Wishing you a Merry and Bright Christmas. May you take the time to canoodle the ones you love and think of the ones who may not be here this year. From my little nest to yours, Merry Christmas. x*

Not Perfect, but Perfectly Beautiful....

Roar!

Argh! There's a tiger in my house!

Oh Cameron, it's only you -thank goodness!

Give us a smile Gorgeous boy! Come on!

Hey Cameron - I love you...

Too much for a manly tiger to take huh?! But I've not finished with you yet! Oh, okay then, maybe later?

Home Day

Between cups of tea and a little Bloglines, we are cooking trial runs of Christmas Cookies and a little glue & glitter action on pine cones.....

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
250gms butter (2 sticks), softened
2 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
3 C flour

How To
1. In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter for about 30 seconds on medium speed. Add the sugar, baking soda and cream of tartar, beating until well mixed. Slowly beat in the egg and vanilla until well incorporated. Beat in the flour 1/2 C at a time.

2. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.

4. In a bowl, combine the *sprinkles* cinnamon and sugar. Take enough dough to shape into 1" balls.This is my kids' favorite part, rolling the dough into balls and then covering them with *sprinkles*.

5. Roll the dough balls around in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a light, un-greased baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes.

6. The cookies will not appear done. Let cool for a minute on the cookie sheet and then move to a wire rack. This will yield a soft, delightfully chewy cookie. For a crisper cookie, cook about 12 minutes. If the cookies become golden, they will be very crisp.

*I am so sorry, I cannot find the blog that I got this recipe from to add - my apologies and thanks to the original author*

I am also cutting out a fabric nativity scene to get ready to sew & stuff for this afternoon's crafting fun.

What are you up to today?

Christmas Traditions

We've been in the midst of creating some new Christmas traditions and rekindling some old ones! Every year I buy a new ornament for my Darcy. This year it was a variation on my normal star:

I am in love with the champagne decorations that are the 'in' colour this year, I am hoping to snaffle some at the after Christmas sales.

My best friend Rachael had us around for the decorating of their tree, it was a lot of fun with the kids enjoying the angel hair placement the most. It was a nice reminder of the true meaning of the season:

And then we had a rip-roaring Gingerbread decorating afternoon! Who would think so much sugar, colours and sprinkles could make 6 kids happy & silly as a wheel?! ;0) No photos, we were too busy trying to contain the icing to one small area!

What are your special traditions? I have more to share about Christmas Day itself but that will have to wait - we've got pine cones to cover in glue & glitter!

New Nest

Sorry for the unintended bloggy break! I have moved home to SA and been busy setting up our new nest. Very sadly my husband and I have seperated, but it's not something I care to go into detail now. Suffice to say, I have been looking on the positive side of life and have been enjoying: re-uniting with old friends, Farmers Union Iced Coffee, Fritz, Gingerbread cookie decorating parties, putting Christmas trees up, Youth Service Mass, seeing Jaynie settle at her new school for the final 2 weeks and loving it, being able to use a hose; albeit only 3 hours a week.....



I hope to be back bursting with festive posts and high hopes for the New Year of crafting, family & friends.

Your friend and solo-flyer,
Leah
x*