. And every week or so, I'll put up a few of the best photos from the group on here, so check back to see how we're taking over the world!

And Yet More Advent...

I have a feeling that, by the time December 1st actually rolls around, we'll have so many advent calendars around here that we'll spend all day every day up to Christmas opening doors, drinking advent tea, and, now, flipping over little numbered red hearts.

I was inspired by this advent calendar, which reveals a letter of a hidden message each day. A lovely way to count down to Christmas, without it having to mean more sweets to eat!

(source)

So, on the backside of each heart is a letter, and on Christmas Eve, when the final one is turned, it will read "We wish you a Merry Christmas."

And yes, it's another good use for my peppermint wool or your baker's twine!

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe by email if you'd like to give Bramble Bear a home!

Simple enter your email address here:

FeedBurner

Head on over here for more Creative Spaces!