Merry Christmas!/Frohe Weihnachten!

Small Xmas project IV: Nativity scene ornament/WP IV: Baumkrippe

If you happen to have a plastic laminator at home, this is a funny way to keep your kids (and even yourself!) happily entertained while waiting for Christmas ...!

Draw - or make your kids draw - (well, I found my pictures in a magazine) - the persons, animals and items needed for a nativity scene, cut them out, decorate them with sequins and glitter glue, let dry and then put them into the plastic laminating pockets with a bit of space between the figures.

When you've laminated them and cut them out once more (leaving a bit of plastic all around the border), punch an eyelet ring at the top and add a bit of string to hang them.

Leaving you with this for now, I wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(German summary: Mit einem Laminiergerät und gezeichnete Krippenfiguren - vielleicht noch etwas Glitzer und Pailletten - läßt sich ein recht lustiger Baumschmuck machen! Und ganz herzlich: FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!)

Small Xmas-project IV: Crocheted star garland/Weihnachtsprojekt IV: Girlande aus Häkelsternen

If you happen to have an evening left - and some bits of sockwool - you could still make a small star garland for yourself or for a friend ...



I found this very easy-to-follow tutorial on Ellen Bloom's blog - though instead of acrylic, I decided to use some leftover variegated sockwool, both 4-ply and 6-ply, with a crochet hook 3,5 mm - and I spaced them a bit more, about 25 chain stitches inbetween, as I didn't have the time to make that many ...

My 4-ply stars are about 4,5 cm, the 6-ply about 5,5 cm big - so this is a small and sweet garland - but of course you can use whatever yarn you have stashed.



And if you don't find the time now, remember there will be a new Christmas time next year!

(German summary: Eine feine und doch einfache Häkelanleitung für kleine Sternchen habe ich auf Ellen Bloom's blog gefunden - mit Sockenwollresten schauen sie noch einmal so süß aus, finde ich!)

Small Xmas project III: Christmas ornament star/Weihnachtsprojekt III: Recyclingsterne

Almost a year ago, I found a tutorial on this beautiful Christmas ornament star at Pam's blog 'Gingerbread & Snowflakes' (if you click it, you'll be right there) - and although I tried them out right away, I thought I'd wait to show them to you until Christmas :-).

As soon as you've managed to do your first, it's an easy job, and the best thing about it is that you will most certainly find all (recycling) materials at home already - composite cardboard (like the brown one, for boxes), pins, beads, some leftover yarn or thread and bits of paper, maybe some small bits of decoration material to glue to the center.

Of course you could use a photo in the center too, and make gift tags out of them - they even look neat on the backside!

Thanks, Pam!

(German summary: Diese netten Recyclingsterne - man braucht nur etwas Verbundkarton, ein paar Stecknadeln und ein paar Garnreste - habe ich schon im Frühjahr entdeckt und nachgearbeitet - in Pam's blog 'Gingerbread & Snowflakes' gibt es die ganze Anleitung!)

Small Xmas project II: Felt ornament/Weihnachtsprojekt II: Filzhänger

What can you do with some scraps of white felt, bits of ribbons and lace? Well, a Christmas ornament, of course!

The felt I used for this was quite a sturdy one, actually a piece of a table placemat, and so it will hang nicely, no backing needed.

A little bit of ribbon and some handstitching, and it could turn out like this:



For the decoration of the second one I used different bits of lace and sewed them down with free motion machine stitches - but of course you could do it all by hand as well:



I guess there are endless ways of using tablemat felt in various colours for making ornaments - maybe also in combination with paper (what about photos?) or fabric ... could be adapted for a kids' project as well, I think!

(German summary: Ein Stück festen Filz - hier von Tischsets - und Reste von Borten, Bänder und Spitze - und Simsalabim! - hat man einen Christbaumschmuck!)

Mother Christmas on St Nicholas' Day

Many years ago, when I was visiting London in early December, I stumbled upon a box of Christmas cards which were sold on behalf of charity purpose. The text was a poem called 'Where art thou, Mother Christmas?' by Roald Dahl, and that year, I sent these cards to a lot of my friends.

And almost every year, when I'm busy trying to get all things planned and done (and bought and cooked and crafted and wrapped and decorated and written ...) in time for the feast, I have that poem in the back of my head, just pondering over the fact that tradition show only men bringing the presents, while reality demands most entirely female efforts ...

Nevertheless, here's the text!

Where art thou, Mother Christmas?
I really wish I knew
Why Father should get all the praise
And no one mentions you.

I'll bet you buy the presents
And wrap them large and small,
Then in the end our cunning friend
Pretends he's done it all.

