Happiness

We returned from my fathers house in the evening of the 25th after having spent an absolutely wonderful christmas there.

The following day we had no plans, no to-do-list, it was great.

I went out for brunch with these two men.


They look very serious, but who said that brunch isn't a serious matter!


A lady sitting nearby us stopped by our table as she was leaving, and said that the little one was an extraordinarily cute little boy.


I couldn't agree more. Even though he might have spent half the time there drinking.


And even though his face was covered in food!

Afterwards we did this. Can we call it a service project for the ducks?


Sun shining.


Cold fingers.


Much excitement.

Pure happiness! I hope you all had such a day too.

I'm dreaming of a white christmas

I took these pictures a few days ago. It was one of those quiet nights and snowflakes had been falling half the day! It was as if you could almost hear the quietness. A really amazing evening.

My better half was running from window to window looking at the snow, with the excitement of a 5-year old. And that is a lot of excitement!

The little one was sleeping in his bed, but the following day he was introduced to the snow and spend quite a while playing with the snow, bowls, spoons and cups in the kitchen and later on out in the garden. He was in heaven!

Now, I am just crossing my fingers that it will stay till christmas! Wouldn't that be magic?

Christmas cards

Tomorrow I am sending off packages to my better halfs family in Germany and Spain. They contain homemade treats and christmas cards with the highlights from the year. It is exciting, exciting stuff, I tell you!

We wanted to use some art work (sounds a lot better than just drawings, right?) from the little one, but still have a christmas feel too it.

The little one is not one to take instructions on his art work, and so his art is always more in the category "doodles" than "christmas". And if we wanted to christmafy it, certain things would have to change.

My better half cut out a christmas tree from the little ones art and glued them onto a colored piece of cardstock.




So simple, but I think it looks fun and cool!

Aren't children great? We don't even have to make our christmas cards, we can just use his drawings. Ahh, the possibilities are endless!

More felt decorations

And one lovely blog ...

A few days ago I stumbled upon this great blog. I love her style, and I had to laugh as I saw a lot of similarities between the things we make. And she also love felt - a true kindred spirit!

Oh, and look at some of her christmas decorations. I love the pom pom garland. You better believe I am wanting to get some white yarn and produce my own.


I've been meaning to make some decorations in the shape of a christmas tree. But I was not sure how to make the ornaments, and I spent a while discussing with myself how to proceed.

But then I saw some cool ones MrsCraftyFish had made for her etsy shop, and so these little babies was quickly made.


I made them for a gift for a friend, so I am hoping she is okay with me getting heavily inspired by her ornaments.

Anyway, check out her blog and her etsy stores. She has some amazing things for sale. I could spend quite a few dollars there.

Just FELT like it

The weekly crafting night is over. The girls just left, and I have put away my crafting supplies. I am not going to post any of the things we made tonight, since it is all christmas gifts for other people. And you never know who reads your blog!

Instead I am going to show you some of the things I would like to have for christmas. This year I spent quite a while on etsy, checking out some of the wonderful things that are just waiting to be bought by me or for me!

Like this amazing broch.


From Pretty in Posies. You should go check out her shop, as there are loads of cool accessories - and yes, they are all in felt. Funny you should ask.

And then we have these girls, Lou and Lee.


I am pretty much smitten with this one, even though I am not too sure about the headband idea. But on a hair clip or broch or ...

And then there is this seller, PaperPumpkin:






Their things are so cute it almost makes me a little bit dizzy. I pretty much want every single item from that store.

And finally, I want this headband from CatieB Designs:


I think it looks so cool, stylish, pretty and everything nice. And let me admit, if it doesn't find it's way to me this christmas, I am buying it for myself. I love it!

I am amazed and impressed by all the talent out there. Such pretty things!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a week of exciting projects and activities! I know I am ...

Happy crafting!

Sweet holly decorations

These here are the usual suspects. Well, at least for these holly decorations.

We got our green and off-white felt, textile glue, templates for leaves and a cup to use as template too. Am I the only one who does that? Then we got needle, our embrodery thread in red and some ordinary white sowing thread, some filling and finally red glittery balls.

Where would we be without red glittery balls? The world is a better place because of them, that is for sure.

And we use all these lovlies to make these:


Holly decorations!

Again, they are super simple to make which is almost my favorite part. I started by glueing two pieces of the green felt to make a extra thick piece from where I could cut my holly leaves. While the glue dried, I cut out two round pieces of the off-white felt.

On the one side I stitched a line with red thread all the way across. I then sowed the two sides together with some white thread. I started next to where the string would be and worked my way around the circle, making sure I would end by stitching the string and leaves on.

When I had sown 3/4 of the circle together, I then added the filling and finished by adding a piece of string to hang it in. I got out my green felt and cut two holly leaves which I also sowed onto the ball. Almost finished!

I finally took one of the red glittery balls, cut it in half and glued the two sides onto the felt leaves, using textile glue. Voila! Finished project!

I am so excited about the result : ) I just love crafting.

Have a happy, happy weekend!

Felt garland

Lately I have had a crazy felt-feast of some sort, and it seems that the idea of making anything using any other materials is impossible.

I even put "felt" on my christmas wish list.

But why not, when you can make funky, colourful, things like this:





I remember making these out of colored paper strips when I was a child, but they didn't keep that well. When you got them out the following year, they were headed straight for the bin. But these babies are going to keep year after year!

They are, like their paper-friends, super easy to make.

I cut out strips in different colors (approximately 15 x 2,5 cm - 6 x 1 inch) and glued the first strip together at the one end using textile glue. I then glued the next strip together, making it interlink with the circle I created with the first strip. Because I wanted a little extra color I also added fun, colored buttons to each circle. I sowed those on where I had glued the strips together.

