Being naughty!...

I admit, I am not a good example...
DS2 made it very clear to me, "Mama, why can't you wait to open your Christmas gifts like we do? Something is wrong here, you are the only one who opens at the moment you get them, that is NOT fair!!!... Remember you always told us that "curiosity killed the cat"? Can you imagine if YOU were the cat?!"
Blame on me!!!.....
I had no words to excuse myself....
But then he gave me such a beautiful smile and said "Don't worry Mama, I just wanted to tease you!".
That made me feel better!
Specially because I had just opened another parcel :-))))
I was floating like this sweet little fellow!


Melanie still found the time to sent me a wonderful parcel:

She was so generous! Delicious chocolate, special tea, a lovely reusuable bag from Cath Kidston and a scented candle!

But that was not all!
She even sewed a little table cloth and three cute sonwmen!!! They are so sweet!

They are now hanging on the Tannenbaum!
Thank you so much for all these wonderful gifts, Melanie! With your caring and kindness you help to make this season a very special one!



Will I be not that naughty next year and let the presents under the tree until
Cristmas Eve?....That is a hard commitment!....

The house is decorated, every single corner has some ornies. I baked more cookies, went to the groceries stores ( but probably have to go there again tomorrow!) and wrapped all the gifts. Have I got everything done?...Yes, I suppose!
Time for a cup of tea!
Time to sit down and enjoy this wonderful and unique season!
I hope you can do the same! It has been so nice here in blogland, I am ever so happy I met all of you! It makes Christmas this year even more special!




Wishing each of you many joyfull, peaceful and whimsical moments during this Holiday!

Some pincushions and great awards

Oh my, I do need to go down town again for some more Christmas gifts....
I thought I could order and get them nicely at home, but it seems like I have to go through the crowded streets and shops once more!...I don't like it when it is so full, I get a bit mixed up and then I usually forget what I was really looking for. Let's see if I get it done in one afternoon!

Gudrun asked me to show my pincushion collection. I first thought of a slide show, but that would take some time so today I will show just a few of them:

This one is from a danish book. To me it is a star, but many people say it looks like a flower. Perhaps a "star flower"?!


A appliqued one, from McCall's quilting I guess.

My first beehive ( after four frustrated attempts! They looked like pumpkins or weird tomatoes or whatever, but not like what I wanted!).

And a little bee, I saw this pattern by Homespun and made it on the same day I bought the magazine:


My friend Melanie is always so kind, she thought of me once more and gave me wonderful awards. When I tell other friends (that don't have a blog) how nice it is in blogland, they wonder if I am not exagerating!...But it so true and I wish they would give it a try!



These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. You are to choose eight friends to share this with.



Here are the rules for Christmas award.
You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
You must link back to the person who gave you the award.
You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas.
If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!
Pass the award along to as many people as you like.
That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!
Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

5 things I love about Christmas:

1. Sharing, caring and spreading hope
2. The smell of Christmas spices
3. The lighted candles and old Xmas songs
4. Making and buying gifts
5. Dreaming of some snow!


I would like to give these two awards to:

Gina
Gudrun
Julie
Stina
Ulla
Nicole
Anne Marie
Eileen
Christy
Carol
Catherine


I have to hurry up now, I don't want to miss the bus!


Have a lovely week!
See you soon!

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time!

And I hope you are, too!

My friend Ulla, from Finnland, sent me a parcel and I could not wait..... I had to open it!!!!
It was so kind of her thinking of me. This sweet surprise was a great treat!

She used beautiful fabrics to sew all these lovely pieces! And she made a beautiful Cristmas card, writing her kind wishes is German (she has quite some talents!).
What could be more delicious than chocolate???
I love this pretty bag! And all the goodies inside! ;-))))

She also thought of my pincushion collection, isn't that one a cutie? Plus the needle keep as a set? I always make new ones, but getting them as gifts is the best thing about it! I think I will post about it some day so I can show all the different pincushions, there are flowers, a hat, hearts, beehives, etc.
What about you? Are you also addicted to making pincushions?

The postman brought me one more parcel!
Oh, boy! I am lucky!
I participated in Darlene's Honey Pot Swap and I got my parcel from Julie, all the way from Australia!


Inside this cute box were a very nice card, and her lovely gifts, wrapped so nicely:

She made a pretty star ornament, stitched a nice candle mat and made a nice card!
And she sent chocolate! I know, I know.....During this season I eat more sweeties than I should, but in January I will set them aside....
Make her a visit, she has lovely sonwmen and other Christmas decoration on her blog!
My parcel has also arrived in the USA!
I was a bit in a hurry when I was wrapping the gifts that I forgot to take pictures of what I made for Nicole!...But she posted about it! In case you would like to see what I sent her, take a look at ther blog!



