On The Mantel: December

Ah, December. A month of extremes, of light and dark, activity and rest. It's always a very busy month for us with many family birthdays, and the build up to Christmas Day is inevitably a slightly chaotic rush of shopping, baking, wrapping, decorating, parties and get togethers. All very fun and all very tiring. I always like the post-Christmas lull the best, that golden week between Christmas and New Year when it's acceptable to loll around in your pyjamas all day, eating turkey sandwiches and doing jigsaws. 

My December mantel is a restrained affair, largely because all the Christmas stuff is still up in the loft. There is no point putting the tree up this year, as we'll be taking it down again next week, and there's barely room for it anyway what with all the boxes. But I have permitted myself one small space for festive decoration, one calm and quiet area to fill with prettiness. I was thinking about mountains, sunsets, bare trees and frosty mornings when I did this. Some of the best things about Winter. 

I bought these cable car tree decorations in Asda a while ago and think they are completely adorable. (John said I should put toy soldiers in them and act out Where Eagles Dare.) Imagine, if you will, that they are travelling gracefully up a big grey mountain...

My eBay alpine painting hangs here temporarily, joined by a line of reindeer marching along the top. 

Do they have reindeer in the Alps? I don't know if they do.

Our homemade tea light holders glow nicely. I love these, we light them most days.

I have a thing about snowglobes and couldn't resist this polar bear. I am pretty certain that polar bears do not live in Alpine regions. 

I didn't add the children's stockings this year. They're too red. I know, it's terrible, isn't it? Instead I hung some warm socks.

Here is my mantel last year (on the right) and the year before (on the left). Definitely more Christmas-tastic.

It's just so nice to have one small area of order amid the disorder! John just said to me "What will you do if there is no mantel in our new house?" Don't worry, I'll make sure that never happens.

A Shawl

Thank you so much for all your good wishes for our move. I am glad I'll be able to share it all with you here. I intend to continue blogging throughout the move; it's too much of a habit for me to stop now, plus it's something I enjoy very much, and I appreciate the way it makes me stop and reflect in busy times. However, I will certainly have less time to visit your blogs over the coming weeks so please bear with me there. 

Today I have this beautiful shawl to share with you. (Actually, these photos make me feel quite calm. Do they have the same effect on you? I think it's the absence of boxes and bubble wrap.) I finished this about a month ago but didn't want to spoil the surprise as it was a birthday present for my lovely mother in law. 

Before I made this shawl, I was fairly certain of two things that I definitely did not like. The first was shawls. I think I am more of a scarf or wrap kind of person. The second was variegated yarn. It always tempts me in the ball with it's pretty stripes, but knitted or crocheted the effect can be lost, giving a muddy, patchy effect. Well, what do you know? It appears that I do in fact rather like both shawls and variegated yarn. The shawl - the South Bay Shawlette - is an absolute dream to make. So, so enjoyable - each row works up steadily but is never boring - and while it looks nice as it is, it is transformed by blocking. I won the yarn in a giveaway years ago and I'm so glad I did, or I'd never have tried it. It's Noro Silk Garden in colour way 84, which is a dark pink with reds, oranges, browns, greens and purples running through it. It's not cheap (I won three balls but bought a fourth to finish the shawl) and feels quite rough to work with, but I really liked watching the colours change throughout the project.

So, that's why making things for others is fun and rewarding - it makes you try new things, new patterns, different yarn. Variety is the spice of life and all that. Tomorrow we are off into Leeds to do some Christmas shopping. I'm really looking forward to it. I've done most of mine but have a few last bits to buy, and I'll enjoy wandering around town looking at the lights and making the most of what will be one of our last trips into the city centre for some time. 

Friday Happies

Aghhh! It's all got a bit much; too much to do, too much to think about. Lists. I have a lot of lists, with headings and sub-headings, highlighted sections. If I lose a list all hell will break loose. You see, the thing is, alongside all the usual Christmas mayhem, we are moving house. Before Christmas, too, which is sooner than we'd expected. If not before Christmas then straight after, probably at a date selected to maximise stress and bad timing. This is one of those things that has been rumbling along quietly in the background of our lives throughout this autumn, and I haven't wanted to say anything until we had definite facts and dates, and now suddenly it's all upon us. We are relocating to the south coast to be nearer my family, among other things. It's a big move, a scary and exhilarating one, but also feels like very much the right thing to do for us as a family. I am a whirlwind of emotions right now. So, as well as trying to remember that it was non school uniform day for Bella today, and Angus had a school trip (which I went on too - I'm shatterred), and they both had to take in something for the Christmas fair, and then they had the dentist at ten past four, and to have all John's family's Christmas presents wrapped and ready by this weekend when we see them, and a million and one other things, I am ringing removal companies and solicitors, ringing schools, sorting out the garage, ordering boxes. Oh, and I said I'd make Bella and Angus a fox and doe from here and I haven't even started them yet. 

