The Joy is in the Giving #ShareAdvent

Sharing experiences and making memories. This is the general theme for my Christmas gifts this year. M and I had already decided that we would put money aside for a 2014 holiday, rather than buy expensive presents. Last year, I bought my brother an voucher for Airkix, an indoor skydiving centre in Manchester. We had a brilliant day together, crashing into the walls of the air tunnel. 

I've decided to book another experience day for my brother this year. This time, we'll be going skiing. EEK! We're both complete novices and neither of us fancy booking a ski trip before we've had a little practise. Much as I'm sure I'd enjoy the hot chocolates and snug fires that often seem to accompany ski holidays, I have visions of spending most of a trip crawling around on the snow, being unable to get back up on my skis after toppling over, face first. To try to remedy this, I found a one hour taster session and decided that it would be a perfect chance for us to face our fears together! I've also booked theatre tickets to see Miss Saigon when it opens next year. I'll team this with an overnight hotel stay and my mum and I will have a girly date to look forward to. Really looking forward to watching them open the gifts, and planning creative ways to package them.

Who's left on your Christmas shopping list? Maybe you could treat them with a bit of quality time, tied with a big red ribbon, naturally!

Cosy Christmas Jumpers

Christmas is a-coming! My high school friends and I have cooked a Christmas dinner for each other every year since we were 18. It's another of my favourite Christmas dates. We've dressed in our finery, we've dressed in comfy slobs. This year, it's the year of the Christmas Jumper and so, I am jumping quickly and excitedly onto the Christmas Jumper bandwagon.

There's lots of Christmas jumpers around, ranging from a £10 supermarket novelty knit to ones that cost upward of £80 that you'd feel you ought to wear through to the following Christmas! I'm not necessarily budgeting myself at the low end, but certainly don't plan to spend silly money, either. Those extra pennies could be spent on mince pies and mulled wine, for goodness sake! Here's a selection of the ones I looked at.

Festive Red

• Topshop knitted gingerbread man jumper
• NEXT fun rabbit sweater
• Peacocks ski jumper

Dark and Cosy

• French Connection robin redbreast jumper
• Jolie Moi penguin jumper at Debenhams
• Dorothy Perkins reindeer jumper

Christmas Sparkle

• Topshop knitted crystal reindeer jumper
•  Marks & Spencer pure cashmere reindeer jumper
• Peacocks metallic cat jumper

A Little Bit Louder

• New Look sequin Christmas tree jumper 
• River Island Fair Isle jumper 
• Internacional Christmas sequin pudding jumper

Will you be wearing a Christmas jumper this year? I've now got to decide which one I'll buy, before they all sell out!

"Joy To The World" #ShareAdvent

Today, I baked my very first Christmas cake* to the beautiful sounds of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas Joy. The whole house was filled with delicious baking smells. We sipped a tipple of brandy, and caught up with Australian MasterChef while kittens slept on our laps. Best of all, I got to Skype with my best friend who is travelling for eight months. This was the perfect Sunday Joy, all the way from Kuala Lumpur! 

*I'll share my recipe soon. I'm so proud - it definitely looks edible and smells amazing!

Skin & Blister's #ShareAdvent

Earlier this year I followed Florence Finds' #JanuaryJoy and it was a whole lot of fun. It also encouraged me to engage with this space as my digital diary, as I had originally intended it to be, reflecting on each of Rebecca's prompts and finding ways to stay positive against potential post-Christmas blues. It was also great to see how other people had interpreted the prompts and read about what they got up to. I found some beautiful blogs through #JanuaryJoy.

This December, I plan to follow Anna at Skin & Blister's #ShareAdvent. The idea is to try to follow a daily prompt, and there's some fantastic ones! I'm really looking forward to it and also hope that it encourages me to 1) enjoy the little things 2) practice my photography 3) be a better blogger 4) take a break from work. All good things in my book! Here are Anna's prompts.

Sunday 8th will be our 2013 tree putting up day - possibly one of my favourite days of the year, and I already have a little something planned for 'the joy is in the giving'. It all kick starts on Sunday with "Joy to the World". Thinking caps on...

Find out more about #ShareAdvent here. Are you planning to join in? I'd love to see what you get up to.

Crafting: Candles in Teacups #JanuaryJoy

Today's #JanuaryJoy is all about making time to craft. I love a good bit of crafting.

