2010-12-31

It's been a good year!

A really good one! I have said this so many times before, but you people from all over the world, who I have met via net this year have made it wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish I will see you here (and your blogs and my little shop) next year too.

It's almost time to start counting the last minutes of 2010, so like last year (it was posted in Jan 2010 but still), I would like to end this wonderful year with some of my handmades from each month of it. I hope you enjoy them as much as I loved making them. And I truly hope next year will bring as many happy crafty moments as this!

I wish you all the best ever New Year 2011 and see you here soon again!

Yours,
Mia


JANUARY 2010




FEBRUARY 2010




MARCH 2010




APRIL 2010




MAY 2010




JUNE 2010




JULY 2010




AUGUST 2010




SEPTEMBER 2010




OCTOBER 2010




NOVEMBER 2010




DECEMBER 2010




2010-12-25

December 25th

**Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and the Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 25th

This month has been a special for me, and I wish you've loved it too. I have read and cherished every each of your comments, thank you so much.
Actually you have made this year a wonderful one to me,
and I wish to see you here again next year.
Now let's celebrate and enjoy the company of loved ones,
chocolate and some good books.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011!



Happy December 25th!

Love,
Mia

2010-12-24

December 24th

**Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and the Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 24th

It's been a wonderful month! Filled with little ideas, crafting, pictures, e-mails, comments. This month has gone by so quickly! Thank you so much all, who have visited, commented and shared your memories, recipes, crafty ideas and talents with me and all of us. I will be keeping all these memories alive not only in my heart but also in my Christmas book...


You'll need:

a book or file with empty sheets
pen and glue


I bought my Christmas book a few years ago,
and it's called "My Christmas Organizer" but it's been translated into Finnish. It has places and spaces for cards, decorations,
addresses (essential! I loose them every year!),
recipes, memories, photos... And there are some thoughts and poems of Christmas here and there and some beautiful pictures.


It has little pockets to keep things in safe. Important things like cards, stamps, decorations, letters and recipes...


There's no need to get these ready-made ones, you can start yours from the scratch. Just pick up a file or a notebook and glue and pen. It's so much fun, and when years go by, you can get back to your memories and I can guarantee you go "What!? I have forgotten that!" It has happened to me many times!


It's almost time to say goodbye to this years
Christmas-book and Christmas-blog.
See you next year... But once tomorrow still!

Happy December 24th!

Yours with love,
Mia

2010-12-23

December 23rd

**Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and the Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 23rd


It's the time, dear friends! Time to enjoy! Enjoy the scents of hyacinth and gingerbread, and taste of chocolate and peppermint! It's time to enjoy the beautiful, fun and colorful, new and traditional. It's time to give, share and love. It's really all around us, and I wish you
the best December 23rd

with the words of adorable Billy Mack:

"I feel it in my fingers,
I feel it in my toes,
Christmas is all around me,
And so the feeling grows

It's written in the wind,
It's everywhere I go,
So if you really love Christmas,
C'mon and let it snow?"

Yours,
Mia

P.S. I hope you'll enjoy these little Christmas-corners of our house too!

2010-12-22

December 22nd

**Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and the Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 22nd

We're almost there, dear friends! I hope you have done all the shopping, and all the gifts have been wrapped up beautifully already. But wait! You need an extra gift right this minute? Something quick but pretty (and hopefully handmade?) for a colleague, teacher, neighbor? Not to worry, this will only take a few minutes!


You'll need:

a table candle ( long candles can be decorated too)
thin metal wire (note to myself: buy thinner, mine's too thick)
pliers
beads and/or sequins
(optional: cellophane to wrap, trim)


I keep these basic but good quality candles in my cupboard just in case. I had blue and white, and chose white for this quick project. If your candle has a plastic-wrap, remove that. Cut a longish piece (so that it will go about four time around the candle) from your metal wire.

;">
Choose one end of the fire and make the end look nice and neat by putting the bead in, and twisting the wire tightly.

Now take the other end and start putting your beads and/or sequins in (or like me, both). When you have ten or so there, start twisting the fire around each bead so they'll stay in place. Leave a little space between each bead, so it will be easier to handle (my wire is so thick, that the spaces are quite large). With nice and thin wire you can put the beads much closer to each other. Go through whole wire and twist one bead to close the end, just like earlier.

Take your beaded wire, and put it around your candle (when the wire is thinner than mine, it goes smoothly from bottom to up, but mine needed some shaping) nice and tight, and you're done!

If you have cellophane at home, it makes this little gift looking even more festive! Just take a big piece, place the candle in the middle and lift the cellophane up. Tie tight with pretty trim and if you still have a bit wire left, make an extra decoration on top. My heart is a bit wonky but cute still - and I am sure yours will be adorable!


Happy December 22nd!

Yours,
Mia


P.S. The candle needs some extra care: advise the receiver to pay extra attention to the wire, it's not burnable! It can be taken off and be used again, it could make pretty decoration too!

2010-12-20

December 21st

**Welcome to my little Christmas blog! Here you'll find something Christmassy every single day until the big celebration on 25th of December! Some of the things I have created myself and some have been made by you, my dearest readers!
Thank you and the Happiest Holidays!**

DECEMBER 21st

Today's festive Christmas post was written for me by one of my wonderful readers, Karen!
Today is a very special day for her family, as it is his sons birthday! They celebrate it by going out into the country to find a Yule Log to burn in their fire. They also enjoy Mullet cider and special Yule biscuits today.
Karen was so kind that she sent me the most delicious cookie and Mullet Cider recipes which I am going to share with you!
Today is also the day for Karen's family to bring in the festive greenery. This all sounds so lovely, and it's my plan for this evening, too. I'll only add one thing, can you spot it in my pictures?

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Karen!


Mullet Cider

2 litres of local cider
cloves
cinnamon sticks
grated nutmeg

Warm and enjoy!


Yule biscuits

100 gm butter
2 tbsp honey
2 egg yolks
150 gm plain flour
50gm ground hazelnuts or almonds
pinch of cinnamon
grated nutmeg
a few drops of vanilla extract

Blend butter, honey, egg yolk and vanilla together until you have a thick paste. Mix all dried ingredients together and add to the paste a little at a time until you have a stiff dough. Chill briefly and then roll out. Cut into festive shapes on baking parchment for about 15 minutes at 160 deg.
Enjoy!

Happy December 21st and Winter Solstice!

Yours,
Mia

This time of the year...

Usually around this time, when children go back to school, and you can just about to smell the autumn, I start to dig deeper in my fabric...