The last parcels will be sent next week. Fortunately they need just a couple of days to get to their recipients so I don't have to hurry too much.
We will be looking for a Cristmas tree this weekend. The whole family comes along and we look and look and look again... And we always ended up buying the one we saw first! It has happened so many times, it is really funny!
Actually according to the tradition here, the Tannenbaum should be first decorated on Christmas Eve. The kids should not see it, it is meant to be a surprise. But we broke with this tradition!....It was such a stress to cook, go to the church, trim the tree and keep the kids busy so they would not come to the living room that we decided to change it a little bit.
At home we buy and decorate the tree on the third Advent, we realized that the boys had so much fun in decorating it that we decided to always have it like that. Our sons are older now, but DS2 still loves to trim it with me and sometimes he laughs and giggles when he finds an old ornament he or his brother made when they were in Kindergarden. I think that is what counts, having fun with your kids, laughing, "sharing the duties" so Mrs. Santa Claus is not that busy and having the most joyful and peaceful moments that will last a life time.

Wishing each of you a very special weekend!
With family gatherings and lighted candles!

Gingearbread wishes

I have been sew beesy!!!

Going to two Christmas markets meant a lot of work like sewing, organizing, packing, decorating the the tables, standing there about nine hours...
During the last two weekends I was at a very nice hotel, where some more artisans were also selling their items. The first weekend was nice and fine, but the second one was kind of slow, it was very cold and wet and I think that was the reason why people were not coming. But now I am glad I can settle down a little bit and carry on with the decoration and all the other things for Xmas at home!

I know I have a lot to catch up, so many great posts to read and comments to answer!
And a wonderful award from my dear friend Ulla!
It was such a nice surprise when I finally turned on the computer and started visiting my blogging friends!
You get me going Ulla!

Now it is time to pass it on. The rules are as follows:

1. 5 people are allowed to receive this award

2. 4 dedicated followers

3. 1 new follower to your blog who lives in another part of the world

4. Please link back to the person who gave you this award.

This award goes to these lovely, kind friends:

1. Anne Marie
2.Anne Mette
3.Anne Ida
4.Nicolette
5.Lisa

Thank you girls for making blogland a beautiful place to be!!!

As it is starting to look a lot like Christmas....
Part of the decoration is now out of the boxes!
I'm choosing new places and looking where I should place and arrange them.
Every year I get another idea and I like when it looks a bit different.
I closed my old sewing machine, put a table cloth on it and set these fellows to greet everyone who comes in:

Another Santa. I found this kind of wire at a flea market and I think it was a good buy for this wall hanging:

Some red stitchery, it looks nice and goes along with every season.
The Gingerbread man is always welcome!

A place for Christmas cards( these ones are from last year, but I hope we'll get some again this year! ). The linen fabric with these Santas or Santas's helpers is one of my favorites, I have sewn quite some pieces using it.

Moose and reindeers gather here:

Should I hang the mittens?

Or the stockings?
Perhaps both of them!


And what would be the Advent and Christmas without cookies?
Not a sweet one for sure!
I love to bake and to eat these ones:

They are called "Kulleraugen", something like "big eyes" I guess!

Hmmmm.... Chocolate!!!
The greatest creation ever!

Don't they look delicious?
Chocolate cookies with white chocolate on top!
I always have to bake them twice!

The ones DS2 loves to help to decorate:

Next week I'll bake some other ones!
Cookies are like Fat Quarters, one never has enough!


Finally, the tutorial for the little bag.
What you need:

Two pieces of fabric for the bag 15 cm xc 13,5 cm (6" x 5 1/4")
Two pieces of fabric for the lining 15 cm x 13,5 cm (6" x 5 1/4")
About 30 cm (12") red ribbon
Ric rac
Polka dots ribbon


Sew the ric rac on the right side of both pieces for the bag:

Place right sides together (for the bag and also for the lining) and sew with a 0,6 cm (1/4") seam allowance:

Using the bias square ruler, measure and mark 4 cm (1 1/2") for the bottom at both sides:

Fold it like this so that you have a line where you will be sewing:


Cut the pieces off:

Fold about 1 cm (1/2") hem and press it with the iron. For the bag inwards and for the lining outwards:

Cut two pieces of ribbon 15 cm (6") each:

Make some marks about 3 cm (1 1/4") with a pencil where the ribbon should be sewn:

I like to sew both ends together with zig zag so that they stay neat when I turn them out. You don't need to do that if you don't want to:

The lining should be inside the bag:

Place the ribbons on the markings, secure everything in place with pins:

I use my old Pfaff for this tiny work, I take off part of the section and the bag goes right in!
Sew with a scant seam to hold all the layers together:

Make a pretty ribbon, sew it to the bag and there you go!
Ready is your little bag!
I hope you'll have fun sewing some little bags like I did!


I have to wrap and pack some Christmas gifts for a Swap and a "Secret sister" and then I must go to the post office. There are still some work to be done!

Have a lovely week!