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My school friends used to get together for Craft Club every Thursday. It usually ended up with more wine drinking than cross stitching, but it was a weekly highlight. As our shift patterns and commitments changed, Craft Club sadly disbanded. I now craft alone (sob!) but find that it is a great way to de-stress. 

My current craft project is for my #HeartSwap partner (find out more about #HeartSwap at Skin & Blister's lovely blog here) so its all a bit hush hush, for now. Instead, I'll share one of my Christmas craft projects.

I decided to make my mum a teacup candle (Pinterest link) and discovered that:

• It makes for an inexpensive gift
• It is fairly easy to make
• It will be very well received!

There's lots of candle DIYs around online, but here's how I made my teacup candle:

My mum and dad had a full Eternal Beau crockery service and it was always the 'special' set that came out for special occasions or when we hosted people for dinner. Around a year ago, my mum made the decision to sell the crockery so that she could have a bit of an update, but it was my feeling that it was also a sad thing for her. I was having a charity shop browse in October and came across a cup and saucer in the very same Eternal Beau range. I decided to buy it and find out how to make it into a teacup candle that she could keep to remind her of me, and of my dad. My mum has assured me that the teacup is burning down in the very fashion a candle should. Good news!

I am definitely going to make some more teacup candles in the future, not least because I have the remainder of a 1kg bag of paraffin wax to use up! I think the next adventure in candle making will be to add fragrance.

Anyone else made their own candles? Any tips for adding a fragrance?

A Merry Little Christmas 2012

Christmas tree packed away and first 'proper' day back at work; I think it's finally time I acknowledged Christmas is over for another year! I've had a great Christmas, full of family and friends, good food, cocktails, and DIY festive treats. It's always sad when the last bauble is wrapped in its tissue, hidden until the following December, but we've got lots to look forward to in 2013 and I'm armed with a full January to beat any pre-Christmas blues!

One More Sleep!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!

Merry Christmas x

Happy at... Christmas Markets

Christmas time! I love festive fun, but this year work has been so hectic and I am feeling the most disorganised I have been at this stage in the Christmas countdown. 

This year, I had 'pinned' countless Christmas crafts but, sadly, they are still on a rather long to-do list with little chance of getting any airtime this year. Never the less, I have not let this squash my festive cheer and I have been thrown into the Christmas spirit through visits to two full-of-festive-fun Christmas markets. 

First, me and Mr. went to London for the weekend. I had arranged the trip as part of my wedding anniversary gift, where I took inspiration from this post on Find Joy in the Journey, to create a 'year of dates' gift. We travelled down early Saturday morning and checked into a new favourite hotel, The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington. We had tickets to see Jools Holland and his rhythm and blues orchestra in the evening and so spent the day admiring the displays in Harrods, Liberty's and Selfridges. All beautiful with far too many tempting potential purchases. On Sunday, we educated ourselves at the National History Museum. Next, we headed towards Hyde Park for London's Winter Wonderland Christmas market and spent the afternoon drinking mulled wine, browsing the stalls and chomping on bratwursts. Lots of festive fun!

My second Christmas market trip was a bit further afield. Last weekend I travelled across to Germany to visit a friend who now lives and works over there. After an early morning flight to Munich followed by a two hour drive, I arrived in beautiful Nuremberg. It was great to catch up with my friend. I hadn't seen her since a month or so after the wedding and there was a lot to catch up on over a good Nürnberger bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard lunch.

I had heard a lot about the scale and spirit of German Christmas markets, and Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt in Hauptmarkt Square didn't disappoint. The market was split into different sections and included a children's market, Kinderweihnact, with a beautiful traditional carousel, Santa, and steam train. The wooden stalls across all areas of the market are filled with all sorts of lovely handmade items and edible treats.   

When the plane landed at 11am the temperature was announced at -7 degrees celsius. With the wind against us in the market, we of course found it necessary to warm ourselves up with lots of yummy glühwein, in these cute little cups! I managed to pick up a bottle to bring back and me and Mr. had it as we put up our Christmas tree!

It’s impossible to come back from snowy Nuremberg's Christmas market and not feel the Christmas tingle! I would definitely recommend a trip to Nuremberg, and to the city's Christmas market. Just be sure to remember your thermals!