I’m finally getting a chance to catch up on this week’s post 🙂 My daughter and I began our week with a trip to Maud’s while my other daughter was her art club. I think I’m addicted to their hot chocolate. I’m not sure how they make it but it tastes like the Belgian chocolate they put in their ice-cream 🙂 We had a look in the charity shops afterwards and found some Christmassy decorations. My daughter found a little wooden nativity music box and I got a tealight holder that makes the decorations spin like a carousel when you light it 🙂 I got a tea advent calendar and I’ve been sampling one each day beside the Christmas tree 🙂 I think I might have to make more mince pies too as they have disappeared quickly 🙂
I decided to experiment with making my own non-alcoholic mulled wine. I might attempt an alcoholic one soon too 🙂 I made it in the slow cooker and it made the whole house smell good 🙂 I used the leftover cranberries to make cranberry sauce to freeze for Christmas too 🙂 The girls were excited when they got home from school and it was ready for them 🙂 I also made some chocolate mint squares. I made them last year and they seem to go down well in our house 🙂
We had a mid-week visit to the library and the kind lady there had made lots of Christmas displays 🙂 She got the girls to hide her elves for other kids to find and shared chocolates with everyone in the library. We always get such a warm welcome there and we came away with a huge number of books as usual 🙂 I always think we have enough to last us a month but we read so much that the girls are ready for new ones a week later 🙂
I’ve been trying to clear out a bit before Christmas time and have taken a few things to the charity shops. The only problem is that I spot things I want when I call in too 🙂 I found a painting someone had done of Frida Kahlo that they practically gave away. I love when you rescue someone’s artwork from the charity shop. I always wonder if they gave it away as a donation or because they weren’t happy with it. It reminds me of that saying “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” 🙂
We made winter abstracts at the weekend from the girls’ art box. They had to draw Christmassy pictures using white oil pastels and then use tissue paper to dye it. They loved dipping the paper in water and sticking it on. We left them to dry overnight before seeing the results. They were really excited to unveil their designs 🙂
On Sunday, we went to the folk museum again. I love the slow pace of Christmas there. It feels like such an escape from the craziness! The simple homemade decorations inspire me too 🙂 We got to do some pomander making in the church hall. The girls got me to add their ribbons and then they made holes with cocktail sticks and put cloves in in whatever pattern they wanted. I made one too 🙂 They smell really Christmassy as you’re making them too. Afterwards, the girls did some Christmas colouring pages and gave them to the friendly lady that worked there. The girls had another dance in the pretend snow and we walked around to complete a treasure hunt to find the letters placed around the town. We got some mulled punch in the pub and a man there did magic tricks to entertain the girls. They had live music playing too. They were showing old Christmas reels in the cinema and the girls seemed very interested in the one about women gathering holly and pulling trees down 🙂 We stopped at the cafe for a snack and then we went to the shed where the wicker Christmas decorations are made and got to make stars of our own 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 