On the Twelfth Day of Christmas.....

I'm almost done making - just a few bits and bobs to finish off.  So today I'm posting these cute little fairies that will be wrapped up with a few other Christmas goodies in the little houses I showed you yesterday.  They are made by a Fairtrade project in India and I bought them at a Christmas Fair earlier in December held at a National Trust property.  The red one is, of course, a Christmas Fairy and the pink one a Princess Fairy. 

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The business is the brain child of a beautiful girl called Louise from Brighton and here she is with some of her sewing ladies.  Its called Believe You Can and I really wish I'd looked it up before as I could have bought more goodies for the fairy-loving members of the family.  But then there's always next year, and birthdays.  I would love it if you'd visit Louise's wonderful project too and perhaps buy a thing or two.  I know the recipients of my fairies won't appreciate the story behind them, but as I said to the stall holder at the fair, I certainly do.

On the Eleventh day..... we're nearly there!

I bought a job lot of these little acrylic cottages some time ago so I think its about time one or two saw the light of day.  I filled these two with nail polish and other nail related bits and pieces I hope will please two gorgeous young girls in the family.  They are finished off with stuffed crochet hearts attached to clips I thought could be key rings, bag charms or to tag something else that needs quick identification, such as a suitcase.

I can't put my hand on the heart pattern at the moment but I think its probably this one from Le monde de Sucrette. 

One more day to go and I hope you are all more on schedule with what you want to do than I am!  I expect my friend Baukje is - she seems to get so much done in a short time.  Take a look at her Twelve Days of Christmas for more inspiration.

On the Tenth day its time to Wrap!

Heck I've nearly missed my tenth day post - its been a busy day with work and then family arrivals for the holiday, but there was just time to wrap a couple of parcels before midnight.

To be honest I don't really go to town with wrapping, it seems a bit of a waste to me, and I certainly hate to see all those recycling bins overflowing with the detritus of Christmas on the first collection day after the festivities.  So every year I like to reuse paper I've collected from parcels and packing.  There was a long length of crumpled brown paper in one parcel I received sometime in the last 12 months and I remember smoothing it out and rolling it up for just this moment.  It was easy to turn it into Christmas wrap with a small reindeer stamped randomly all over in chocolate brown.  And garden raffia to tie it up just seemed right.  My simple office stationery tags finished off the the home made look I think.  I even reused one of those board backed envelopes in the same way for one gift - can't say what it was but it was flat and had 12 pages!!! ;o)

Stamps:  Folk Art Christmas Additions and Twas the Night Before Christmas from Waltzingmouse Stamps

On the ninth day of Christmas..... crocheted stars

I was hoping to give hyacinths in bloom as Christmas gifts this year........... err, no!  Late as usual!  But they'll be something to look forward to after the festivities are over and will bring a hint of Springtime on its way.  Anyway I thought the bulbs needed a bit of adornment (though I think they are beautiful in their own right) so I'm crocheting last minute stars to match the pots they are growing in.

My good friend Baukje sent me a beautiful star last Christmas and I managed to track down the pattern in ATERGcrochet's shop on Etsy to make some for myself. 

Here's the lovely softly coloured star Baukje made for me and here's the link to the pattern shop if you'd like to make some too. 

Remember Baukje is crafting away till Christmas too so do visit her for some more last minute inspiration.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas.....

Thought you might like to see the fabulous sunset we had yesterday - the colours were so strong they reflected onto the clouds on the other side of the vale.  There was a sprinkling of snow on the hills too.  Beautiful!

Its time to get out the decorations from their long hibernation under the stairs.  I've been collecting old decorations for years and I'm very fond of these 50s transparent plastic ones I remember we had on our tree when I was a child.  I got these pictures the other day in that short window of sunlight I'm treated to around midday in my front room. 

The reindeer is my favourite design but I love them all even if others think they are a bit naff!

I'm still collecting - mostly on ebay, but they are becoming quite difficult to find. 

I remember these plastic swallows too....... 

and the tinsel stars.  The human brain is a strange thing - I wonder why these decorations from long ago invoke such strong memories of my childhood.

And who would have thought old bits of plastic could look so beautiful! 

On the Seventh day of Christmas..... paper angels

I found these paper angels on Etsy today - isn't the internet wonderful!  I've always loved cut-out anythings.... there used to be lots of them in women's magazines and comics when I was a little girl and I could not wait for my Mum to let me have the pages when she was finished reading.  Anyway, I digress - I saw a lovely paper wreath on Pinterest and headed over to Etsy to investigate Sky Goodies.  I purchased and downloaded the angels and some Christmas baubles, printed them out and in about half an hour had six angels with no sticking required.

The simple shape is perfect for children to cut out but they may need an adult to demonstrate the easy construction - its just two cuts slotted together.  I've used very thin card which will go through my temperamental printer and curve easily into shape.

Its another dull day today so my photos are poor but here is Sky Goodies' own image.  Sweet or what - can you resist them?  I think I might download the wreath when I've a bit more time to fiddle.

On the sixth day of Christmas.... more Hama beads

They look very uninspiring in the packet but I've been pleasantly surprised by how pretty these plastic beads turned out when fused together.  All that's required is an iron and some non-stick baking parchment.  It takes a bit of practise to get fusing just how you like it.  I watched a couple of videos on Youtube - unfortunately I can't remember which ones - but its all pretty straightforward.  Once I'd peeled the beads from the peg board and paper I left them under a few books to keep them flat while they cooled down.
 

Of course at Christmas time snowflakes are the design to try but I also liked my Christmas trees and baubles.  In fact it was hard to stop myself making them!  I've an idea to hang them in the window as they look very pretty when the sun shines through them.

They look lovely if the sun shines through them, especially if you add a few self adhesive gems. As with the peg dolls the other day, I've gathered some lovely inspiration on my Hama Pinterest board.  Here are some more designs packaged up for a recent Chritmas fair.  I'm looking forward to trying some designs other than Christmas in the New Year.

Don't forget to nip over to my friend Baukje at Busy Bee Free who is also crafting away till Christmas!