Three years ago I published a tutorial for Nativity Costumes. This has got itself onto Pinterest and generated many hits. I have had comments this year [“Thankyou - You have saved Christmas”]
If you need to dress an angel/shepherd/wise man/Mary … then the tutorial is here. My apologies if you needed this tutorial last week!
…or ‘shut a door’ ?
Last week I was delivering the Churches Together Village Christmas Cards, when I spotted a skip outside one house with what looked like a near perfect door on top. Now the door at the back of the garage at Cornerstones is in a pretty poor state. I fetched Bob and we went backl to the house, I knocked and asked if they wanted the door. “No, help yourself!” came the reply – and then they gave us a bag containing the handles! We took it home and put it in the garage here, planning how and when we would get it to Norfolk.
Bob was concerned because it was an internal door. “It is still better than the garage door we have at present” I argued. Ideally we need two new internal doors as well, for the bedrooms. Then last night the doorbell rang – “We now have another door on our skip- and the skip is being collected tomorrow – do you want the second door as well before it goes?” So we have two lovely matching internal doors for the bedrooms [and the garage one will just have to wait!]
Thank you to an incredibly generous member of our community for an unexpected Christmas Bonus!
I mentioned this the other week and people asked for more details. 
Some things are just purely sentimental – postcards from Liz and Steph. Other things are useful and referred to often. Some things are just there to make me smile.
“Feed a family of four for £21 a week” is a Shirley Goode article from 1983. I still use some of these recipes. I keep the recipe for Amish Funnel Cakes – but for the sake of my health, do not bake them! The bake-ahead for Christmas booklets have some useful ideas in.
Like PomPom and her craft project books, I will admit to keeping recipes I probably won’t ever make- but they inspire me, and give me something to read if I am bored. If things become out-of-date or irrelevant, I just stick new things over the top.
The Lists are particularly useful –
This cartoon came from one of the girls in 1992
I cannot remember who sent me this one
This is a sweet wrapper which came back from the States in 2002
I shall post a couple of the useful recipes later!
As the Almond family eats up the Christmas cake, Joseph wonders what he did wrong, and Mary is anxious as the Kings crowd in ever closer. Baby Jesus sleeps through it all – He knows it will all be OK
Steph and Mark’s visit last weekend meant that we were officially allowed to start on Christmas Food. I didn’t want to take half a cake to Norfolk with me next week, so we each are having a slice a day!
There was a lovely surprise delivered by a courier a few minutes ago – my new cake tin arrived from Billington’s. This was a gift from blogfriend Sharon. I love its retro pinkness! Thanks S!
B is for beautiful, baking, biscuits, Billingtons, blogfriends, and Bob [who will undoubtedly eat whatever goodies go into the tin]
“A week is a long time in politics” said Harold Wilson half a century ago. Well, a week is a long time in this house in the run up to Christmas. I have gone from chaos to order- and back again in just seven days. Bob says I am ‘entropy personified’
Here are some photos I took early on the morning of the day that Steph and Mark arrived – utter chaos in dining room and bedroom
By midday everything was put away and tidy and we had a splendid Christmas lunch, and there were clean beds for us all to sleep in. That was Dec 7th – by Dec 14th it had returned to utter chaos In the week since, the dining room has reverted to Sewing Machine Central [I have had five different projects on the go] The lounge is full of craft materials related to Messy Church and sheep. One spare bedroom is relatively tidy [but lacking bedding] the other is a repository of Christmas gifts. And we have both been amazingly busy – teaching, panto performances, carol services, funerals, other meetings. This week looks like being just as full - but it will be straight by Friday [it must be, it is our Christmas ‘Open House’ Event] The journalist Katherine Whitehorn said once that the only way she kept on top of housekeeping was to invite guests on a regular basis. I think her system is a good one.
I’ve been watching Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners on Channel 4. This week will feature a woman whose ‘passion for haberdashery has taken over her house’ I would like to state here and now that this is not me. But I acknowledge that I do have an astonishingly large collection of buttons and lace. I do sort my clutter regularly, and I do keep things clean – and I feel desperately sorry for the folk pictured above who spend 4 or 5 hours a day bleaching and sanitising. Especially the lady in the centre who has not hugged her daughter for years because of their mutual fear of germs.
I am very blessed in possessing the most tolerant of husbands – I am sure any other man would have strangled me by now, with one of the many lengths of ribbon, or skeins of wool, lurking about the house!!
My third Willow Tree Angel is one I received as a gift from my sister in law Marion – The Angel of Caring
Her tagline is “Always there, listening with a willing ear and an open heart”
As I type this, I am listening to a news bulletin about the treatment people receive in hospitals. People keep trotting out the same phrases “quality of care” and “care packages”. I do not want to debate the hospital issue here- but it strikes me that when we reduce “care” to a commodity which can be assessed with a series of tick boxes - like bottles of pills, or boxes of sterile dressings or frequency and length of time of a patient's appointments with the consultant, we lose something.