I am quite satisfied with the result. I like that it is traditional, but in a new version.

Anyway, tomorrow there will be more felt ornaments. These ones are my new favorites! HURRAY FOR FELT!

Christmas decorations - the final chapter!

This is the final post about the christmas decorations. And if you are thinking that we have a big house to have room for all of them, then you are wrong. They are just, well, pretty much all over the place.

This one is in the little ones room. The purple baubles are made of plastic, so if he should feel tempted to throw them around, then there is no harm done.



This big one stands outside our door, welcoming all our guests. I am not sure why, but I kinda like the Santa on the sign, so he has been allowed to be a part of our christmas decoration.



The little one don't care that much for the decorations, but he was extremely interested in opening and closing the door. As long as he is happy, I guess!



Even though this is the last post on the christmas pine-decoration, then there are more christmas decorations to come. And they are made in felt. I know, I know, that is not really a big surprise, is it? But none the less it is cool stuff!

Have a great day!

I love christmas, I really do!

Along with the homemade decorations, I also added a few new things to the collection of christmas decoration. We try not to have Santas, elfs and so forth as part of our christmas decoration, seeing as how they really have nothing to do with christmas. We're celebrating the birth of Christ, remember.

How I then justify filling my house with pine branches, glass baubles and candles and so much more is another story : ) For me that is more a celebration of nature, of the season and creating a warm and inviting asmosphere at home. In our church we believe that one of the most holy places on earth is - or at least - can be the home. So I am trying my best to make our home holy and inviting.

Are you still with me? Hmm, if nothing else, then I just like the look of it. That must be reason enough.

First, here are this years new additions to the ever-growing collection:

It is a wreath, but it is heart shaped, made out of small branches. I love it. I got it at a store called Notre Dame, where they have some fantastic things.



At Notre Dame I also got some metal hearts. I attached some thin metalwire with leafs on the heart and added a gold star to the top. I love the little bell at the end of the star. Not sure why, just think it is so cute. It was super simple to do, took me about 5 minutes and didn't cost very much. They are now hanging in each of my windows in the living room. I had some bad lighting on that picture, but hopefully you will trust me, when I say they look super.



And finally I got two stars covered in tiny little glittery beads. They sparkle a little bit and they look so amazing. This picture definitly doesn't do them justice.



nd finally, at our last crafting night at my house I made this wreath, and it is huge. I was planning on a more streamlined look, but now that is hanging there I find myself liking the little chaotic look of the branches poking out here and there. Inside I put three glittery gold stars. I love stars. I think they look amazing, simple and yet they are a powerful symbol.



Okay, next post will be the last of our christmas decoration ... yes, there is more. But only a tiny bit!

I hope everyone is having a great time making things for themselves, the house or loved ones. I know that I am.

Hope you had a GREAT weekend!

Christmas, christmas, christmas

In Denmark we have a tradition for making christmas pine centerpieces with candles, pine cones, baubles and so forth.

In my childhood home the whole family gathered around and made those one of the days in the beginning of December. My sister and my mother created some amazing things out of clay, ribbon, brances, and things found in nature. Me - not so much!

I am not getting much better, but I actually like it anyway. Mine are simple - because I am not cabable of anything beyond that. But I love the natural decorations and the smell of the pine in the house. It smells soo, soo good!






See, simple, simple stuff. In some cases I am not even bothered with the clay. Who needs that anyway!

And out Advent wreath, which is technically not a wreath, but that is none the less the name, so I will stick to that!


This is a Northeuropean tradition. The wreath always have four candles, and we light one each of the four Sundays before christmas. As you can tell, we already lighted ours last Sunday since that was the first advent (or first of the four Sundays).

And finally, what to do with all the left-over branches? Chok your better half and make a massive decoration for your new, big, table! His argument is: Just because you have a big basket and a lot of pine left doesn't mean that you make a massive decoration. My argument is as follows: That is exactly what it means!

Finally ... YAY!

Christmas decorations!

As I mentioned earlier my friend Mrs. Nathalie made some super cool owls. I fell head over heals in love with them, but still I haven't managed to get to the point where I actually reproduced them. Maybe I just have to realise that I am just not funky enough for them.

Instead these one from her "owl post" lingered in the back of my mind.


Don't they look sweet? She has so many great and fun ideas!

With that idea in my mind I made these.




Ahh, sparkly beads. They make me happy, happy, happy!


A little heart in pastel colors, all soft and fluffy. Sigh!


Notice the ribbon. I think it must be one of the coolest ribbons I have ever seen.

Soft, yummy felt. Nothing like it on earth ... should I maybe consider some sort of treatment for this felt/wool addiction I seem to have?

They are super easy to make and you can easily do it while watching a good documentary, hanging out with your great friends at a craft night or watching your child demolish the house. Trust me, I've done all three!

I used a cup for the circles and a wooden shape for the heart and the star as a template. Then I cut out two pieces of felt in the desired shape and decorated them with beads, embroidery, or buttons that I sowed on.

I naturally used felt, but I am sure people without a raging felt-obsession could just as easily use other types of fabric.

The ribbon on the heart. I first glued it onto the fabric using textile glue, though you could probably use normal glue. Afterwards I then made some stitches on each side of it, to really secure it and because I like the look of it.

When both sides were decorated (or just the one side if you're feeling lazy) I sowed the sides and a piece of ribbon together with some "fancy stitching". When I had sown 3/4 of it, I put a little bit of stuffing inside them and then stitched the rest.

We were planning on giving some of the decorations away, but to be honest I am not sure I can do it. I quite like all of them!