BIRTHDAY PREPARATIONS

This year Elizabeth is having a "Ballet Birthday" Party and I want to make it very special for her and her attending friends. Each year to date we have had a themed party - polka dot, silly hat and flower parties so far. This year I have challenged myself to make and create all of the party accoutrement's. It's been a happy challenge thus far. Elizabeth chose the ballet theme and I made all of the party invites - easy to do when you have a scrapbooking business and love of all things papery.

While I am not totally against goody bags full of plastic bits (the kids like them), they do not really fit our party sensibility. We are trying to be mindful of where things come from these days too so the hand crafted route is one we are taking. I do have a penchant for supplies so I was thrilled to use what I had at hand to create all of my goody bag items for the girls.

The tutus are Fiona's design at http://www.pipnmillycreations.com/ . I used yards upon yards of creamy tulle that I had leftover from wedding six years ago. They are no sew tutus and kept me multi-tasking in front of the tv in the evenings. Together they are ethereal and remind me of beautifully light jellyfish gracefully swimming in the sea. Can't wait to see all the girls wearing them together.

At Elizabeth's last ballet class, they used wands to dance and prance with so we HAD to have them too. I downloaded a template from the computer and used sparkly coordinating papers. A piece of doweling acts as their base and curled ribbon makes them magical.

It's been very satisfying to use our imaginations to create these wonderful party favours also to use supplies I've had in my stash. Now we just have to cue the music and.....dance!!!!!

IT'S A JELLY-CAT TEA PARTY!

We play tea party on a fairly regular basis at our house. I used to give the kids a real teabag to brew up, however, got tired of finding strewn tea leaves everywhere. One day I had a little epiphany and had to head straight for my sewing machine and create some reusable cloth teabags. I cut some white cotton fabric into over sized rectangles and sewed three sides together then filled each "bag" with three teaspoons of lentils before sewing the teabag closed. Pinking shears were used to create a zig-zag edge that is both functional (material won't fray) and decorative.

The little white napkins were recycled eyelet fabric from former bathroom curtains and a yard of pink seersucker cloth made a perfect "picnic blanket".

A tea party wouldn't be complete without a sweet treat so I made fours small Teacakes out of felt that are slightly stuffed and fill the china side plates perfectly. I do plan to sew beads and buttons to the tops of the teacakes to finish off these perfect tiny petits-fours.

A vintage tin holds the teabags and a complimentary yellow seersucker bag holds everything together. It was fun to create and make and the kids love it as do the bunnies and bears.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

We all had a nice time over the holidays - it was busy with work and family and toys and food and SNOW! Our tree was taken down yesterday and the house put right again. This morning we awoke to more snow and have stayed in to play and relax all day long. January has long since been my least favourite month of the year. Have never been one for resolutions either. My hopes for 2009 are to be healthy and content, creative and curious. I look forward to reclaiming my garden to its former beauty. My dream of publishing a children's book may come true too...

These are some of the toy bags I've made for the kids. They are made from fabric store remnants and my scrapbooking ribbon. Each bag holds a specific toy and it is my desire to keep the toys organized and an overall tidier, less hectic house....we'll see. They are fun to make though and I plan of making many more in the weeks to come. Happy New Year to you All!

GINGERMEN

Our artistic endeavours of late consist of seasonally festive fare. We've decked out the tree, the cards are accumulating and construction paper chains abound. Today was the perfect day for baking - snowy and minus 6C. We donned our aprons (thanks to the creative talents of "Foon" at http://www.pip/ ) and dug out the cookie cutters.

Quinn coined the gingerbread men and ladies we were going to bake - gingermen. I love it and the name will remain a holiday tradition.

Elizabeth and Quinn did exceptionally well rolling out the dough and stamping their own cookies - roosters, "pizzas" and traditional old gingerbread boys. We had leftover icing from our gingerbread house and smarties made the perfect buttons. Next we had fun eating their heads and legs and arms. Thanks guys for a nice day...

THE DAY...

So today we made our first family gingerbread house. My husband assembled it and then the kids had free range to decorate. Well. It's a Picasso for sure. The fun they had sticking all of the little candy bits onto the gooey icing was priceless. I love how it turned out in all of its beautiful imperfection. Now we get to pick away at it and enjoy.

I did get the Sushi today and it was nummy! We had a feast of Pad Thai, tempura, Happy Tuna rolls and Spicy Saigon roll along with a steaming pot of Chai tea. We nearly forfeited our outing since there was a blizzard taking place all day. Being an Eastern girl for my formative years, I still find it amusing that snow brings life to a halt on the West Coast. People get out their wellies and brollies and clod hop through snow. Driving is a not at all desirable - it's hilly and the snow removal budget is bleak. Anyhow, we ventured out and enjoyed every minute of it.

I had lots of nice phone calls from friends with well wishes. During dinner we noticed a car pulled over in front of our house. We thought it was someone stuck in the snow, however, it was a dedicated florist delivering the most beautiful and humongous flower bouquet I have ever received - stunningly perfect winter red gerberas and liatris and alstrolomeria and 'mums and coniferous foliage. Thank you BB. A huge surprise, so thoughtful and kind. I love them.

The Day was good and to quote my Mum as she left our house today..."Life Begins".

CHRISTMAS TREE

So we went to get our Christmas tree the other day. We usually cut our own at the House of Breads little tree farm, however, this year we stopped at a locally owned garden centre boasting Vancouver Island cultivated trees. We found the perfect, bushy, soft needled tree with the most delicious woodsy, piney scent.

Now, decorating with a two and four year old does present somewhat of a challenge. While I had ideals of listening to my new Loreena McKinnett Christmas cd and decorating the tree in perfect harmony, that simply did not happen. To abridge our decorating story, we had screaming for Bob the Builder and running off with the decorations from the two year old. Elizabeth loved sorting through the throngs of mix matched ornaments that have more sentimental value than beauty. She was happily existing in her own world and did a fine job of putting them on a concentrated area of the tree - front and centre and approximately three feet high.

We had to sneak water into the trees base since any open water equals free range for fishing and experimenting with swimming toys. The overall effect of the tree is.... good. It is ours with white twinkly lights and golden beads of garland (no tinsel in this house thanks), a hand crafted tree skirt from Grandma and now its stands ready for Santa.

I used to always decorate the tree when I was a teenager at home in Oakville just around my birthday. Yes, that is soon approaching and it is THAT birthday, the one I've been silently dreading for the last six months. Well, it is finally near and it's okay. I take solice that Monika and Rachael are That age. As are Julia, Halley and Celine. That age is the new 30 after all!! For months too I have been dreaming about how to celebrate. I've toyed with the idea of Vegas with all of my highschool friends and copious amounts of cocktails. Also fancied the idea of being in my Happy Place in Mexico. I am, most likely, going for a sushi feast and matinee with my husband and delicious meal of my choice at home with my fave Black Forest gateau. It will be perfect, of course.

FUNNY!!!!

Holiday Eating Tips 1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single- malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas! 3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission. 5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? 6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog. 7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the centre of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again. 8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labour Day? 9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. 10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave, with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Have a great holiday season!