Good morning fellow WordPressers. I hope everyone is doing well!
It’s been a little while since I Blogged. I’ve been busy…creating! Look up! (at the top of the post). Today’s slideshow shows all the latest creations we’ve been hard at work on. It’s getting just a little bit exciting now. But I’m also trying not to count the days (the kids are doing that for me! Eeek!) The weeks sure are disappearing fast and I hope I’ve got enough time to get everything sorted!
It’s nearly time to deck those halls (well actually, we’ve already done that! I got a bit gung ho and did it on Halloween! lol) - we’re really getting into the spirit of things at our place. From baking Gingerbread (thanks to one of my boys) to creating the teacher gifts for the end of school year rapidly approaching, we’ve been exhausting our creative prowess on a daily basis, and loving it!
I try to buy many of my craft items during the year so it’s not such a scary purchase close to Christmas, or I buy a little bit extra each year so that I have stuff to fall back on! It really helps to be organised. I hate being in the middle of a project and running out of something! There’s nothing worse. Do you know what’s really hard to get your hands on this season – paper doilies! There’s a lot of craft ideas out there using them and I think ‘the look’ caught on! Damn!
Christmas can be a really stressful time for many families. I always think it’s best to remove the burden and as an extended family we agree not to purchase gifts (for everybody) so that it doesn’t place more demands on those who already have enough to worry about. It’s enough that we’re all together. As we have a big family we like to remind those nearest and dearest to us that we do not expect them to purchase gifts for all of our children. It doesn’t seem fair when there are so many more of us. Christmas is about being together and celebrating the holiday season – together! Placing bonds of expectation doesn’t help, it hinders. Our children receive more than enough. They are blessed! We are blessed! I would prefer that our families put the money towards something they need. My mother in law is one of ten children, the cousins number into the 30s. When we’re all together it’s quite the celebration! (Unfortunately that’s rare as most of them live interstate!) But the occasions we do share, we all make a point of sharing the load and extending the good will. Gifts are the least of it!
I love to bargain shop! I can often find specials and great deals online, or I visit the cheap shops for odds and ends I need, but I do admit to having a little addiction to Spotlight, Riot, Lincraft and Kmart goodies where crafting is concerned. It’s very easy to get suckered in to all of the pretties! I seem to get lured into this vaccuum when I enter Lincraft. It’s like I can’t leave. No literally! I got sort of stuck in there the other day while I was waiting to pick up my daughter from music practice. Oh boy it’s hard not to fall inlove with all of that Christmas eye candy! I’m like a little kid in a lolly shop! I fall for the marketing ploys (the one time of year that I do), the red, silver, gold and green sparkly bits, and there’s oh so much of it! But this year, I’ve exercised just a little bit of self restraint. I’ve been sending my husband on craft errands so I don’t see extra things that I think I need! We don’t need any new decorations, so I’m not buying them! But I was seduced by the ribbons the other day…oh so many of them! This year with my brown paper and raffia theme, I also wanted to jazz up a few gifts with special ribbon, especially the teacher presents. I confess I could barely tear myself away from the reams and reams of colour, yards of satin and lace, and gold lame thread, and animal prints and more. It’s a crafters heaven! Metres of fun in a roll! DANGEROUS!
A lot of my ideas this year have come from Social Media – either from friends sharing on Facebook (oh how I love my crafty friends!), or spending hours poring over Pinterest, my new best friend! I love it! It’s easy to be creative when you have so much Craft fodder before you! It just … inspires me! Then I just happened to sign up to a few craft Blogs and my inbox is choc full of ideas!
I will admit somewhere I haven’t exercised quite so much restraint is in the gift buying department…I was on a mission this year to get the kids a particular thing, so I worked hard towards the goal and I achieved it, and a little bit early! In case they’re reading this Blog I really can’t reveal what Santa and I have teed up for them this year. We’ve been colluding 
But suffice to say they will all be thrilled on Christmas morning when some shiny new objects are revealed. Something they’ve been wanting and needing! I love when I can couple a special gift with something that’s a necessity as well as a desire. This particular gift has been a long time coming and has been a request from most of them…five of them to be exact!
These days, times are tough for lots of families. I only achieve what I do by being super organised. Not always easy! It’s easy to be unmotivated and easy to procrastinate. But Christmas is one time of the year that I always want to make magical and special. I’m going to be sharing some of my budget saving tips and ideas on a new Blog in collaberation with another mum to many. I’ll be sharing more about that later!
In the mean time…enjoy the slideshow. I hope it’s just a little bit of inspiration for you!
Til next time!
J x
