Advent Calendar

 The festive atmosphere has begun this week and I have been out shopping more than once to find the perfect something something. Of course I have also been busy making stuff, which I enjoy just as much.One of the projects I started making was an advent calendar. The existing hand sewn one was looking a bit worn out, I probably made it when the girls were only about 6 and 8 years old! I had seen a pretty Scandinavian looking one on a blog a couple of years ago, but never quite got round to having a go at making a similar one myself until now. I used some off white wool fabric and a bright crimson embroidery thread. First I cut out 24 envelope shapes from the wool fabric and sewed them together before attaching them to a length of red bias binding.
Just a couple of mistakes were made along the way. I 'should' have drawn the numbers on before embroidering them freehand, hence some are slightly bigger than others! The second mistake I made was sewing the buttons on 'after' I had made each little envelope! Quite a tricky bit of maneuvering was required with my needle and thread for those. I got a little impatient trying to find some red buttons, which was my first colour choice but I wanted to keep sewing in the meantime as I was keen to finish. I looked everywhere for red ones without any luck, so I ended up using these little white buttons instead, which I already had in my button stash. A length of embroidery thread wraps around the buttons to tie them securely closed once I have put some assorted wrapped chocolates inside. To finish off I tore strips of red and white polka dot fabric and tied little bows between each envelope. I have attached the finished product to the chest of drawers to see how it looks, but should probably take it down until the 1st Dec. In case it's unlucky or something??
With Christmas decorations in my mind as I was browsing in a local hardware shop (looking for the elusive tiny red buttons!) I found this lovely cotton runner that I wanted to show you. It is by Martha Stewart and is quite Scandinavian themed too. I think it will look great on the dining room table for Christmas dinner and also for Amber's birthday party.This weekend I shall be working on altering and adding to Amber's costume for the play, the dress needs to be taken in and I was so lucky to find the perfect petticoat or crinoline in my local thrift store for only $3!!

It is a full length one made to go under a wedding dress, the top is tiered cotton with netting layers underneath and it fits Amber perfectly. I still need to shorten it quite a bit so it just peeks out from under her blue dress, giving it plenty of fullness.
Tomorrow is Craig's company 'do' which should be fun. Christmas dinner and a live band with possible dancing with a bit of luck.
Amber is just a few days away from her 16th Birthday on Dec 1st. The planned party has been postponed until after the school production when she can relax and celebrate with a few friends from school and I can decorate the house for the event.

Hazel x