handmade advent

I made a decision that I wanted to make an advent calendar this year - something with fabric (of course) - but what?

Unfortunately that question remained unanswered for quite some time until I hit Flickr for inspiration. So many clever people out there!! My palms get sweaty with excitement sometimes when I'm glued to the computer drooling at the wonders created by crafty folk all over the world. Seriously, if you ever feel like you've hit a creative brick wall, just head over the flickr.com and search the topic of whatever it is you're attempting to create and "voila"..... you'll be back in business!!

Here's my proof.

1. Lego City advent calendar 7724, 2. kids' drawings, vintage print, 3. advent calendar? christmas tree decoration? popcorn bags?, 4. Advent Mantle, 5. Day 1, 6. Advent calendar 2008, 7. Advent Calendar 2007, 8. Advent Calendar, 9. Sankt Nikolaus today

Aren't they just fabulous?

So reinvigorated I came up with these little xmas socks. When I say "little" I do mean this literally as in hind sight they are a tad too small for practical goodies. Oh well.... I'm sure size is overrated! They look cute.

We missed the first 2 days this year but I think my little ones will forgive me and be more than happy with 22 surprises. I've mixed them up with a few sweets (which were discovered by the sniffer dogs within the first hour - mental note - keep chocolate in the pantry until the day of opening), treasure hunts and special outings (christmas lights, museum, beach, bowling etc).

This year due to time constraints I've stuck the numbers on but next year I plan to come up with numbered buttons as a more permanent decoration. I think they'd also appreciate a little adornment with the odd ribbon or trim. Anyway, that's for next year.

Also this week I managed to bake these gingerbread christmas tree biscuits for the kindy fundraiser.

I had to hide them from the kids and then buy them one each at the party. Yes! Slightly odd things to do - you see I stuffed up the recipe (while talking to DH I added too much flour) then to totally finish it off I burnt them in the oven. Total disaster! So after a trip to the supermarket for extra eggs I finally managed to bake 14 cookies which was just enough. Oh yeah, and I was doingall of this on the day of the event..... typical Fiona style!

Are you feeling creative this Christmas? If not, check out what others are up to here and get your handmade jiggy on!