Traditional English Christmas Dinner!

Wow, where did that month go?!

I thought I'd do a post for any international readers that may be interested in a typical English Christmas. I've been reading up about what people eat for Christmas dinner in various countries and it's been really fascinating!

Generally, we'll have turkey, although some people may have goose. We'll have chestnut, sage and onion stuffing, roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in bacon (also known as pigs in blankets!), Yorkshire puddings, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, carrots and one or two other veg, cranberry sauce (more like a lumpy jelly than a sauce) and gravy.

I don't have many photos of Christmas dinners I'm afraid, but this is Little W's from two years ago!

Afterwards, we'll have Christmas pudding with brandy butter or whipped cream. The former is more traditional, but I do like the whipped cream!

On the table will be crackers to pull and sometimes we have party poppers. There's not usually room for any other ornaments, although we have managed to squeeze in some festive candles in the past.

And then we'll just be having cold turkey in various formats for a few days after...

Seeing as I'm being festive today, here's a photo of our new VW campervan in the snow the other day:

There's still little bits of snow around and was very icy this morning. We had a bit of a snowstorm on the way to school and now the sun's out... I do love British weather!

Anyway, I  would love to hear what you have for Christmas dinner!

ACEOs

I first heard of ACEOs a couple of years ago but just hadn't got around to ever having a go.

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions Originals. You can use any medium you like to create these miniature works of art, but they have to be 2.5" x 3.5".

As there's a recent trend on Folksy with lots of artists giving it a go, I thought I'd show you my first attempts:


Wonky Alphabet. I messed a couple of the letters up a bit.


Wobbly Orange Jelly. This was inspired by my wobbly jelly glass painted photo.



Flowers at Sunset.

Cupcakes

I did make several polymer clay ones but they didn't turn out too well. I've got a couple more planned which I'll try to do tonight.

Did well at the craft fair weekend before last. Made a profit anyway! My polymer clay bookmarks and earrings seemed to be most popular. Sold some buttons and bag charms too.

Went to visit Father Christmas at the weekemd. The miniature train ride through the forest was nice, especially as there was still snow on the ground, but the 'grotto' was more like a fairground stall! Oh well, Little W enjoyed it!

Baby Blanket Giveaway on Sew Scrumptious' Blog

I've entered a wonderful giveaway on Sew Scrumptious' blog. She's giving away a lovely snug fleece baby blanket to the first name pulled out of the hat...

http://sewscrumptious.blogspot.com/2010/01/feeling-lucky.html

Would be perfect for Baby White II, or even Baby White I in this cold weather.

Which reminds me of an e-mail I received yesterday with some rather chilly snow pics. I''m not sure how to upload them here, but if you'd like to see some proper snow, then just drop me an e-mail. These pics are pretty amazing!

Frozen Lake

Happy New Year! Sorry, bit late with the greetings. Just a quick pic of Little W and me at the weekend. The lake was completely frozen and Little W was fascinated when the stones he threw in bounced and skidded!

My Christmassy Weekend

Well, I've had a lovely festive weekend. Started on Friday with the snow I guess. We had loads here in Hertfordshire. I attempted to build a snowman with my son, but it kind of ended up like a pyramid and I just couldn't get the head right at all! Mr W came home from work and wasn't impressed. However, he realised yesterday when he had a go at building one that the snow was 'the wrong sort' and his was also pyramid-like. Ha! Here's Little W in the garden...

Saturday we went to a friend's wedding. The church looked lovely in the snow, although I did feel for the bridesmaids in their dresses. I turned up in my wellies and had a quiet chuckle at women in stilettoes! I did change into more suitable wedding footwear once in church though.

Yesterday we went to see Father Christmas. We'd been practising what Little W was going to say to him and of course, when the time came, not a word came out! He's usually such a chatterbox. He was probably overwhelmed; his face when he walked in the grotto and saw the Big Man himself was delightful! Then afterwards we went to the toddlergroup carol service. Hardly anyone turned up which was a shame. Things didn't look good during 'Little Donkey' when Little W started shouting "Donkey, no!". So Mr W and Little W went to another room and I was left by myself. Still enjoyed it though. Nothing like singing carols when there's snow outside!

As for crafty stuff, I'm really excited about some new projects I'm working on. I've got some photo gift ideas I'm planning and one in particular I can't wait to get made. It combines 3 things I've loved for a long time and is also more 'handmade' than just photos. I've nearly finished researching suppliers and hope to make a start early in the New Year.

Anyway, for now,

Merry Christmas!

Christmas House

OK, here it is...


This is my Christmas Fimo house! It's far from perfect, but it's the biggest thing I've made out of Fimo. It was quite tricky to keep it all upright. I think I should have baked the main structure first and then added the roof and windows.

The Christmas tree has lights that glow in the dark, so hopefully it should all look very festive when the time comes.

I'm not using my macro lens to photograph the house as it will show every imperfection!!

So now on to some Fimo decorations and those magnets...