Post christmas blues...

Well, that was over quick wasn't it? all that preparation, shopping, wrapping, running out of paper, sellotape-time...one thing we certainly won't be running out of until about Easter, is biscuits, for some reason we managed to rather over-estimate the quantity of packets of happy faces & hob nobs!!!!
I have been feeling rotten now for about 5 days, I feel fluey, achy & very tired, I thought I would sit & blog while I am waiting for the Medised to kick in...(yes I know it's for the children, but it happens to work wonders on me!)
We went to the panto today, Cinderella, it was fantastic, the two girls loved it, think the story was a bit girly for my seven year old boy,.....too much kissing in it!!
We have got a lot going on next year in the way of shows & stuff, Oliver in February, a generous gift from my auntie, I am taking my eldest to see Girls Aloud in May half term and in July, Take That at Wembley....as you will see I have added the countdown to my blog !!!!!!!

Ready for Christmas ...

I think I'm done now, house cleaned, presents wrapped, mince pies made & half eaten, school over (yay!) we've even opened the tin of quality street!...just the matter of the hoovering, which has to be done everyday, changing beds, tidying up toys & going up the town to get a few things extra...not much really...my crafting stuff is away in the shed on it's christmas holidays, ready for the burst of inspiration I usually get around end of January....it's so exciting here, my littlest is counting the sleeps, so cute & the advent calender is filling up with open windows, I have been so busy cutting greenery from the garden & making wreaths & centrepieces, I can't find any mistletoe though...will maybe go for another walk later on to search for some, I haven't had any time for the pc, only to quickly check on emails, my blog, etsy & deviantart are sooo taking a backseat at the moment, I promise I will catch up on it all after christmas!

Todays happy thought: And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Decking the halls according to Happy house.....

I know most of you have had your decorations up & sparkling for a while now but we at home don't put ours up until sunday, not because we are humbugs, we love christmas here, in fact, we would probably buy a house based on how good it would look with snow on the ground & a huge christmas tree twinkling in the window, but ten years ago when our little christmas Rose arrived two weeks early, it was a week before we were no longer too shellshocked to acknowledge it was christmas, & we needed to put up the tree !

So it was then decided that this was to be our tradition, decking was to wait for a week after our eldests birthday, this is also the best time to do it as, I like to clean everywhere from top to bottom, inside & out etc....to make the house clean & fresh before we decorate (Ihave to ask myself why I am sitting here telling you all this when I obviously have so much to do then....)
Usually by this time of the month, I have finished all my craft orders by now & the craft stuff is put away until January, except for the wreath, centrepiece equipment....so by the time the tree is up, everywhere is ready, cards sent, presents wrapped, ( er...ok, nearly) & as long as everyone just doesn't move, it will stay like that until christmas...aaaah !

Ok back to the real world, I have presents to wrap ,cards to write, teachers presents to make, and... er...think about, ironing, curtains to wash & dry...& thats just today!

maybe next year!

Todays happy thought: Christmas comes but once a year, so celebrate & give a cheer!

Just when you thought it was safe to ...er...eat cake!

It was my daughters 10th birthday on Sunday, she likes Jaws, a lot, so Saturday night, I get out my pencil to make her a card! could I find a picture of a shark anywhere in the house???? no, despite having several books on them, ...so I had to seriously use my imagination & got the toy Great white shark from the bath & sat there with it in my left hand to keep it at the right angle I wanted to draw it!!
Earlier in the day I discovered that there was nowhere local to get sugarpaste from, I had decided to use this rather than marzipan, to get the shark colour right for the cake! I had a little bit of black & white that my sister-in-law had given me earlier in the week to use up, but it wasn't quite enough, so again I had to improvise....I mixed up a little icing sugar with warm water & made a kind of "sugarclay" I added this to what I already had & got a lovely deep grey, perfect!
I then despatched my son to get me a victim (I have to say, 10 yrs ago, I thought I would be forever making pink, fluffy stuff for birthdays!) he came back with a german soldier from Indiana Jones lego, ...with no hair, I asked if there was anything more suitable, that might pass for a swimmer, surfer or just someone who wouldn't look out of place on a boat or beach?....I was told no, I did insist on him finding some hair though, so he came back with obi-wan-kenobis hair????!!!! anyway, it didn't really matter as his legs were going to be eaten & his body pushed deep into theblood soaked water...mmmm lovely!!!!
I was quite pleased with the result as it was a very improvised cake, & she loved it!!

Todays happy thought;To have a friend, you have to be one.

Wrapping

Today I'm busy wrapping Christmas presents for family & party bags for Roses friends on Saturday, we are having a Cookalicious party! (see my other blog)I'm also finishing off a few Etsy orders, so while the clay is cooking I thought I would settle down for a few minutes & post!

I have been making christmas decorations of my recipe boards this week, I love them, see them on Etsy, all inspired by baking, crafting & art, also I was commissioned to create a Jaws themed card, which reminds me, I need to make a Jaws themed cake for sunday.....
Todays happy thought: New shoes cures the blues