o christmas tree, o christmas tree...

"...much pleasure thou can'st give me!"

Or so the lyrics to the carol go because there's yet to be a Christmas tree trimming in my home that has ended in pleasure! 

Let me paint you a picture:

It all starts innocently enough. It's December 1st and I'm super eager to put the tree up and decorate the house. The man of the house however is not so eager as memories of Christmas past are still fresh in his mind.

 I'm flitting about the house singing "deck the halls" while the man of the house is struggling as he wheels the massive Christmas tree box up the slanted driveway. Yep, you heard right. Our Christmas tree is so darn big, we had to have a cabinet maker build a storage box with wheels! Seriously, I have no idea what we were thinking when we bought this monster of a tree! So he finally gets the tree into the house and I'm left to fluff up the needles as he gets the rest of the decorations from the garage. Now this is where it all goes pear shaped for us. I eagerly rip out the lights and start to wind them around the tree, but the man of the house has returned and has almost had a heart attack watching me. Because any normal person knows that the lights, all 1000 of them, need to be laid out, winding like a snake through the house, to ensure there are no tangles and they're all working properly. Pfft! I like to create and decorate, so there's no time to be practical! But I lose the battle and the lights go up the 'normal' way. Bickering as we follow each other around the tree, each of us doing it totally wrong in the eyes of the other. By this point the man of the house has delegated the hanging of the decorations to me, probably because he knows there's a right way of doing it and he really can't be bothered. Who could blame him? With a tree over 7 foot high, it's a monstrous job!

So the decorations go up, but only the gold and pearl ones (!) Then the man of the house turns the lights on and I gasp, realising that yet again, we've hung the white LED lights (or as we've rightly named them, the blue nightclub lights... yes, they're that bad!) instead of my beautiful fairy lights!   

     Jokes aside, I still love this time of year!

And I'd love to show you what we've done this year...

 

  

And just a few more presents left to wrap and I'll be done!

Michelle xx 

handmade christmas cards and favors - 2012

This year I momentarily contemplated buying my Christmas cards but then I realised, I have a sister!! So I thought I could convince her to join me in an afternoon of card making. Yes! What a brilliant idea! She would have called it slave labor but I would have paid her with chocolate... I swear! But lucky for my sister (not so lucky for me), she was busy that weekend (or so she says!). 

But after a late night or two, I finished them all!

The card on the right is what I started with but of course I had to run out of gold card and pearls, so I used my left over wrapping paper for the last of the cards and I think these turned out better! Funny how well thought out plans work fine but it's the unexpected things along the way that turn out best.

And here are the favors - A small ring box with white Christmas pearls (truffles)...

   

Last year I added a favor to every card I gave out but I've run out of time this year so I've only made enough for my immediate family. To everyone else I send you something even better... Double the love and best wishes this Christmas!

Michelle xx