HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I hope this finds you all well, and a good stone heavier than you were in November. I've been trying to give the remainder of our chocolates away and I shan't be looking in a full length mirror until Feb, and I definitely won't be attempting to squish into my skinny jeans anytime soon (even if they are elasticated). We had a lovely Christmas, filled with good cheer, competitive board games, too much food and plenty of laughs. Come New Year we were so worn out we spent the New year playing games and supping tea (in our PJ's) with some good friends! (so rock n' roll I know). I'm VERY excited about this year as hubby and I have lots of possible adventures on the horizon. I've also been thinking of all the craft projects I want to make and share with you this year and I can't wait to get stuck in ... starting with some bits and bobs from my new CRAFT ROOM! In the meantime here's a little glimpse of our month in pictures ...

The first crafty thing I made this month was "Peggy" my fairy tree topper. It was the first one I've ever made so I didn't share it as a tutorial in case it went belly up, but she turned out to be a lovely little fairy! I used a dolly peg, some cardboard under the skirt, lace ribbon for the bodice, some fabric which I made into a skirt and rustic floral twine for her wings. I was so pleased with her ... I've never had my own fairy tree topper before so I was a little sad to put her away with the rest of the deccies this week.

I have so many 'little rituals' in the lead up to Christmas ... one of which is turning last years Christmas cards into Christmas tags. All my pressies were wrapped in brown paper with red twine this year, which made all the lovely little tags stand out. 

This month I also spent a bit of time bringing all my previous Christmas posts together into one easy to follow Christmas bumper edition to make it easier for those looking for inspiration. It was lovely looking back over past craft projects and I was feeling quite festive by the end of it!

I had a lovely day making felt craft decorations with the lovely ladies in my craft group - The Cottage Crafters! It was our annual Christmas get together - and each year bring a dish of nibbles, a handmade gift for the secret santa sack and we embark on a christmas project. Christmas isn't Christmas without our little gathering.

Mid-December, our little trio escaped on a cottage holiday to Suffolk - which I shall of course be sharing with you at some point soon. We were in much need of some downtime and the break did us the world of good - plenty of walks, followed by plenty of goodies followed by a lazy afternoon watching films ... perfect! One of which was the 'The prime of Miss Jean Brodie' which I had not seen before! isn't Maggie Smith wonderful in that film? "Giiirls ... I'm in ma priiiime" :-) I also started work on some tapestry with I'll show you very soon.

Before we broke up for Christmas Ralphy gave his annual speech of course. He's agreed to work on his spelling so you should see some improvement by next year. Rather than spend lots of money on  more dog toys for Ralphy we set up a direct debit to a dog rescue charity instead ... I think Ralphy was happy about that. 

Then finally Christmas came, and on occasion I found myself looking at the people around me and I was reminded of how many people out there weren't having the nice day we were having. After a day of much Christmas cheer we settled down to watch a film, and as my little nieces and nephew snuggled up and fell asleep together I decided that the most important thing I could do this coming year was to continue to be kind ... to people, to strangers, to animals and mother nature. It's so easy to get lost in our day to day, but taking time out of a busy day to chat idly to those that need to talk, or lending a hand for causes I feel strongly about, or giving what money I can to those that need it more just makes me feel more deserving of the good days that come my way. There won't always be good days of course, but on those days perhaps someone will show me a kindness.  

JM x