My Tiny Plot

And a Merry Christmas to all. So…. has Father Christmas been? What did he bring you? Something yummy, something to read and something to plant I hope! Let everyone know what your very favourite present was. And… what you’ll be up to for the rest of the day? Are the family coming round? Are you eating Turkey and pulling crackers? We’ll be playing with toys, eating and calling our Anglo-American family all around the world and wishing them Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

About as much fun as you can have in the snow.

All you need is a monkey hat…

A cardboard box…

And someone to teach you how to throw snowballs. And you’re all set.

Cake Pops are my new obsession. I made these for a kids Christmas party and they went down a storm. The adults loved them and the kids thought they were lollipops and licked them until they were gone!

They’re quite tricky to make and you do need some baking materials that might not be available in your local cooking shop. I bought the candy coatings and lollipop sticks online. The cake mix and frosting you can buy from any supermarket.

One problem I did come across was how to display my Cake Pops. They need to be upright but they’re quite top heavy and so they need something weighty to keep them from toppling over. So I came up with the idea of using these old Kilner jars stuffed with Christmas paper and tied with bows. It seemed to work.

It’s about this time of year that I start doing some sewing. Last year, Jackson was too young to really understand what Christmas was all about. This year, however, he is old enough and is really excited about the prospect of sending Father Christmas (or Christmas, as he calls him) a letter. Of course, he can’t write so it will be a pictorial letter, but still the idea of communicating with the big guy is top priority in our house.

So… I wanted to find a special way of ‘sending’ the letter. Something that we can re-use year after year and something that is personal to Jackson. His very own communication channel, if you will.

I hit upon the idea of making an envelope that would hang on the tree. And when you put the letter inside it magically ‘disappears’ by the next morning in a toothfairy-esque fashion.

I love making things out of felt and so put together this simple, hand-sewn pattern for an envelope that is personalised but also has a detachable address label and stamp. Here’s how I made it.

Firstly cut out the patter pieces in your chosen fabric. I’m using red felt. You will also need some embroidery thread, matching cotton and some self-adhesive velcro.

Next personalise the back of the envelope with your child’s name. Next add some post-like adornments to the front of the envelope. I’ve added a post mark but you could do and ‘Urgent’ or ‘Airmail’ sticker if you like. Then, stitch the words ‘to Santa’ on the address label and some jagged lines onto your stamp. I’ve also added the date to one of the back pieces.

Next attach the backing to the flap and blanket-stitch it down. At the same time add the ribbon that will be used to hang the envelope from the tree.

Pin the main backing on the envelope and stitch it down using matching thread following the pins.

Pin together the three ‘envelope’ parts of the backing. Using the red thread sew together the two internal seams (the ones pinned down in the photo above). Then line up the three pieces with the main part of the envelope and blanket stitch around the three edges.

The last thing to do is to cut two small squares from your self-adhesive velcro and attach the address label and the stamp. Now your Santa Envelope is finished. All you need to do is write a letter to Santa and pop it in!

View the pattern

We went to buy our Christmas tree today. We were all very excited, despite the fact it took us double the time to get out of the house now that we have a newborn in tow!

But when we finally made it to the Christmas tree place we had fun choosing a big tree for the living room and little tree for Jackson’s room.

Jackson was transfixed by the netting machine and stared at the man in disbelief as he fed it through and it came out all neat and netted on the other side.

Finally we hauled it into the car and set off for home for naps, stories and some well earned shut-eye before the big decoration.

It’s my birthday today. This year it’s been quite a pink affair with lots of lovely presents that talk to the girl in me. Last year was positively ‘green’ in comparison. Funny that.

But I don’t mind. It’s nice to be spoiled once a year. I have been given such gorgeous gifts that I thought I’d share them with you, just in case they are your kind of thing too (sorry not much for the guys here).

So, starting clockwise from left to right here’s my pirate’s hoard of birthday goodness.

