It somehow feels pointless documenting what I do throughout the week when the kids are in school since it mostly consists of writing and drinking coffee 🙂 But I thought I’d share a few things from this week for a (hopefully) uplifting mid-week post 🙂
I got some peace to sample the Starbucks Christmas menu and to write. Toffee nut lattes might be my obsession of the month, until I sicken myself with them (which I seem to do with every obsession I develop.) I love Scandinavian-looking Christmas designs – just looking at them on a coffee cup cheers me up.
We added the tealights to the lanterns we painted last weekend and my daughter insisted on decorating the table with them. She placed one at each of our place settings and we had a candlelit dinner 🙂
I have a huge box of my own crafts I never get round to doing. When I lived in Glasgow I used to do a lot of wire work jewellery so I decided to get back into making it and I made some Christmas-themed necklaces. I made a stocking one each for the girls and I’m hoping this time they manage not to break them (most jewellery lasts about two days in our house.)
My daughter had to make bells for school, so we made them out of yogurt pots, foil and pipe cleaners. We got out the glitter I save for special occasions because it turns the whole house into a disco ball and she added lots of it (more to her clothes than to the bells.)
I received my craft box from Lina at https://www.amistykindofblue.com/ I decided to make my tomte globe alone. I wanted to do a craft project without thinking about the end product and just enjoying the process (which is just as well because I don’t think it turned out very well :)) I already had a tomte Christmas decoration but I didn’t know what they were before. Lina sent a little description of them with the craft kit 🙂 I made two of them out of air-drying clay, as well as a robin and a rabbit. Then I painted them and added the fluff for the beard. I added clay to the bottom of the globe so I could stick the little fir tree in. I added moss to the base too, but I think it’s hidden by the beard 🙂 I added some white paint to the little tree for snow and then encased it in the globe. That part was harder than anticipated 🙂 I had to cut back to one fir tree and one tomte and it was a bit of a squeeze. But I enjoyed making it and the girls seemed to appreciate it when they got home 🙂 I wonder if it would have worked out better with their involvement. Sometimes I think crafting is easier with them because there is no time to stop and think as we make it 🙂
After the success of card-making last weekend, I decided to make a card-making box for the girls. I just used an old shoe box and filled it with one pound craft supplies from The Works 🙂 I’m excited to bring it out for them on a dull day 🙂
We had to do mundane things today, like the opticians and dentist, but we paused along the way for a Christmassy treat. I tried a chocolate orange cookie. There was a mince pie one too but I wasn’t sure if that would be delicious or a strange combination 🙂 I love sitting in the food court and looking out at the Belfast hills. They had icicle lights up in the windows too and I liked being there in darkness and seeing all the white lights on the trees outside. We stopped to look at the Santa’s grotto. Even though there is no Santa there at the moment, the girls enjoyed stopping to look at the moving elves 🙂 Sometimes you don’t have to pay for magical experiences for kids; they just stumble upon them along the way 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 