Finished at last

Finally it is completed, a little later than expected but here at last!

family pics

Home made Apricot and Chocolate Snowballs Christmas Bark

getting creative

FP's latest creation - a beautiful snow hood to keep Mary warm

favourite family game

the snowball cookies went down very well this year!

A merry Christmas

Having a lovely holiday, Christmas day was busy: presents, church, more presents, out for dinner, back to grandma and Grandad's and home in time for Dr Who -following the usual tradition of events but that's the way the children like it ...we've had lots of rain and sleet today so the snow is finally clearing -hooray!

We're chomping happily through the mountain of chocolate treats stashed around the house and mostly just movie watching and relaxing as two of our brood have really bad colds....I always stock up on the Calpol for Christmas and New Year, somebody always needs it!
Fairy-pants is in Blythe heaven - her wish came true, she got her first Blythe doll for Christmas....and is already making berets and scarves etc.. for her to wear! Joe is also v happy with his train set, now he can be just like Grandad!

Life

Christmas gingerbread and another batch of gluten-free bread for JP....

FP has made a cute little doll for her friend for christmas, all her own design and work, really sweet !

Handemade Market Day

We had a very long but happy day, the Handmade  Market was on a slightly smaller scale than expected but we had lots of lovely customers and Daughter No 1 did a great job manning the stall while I was otherwise engaged in the kitchen. I was very proud of her today, she was a great help....It was a family affair as my middle sister came across to see us and brought her adorable kiddiwinks with her, my three loved seeing their little cousins....and of course  mum was there too, beavering away in the kitchen as usual, along with the rest of our coffee team - a whole kitchen of lovely ladies !
Also a surprise visit from Lisa and Lee with their gorgeous new baby girl - a tiny pink little bundle of loveliness....I love babies...So, a good time was had by all and we managed to raise some funds for church too!
Feeling very festive now, might try and escape for a bit of sneaky Christmas shopping tomorrow!

Pink and Green Mama: Homemade Christmas: Felt Food Cookie Jar

Another lovely idea for a homemade gift, perfect for little ones, take a look!
Pink and Green Mama: Homemade Christmas: Felt Food Cookie Jar

Acorn Pies: Light

A lovely quote, thought I would share :
Acorn Pies: Light

Boy fun

Family Photo's

Fun in the snow, volcano making, Christmas craft,this year's Advent calender, Christmas baking and new creations for the Handmade Market on Saturday.....

scrumdilly-do!: a different type of advent

I love this idea, I'm going to try really hard to have a go at this alternative calender, I think FP will be a perfect partner in this project ! :-
scrumdilly-do!: a different type of advent: "Christmas time is the time for advent calendars. It is the time for many things but advent calendars are used most this time of year. Why no..."

Catching up

A few new items for the Christmas stock: Little Felty Tags perfect for decorating the Christmas Tree and a Ragbag miss in need of a good home ! .. more bits and bobs to come !
Afternoon snack for after school - scrummy fruit scone and coffee ...
Made a very delicious home made roasted tomato and red pepper soup for tea - unfortunately I have no pics as we ate it all quick smart - with some gorgeous, crusty organic bread...so tasty...

On the needles at the moment: the shawl is growing steadily, loving the colour, it looks more festive by the day!

Bargain yarn

I bought a large ball of Mohair yarn on Saturday for the bargain sum of £1, this afternoon I began knitting a shawl with the yarn, using bramble stitch - it is looking lovely ....also a lovely seasonal shade of green!
Must crack on with JP's blanket and FP's cardigan, the weeks are slipping by so quickly, the frosty weather is here already, before we know it it will be Advent....

End of the weekend

Sunday evening, looking forward to a rest tom. - yesterday's fair did not go so well but fairy-pants bought herself a cute necklace with a mini packet of Love Heart sweets and we did purchase some lovely scones...so not all bad!
Busy day today, up v early to bake for this mornings coffee and refreshments, my children were involved in church parade and then it was down to mass - very proud of my youngest as it was his first class mass and they did really well, then it was off to the church hall to serve many, many pots of coffee and tea and delicious cakes...it was mad crazy today but lotsof friendly faces.

