It's nearly CRIMBLES!!! YEEEHAAA!!!! I'm a big fan of Christmas (can you tell?) and my decorations will be going up this weekend. We returned from an incredible week in the wild and wonderful North Wales last week. It was so beautiful dear reader, if you've never been I highly recommend it. I had to pinch myself on several occasions because the scenery was so utterly breathtaking. We walked through sun, rain and snow - up mountains and in actual fairytale moss-covered forests with waterfalls! At one point I'm sure we even entered frost-covered Narnia! I'll share some pictures with you soon. In the meantime the only thing that's cheering me up is the promise of CHRISTMAS!!!!! Here's our month in pictures x

Lets start with something Christmassy shall we? How to make a decorative skeleton leaf fairy light tree (for autumn, weddings, Christmas or Easter). You only need a few elements for this project. I've adapted it for Autumn by adding pine cones to the base, and copper and gold skeleton leaves on the branches which look gorgeous sparkling in the glow of the fairy lights, but you could easily swap the pine cones for baubles and give the branches a spritz of spray snow for Christmas! 

Only a few weeks ago the leaves were still turning on the tress, but alas they are now bear. It's a shame to see them go but there's something very beautiful and serene about the English countryside in winter. Everything is still and peaceful ... is a nice time to walk, reflect and gather ones thoughts.  I've been putting some nice treats out for the birdies too as the garden is now frost covered in the mornings.

The day before remembrance Sunday a relative sent me some 'Trench Art' that that has been passed down through the family. It was made in the trenches during the First World War. To be quite honest with you, I had know idea what Trench Art even was, I wasn't aware of it's existence! These beautiful objects were made by soldiers, many of which were often crafted out of old shell casings. 

I visited Hatfield House's Frost fair again this year, it's a wonderful Christmas Craft Fair in the most beautiful setting. I was going to blog about it but decided to have a day off from tech and do some shopping with my nieces and mummykins instead. I did take this pic from just one of the grand rooms ... this is just one corner though, there are LOTS of rooms / tents / stalls and it's a great place to buy pressies and get in the Christmassy mood. My craft club ladies have also been getting into the Christmas spirit - Martina made these gorgeous crochet baubles, aren't they lovely??

And lastly, this month I had a lovely guest on the blog! Elizabeth Henry, author of the recently published poetry book 'Eliza's Book of Whimsy' popped in for an entertaining Q&A session. To read the interview and get a sneak peek into her book click here. 

Have a lovely December getting ready for Christmas friends! It's so easy to let stress and panic seep in at this time of year ... we try to do everything, buy everything and be everything. Try not to put to much pressure on yourselves though, take it one step at a time and most importantly enjoy it as you go. It's your Christmas too :-) Ralphy has already started working on his Christmas speech don't ya know!

JM x