day 151: felt gift bags for the christmas tree

individualised treat bags to hang on the tree :)

day 151 and i am into the swing of christmas preparations! a couple of days ago i found these gorgeous gift bags by claraiuribe that go on the christmas tree.  i loved the idea of making some that are individualised for the family here christmas morning.  i actually went to sweet treats to buy some so i could just add some personalised embellishments to them but discovered there were only gift bags adorned with snow ... not so ideal for a summer christmas tree!

so i decided to make some similar to claraiuribe's that i could totally personalise for the family.  i cut up some red felt 3' x 7 1/2', tagged the corners, and then folded them to just below the bevels before stitching up each side.  then the fun part, personalising everybody's gift bag :)

start with felt, my favourite as it doesn't fray!

the cut felt complete with tagged tops

the completed tag, this is for my mum
dianne :)

now to fill these babies ... but it will have to wait until
after no spend november!

outcome:  i  am sure these will look super cute on the christmas tree and such a fun way to give everyone a little something extra, maybe it will be something we can open on christmas eve each year .... oooh a new family tradition could be about to begin ... just what my sweet husband will want to hear ;)

my sincere thanks to claraiuribe for this wonderful inspiration and if you are having a winter christmas, then you can buy her gorgeous tree bags here at sweet treats :)

day 150: december daily 2011

december daily album foundation pages starting to take
shape :)

day 150 ... wow where have the days gone! even christmas is right around the corner and today's pinterest creation is actually something i have made about this time every year for the past 4 years ... ali edwards december daily album.  i made one in 2007 for the first time and i absolutely loved making it and documenting our daily lives during the festive season.

when i saw the december daily in the pinterest gallery i pinned it immediately to remind me to look at what others had done over the years to get new ideas for it.  last year i went down the road of an 8 x 8" album and every day was exactly the same size and they were all on white card (see below)

2010 december daily cover

inside pages

more inside pages ... see very structured not a lot
of whimsy!

in previous years i had mixed it up with different sized pages and taken a less structured approach to the album, something i wanted to do again this year.  there were also many albums in the pinterest gallery that had taken a really vintage feel to their albums, very old worldly looking, and that was something i also wanted to incorporate into this years album which i have not done previously.  i am hoping this vintage look will really work well with all the home crafting and baking i plan to do during this festive season ... heehee such high hopes, i'm sure i will laugh when i look back at what i thought i was going to do!


i had a stash of graphic 45 christmas papers from last year and also went through everything else pulling anything christmas and vintage looking i could find.  i spend a glorious day with my dear friend dee (who fed and watered me too well!) crafting at her home and i worked on this album for the entire day while chatting to her and bouncing ideas off one another about other craft projects, including my new years resolution to learn to crochet :)  the day was SO productive i managed to get all 26 days done :) i just have the cover pages to do, which my sweet husband is going to help me cut tomorrow out of mdf.

the bits and bobs

day 10 ... done

day two .... done

yes .. another day done!

happiness in tags!

happiness is a day of work well done!

outcome:  love my pages, they are very simple at the moment but that's how i like them to start so there are plenty of options for photo and journalling layouts.  some pages are cut down envelopes and the rest are out of double sided scrapbook paper from graphic 45 and bo bunny.  now for the covers tomorrow and then i am ready for december to begin :)

this is now a tradition for me and without the idea from the wonderful ali edwards i never would have started this album series, which the rest of the family loves just as much as me.  a heart felt thank you from me to you ali edwards for all the wonderful inspiration and encouragement you provide each year for this project, it is very much aprreciated :)

day 149: sour cream coffee cake

sour cream coffee cake

day 149 and we had some sour cream that needed using so i went to my favourite recipe book to find inspiration and sure as eggs pinterest provided me with heaps of alternatives!

ali at gimme some oven provided a sour cream coffee cake recipe.  this recipe looked perfect, all basic ingredients and not too many eggs (our chooky's appear to be on strike down in the fields, either that or they are hiding their nests!).  i have used recipes from ali's blog before with great success so i was more than happy to try another of her recipes.  and just in case you are wondering the coffee in this recipe refers to what you would drink with the cake as opposed to an ingredient of the cake ;)  i pinned this to my recipe must do's board and started work on the cake.

you do need the heavy machinery out for this recipe but i was happy to pull it out today as the cupboards needed some filling even this far into no spend november :)  the cake is a simple creaming of butter, sugar, and eggs followed by the flour mix and sour cream.  the nice surprise with this cake is the topping goes in the middle AND on top!  i made the cake while the rest of the family dished up dinner around me, so it was definitely easy on time to make.

bringing the wet and dry ingredients together

ready for the oven complete with topping inside and out!

the delicious smelling cake

outcome:  35 minutes after going into the oven, out came a yummy smelling cake that looked delicious.  we had it warm as a dessert.  i couldn't believe how light and airy the cake was, i'm guessing that's what sour cream does to a cake.  if you want something light after a meal or in the afternoon with coffee this cake is a must ... it was really hard to say no to another piece and actually most of the family didn't!  this is the perfect cake for taking out to friends and family as well because it's large, delicious, and if you are rushed for time it doesn't need frosting!

thanks once again to ali at gimme some oven for yet another delicious recipe.  i will be making this again very soon to share with others!

day 148: shabby art boutique's simply christmas

xmas organisation diary

day 148 and i have signed up for shabby art boutique's simply christmas for the coming holiday season :)  yeah, i am a christmas addict and totally proud to be one. i love the feeling christmas provides and the opportunities it gives people to do kind and generous things they otherwise might not.