Only 45 days ...

Apparently it is only 45 days until Christmas - my lovely 9 year old sang this over and over to me this morning....we have had a lot of chat surrounding Christmas gifts between the chidren this last fortnight and the younger two sat together to write letters to Father Christmas last weekend ...even my eldest joined in by writing a list of  her ideal gifts...how helpful my children are, if only they put as much effort into keeping their rooms tidy etc.. Due to finances, Christmas this year will be more about quality than quantity, with much of Christmas being 'handmade' - mostly by myself !
In the meantime I have a few Fairs coming up, so my little hands will be crafting away on various winter wollies and gift ideas as stock for the stall...

Chez Beeper Bebe: Tutorial and Pattern: Cashmere BatBaby Hat & Beddy-Bye Beast

Lovely tutorial, beautiful colours and sweet designs ! Another for the 'to do' list !
Chez Beeper Bebe: Tutorial and Pattern: Cashmere BatBaby Hat & Beddy-Bye Beast

Chez Beeper Bebe: Matchbox Monsters

I love this little make as it is just as appealing to boys as girls, think this would be a lovely Christmas stocking idea !
Chez Beeper Bebe: Matchbox Monsters

What's new ?

Well, my youngest has started at Cubs this evening - he thoroughly enjoyed it and can not wait until next week ! A room full of boys chasing each other round in screaming circles is not my cup of tea, God bless the Leaders...
I have been busily knitting hats and bags for a fair on the 13th Nov in Greenfield as well as working on a Christmas blanket for my youngest - I started it so long ago now, who knows when it will be finished...FP's cardigan is also patiently waiting for me to complete it....
Fairy-pants has been busily crafting for the Blythe doll she is dreaming of for Christmas - who knows what santa will bring...she has made a lovely crochet blanket and created a bedroom under her own bed....
We purchased some gorgeous Christmas cards from the local RSPCA shop, a bargain I thought - picture to follow...on the subject of cards, JP's class at school have designed their own cards for Christmas, they have been printed up with the childs name on the back, his designs are great - I'm really proud of him ! I'll add some photo's soon !
Half term flew by last week, mainly because all three of the kiddiwinks had a bug ( the being very sick kind of bug, unfortunately) but there was plenty of quality time spent on the sofa together, movie watching etc..
No more time to chat at the mo' - in need of sleep !

scrumdilly-do!: Handmade "puff" paint

Here is a great link, I'm going to try making this paint at home with my youngest two, a great family make!
scrumdilly-do!: Handmade "puff" paint: "This is a nifty way to make paint with texture using good things from your own kitchen. If you or your child have problems with gluten, try ..."

Photo's of new stock

A selection of new stock, available in a variety of colours, my favourite items are the little Love Hearts that come in their own tiny box or bag - perfect for little people to love and cherish!

Zombie Felties

Zombie Felties

Great fun for this time of year - a bit of scary crafting with little people!

Family pics

Autumn for sure

It has been a lovely bright day, all golden and rusty in the sunshine - a 'proper' autumn day. But now the temperature has dropped and the wind is getting a bit frisky I'm feeling decidedly chilly! Anytime now we'll be snuggling down in our pj's with Harry Potter but first I thought I'd share a recipe with you for Ginger and Treacle Scones, they are delicious - I made a batch for Mr H and no.1 daughter to take up to Cumbria this weekend, they are not too sweet and lovely warmed and served with butter.
recipe:
8oz SR Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
2oz Butter or Marg
2 tsp Ground Ginger
6 tbsp warmed milk
1 rounded tbsp Treacle
Oven at 220C or 200C for fan oven.
Place flour, spice and baking powder in a large bowl, add the butteror marg and rub in with fingertips. Add the treacle to the milk and stir until dissolved, add the milk to the flour mixture and mix gently with a round ended knife, knead briefly before turning out onto a floured surface. Roll to a depth of 1.5cm and cut into approx 11 rounds using a 5cm cutter. Brush the tops with a little milk and bake for 10 -15 minutes until golden and well risen, best eaten warm with butter.        