So hail to Mother Christmas,
The uncomplaining slave,
And down with Father Christmas,
That good-for-nothing knave.

(Roald Dahl)

Small Xmas project I: Lavender hearts /Weihnachtsprojekt I: Lavendelherzen

This year I managed to harvest my lavender in time - and I got a whole tray full of the wonderful smelling blossoms to let dry. I did cut up some of the flower stalks as well, as their scent of lavender is just as strong as the blossoms themselves.

Last time when visiting Stockholm, I bought a handprinted linen kitchen towel at 'Svensk Hemslöjd' (a Swedish domestic art & craft shop), with just the right size of red hearts on it. So I cut the hearts out, with a small seam allowance, and sewed them up with a red linen fabric for backing.

When the blossoms and stalks were all dry, I just had to fill them into the fabric hearts and close the opening with a few handstitches.

Finally, I decorated the front with flower motives from a machine lace fabric and some white vintage buttons.



(German summary: Heuer habe ich es geschafft, rechtzeitig meinen Lavendel zu ernten und zu trocknen. Dann habe ich ihn in rote Leinenstoffherzen gefüllt, die ich aus einem handgedruckten Geschirrhandtuch ausgeschnitten und genäht habe.)

'Tomten' - An old Swedish Christmas tale

I guess everybody's busy, just like I am, working on the last caring preparations before D-day ...

But maybe you have a couple of minutes to sit down with a cup of tea, rest your legs and ease your mind - and enjoy this old Swedish Christmas tale, inspired by a poem by Victor Rydberg, later adapted by Astrid Lindgren and illustrated by Harald Wiberg - this is an English/American version of 'Tomten':

A little extra for the third of Advent/Kleines 3. Adventsextra

Tomorrow is the 3rd of Advent, and I guess you might be busy baking ginger bread and making Christmas decorations. Last year I made simple yet quite nice snowflakes - and this is how you make them:



What you need is a packet of basic, white pipe cleaners (available at all tobacco shops) and a wire cutter (or old pair of scissors). The pipe cleaners mostly come in a packet of 100, they're not expensive, and as you only need 4 1/2 pieces for every small snowflake and 6 pieces for the big ones, you'll get a whole bunch of them - to hang in the window or in the branches of your tree - or on the parcels or greeting cards.

For the smaller ones, you cut up five pipecleaners into half, leave three halves for the base and cut up the rest into halves again (one half or two quarters being left over for the next snowflake). For the bigger ones, you cut a third off the basic three branches and chop up the remaining two ones into thirds, no leftovers there.



There's no glueing - just twist the branches once or twice to get stability, the same goes for the small branches.

And while you're doing this, you might want to listen to Bing Crosby and David Bowie in one of my very favourite Christmas performances:





Have a nice and comfortable week-end!

(German summary: Eine kleine Adventsbastelei für den 3. Advent - Schneeflocken aus Pfeifenputzer! Und ein wunderschönes Duett von Bing Crosby und David Bowie, zur Einstimmung auf Weihnachten. Ich wünsche Euch ein schönes und geruhsames Wochenende!)

Christmas Ornament from Julochka!

This very beautiful bird sat down in my mistletoe today - it was made and sent by Julochka in Denmark. She and I both participated in the Christmas Ornament Swap organized by Elizabeth/Landanna.


And as if this would not be enough, she also gave me another handmade ornament from the Philippines, where she had been travelling lately:


Oh, I do very much enjoy this swap :-), thank you so much, Julochka! Let's persuade Elizabeth to organize another one next year, too, shall we?

(German summary: Diesen hübschen, selbstgenähten Vogel habe ich von Julochka in Dänemark bekommen, als Teilnehmerin am Weihnachtsschmuckaustausch! Sehr nett, so ein Tausch :-)!)

When you wish upon a star - Christmas ornament swap

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you"




This week I finished the Christmas ornaments which I did for the swap that Elizabeth/Landanna organized. I made three stars - with a touch of snowflake! - all a bit different but all out of vintage jewelry (and a bit of brass wire) that I have been collecting without no specific purpose ... just thinking that the pearls were too beautiful to be thrown away.

I like this sort of recycling - turning something once cherished, now old and worn, maybe partly broken but with a certain distinguished charm - into something 'new' and special again, which might once again be cherished ...

When being flooded now at Christmas time, with all the ads and commercials about plastic fantastic things which we are supposed to give eachother as 'gifts from our hearts' - I certainly long for more of that old, recycled stuff - both for giving and for getting ...



(German summary: Für einen Weihnachtsschmuck-Tausch habe ich drei Sterne/Schneeflocken aus Messingdraht und altem Perlenschmuck gemacht - ich mag diese Art von Recycling, wo etwas einst Geschätztes jetzt in einer neuen Form wieder zu Ehren kommen kann ... mehr Recycling und weniger Neues wäre auch jetzt zu Weihnachten eine echte Wohltat, denke ich!)