The great thing about this little angel is that she is sitting down. Her elbows on her knees, turned to face the speaker, she is clearly giving her full attention to the other person. Her whole body language shows that she cares. She has made the time to stop, and sit, and listen – to take seriously the concern of her friend. Maybe she is in the middle of a frantically busy day [for we all know that angels are extremely busy at this time of year!] but she has stopped, and taken a seat so she can engage in real conversation.
Having heard my side of the problem, they did not judge, but asked the right, incisive questions to help me work towards an answer, and offered their support as I did so. Caring for people may include
I want to be that sort of angel for people. May God give us all the grace to be willing to find space and time to care for others – even when we think we are too busy.
After all, Jesus was never too busy or too tired to care, was he?
Jane aka Froogs/Frugal Queen shared this one and asked us to pass it on. It’s by a lovely young singer/songwriter, Claire Bruff, from the West Country, who sings in her worship group. I’m happy to pass it on Froogs- because I agree with you that a voice raised to the Lord like this is beautiful! Thank you for this Christmas gift!
Perfection
So afraid to, participate to, even try,
So I’ll stand by and I will,
Make excuses, for not advancing,
Not pushing myself into anything and
Oh this perfection is misery.
So critical, this I know, nothing I do is good enough for me and I’ll,
Put myself down, before you can
Afraid to fail so instead I’ll bail out and
Oh this perfection is misery.
And I can feel You working it out,
I can feel us breaking ground,
I can feel Your arms surround,
Holding me in this moment,
Changing me in this moment.
I am learning, to be accepting, of myself,
Can you tell as I am, singing this song,
It’s not perfect, ‘cos I know that I’m not perfect but
He is perfection in me.
The Saltmine Theatre Team arrived yesterday at 8.30am and set up in the chapel. All this scenery and equipment from one white van!
I loved the amazing fabric flowers on the umbrellas
The show was brilliant – the story of the Snow Queen, and how a shard of her ice in Kai’s eye almost turned him into a sad and frozen boy – but his friend Gerda rescued him, and all was well.
It was a clever retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen story – ending with the discovery that the true message of Christmas is love. Love for family and friends, but more than that, the love that God has, for he sent Jesus to be our Saviour.
We had two performances yesterday [one afternoon matinee for the village school KS1, and an evening public performance] Today it will be a morning show for KS1 for the school where I have done supply work this term, and then in the afternoon, the village school KS2.
The audiences have been really well behaved and entered into the atmosphere [and sung the songs with gusto] Oh yes they have!
Huge thanks to all those who have helped – especially Lynda, Gwen, Janet, Val, Ian, John, Sue [hope I’ve not missed anyone there – apologies if I have!!] and the families who have provided hospitality for the team overnight.
And big thanks to the team themselves – Anna, Becky, Becky, Ben and Paul.
One of my work colleagues is taking her young grand-daughter to the Panto. “I wish I could go dressed as a princess” said the child [who is 6 years old, but tall for her age] My friend was not impressed with either the quality, sizing or price of what was on offer in the shops. Could I help to provide a pink princess dress, please?
I used the pattern in last month’s Prima magazine as a starting point [plus one of the young lady’s dresses, which I borrowed as a size reference]and added sleeves and an overskirt. The bodice is two layers-- lined with the same pale pink fabric, and there is a punk tulle underskirt. The sheer overskirt and sleeves are decorated with tiny gold stars.
The picture above shows where I got to at teatime Tuesday – ready for final hand-finishing and trimming. Bob suggested something simple and I found this lovely heart jewel in my bead box, so that went at the waist, and a tiny white bow with a pearl at the neckline.
I found a couple of children’s bracelets in the bead box too, all pink and sparkly, so made a little drawstring bag and popped them in [well, they are too small for me!] I also covered a hanger in some more pink fabric. At the back I put a sash. I’d made the dress on the generous size, so the sash will pull it in for now – and she will be able to go on wearing the dress even when she grows a bit more.
I put four vintage pink sparkly buttons on the back – it is easier than inserting a zip – and I had them already. This took about £10 of fabric – and an afternoon of great fun for me. I am not thinking of setting up in business – if I charged for my time as well, nobody would be able to afford the frocks. But a one-off like this is such a fun project and so satisfying to see completed.
Unlike the ones from Asda, all raw edges are finished properly and enclosed, and all exposed seams are ‘French’ style. And this one is unique – no other little princess at the Panto will have a dress like it!
PS I shall not be wearing this outfit to Church on Christmas Morning!
