A very merry Christmas to you all

Jeanette

The Friday Tutorial

Gift tags

I love giving more than receiving. It’s the ultimate joy for me to find that exactly right gift especially when you can surprise someone with it on an ordinary day and not for a special occasion like Christmas or a birthday. I also like to gift-wrap them in a personal way. Since Christmas is just around the corner I would like to chare with you how I make my gift tags. If you dot want to use them as tags you can hang them in your Christmas tree as well.

I use vintage photos from the web but I think it very is important to honor those who have published them. These photos are lovelly freebies from the talented Teri Karhs at Pringle Hill Studios . I also used paper from a vintage book, card stock and glitter glue. You simply can`t have to much glitter glue in your life!

I cut out a photo with my scissor and also cut out a pair of angel wings using the vintage paper. I glued the wings on the back of the photo and then glued the "angel" on a piece of card stock for stability. Then I cut everything out. Added glitter glue to the wings and a small tread on the back for hanging.

This is the finished gift tag

Once I got started I had so much fun that I just kept going.

I will finish this DIY with a hot tip. If you want lovely vintage photos then you can hurry over to Lisa Vollrath. For the 6th year in a row Lisa at Ten two Studios and Go Make Something has been counting down the days to Christmas with printable image sheets. They are freebies to use in your own art work! Now if that isn`t true Christmas spirit I don`t know what is. Very generous !!

Now I leave you for the weekend. May you all have a merry Christmas!

See you all after the holidays!

Take care
Jeanette

I`m done!

The Christmas ham is in the oven, the Christmas cards are sent and the gifts are all bought and gift wrapped. The Christmas tree is standing in the living room ready in all its splendor and the sweet smell of hyacinths are spreading all over the house. I am done! Now Christmas can come….

Tomorrow I have a Friday Tutorial for you and then I will leave you for the Christmas holidays.

So….

From me...

....to you

A very Merry X-MAS!

Jeanette

PS The cap is one of my knitted gifts….for my husb….schhh don’t tell. Next year we won’t loose sight of him in the ski slopes J

Things I Love Tuesday

Christmas decorations

Take care
Jeanette

My weekend in pictures

I had a good weekend. I spent Saturday with my family celebrating an early Christmas Eve since my sister is going abroad on Thursday. We almost always celebrate “Christmas Eve” twice because my sister and brother in law have a house in Thailand and usually spend their Christmas holiday there. Good food, laughter and presents – can it be better? On Sunday I made Christmas cards and decorated my house. I also continued on my knitted gifts and while I was knitting I kept saying to myself – next year I will get started in time….   

Take care

Jeanette

The Friday Tutorial

Reindeer garland
I am alot into garlands right now. They are fun to make and easy too and they give your home a fast touch of Christmas. So how about an easy, fun and fast project for the weekend?


Last year IKEA (yeah, I visit it a lot….) had reindeer Christmas tree ornaments. Since I have a crush on reindeers I found them extremely cute but I left the shop without them thinking I could make some of my own. Unfortunately I happened to forget that I absolutely suck at drawing! But when in need – google! So I googled reindeer template and I didn’t just find a template but also a great blog. Don’t you just love the internet?  Visit the blog here.

This is how I did the garland:

I chose some lovely red paper with different patterns. These are scrapbook paper colored on both sides but you could just as well use paper from some glossy magazine.




I traced the template to the paper and cut the reindeers out with a scissor. Then I glued them to a piece of string and the garland was finished!



Here they are hanging on the wall just waiting to be hung in the Christmas tree.



Now I leave you for the weekend. Hope you have a creative one!
Jeanette

Sneak peak

I haven`t showed you any of my creative work lately. Thats because they are kind of secret and will be releaved for friends and family on Christmas eve. But you can get a sneak peak at the gift wrap... I think it`s almost as fun wraping them up as it is making the gift itself.

Take care
Jeanette

In need of some Christmas spirit

I have always loved Christmas, the capital letters kind of LOVE. Well I don’t love the hectic buy all the stuff you can get and put under the tree kind of Christmas that leaves people all hollow eyed and desperate in the shops. I love the Christmas that involves friends and family eating gingerbreads, drinking glühwein and playing scrabble. To go all crazy on Christmas decorations and make most of them myself. The warmth and joy of spending time with my loved ones.

This year I don’t seem to be able to get round to Christmas. It’s like Christmas barely happened. I know, I know it isn’t here yet but I am usually way into the good cheer - peace on earth – good will toward men feeling at this time of the year. It’s bothersome and it worries me.