I nearly didn't bother writing my happies this week as I thought, honestly, I've got nothing to say. I'm not unhappy, no, but I'm certainly distracted. But in among the craziness there are moments of calm and peace, happiness even, and they keep me sane.

1. Wrapping Christmas presents when the kids were in bed while watching my The Box of Delights DVD. It's a tradition of mine to watch this every year. I loved it as a child, and love it even more now. In an effort to have one less box to pack, I decided to use only paper, tags and ribbon I already had in the house. 

So it's brown parcel paper, any ribbon scraps I could find, and gift tags made from last year's Christmas cards.

It's what's inside that counts, anyway.

2. Mince pies. I love them and would happily eat them year round if it was socially acceptable, and I always do a little happy dance when it's ok to buy them. I don't think there will be time to make any this year so I'm embracing the supermarket ones. 

3. Soups and stews that simmer away on the hob, making the late afternoons less dark and dreary.

4. Watching the children's faces while they watched their Portable North Pole videos. If you don't know of it, you upload a photo and some facts (name, age etc) and a free, personalised message from Santa (or Father Christmas as I insist that he's known in this house - I realise I'm fighting a losing battle on that front) is sent to your inbox. Best of all, I think Bella is still a believer! I've never been one for queueing up in a shopping centre of theme park to "meet Santa" but this is a little bit of seasonal magic that I'm more than happy to indulge in. 

5. Being able to call some homemade gifts "finished".

A scarf for a man, in blokey colours, which by coincidence were all the colours left over from my blanket. This was my first time trying a granny stripe pattern too and I really enjoyed it. It's a satisfying pattern to hook up, and creates lovely tidy edges. 

7. Last of all, Angus has taken to wearing his swimming goggles in the bath and shower. Of course, it goes without saying that they've never seen chlorinated water, but it makes me belly laugh every time. He looks ridiculous. I'll spare you a photo of that.

This weekend will be bonkers. I am going out with some other mums from school tonight, we have swimming lessons then a day with grandparents tomorrow, the school fair on Sunday. Oh, yes, and packing!  I hope your weekend is full of festive joys and that you're not yet overwhelmed by the December rush.

Alpine Tea Light Holders

Today was a perfect December day, cold and clear with a colourful sunrise and sunset. Exactly the kind of sky and weather I was thinking about when I made these jam jar tea light holders. 

They are very easy and a lot of fun to make, and I've put together a quick tutorial for you.

You'll need:

• Jam jars (I used the larger ones, the kind mayonaise comes in.)
• PVA glue.
• Tissue paper.
• An old plastic pot and paintbrush.
• Tea light candles.

Make sure your jars are clean-ish, but don't worry about any glue from labels left on the outside as it'll all be covered. Cut up your tissue paper into strips. I started with a sheet of each colour and used all the white and only very small amounts of the other colours.

In the plastic bowl, mix one part PVA glue with one part water and mix well. I believe Mod Podge would work in the same way here, although I've never used it. Using the paintbrush, paint a layer of this mixture over the entire jam jar.

Start layering on your strips of tissue paper, going over each layer with another coat of the gluey mixture. I found I needed to use loads of white, but very little of the stronger colours. I wanted mine to look like winter sunsets, so planned my colours accordingly.

You might want to leave it to dry between stages to see if you need to add any more layers of a particular colour, especially the paler ones. Also, I found that some of the stronger colours bled a little. Then I added my mountains and trees, slowly layering up little tissue paper shapes until I was fairly happy with what I had. I badly wanted to do a cable car and a chalet, but this kind of craft is fairly rough around the edges and I thought they'd just look like messy blobs. So I stuck to trees and mountains on a snowy hill with a setting sun behind them. When they were finished and dry, I gave each jar one more coat of the glue mixture, just to seal them and act as a kind of varnish.

I really like how they came out. They say Winter without screaming Christmas, and you know how I do love a winter sky. And I enjoyed doing some quiet, festive crafting on a slow afternoon too, even better.

I wanted the sunsets to glow when they were lit, and this is what happens. Such a cosy effect!

Of course you can do anything with the tissue paper. The kids just enjoyed layering stripes of colour onto the jam jars and that works just as well too.

Gently Does It

This weekend ...

:: I delighted in the sun streaming through the windows into the house this morning. 

Waking to sunshine after days of drizzle and low light levels did me the world of good.

If I was a cat I'd be lying in a sunbeam, purring. But I'm not so I show my appreciation by taking photos of interesting shadows instead.

:: Bella and I spent the darkening afternoon making birthday party invitations. 

We used ribbons, washi tape, card, glue...no crafting box went unransacked. She dictates, I do as I'm told. We make a good team. They're meant to be lollipops. Yes, I know, they look more like ping pong bats.

:: I finished joining my blanket. Just the border to do now...

