Tag Archives: Christmas

So That Was Christmas

by Katie on December 27, 2012 in Daily Life

Well, that’s Christmas done and dusted for another year! We’ve spent the last few days eating, playing board games, eating, watching movies and eating. On Christmas day we slept in, then I made a batch of scones for breakfast which we ate while still warm, with jam and cream. We unwrapped our tiny bundle of gifts then spent the rest of the morning playing scrabble and cards outside in the sunshine. We set the table with handmade candles left over from this gorgeous wedding and the scrappy doily table runner I made for Handmade Christmas, then I made a delicious blue cheese and pear tart with walnut crust (based on this recipe), which we had with baked veggies for lunch. In the afternoon we watched Love Actually and ate trifle for dessert. It was quite lovely really. Low key and lovely.

I hope you all had a peachy Christmas. I can’t quite believe it is almost the beginning of a brand new year! Oh 2012, where did you go!?

Katie x

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A Humble Christmas

by Katie on December 23, 2012 in Daily Life, Food

Yesterday I baked red velvet cookies with white chocolate and crushed candy canes for some of our friends. I must confess, even listening to carols while baking red and white cookies, I didn’t feel particularly Christmasy. I’ve come to accept that that’s just how this Christmas is going to be. Usually I’m driven by this (somewhat ridiculous) notion that Christmas must be the most special, amazing and magical day of all time, but this year, I’m letting go a little. Christmas 2012 will be very quiet and understated for us. This year we aren’t able to see all our family and we don’t have money to spend on piles of gifts. But that’s ok. There is nothing so very terrible about a humble Christmas.

There is so much pressure on us all at this time of year. At Christmas we are bombarded with advertisements, television programs and blog posts featuring happy, sunshiney people. Cute kids surrounded by masses of presents. Huge extended families, laughing at the table around a giant turkey. Kisses under mistletoe at fancy parties. And while that’s all really wonderful when you have a fabulous Christmas planned, if you’re experiencing distances between loved ones, strained relationships or financial hardships… Well, that can be really tough. And in those cases, all the picture perfect imagery can just be a horrible reminder of how imperfect Christmas might be.

No matter whether you celebrate Christmas big or small (or not at all). No matter if you’ll be spending your days with crowds of family or quietly alone. No matter whether you’re gifted with lots of presents or none, I hope the next few days will be happy for you. I hope you’ll find pleasure in the little things and, despite our culture’s focus on material stuff, remember what really matters. Love. Peace. Gratitude. Hope. And if your Christmas isn’t shaping up to be the most magical day of the year, please remember that a quiet or (dare I say it) even an unpleasant Christmas is not the end of the world. It’s ok if the day does not go perfectly! There will be other years.

We’ll be spending the next few days quietly at home. We’ll eat lots of food. We’ll probably watch sappy Christmas movies and play boardgames. It won’t be fancy, but it will be nice. Nice and humble.

So Merry Christmas friends! Sending wishes of great joy and much love your way. We’ll see you on the other side of all the festive craziness!

Katie x

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We were in the Paper!

by Katie and Reuben on December 22, 2012 in Daily Life, Press

Today we were in the paper! The Bendigo Advertiser ran a lovely full page article all about our contributions to Handmade Christmas. This is the second time we’ve popped up in the Addy (here is the first), but it’s still strange seeing our faces and words in a real life newspaper. We feel so lucky to have so much support from our local community.

We hope you are having a lovely weekend and aren’t getting too frazzled with Christmas preperations. We’re almost there now!

Katie and Reuben x

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Salt Dough Stars

by Katie on December 18, 2012 in Craft, Daily Life, Handmade

I still can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. Normally, I count down from sometime in October until the day I can put our tree up on December 1st, but this year… not so much. Perhaps it’s because Reuben and I aren’t in our own home, so it just doesn’t feel “right”? Maybe it’s because my dad and brother won’t be able to visit (and Reuben’s family don’t celebrate Christmas) so it’ll be very quiet this year. Or because we’ve been a bit distracted by bigger things. Perhaps it’s all of the above!

This week I have tried to get myself into the festive spirit a little. I decided I couldn’t bear another Christmas with a fake tree (I’m sure that sounds ridiculous but I’ve always hated them!) so over the weekend Reuben and I bought a tiny little Norfolk Pine in a pot. It’s only an itty bitty thing this year, but by next year or the year after, it should be the perfect size. I like the idea of a tree that will grow with each year, and a small tree seems somehow apt for a Christmas that doesn’t really feel like Christmas. On Sunday we listened to Christmas carols and made rum balls. I baked a bunch of salt dough stars, while Reubs crocheted some little baubles (which are smaller versions of the baubles he designed for this book). Then yesterday I painted the stars white, smothered them with glitter and hung them on our tiny tree, along with Reuben’s crocheted decorations, my three french hens and some tiny vintage baubles. So the lack of feeling festive is not for a want of trying! Maybe another batch of rum balls would do the trick?

Have you ever had a year that just didn’t feel like Christmas? What do you do to get into spirit of things? I’d really love some suggestions!

Katie x

PS I used this salt dough recipe.

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Sweet Hearts and French Hens

by Katie on December 13, 2012 in Craft, Daily Life, Handmade

For the last week I’ve been feverishly stitching some sweet little heart pins.

I made one and thought “Oh that was fun! I might make another.” And then I made another. And another. And another… I’ve got quite a little bundle of them now! They are all made out of scraps of Liberty of London cotton, calico and lovely felt, handstitched with embroidery floss and lots of love. I might even pop a few of them into an Etsy store. What do you think?

I’ve also made some cute Christmas ornaments! I created these spiffy three french hens for Simply Homemade magazine. You can find the details here. You could even make your own!