Crafty Thursdays

I battled on through a virus to complete our little clay tree ornaments. They came out surprisingly well! The clay is quite brittle so there were a few casualties on the way. I think the glitter really finished them off. It did get everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. We all looked like 70's disco queens by the end of the night. Still, I'm loving these wintery creative evenings!

shoe box appeal

We filled 5 boxes for the shoe box appeal this evening. It's so good for the kids to think about what Christmas means to less fortunate children - some of whom have NEVER owned a toy. This was quite a hard concept to grasp, i had to keep repeating it until the cries of, "OOOH this is nice, can I keep it" died down.

I always get them to put something of theirs in with a little letter from us all.

EEEEE, it warms me cockles just thinking about a little person being made to feel special somewhere out there. Check out the website for more info and lovely stories.

This boy was from Serbia, with out sounding too 'Daily Mail', it's heart breaking to see children in such dire circumstances.

If you get a chance, do try and do one yourself - I think the deadlines are up pretty soon so get on with it!

We also raised £90 from our toy sale at the weekend and excess toys will be going to local women's hostels and refugee centres.

The Blythe

I'm loving Blythe dolls! Find out more here - God their expensive but you can buy all these adorable outfits that I actually want for myself from Etsy!

Lauren has also fallen in love but i don't think Santa can stretch to £100, ouch!

craft underway

Here we are doing our 'air dry clay' evening, all washed down with tea, and wine strangely. It did occur to me that I'll have to be careful what images I post or you'll all know what you're getting for crimbo!

We cut or modelled flat cookie cutter shapes to make ornaments for our nearest and dearest to hang on their trees. This week we're going to have a bash at painting them. I've also been busy sewing up some pressi's too. But again, Mum's the word!

Big bub was a creative tour de force with her ideas, she brainstormed 20 ideas straight off the top of her head! She's also been busy making things for people.

Let the crafting commence!

We've started a craft revolt. We've spurned our traditional commercial Christmas which was all about 'stuff' and have opted to 'keep it real' this year. The baby Cheeses did not wake up in the manger and demand his Wii consol.
Spurred on partly by thrift and partly by a creative drive to get away from a commercial Christmas, the girly group are now meeting once a week to industriously churn out home made gifts for all. ('Oh no' groan the family). I offered to knit my sister in law a jumper with one arm longer than the other - she said she could use it as a straight jacket and could she have a Selfridges voucher instead. I said no of course and that she must suffer the home made goods.

Aim of the game: To be totally creative, spend no more than £50 on everybody, have fun and come up with original ideas to share with y'all.

Items created so far: Home made chutney x 7 jars.

Tune in to follow our experiment, through success and disasters we'll bring you the reality of crafting your own christmas. Can it really be done?
I think Tracy already failed on the cost, she spent £20 on mags for ideas and about fifty quid on materials in a buying frenzy! But I'm loving her ideas sketchbook so she gets to continue to the next round.

Coming soon: Pics of chutney, the recipe and cool labels. Clay tree ornaments, home made books, custom aprons, lavendar door hangers and gingerbread toys.