Snowflakes…

Mati got started all on her own, but her use of tissue paper and paper got me started on a Merry Christmas sign for the mirror.

Covering the letters in different coloured tissue paper, with different effects, etc. Using bubble wrap on some. Unfortunately, my part of the project will have to carry on next year, as didn't quite finish. Mati was too interested in the snowflakes to get involved. She helped with the Happy Birthday letters before though...

Noa and I made small Finnish flags that were attached to a piece of string. We put them into our small Christmas tree. The flags are very traditional part of Christmas decorations in Finland and they are quite fun and easy to make. Noa helped with cutting and sticking, whereas I did the folding. After we had made few, Noa was asking: ‘Is it ready yet?’ We made 15 flags in total.

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If you haven't guessed already, we are big time greedies in our house.  This recipie was one that I fancied making back when we were doing the biscuits, so this Sunday we had a go.  The original instructions produced pink and white coconut ice squares, which I thought could be given a festive twist by using green instead of red food colouring, and if we stacked the squares in a particular formation we could make a Christmas tree shape.

Eilir again relished the task of mixing the ingredients - "The chocolate brownie milk [condensed milk] is winning" i.e. the other ingredients were getting covered in it.  Then, letting his imagination fly, - "It's wetting Camelot up, sucking it into the deep water".  He was particularly enthusiastic at the stage of adding the food colouring - "I want it to be super green".  

"It looks good, it smells good, will it taste good?"

This recipe involved waiting for it to set overnight.  I explained my idea to Eilir about making the Christmas tree shape from the cubes we would cut, but he had a much better idea.  He had seen something on a craft programme that showed you how to make a tree from star shapes, so he dug out his star shaped play dough cutter, and wanted to use this to shape the coconut ice instead.  The next day (after washing said cutter) I let Eilir show me what he meant and (hey presto!) it worked really well.   I gave him some edible silver balls (left over from making a birthday cake) to decorate it with - "This is really cool with the baubles", and he then demanded the orange slices (that he knew were in the cupboard) to represent presents under the tree.  I used the left over coconut ice to make my own tree shaped heap with some cherries.  I think we all know that Eilir's small but beautiful version wins hand's down!

Okay, so we’re attempting an Advent calendar based on Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60! So far so good. Lo chose 19cards to borrow from his Deadly 60 collection and we used all 5 of Rohan’s and stuck them onto card (Weetabix box). Front bit of the calendar designed by the boys. Rohan said “wow, cool!”

Next step: cutting 24doors/windows on the front cover. Lo a bit reluctant about that, not wanting the drawing outline of his toy monkey Lliw, to be slit.

Daddy to the rescue. 24 skulls etched out, a lesson on odd and even numbers and with Lo painting bits of white skulls and writing the numbers for the doors/windows – we have the only Advent calendar in the world with a paralysis tick behind door one.

Having spent ages trying to find an affordable panto for family and friends, G decided that we needed invites.  She was trying to describe the shape of theatre curtains, drawing them, gathering up the stair curtains, so I found some material for her to try and make them with. Actually, I think the material is too stretchy and difficult to shape really but she had a good go, and I helped to follow the lines she had drawn on with felt tip to help. It was pretty tricky.  We had been bought a box of chocs the week before, so G used the purple paper from inside, pleating it and then pulling it into a fan shape to make the kind of frontage of the stage, it could be that only me and her get this, but it did mean that we needed to finish the last few chocolates which was a bonus.....