Misty hills

After a night of heavy rain everything is a bit hazy and misty this morning, got myself all ready for the Harvest Service at school - which involved running around like a headless chicken, trying to make myself look presentable etc.. - only to discover in the playground that the service is actually tomorrow morning...usual story, now I just have to remember to turn up tomorrow...
Mr H is away in Scotland this week, it is a bit strange as he does not work away as often nowadays and it feels very quiet without him...of course it does mean I can watch whatever I like on TV in the evenings and leave as much yarn and crafty-stuff lying around as I like .... it also means walking the dog more often too ...
The Harry Potter reading continues as a ritual every evening, FP has been busy making Christmas cards and her Christmas crochet ...she is putting me to shame with her turnover, I must work harder...I've been trying to produce a pile of hats for a Fair in 2 weeks time but there has been a lot of unravelling and restarting, so it is not looking too good ...

retromummy: new fabrics

retromummy: new fabrics

As always absolutely gorgeous fabrics, really gets you in the mood for creating!

Pink and Green Mama: Handmade Quidditch Brooms

Pink and Green Mama: Handmade Quidditch Brooms

This link is v appropriate at the moment as we are avidly reading Harry Potter - at every available moment (myself and JP) - I love the brooms, they are beautiful!

Friday

Another busy week has gone by, I can not quite believe it ....a big tidy up this week and I managed to sort out my yarn and fabric boxes - things look much better but I'm not sure how long it will last, I will not be holding my breath...
Finally made a little laundry bag for little Liv and posted that out today... and stitched Mr H's tattoo sleeves that have been awaiting my attention for a week or so, not that he's likely to need them in this pathetic weather...Have been reading Harry Potter to JP before bed all week and he's really enjoying it, have tried several times before but it was a bit too much for him...at the moment he can not wait to get into his pyjamas, FP has snuck in to listen a few times as well - it has been really nice to snuggle up together...

My big project is a Victorian outfit for FP that she needs for school on Tuesday, I haven't quite got myself together yet but something tells me I'm going to have a busy weekend!

Moment to Moment: Green Salve

Moment to Moment: Green Salve

I really love this blog, I'd like to try this gorgeous green recipe soon too!

Pink and Green Mama: Preschool At Home: Pumpkin Play-Doh#links

Pink and Green Mama: Preschool At Home: Pumpkin Play-Doh#links

Cool idea again, must give this a try!

Basic cupcake pattern

The basic cupcake pattern is as follows, you can use different yarn types and colours to produce a heap of little cakes that are all completely different.

Cast on 40sts using dk and size 10 needles
Using 1x1 rib complete 10 rows
Change yarn (opt) and K 2 rows (the sponge of the cup cake)
Change yarn (opt) and complete 4 rows of st st (this is the cake topping)
Using same yarn k4, k2tog across row
Using same yarn p4, p2tog across row
k2 tog across row, k1
Gather up stitches and secure, turn inside out and stitch side seam, stuff body of cake really well and gather up cast on edge at bottom of cake to secure well.

Cakes can be decorated with beads, emboidery or anything else you have to hand, make them as plain or fancy as you wish!

Coffee Morning

Rain

The beginning of the second full week back at school and the rain is endless, one of those low cloud, can't see past the end of the street days - at least I have an excuse to avoid digging the allotment plot!
Anyhow, things are getting back to normal with the school routine, homework, Guides, swimming etc..
This weekend all the proceeds from the Saturday morning are going to the Pakistan appeal, so as well as the regular sandwiches and cakes I thought I'd knit up some 'cupcakes' to sell as well - they are coming along nicely, I'll post a few pics in the days to come.
F.P has been coming along with her crochet over the summer and is furiously creating Christmas gifts to sell for charity with the Craft Club at school...I'm really proud of her, she is making some lovely things.
J.P is really enjoying his new class at school, having a male teacher has had a really positive effect - long may it continue....my girls loved being in Mr T's class too.

More photo's