• Set of Homemaker fruit bowls. I collect Homemaker pottery so anything to add to my collection makes my year!. You can pick up similar on eBay. Just search for Homemaker.
• Charbonnel & Walker Drinking Chocolate. If you haven’t had a box of truffles from C&W you’re simply not treating yourself well enough. And drinking chocolate is like a box of chocolates that just keeps giving!
• Cake Pops! – a book by one of my favourite cookery bloggers, Bakerella. Cakes on sticks, exactly what is there not to like. What I particularly like about Bakerella is that she’s an amateur cook, like me, and yet she manages to create these gorgeous cakes. Brilliant.
• Handmade Home is a book by another favourite blogger of mine Soule Mama. It’s all about how to make simple crafts for your home and family. And is full of wonderful, homely ideas that make you want to snuggle up with your sewing box infront of the fire. Ideal.
• I also got a book about flower arranging, pink notebook, some rosy lip gloss, two pairs of earrings and that beauty box essential, nail files with pictures of ice-cream on them. I’m not sure where to buy any of these but I love them all.

We’re going to a spooky Halloween party in the park tonight so I spent some time making these Halloween votives to guide us as we scoff our Horror Mix jellies and Tiffin. I got the idea over at Skip to My Lou, a great little crafting blog.

They’re so easy to make. All you need are some old preserving jars, some orange tissue paper, glue and a black pen. And possibly some garden twine to make a handle too. The paper is glued to the outside and once it’s dry you draw a face on it. Then when you put a tealight inside it glows like a pumpkin.

Of course there’s no substitute for the real thing and just to be on the safe side under-gardener has spent the best part of today carving a Storm Trooper’s face into a pumpkin. Each to their own, as they say, each to their own. What are you doing for Halloween?

We just got back from a weekend away at a popular resort in the forest. Yes, we went in the swimming dome and yes we ate pancakes at the Pancake House. But what the whole experience brought home to me is that when you’re two and half ‘everything’ is exciting! And sometimes the most simple of experiences mean the world to you.

The trees, the cycle trailer, the fact that you get your own helmet that is red! The two baby deer that we saw, the fighting squirrels, a pine cone – what’s a pine cone? The den that some other boys had made in our back garden, not one but two sticks! the sunshine through the trees, the log covered with moss, mushrooms, strange-shaped mushrooms everywhere – I want to eat them.

Going fast, faster Daddy, a dark, dark tunnel that is scary but amazing at the same time, bird noises, and other unidentified noises, a playground in the woods, bees and orange and white fish.

Every single new thing is amazing if you’re seeing it for the first time. Sometimes as an adult I forget that and try to over-complicate things. But really there’s no need.

Goodbye Anna Maria. We’re travelling back to the UK today after a wonderful family holiday. It’s been one of the most amazing holidays I’ve been on. Idyllic location, fun times with family and totally relaxing. This is our pet Heron. He comes every day to fish off the deck here. This morning he was up super early to say goodbye to us. We’ll miss you buddy! See you next year :)

I’m sure the weather will be very different at home but I’m excited to get going with the new growing season. After seeing all the beautiful gardens here I’m raring to get back and start some sowing! And I’m eager to see how my coldframe seedlings are doing and whether my Peach frame is still standing :) I guess I’ll find out soon!

Since Jackson already has a boggling array of presents under the tree from friends and family we decided to make him a present this year (well sort of). A cafe in town has a cute little train set that has been glued to a table top to make a train set. He loves it!

So I thought I would replicate it and make one for him for Christmas. I started to search for a suitable table and found this 70s coffee table at the farmers market for £9 (with free delivery I might add!). Perfect.

Then we painted it. Red for the base (because that’s what colour his room is) and green for the top because our train will be travelling through the countryside! Next we found a basic wooden train set. This John Crane set was perfect because it had houses and people and animals as well as track and a complete train. That was £20. Then we stuck it all down with wood glue.

It works like a dream.

Not that we’ve been playing with it or anything. I think he’ll like it. And the best part about it? It’s not plastic, we had a great time working on it and when he’s bored with it we can freecycle it. It’s a veritable eco-toy.