pine cone garland

i gathered these pretty little pine cones while at a playground with 

the boys in the summer and i knew they would come in handy.....

and the garland is actually pretty easy to make, just 

wrap the twine around the pine cone and tighten.

a nature's treasures wreath

willow, spruce, silver spruce, pine cones and some rose hips 

...all gathered from the surroundings of our home :)

veselé vánoce.....merry christmas!

 

m e r r y   c h r i s t m a s  !

 

 

p.s. did you know that you can draw with colored pencils on

frosted glass?(...and ALSO! erase with eraser and/or soapy water!)

little hedgehogs

.....it's still christmas ;)

 

traditional christmas cookies that my family has been making for generations!

they have always been my favorite and they are my boys' favorite too :)

 

 

christmas fish :)

the traditional christmas fish...

 

  

...cut out of paper, colored, sprinkled with glitter, made by Ji :)

 

(we were inspired by the fish Ji and his classmates made at his preschool :)

wooden bead garland

 

just string them on and tie a double knot...

stick and bead tree mobile

cut sticks to desired lengths,

drilled a hole in the center,

and Ji stringed them

(altering with xl wooden beads)

 

 ...and St got to play

 

 zorro ? :)

stamped wrapping paper

we did some stamping with the boys :)...

 

 

...just some ordinary erasers, ink/paint and paper

i cut the tree out of an ordinary white eraser with my exacto knife, used a pencil eraser for the dots and stamped onto ordinary brown packaging paper

tip: make sure you have suitable ink/paint and paper - test it out first...so that the ink/paint soaks into the paper and doesn't smear. usually really smooth or glossy paper doesn't work well...
p.s. ikea has this really cheap brown paper, but i haven't made it to the store yet, so i can't tell you how well it works.

card gift wrap

a simple way to wrap a print/photo/children's drawing gift into a card...

 

 

cut out a simple deisgn,  then fold paper,

wrap gift in colored tissue paper and insert :)

 

Our anual St. Nicholas Day ride :)

 

 

...when we got to the station, the sun was just rising and it was so magical!

inside we sat next to a coal burning stove and there we 2 devils(St. Nicholas' "accomplices") with

guitars sitting behind us and the whole ride we sang carols and folk songs - it was so much fun!

willow and birch branch advent wreath

h a p p y   a d v e n t !

...same technique as the advent mobile, only after

i weaved in some birch branches and decorated :) 

willow branch advent mobile

just some willow branches intertwined into a circle,

wrapped in jute ribbon and red twine

attached straw ornaments

 

 

tip: when weaving the circle, you need to tie

the intertwining branches in at least 3 places

to keep the unruly branches in place :)! after tied, 

you can form it a little more - to make a nicer circle ;)

christmas tree stirring whisk

this czech tradition is a wonderful way to upcycle your christmas tree - make some stirring whisks!!!...lovely and USEFUL christmas memorabelia, that you can use all year round! great for mixing thin or medium thin batters and sauces.

eventhough my grandfather was never much of a crafty person, he was very much a traditional person and this is one czech tradition he followed :) he made these over 30 years ago...and i stir crepe batter with them almost every morning :) but i wish he had carved the dates on the handles....

steps:
CUT,
PEEL,
SHORTEN,
let DRY

- i've never made one before, this year will be my first and we usually "put away" our tree late january (...i love having our christmas tree as long as possible!!!), so here are some straight forward photo directions i found, and when i make mine, i'll let you know how it turned out ;)
- if your tree will be dry like ours when you do it - my dad said he thinks my grandfather soaked it in hot water before carving off the bark.
p.s. to use - clasp hands flatly with the handle in the palms of your hands and roll your hands alternately forward and backward to make the whisk twirl!



yummy gingerbread cookies

i n g r e i e n t s :

500 g flour

100 g sugar

250 g honey

1/8 l   water

1 egg

2 tsp of gingerbread spice mix*

2 tsp of holland cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

* i used this spice mix(but not the recipe),

   or here's a homemade mix

 m i x,   k n e a d,   m a k e,   b a k e:

1. m i x  flour, spice mix and soda in a bowl

2. simmer water, sugar and honey together

3. while still warm, pour sugar-honey-water into the flour

mix and  k n e a d  together (by hand or - i used my kitchenaid)

4. add egg and  k n e a d  again

5. refridgerate dough for a couple of hours

6. m a k e - roll out dough and cut out cookies

(note: we also used cookie stamps and a knife to decorate)

7. b a k e  at med-high heat and remove from oven shortly

after the cookies rise (it also depends on how thin you make your

cookies, but we baked ours at 180° C for about 3-4 minutes)

  

optional:

- as soon as you take them out of the oven - while still hot, glaze with (very well) beaten egg.

tip: if you want to have darker brown cookies, add 1-2tsp  of cocoa to the egg.

optional2:

 - when cookies are cool(i usually do it the next day), decorate with icing. 

tip: if you're having a hard time making straight lines with your icing, try making a line of dots or dashs(that is, if your icing is not too runny), looks better than a runny line! and makes the cookies cuter!

if you intend to store them, store in a container with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and vanilla bean stick :)

p.s. they make lovely ornaments!

beautiful paper cutouts

Markéta and Petr Vránovi design and sell beautiful cutouts with traditional motifs.

i bought a couple of sets 3 years ago and this is a comet from one of the xmas sets. they do require patience, but they are well worth it!!!...i copied mine onto card stock, cut out with an xacto knife and hung it with some thread. and i hang it in the window every christmas :). such lovely cutouts really give you an appreciation of how beautiful just plain ol' paper can be!

felt conifer christmas garland

....same directions as my garland wand,

only(as you can see) i didn't make such
large gaps in between the felt strips.
- my strips are approx. 3cm wide.

p.s. - place your strips onto your sewing
machine - makes the "feeding" go so
much more faster, than when you have
them on the table....found that out when
i was almost finished.

p.p.s. - a wreath would be nice too!

     

         p.p.p.s.  h a p p y  second advent sunday!

easy standing felt christmas tree

 i was making an ornament-a-day felt xmas tree for the boys, and Ji wanted to make his own, so we made an easier version for him - not that mine is anything difficult, but i was making a sewn and stuffed version that will have a wooden stand...that i still need to finish :s .....Ji dressed his already :)

  

Ji's tree:

corrugated cardboard
felt

toothpick

tools: pencil, scissors, glue stick

  

directions:

1. CUT OUT cb triangle and 2 rectangles (stand)

2. TRACE, CUT and GLUE felt
3. make STAND
DECORATE!!!


 1. cut out the triangle with the ribs going verticallly - this is important so you can stick your toothpick into one of the ribs (that way, it will be hidden and won't make a bump under the felt).
2. cut the triangles a little larger than the drawn triangle - it looks better ;), use 2 different greens - more fun :), glue with glue STICK - liquid glue could soak through the felt.
3. glue the 2 rectangles together (plain or "x"), make a hole in the center w/ your toothpick, then apply glue to both ends and stick one end into your stand and slide other end into the center rib of the cardboard

decorate!!!:
with felt scraps, thread, string....anything that will latch onto the felt (.....or when doing with older children you can use pins to pin on just about anything!)

or you can glue on your "ornaments", but i like the no-glue method more, since you can redress your tree as you like :)

tip: we found it best to decorate by holding the tree in the air by its toothpick - gives you more control