Mini-Sweater
Materials needed:If you get bored on Boxing Day, you could always make some for next year!
Size 2.75mm needles, plus 4ply yarn ( a plain colour is recommended so the pattern shows) OR omit cable pattern and knit in stripes. Sewing needle for making up.
Optional -heavy gauge wire and pliers for a hanger
Stitch tension is not important
Cable pattern: 2 stitch Cable (2stC): Knit 2 stitches together leaving them on the left needle, then knit in the right hand stitch again, slide to right needle
Cast on 24 stitches
Row 1-4: K1, P1 across
Row 5: P2, *K2, P4* across ending with a K2, P2
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: P2, *2stC, P 4*, repeat across ending with a 2stC, P2
Row 8: Purl
Rows 9 - 24: Repeat Rows 5 - 8, four more times
Row 25: Work Row 5 and cast on 8 stitches
Row 26: Work row 6 and cast on 8 stitches (40 sts.)
Row 27: K 2, P 8, *2stC, P4*3 times, 2stC, P8, K2
Row 28: K2, P36, K2
Row 29: K2, P 8, *K2, P4* 3 times, K2, P8, K2
Row 30: same as row 28
Row 31: same as row 27
Row 32: same as row 28
Row 33: K2, P8, K2, P2, *K1, P1* 6 times, P2, K2, P8, K2
Row 34: same as 28
Row 35: K2, P8, 2stC, P2, *K1, P1* 6 times, P2, 2st.C, P8, K2
Row 36: same as row 28
Row 37: Same as row 33
Row 38: same as row 28
Row 39: K2, P8, 2stC, P2, cast off 12, P2, 2stC, P8, K2
Row 40: K2, P12, Cast on 12, P12, K2
You now have knitted half the ornament. Work from row 40 to row 1 again to knit the second side of your sweater. On rows 25 and 26 you’ll of course be casting off the 8 sleeve stitches instead of casting on and you’ll cast off the 24 stitches when you’ve worked down to row 1. Seam up your sides and sleeve underarms when completed.
You WILL get there, Christmas will happen, even if you don’t get everything prepared quite as thoroughly as Martha Stewart** would. Check out the lovely Advent Pause from Frances yesterday [here]
Just to make you feel better, here are photos of my dining room at 8am Saturday [pre arrival of Steph and Mark] and then 8pm Saturday [when we had our “Family Christmas Meal”]
I will let you know if there are any good recipes in it.
Once I began the process Friday evening, I remembered that experience has shown that lining the bowl with cling film was a wise move. It means that the turning out process is much simpler [and also any gooey bits that escape the bowl are well contained]
See how easily that has come out [also please note the jar of Gary’s chutney lurking in the back of the shot. Gaz, it’s delicious! thankyou]You can also see the one triangle of sponge which only fitted in the wrong way round.
I dug out my tub of retro Christmas cake decorating bits. Holly,trees snowmen and paper Greetings.
I also snipped a length of the tree-trim beads that I had not needed elsewhere.
And here it is – my finished pudding – over Saturday and Sunday it served ten generous portions. The family think the snowmen are holding brooms – or maybe lacrosse sticks – or possibly giant matches. Whatever they are, they make the pud look good.
I ran out of inspiration for the cake, and just slapped on a coat of royal icing, and arranged the figures on top. I don’t think this would score many points on the GBBO. But I am happy with it.
All in all this weekend – Family Christmas Part 1 - has been great fun
Last Tuesday morning [25th] I started working with a couple of new teenage pupils, and they learned to thread up a machine and sew a straight line, as well as sew on a button. We had our second session this week. What enthusiasm! In two 2-hour sessions, from scratch, we produced
All quite simple projects, but they seemed so satisfied to actually produce something they could take home immediately.
That stripe fabric turns up again lining the floral tissue holder
Ornaments – front and back view – a little bit of wadding in each and a bead or button to emphasis the ‘cushion’
The handwarmer is a 4” square of Christmas cotton, backed with red fleece, and filled with rice, plus a teaspoonful of lavender buds. One minute in the microwave and it will be warm and toasty!
Seeing the sense of achievement on their faces was so rewarding!
Which angel is always late?
Whose halo is never straight?
Who’s still snoring at half past eight?
Whoops-A-Daisy Angel!
The angel wings [yeah, I know, I know…] are simply rectangles, gathered up in the centre and threaded through a lace loop on the centre back of the robe. Elastic loops will hold them onto the girls’ wrists. I’ll add bells later, so they jingle as they dance!Whoops-a-Daisy’s robe has a zigzag hem, and patches – rectangles of white and gold Christmas fabric.
Bob made the intelligent suggestion of sewing some contrast stitching to emphasise the patches [rather like those “Tatty Teddies”]