:: I opened a box of personalised Christmas cards. I ordered them from here and used my own pictures. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out on the whole. Sadly, I still have to write them, a task I loathe. By the third card my hand is cramped and my writing a scrawl. I have a huge fear I'll muddle up someone's card and someone else's envelope at some point. However, I persist every year with this tradition as I think it's an important one. It's a nice way to stay in touch with people and I love to receive Christmas cards. A card-free Christmas would be a bleak one, for me anyway.

 :: I spent another slow, cosy afternoon with jam jars, tissue paper and a paint brush making tea light holders. Enormous fun. I'll post more about that soon.

  

 :: I unpacked the advent calendar bunting.*

:: More importantly, I remembered to put some of these in the calendar for tomorrow morning. Tis the season of chocolate before breakfast.

And in amongst that there was a fun night out last night at the 80s fancy dress party. (I dined with Freddie Mercury, Maverick from Top Gun, George Micheal and three Madonnas. I want to go to another one so I've got an excuse to buy a suit with huge shoulder pads from a vintage shop.) We walked in the woods, ate fish and chips, tackled the supermarket, took small people to swimming lessons, paid library fines, watched fantastic old films and just generally went about our weekend in a gentle and relaxed way. It was just what we needed. I want to store up this feeling. It might see me through the coming weeks. 

* * * * * 

I promised I would held spread the word about this raffle to raise money for Myeloma UK. Money raised is going towards research into the condition as well as helping support those who have it, and their families and friends. It's an excellent cause and a local one, too. 

* It's made by the incredibly talented Jooles of Sew Sweet Violet. I won it in a giveaway but you can buy it here

Friday Happies

1. Stollen Bites from Aldi. Christmassy and delicious. 

2. Choosing a new lipstick. I don't much like wearing lipstick or lip gloss, preferring plain old lip balm, but I am going to an 80's themed party tomorrow night and thought a neon pink lipstick would be just the thing. I buy the same old boring make up all the time now, and I'd forgotten how much frivolous fun there is to be had in trying out different testers on the back of my hand. Do you remember doing that? Took me right back to my teenage years, that did.

3. When the shops start selling boxes of clementines.

4. This painting, bought on eBay for a mere £4. It makes me happy every time I look at it. John hates it, I can tell, although he is too nice to say. I'll have to think carefully about where I hang it...

5. Hot chocolate with squirty cream and marshmallows after another soaking wet school run.

It's been a full week, a cosy, domestic, pottering sort of week. Lots of stuff going on either in the house or in school; busy but not manic, not yet. This weekend is the last quiet one we have until Christmas. I'm not complaining, I love the social side of this time of year, the way people get together and catch up, but I am mentally holding my breath, steeling myself for the coming month. 

Have a fantastic weekend, lovelies. 

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

As I mentioned before, I spent one day last week in Yorkshire Sculpture Park with a good friend of mine. I do relish getting out of Leeds on a school day, driving away from home, school, housework, responsibilities...it makes me feel as though I'm bunking off from the Job Of Mum and I find it slightly thrilling, I have to admit. Also, I still find being child free during the day pretty exhilarating. No buggy. No change bag. Just me and my friend with our own agenda, going at our own pace. 

As I drove south down the M1 the weather was appalling; torrential rain, black skies...I did wonder if we'd spend the whole morning in the cafe and gift shop (look, I wont lie, I would not consider that a wasted trip by any means.) But, as I parked, the rain stopped and the sun attempted to shine in a watery, November fashion. It was quite breathtaking and we put on our wellies and set off. 

Henry Moore

One of the many great things about the park is the flexibilty of the space. Long walks, short walks, lakeside walks, woodland walks, picnic spots, views, beautiful architecture...it's all there. We set off towards the lake and walked for maybe a hour and a half.

The leaves made the most wonderful reflections in the water. 

And everywhere you look, there is the art, the sculpture. So thoughtfully placed that it looks as if it's always been there, that it grew out of the landscape.

Anthony Caro

This lit up horse galloped continually. I was quite mesmerized by it. 

Julian Opie

The piece below is my favourite. I love the way it glowed through the trees.

Peter Liversidge

Close up it was quite spectacular.

Then, after all that grey and black, all that bronze and stone, this triumphant, colourful celebration of the female form was a joy to look at.

Niki De Saint Phalle

We looked at more, but eventually our tummies rumbled and we stopped for lunch. The cafe is really good. I had "Boston Beans" - homemade, smokey baked beans, chorizo, a poached egg and chips, with a cup of tea. It occurred to me that I'd eaten a very middle class, organic, sustainably sourced version of ham, egg, chips and beans. It was good. Then, an hour (yes, a whole hour - no kids!) in the shop, which is really well stocked with some lovely products, well worth a look around. I bought a few Christmas presents and a few bits for me, including this tree*. I have a thing about bare branches in winter and this small and very inexpensive sculpture pleases me greatly. 

All in all a really excellent day out. 

* I can't find a link to it in the YSP shop, but you can see it here.