i love the idea of making more progress with my christmas planning in november so december runs more smoothly and a little less frantically!  lucky for me someone is doing all the hard work and putting all the planning and ideas in place so i can follow along ... thank you kerryanne from shabby art!

first on her list of things to do is an A5 planner for all the to do's that go along with christmas ... and again she has provided all the necessary printables for you to download here in pdf form.  what a lovely lady :)

i grabbed an old A5 notebook and ripped out the pages that had been used then glued in the downloads i needed, making muliples of the ones i wanted more of.  i then jazzed up the cover very slightly and added a pocket to the inside cover to put the list downloads into.

the downloadable free christmas organisation pages

the inside cover pocket for the shopping lists 

november weekly printables

a gift list for all the immediate family with a santa's stocking
list hidden underneath :)

outcome:  not too shabby ;) but hopefully shabby enough to make christmas in this household run just that little bit smoother.  i have yet to put any figures onto the christmas budget page (that would be just plain spooky) YET but i am planning on mulling this page over with my dearest and seeing if we can find a happy medium after the argument about christmas spending of course!  honestly, my husband is so laid back and he knows my passion for this time of the year (and our kids) that the argument is more of a roll of the eyes kind of deal where i know i'm wrong but we do it anyway :)

a big vote of thanks to kerryanne and her blog the shabby art boutique for this wonderful concept of simply christmas, i am totally excited to play along and make christmas a far more home made and home baked occasion!  hoping this will make no spend november a little easier too ;)

day 147: free printable tags for christmas

let the christmas wrapping begin thanks to free elf tags from
jenny at allsorts

day 147 and i have started to wrap christmas presents ... not mine i hasten to add but all the presents my sister left when she visited recently and didn't have time to wrap!  my mum and i purchased a whole lot of wrapping paper at a pre-christmas sale a couple of weeks ago and i thought i would make a start on the wrapping tonight.

unfortunately i realised i had no tags and seeing the amount of christmas gifts my sweet, unbelievably generous sister left to wrap i decided this wasn't the night to sit and make a whole heap of them either!  plan b was required ... so i checked out pinterest and as always their was the answer ... freely printable christmas tags for personal use!  my favourites i pinned to my chirstmas is coming board to use over the next month!

for tonight's gifts i eventually chose these ones from jenny at allsorts.  i absolutely loved the little girl and little boy elf and as the presents were for my little girl and my little boy (yes they are CRAZY spoilt by their amazing aunt) i thought they would be perfect ...

step one: print tags

step 2: admire jenny's beautiful girl and boy elves :)

step three: wrap present and attach the
right gender elf ;)

happiness is a pile of smiling elves!

outcome: ... and you know what, they are! they were easy on my computer ink (a consideration given i can't replace any cartridges until december!) and they are just so cute on the packages!  hopefully my sis approves ;)

my sincere thanks to jenny who offers a huge amount of free printables for personal use that are for all different types of holidays.  they are just adorable and i have become her newest follower :)

day 146: hello flower card

hello card

day 146 and i need a special card for someone i know and this one i found on pinterest looked perfect :)  i pinned it to my paper crafts board but unfortunately i can't tell you any more about who made the card even though i spent a lot of time looking for the original post about it on the making memories blog.  if you know where i can find the details of the maker of this card PLEASE let me know, i really hate not acknowledging people's skills :(

for my version of the this card i used the following bits and pieces from my stash given it's no spend november!  the flower was one i made on day four of this journey!

the bits and bobs

five petal fabric flower from day four!

outcome: it's a nice simple card and when i come to terms with my handwriting and doing cursive stuff i will gladly make this card again!

in other pinteresting delights i stumbled across craftaholics anonymous and their twice annual craft gift exchange which seemed too good an opportunity not to miss so i signed up for that as well today!

day 145: no spend november

downloadable cash envelopes from today's nest :)

day 145 and the family and i are embarking on no spend november so we can all spend in december :)  i absolutely love and adore and treasure and embrace christmas ... it truly is my favourite time of the year.  that means i also spend a lot of money on christmas, lucky for me my husband never complains but it does put a strain on our budget big time :(

inspired by all the wonderful budgeting advice on pinterest, i came up with the no spend november motto for our family. literally this means we have decided to give ourselves a weekly allowance for petrol, milk, fruit, vegies, rhooibos, and the emergency items required for the survival kit over the next month.  the remaining money will go to paying off debt and saving for christmas.  more scarily this also means for the next month my pinterest creations will all have to be from stuff we have at home ...eeek!

that said, i am really looking forward to this as we have a ton of food in the freezers and pantry that would otherwise go off because i fail to use it because it's so easy to pop to the grocery store and buy everything for dinner rather than scouring the cupboards and freezers! i hope at the end of november mother hubbards cupboards will be bare and clean of chaos, clutter, and unloved foods.

to help with this task i am going to use the cash envelopes from today's nest that you can print out and make up with a register of money outgoings on the front and a handy pocket on the back for receipts. theses envelopes i found on pinterest and pinned them to my ideas for organisation board. each fortnight during november i will fill these up with my allotted money for each thing and that will be it until the following fortnight.  i am also freezing my credit card and eftpos card so i am not tempted (think of the movie confessions of a shopaholic!)

outcome: SO VERY VERY PENDING, but please wish us the best :)

my thanks to the pinners of pinterest for all the wonderful ideas for making life more frugal but still fun.  it has totally inspired me to curb the spending of this family and get the budgeting of my family sorted.  granted, no spend november is rather extreme but so is doing 365 days of pinterest creations and i am almost halfway through my year!  my thanks also to today's nest for the freely printable envelopes which will no doubt come in very handy for dispersing the fortnightly money so petrol money doesn't get chewed up by the fruit expenditure!