Christmas Club 3 x

I apologise for this post being a day late but Blogger automatic posting failed :(

So welcome to week 3 of Sian's meme Christmas Club. Hope you are all loving the wonderful stories shared so far.

Todays story was inspired by Abi who reminded me from her story last week of some of the special times I have spent with my dad at Christmas time.

As many of you well know, I am a Christmas baby, not Christmas Day but Eve. Every year as a child I had to have my birthday parties days in advance as people were going off to relatives for Christmas so I although I was very lucky to have a party I felt my birthday wasn't the same as everyone elses.

Thankfully my parents had a cunning plan and my dad and I would go off on my birthday to the local cinema to see a film together. Looking back, I imagine it was also to give my mum time to get sorted for Christmas Day and also look after my baby sister and maybe have a quiet minute to herself.

Anyway, I can remember getting in the car all wrapped up warm and my dad driving us to Christchurch, our local cinema, to go the pictures. Driving to Christchurch was always lovely because you went through bits of the New Forest and also suburban areas where trees twinkled in the windows and as you came into Christchurch itself the town was decorated with lights up above us to celebrate Christmas.

I would hold hands with my dad as we walked into the cinema and he would buy the tickets to the film. There was only ever one choice as far as I remember and we would take our seats. Mum would send us off with a small bag of sweeties to eat and we would wait for the film to begin.

I remember the seats were soft and red and how the big curtain would open when the film started. It was always a Disney film as I think in those days they released them every Christmas. I vividly remember watching Mowgli dancing with bears, elephants and naughty monkeys,

singing along to the songs and even watching a Disney princess sing along while she did the housework, made 7 dwarfs dinner and eventually met her handsome prince.

But what I most remember is being with my dad on the way home and singing the songs together even if we didn't remember the words.

I hope you have special things you do together with your family at Christmas xx

Homemade Xmas door wreath x

I seem to have come over all Kirstie Allsopp this week and been making lots of crafty things. So I thought I'd share.

This has to be the loveliest and probably simple things to make and has a real impact on your front door. Having lived in a flat for the past 6 years I only had an internal door to decorate, however the wreath I made last year wouldn't withstand the weather so I decided to make one of my own for my new front door.


For a lovely wreath you will need the following:

• a florists double wreath ring which costs about a pound
• some ribbon I used red about 2" in width
• some florists wire
• a bag of fresh moss which I got from my florist for 50p for a big Tesco plastic bag full
• cinnamon sticks
• dried orange slices
• fresh holly branches I got mine in the market for £2.50 with loads of berries
• some pine twigs
• thinner ribbon 
• bells or other items to decorate

florist's wreath ring

a big bag of moss

wire, cinnamon sticks and orange slices

a big bunch of beautiful fresh greenery

So the first thing you need to do is moss up your ring. Take a big handful of moss and squish it into a lovely sausage shape, and yes you're going to get wet and dirty doing this. Place the moss sausage onto the outer rings and then wrap wire around it and the frame until it is safely secured. Keep doing this until your ring is completely mossed up. 

Next you want to get your fresh greenery and make little posies of the holly and conifer twigs. I made about 5 small posies. Wrap wire around the bottom of the stems and make sure you leave a long piece of wire for attaching to the moss.

Next take your posies and place them one at a time on your mossed wreath and choose where they will fit. Push the long piece of wire through the moss to the back and wrap this around to fix the posies to your wreath. Do this for all 5 posies.

N.B. I took loads of pictures to show how I did this on my phone but Picasa has lost all 1000 of my pictures and I cant figure out how to get them back so I'm sorry this is really wordy.

Once you have added the posies it is time to make the wreath your own. I chose some big bells, cinnamon sticks and oranges slices. I wrapped three cinnamon sticks with wire and added some thin red ribbon which I attached in the same way to fill any spaces. My oranges were already wired so I did the same. I made a little embellishment of the bells and cinnamon sticks and attached this at the top of the wreath.

To finish off I used a lovely sparkly ribbon which I tied into a big ribbon and wired through the back to attach to the wreath.

Finally I made a wire hanger from a long piece of florist's wire which I folded over end to end several times to make it stronger and then wrapped the ends around the wire ring.

Here may I present my Green and red wreath.

I hope you find a bit of time to make one of your own, it was great fun xx

It's a Christmas miracle - lol x

And by miracle I mean that yes I am actually writing a blog post after goodness knows how many months. But I do have several excuses. Want me to fill you in?................. Ok then, well for starters I had
Noah's flood  through my bedroom and then I got given notice at the flat so I had to move.

So Willow and I scoured the Estate agents trying to rapidly find a new home which is no mean feat when you are on Housing Benefit I can tell you. But luckily for us the House finding fairy worked overtime and we have moved here..........

Isnt it pretty? We now live in a small village 9 miles from the old place, we were very sad to leave but we have loads of fab memories and we hope to build a whole bunch of new ones now we are here.

The village is just far enough away from town to feel like you're in the country which you definately are. When I look out of my bedroom window I seem fields and hills. There are chickens across the road and when I go for a walk there are donkeys and miniature ponies up the road. It is truly lovely here.

the view from the churchyard 

Trying to actually live here was a struggle as I developed the worst laryngitis I have ever had and spent a month unable to speak, I mean seriously a month? But thankfully I can now speak exactly how I used to which means tons of chitchat.


Then Willow got assaulted by a badger, we think, and needed operations and stitches and trapping in doors, all in all traumatic for a cat who thrives on her independence.

Anyway we have now been here for 6 months, and just signed up for another six, and Christmas is upon us so that means Journal your Christmas 2014. I love this time of year and JYC is perfect for exploring your Christmas time and gaining new things too. So I am armed with my little notebook to write things down, my camera and my scrapbook supplies ready to document my Christmas 2014.


Speaking of scrapbooking a bunch of us crafters and bloggers all met up in September and had fun and frolics in Cirencester, you've probably alreay seen some pictures but I had a wonderful time and may do a little post about that of my own, I know late but better late than never.

One of the biggest changes for me this Christmas is that somehow after almost 49 years I met a boy. Well in all honesty he's a man cos he's older than me. We have a long distance relationship at the moment as he lives beside the seaside but as I love the sea I don't mind that. We walked along the coast in his town all summer and he is just the bees knees. Now that is my Christmas miracle if ever there was one.

So I hope you are enjoying the beginnings of the season and I look forward to having fun reading all the blogs I love and some new ones too. May I wish you all a Happy Christmas season and a lovely blogging time of the year.