Posts Tagged ‘christmas’

A Snowman To Remember – Scrapbook Layout

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

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The sun is in the sky, but for some reason I was in the mood to scrapbook a wintery story. As I am sure you will remember, we had a freak level of snowfall earlier in the year, and the abundance of crisp, white snow was so inspiring that it would have been a cruelty against human nature if we had NOT built a snowman in our garden!

To be honest, i’ve never built a snowman quite like this one – he really did do us proud! What I loved most was his personality, created through his button eyes, satsuma nose, and coffee bean smile – and who could forget that pirate hat?! His name was Capt’n Coffeefact snOMAN, and this layout is his story! Scroll down to read the journaling…

Products Used:
Buttons
Woodgrain stamp – heroarts
Making Memories shimmer alpha stickers
photoshop
sewing machine
Making Memories tiny alpha
‘winter’ stamp – SEI
Distress ink – Tumbled glass, broken china
Chipboard – Maya Road
Paint Dabber
Black pigment marker
Snowflake stamps – SEI and Royal & Langnickle
Dream street papers

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Journaling reads:
For days there was speculation and rumours of snow, and although there was a definite nip in the air, no one quite believed that we would have any significant coverage. But by the afternoon, a few flakes were appearing & we peered through the glass at reception with childlike awe. I should have hated the cold, wet walk home, but the magic & wonder of the fresh white roads & pathways made the journey quite beautiful. The thought of snow called for a warm dinner in front of the TV, snuggled under a duvet. It must have been 11pm before Craig gasped as he pulled back the bedroom curtains to reveal the untouched blanket of snow, lying inches deep, transforming our humble garden into a winter wonderland. Without hesitation, we rummaged through suitcases & cupboards to find hats, scarfs, salopettes & wellies, before emerging out into the cold. Despite the late hour, the light of the street lamps reflected brilliantly off the pure white snow, creating a magical orange glow to the world around us. Like two eager children, we gave way to our urges and started rolling snowballs into white fluffy boulders, assembling a new friend to live in the garden. It took some time, and a substantial amount of hard work, but after a significant amount of rolling & shoveling, patting & moulding, he was born! Capt’n Coffeefacee was his name – with buttons for eyes, a satsuma nose and coffee beans to make him smile, the Capt’n surely was an accumulation of our personalities – one of the family! Even Miya enjoyed the excitment of a new friend in the garden. The snow remained for a while, some say too long, but inevitably the green started to peek through once again. The hazard warnings & newsflashes ceased, but the Capt’n still stood tall. We would bid him goodnight through the bedroom window and watch every day as he slowly began to shed some pounds, or lose his crooked smile. One day, when the world had returned to normality, we returned from work to discover that the Capt’n was gone. No longer in our garden, but forever in our memories.

Christmas Thank Yous

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

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Hello Everyone. Happy Boxing Day!

Did your house get a visit from Father Christmas? Ours did, and I guess we were all very good throughout the last year because we got a lot of wonderful presents. Books and DVDs, CDs and T-shirts, slippers & socks, chocolates and sweeties, photo frames & ornaments, face cream & bath bombs!! Craig got a new shaver, some speakers & a new XBOX game, and I got some crafty things too which I will share with you real soon.

We had a wonderful day, and are still enjoying winding down today. As I was sitting on the couch, in my pyjamas, eating leftovers, I was looking at all the gifts which were still sitting under the tree. And I started thinking. Thinking about how I am thankful for every present, big and small, and thankful that there are people who care about me, and want to give me gifts.

So in return, I want to give you all a gift.

Thank You Christmas Notelets, which I have quickly made today, ready to be printed at home. Download the pdf, and print to A4 paper (two notelets per page), and why not take a few mintues to show your thankfulness to those who have been kind enough to make your Christmas special.

Enjoy, and Happy Christmas everyone!

Download Free Christmas Thank You Notelet HERE. (right click to save as)

BTW, I made the notelet using Cystal Wilkerson’s digital elements, which you can get from her blog Creativity by Crystal. You should check out her blog for lots of inspiration.

Have a great weekend!

Home Made Crackers

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

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Remember the excitment of sitting down at the dinner table on Christmas day and deciding who you were going to ask to pull your cracker? When I was very young I usually picked my brother Roger, who I adored like any younger admiring sister would do. When I got a little older and wiser, I realised that my chances of winning were slim against my older, stronger brother, so I would choose a younger member of the clan to help me pull my cracker.

The tradition of crackers is really fun, but the result can be hit or miss as the treats inside vary from plastic horses to keyrings! And as there was just Craig & I for Christmas dinner this year, I decided that I would make my own crackers – this way I could ensure that I would get a prize that I actually want.

Making Crackers are incredibly easy, and extremely fun, a great craft activity for kids, and all you need is some empty toilet roll tubes, paper and string or ribbon.

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To begin you want to weaken the paper so the cracker pulls apart easily. There is nothing worse than a cracker that doesnt pull – a predicament that usually ends in a Health & Safety disaster, involving squished fingers and bumped heads! To weaken the paper, I used a tool to perforate a line which which just off centre, but if you dont have a tool like this don’t worry. You can fold the paper and make a crease, or you can dip a paintbrush into water and run this along paper.

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Next the fun bit. You want to stuff one tube full of crackery goodness. Inside my crackers I placed a complusary cracker joke (the cheesier the better), a small bar of chocolate (Cadbury’s Magical Elves, for some Christmassy magic) and a treat. In one, a selection of metal charms bought from the local craft store, and in the other a Lottery Scratch card (i’ll let you guess which is for me and which is for Craig!) I also scrunched up a piece of tissue paper and tucked it in at either end.

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Next the rolling. If you do have a snap, place this on the paper and glue securely on both ends to the paper. Its best to use a glue gun or another strong glue to ensure that your get the desired SNAP noise.

Roll the paper around the tubes until it covers the tube completely. Make a mark on the paper, unroll and then trim the paper to size. You do not want to have more paper than necessary as this will make the cracker harder to pull apart. Lay the three tubes on the paper, roll and use glue to secure.

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Next wiggle the two end tubes out at the sides a little, and use your finger and thimb to crunch the paper to make the classic cracker shape. Loop a piece of string or ribbon around the paper indent, and pul tight so the paper scrunches in to secure the goodies inside.

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Once you have tied each end, your cracker shape is complete, you just have to decorate it!

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I used scallop scissors, glitter, nestabilities, some silver paper and some elf stickers. Don’t they look great!?

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone and I hope Santa brings everything you are wishing for.

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