Maybe it’s an age thing or an I have too much to do at work thing….Or it could be a what the heck happened to October and November thing. It could also be a weather thing. We have no snow!

Well, what ever it is I hope it’s  a passing thing.

Take care

Jeanette

My weekend in pictures

I had the cold from hell this weekend! I had planned to get most of my Christmas shopping done as well as decorating my house and garden but spent most of it in bed reading and feeling sorry for myself instead. On Sunday I managed to stay out of bed for a couple of hours and then I made a wreath for my front door and hung my newest acquisition on the wall in my hallway. It’s a deer (of course), a reindeer in fact. My husband hasn’t really decided if he likes him yet but I think he is SO cute. Especially after some Christmas pimping…. I guess my husband is grateful that I don’t want the entire sleigh team hanging from my roof though…

Take care

Jeanette

The Friday Tutorial

Christmas garland

One of my friends isn’t very fond of Christmas so I decided to win her over. I made her a Christmas garland with a special message on it. In translation it says something like “give me some fucking Christmas peace”. What she might lack in the Christmas spirit department she makes up with a great sense of humor you see!

I used ordinary gift tags but you can cut your own out of card stock if you like. Or why not use the backside of playing cards? First I printed my message, cut the letters out and placed them on the tags to see how they fitted. Then I added some colored paper and glitter glue for embellishment. Finally I tied the tags to a black satin ribbon and the garland was done.

I had so much fun that I think I will make one for myself too.

Now I leave you for the weekend. Hope you have a creative one!

Jeanette

On my Christmas wish list

When my daughters read my whishes for this years Christmas they more or less said that I was on a straight road to the looney bin but my husband was excited. They where all presents of his taste and he could probably get them all at one place – the Home Depot

This is what is on my list so far....

A soldering – iron

A welding set

A chainsaw

They are all going to be used in my creative projects of course :-)

Take care

Jeanette

My weekend in pictures

Me and my family went to Stockholm this weekend and had a wonderful time. My daughters spent three days shopping and me and my husband walked slowly around town admiring the Christmas lights and decorations with frequent stops for coffee and the occasional glass of wine. We talked and talked and talked, catching up after a hectic autumn with way to little time spent together. Now and then we met up with the daughters to inspect their findings. My youngest daughter for instance bought herself a pair of seriously high heels probably best worn with a parachute for safety.

Take care

Jeanette

Oh the smell of Christmas

We are doing a bit of Christmas baking over here. We are making Lussebullar ( saffron buns). Making them already is a bit like cheating because you are not really suppposed to eat them until the 13:th of December - The Saint Lucia day. But how fun would life be if you stuck to the rules? No fun at all!



Do you want the recipe? Here goes!

Ingredients:
• 300 ml milk
• 1 g saffron
• 50 g baker's yeast
• 150 g sugar
• 125 g butter or 125 g margarine
• 700 g all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• raisins

Directions
1. Melt butter or margarine in a pan and add the milk and the saffron.
2. Warm the mixture to 37 oC (100 oF).
3. Pour the mixture over the finely divided yeast; then add the remaining ingredients (except for the egg and the raisins),
4. Mix into a smooth dough.
5. Cover the dough with a piece of cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes.
6. Knead the dough, divide it into 24 pieces
7. Form each bun into a string, 15-20 cm long, then arrange the string into an S




8. Press a few raisins into the dough.
9. Cover the"Lucia buns" with a piece of cloth and let them rise for 40 minutes.
10. Whip the egg together and paint the buns with the mixture.
11. Bake them for 5-10 minutes in the oven at 250 degrees C until golden brownish yellow.

In my opinion they taste best if you eat them a bit warm.


I knit while I wait for the dough to rise. I am getting a bit desperate you see because I have three gifts for Christmas to knit and I`m a long way from finished! I do this mistake every year. How come I never learn....

Take care
Jeanette

My weekend in pictures

I went to a fab birhday party, held a tiny Christmas market together with my friends, tried to untangle the outdoor Christmas lights with a little help (!) from Tiger the cat, made this years advent candle holder and lighted the first candle.

I hade a great weekend hope you had a good one too!

Take care
Jeanette

My weekend in pictures

I went to a Christmas jumble sale with my mum. I bought a lot of tablecloths with beautiful patterns, some vintage Christmas tree decorations and also added three new cookie tins to my tin collection. It was great fun with a jumble sale devoted to just Christmas stuff. Me being a Christmas freak….On Saturday evening we had a family gathering celebrating my mum’s birthday. That left me with a serious hangover and Sunday somewhat wasted.

Take care

Jeanette