The hard-working Mrs Santa ...

Christmas cards (embellished, of course), embroidered mittens, beaded stars ...

I'm sorry for not posting very often lately - but Mrs Santa is busy these days ... I've heard there'll be a life beyond Christmas as well ... Looking forward to this calm and peaceful new year, when I'll keep my (yearly) vowes to start crafting for Christmas during summer holidays - at the latest!

"Christmas tree, very pretty ... " - Whatiffing 51-59, Xmas-trees

So I've done some more Whatiffings, this time there are Xmas trees (green wool) punched to a grey woolen cloth, embellished with fabric, yarn, ribbons and lace ...

See the Santa up right? I'm especially proud of that - it's a simple xmas gift ribbon, embellished on, of course.

When I wish upon a star ...

This is a felted star I did some time ago - and I'm making some more now, for Christmas. It's wet felted with natural white roving over a metal wire, then embellished with some glass beads.

---

Yesterday was 'kind of Xmas to me - I received a wonderful parcel from Paula, filled with the most gorgeous small scale printed cotton and silk fabrics, colourful embroidery threads and glass beads ... and even one of Paula's fantastic 'skitches'!



I was so happy and inspired - and today I rushed to the post office with my mail swap for her!

I must admit I just love getting mail - especially this kind of surprise parcels! And I think it's a lovely idea to swap goodies from your stash with someone who appreciates similar things ... making yourself and somebody else double happy, both enjoying the gathering and packing as well as the receiving and exploring of the gift - well, if this isn't Xmas!

And it's sensible recycling and resource consciousness par excellence, isn't it? (And it keeps the post men busy!) I love it! Anyone else out there wanting to swap with me?

Angels welcome ...

Two embellished angels - and a star - consisting of wool roving, fabric, lace and yarn scraps, some paper and silvery (metal) net - the faces are free motion machine embroidered.


A friend of mine used to have a shop with the sign "Angels welcome" above her shop entrance - I think I could use such a sign above my door, too, in order to attract some angels - or at least some good fairy who could give me a helping hand with those Xmas preparations ...

Somehow, Christmas always seems to arrive so quickly and sudden, as if these holidays were just popping up unexpectedly out of the winter dark ...

I'm torn between the wish to spend a calm and contemplative Advent season with my kids, having all the time in the world for crafting, baking cookies, reading, playing, leaving on long winter walks, snuggling up with a cup of tea at the fire place -

and on the other hand writing thoughtful cards and letters, finding or even better: making very personal gifts with beautiful wrappings for the family and the big bunch of dear friends.

I just want to do both - my problem is that time moves on so very fast and although I consider myself hard-working, I suppose I'm a bit disorganized ...

Maybe it's just vanity wanting to make it all - and make it good! Guess I should give that a thought, too ...

Concentrate. Keep it plain and simple. Stay cool. (That's what you wanted to say, wasn't it?)

An embellished angel and another advent calender

Christmas time is getting closer, and I decided to try out an embellished angel yesterday. The wings and the body are basically consisting of punched white wool roving, scraps of lace and fabric and finally embellished with some beads and a vintage fabric button.

The face is hand embroidered on a rosé-coloured muslin, which was stuffed with a bit of woolen batting and then stitched on to the background. The golden fringe and metal hair are Christmas tree decoration material.




I made another advent calender, too: 24 small packages of recycled Christmas cards, tags and other ephemera for a friend of mine, who always needs a lot of greeting cards at Christmas time.

Recycling for Christmas

Recycling is important to me; I think a lot about it and try to live as close to my ideals as I can in my daily life.

For my art work, it's a frame in which I can challenge myself - whether I work with embellishing and fibers, or fabric scraps and quilts, vintage beads, mosaics, plastic, or paper - I'm using recycled materials and stuff from my collected stash.

Every year, I write about 40-50 Christmas cards - I want them to be pretty and personal, and it's also important to me to use recycled materials. This year, I'm gluing and sewing used gift wrapping, odd ribbons, old book-pages and exotic newspaper together for the card itself, decorating it with an embellished heart, a button, a bead, stamping the inside with stamps I once bought or made myself from pencil rubbers ...

Here are some tags I made out of paper scraps - the two at the right are laminated (I put the scraps very close to eachother and try to use as little of the foil as possible):

I'm also doing some advent calenders each year: This one is for a friend of mine, it's a drawing pad with 12 sturdy pages, and I made a collage out of magazine pictures on both sides of each page, so that she can turn it around for the 13th to 24th of December: