Advent Calendar Activities

I have been having lots of fun doing my advent calendar activities this year.  There are a few that we have not done yet and still lots more to come.  Apparently a few videos I thought we owned we don't so we didn't end up watching them on the day I put them on.  But if they are on tv before Christmas we will be watching them for sure!  But I thought it would be nice to share some of the activities we have done.  If you are on instagram you would have already seen these pics.

 

Make Marshmallows!  These were delicious and surprisingly easy.

Go to Christmas Carols.  Imogen got to wear her adorable elf shirt that she was given by the darling Movie Mazz.

Put up the Christmas Decorations.  These are obviously in no particular order because this was the first activity we did for the month.

Make a gingerbread house.  I was lazy this year and used a kit from Aldi.  I have made my own the last two years and I am hoping next year I will have time to again.

Go to myer and buy new Christmas decorations.  I used to work at myer and loved their Christmas decorations and Christmas section so I wanted to take Imogen there and buy decorations.  I basically waved decorations in front of her and bought the ones she laughed at.

Make Imogen's santa sack.  This was a super simply project so I didn't bother posting it.  I bought some retro Christmas fabric from Spotlight and sewed it along the bottom and side.  Then I made a channel and used some red bias binding for a tie. Simple & quick!

Go get santa photos.  This was hilarious! Imogen was not impressed at all but on the plus side she didn't cry.  The minute we took her off santa and put her back in her stroller though she started cracking out the smiles and giggles.  Cheeky little monkey!

Wrap presents.  I had a bit fun this year wrapping our presents in brown paper, red ribbon and doilies.  I  actually made a super cute little pom pom with doilies that I want to share in more detail this week.  Stay tuned for that!

Write Christmas cards.  

Buy a new Christmas cd.  This year I bought Glee.  I really wanted Michael Buble but I couldn't find it the day we were at the shop.  Hopefully next year!

Make Polar Express Hot Chocolate.  This is delicious!!! Seriously guys make this hot chocolate and why not chuck some homemade marshmallows in there to top it off.  Recipe here.

Make Christmas Decorations.  These were super fun to make and easy too!  I am hoping to make Christmas decorations each year with Imogen so our tree will slowly be taken over by handmade decorations.

So that's it so far.  We still have a few more to do this week.  I can't wait for Christmas though. It is my favourite day of the year!

And the stockings were hung....

By the kitchen with care?  Not as exciting as hanging them by the chimney but it'll have to do.

This year I decided to make us all stockings to hang.  I have decided that we are going to start our own little family tradition where we get new pajamas to open on Christmas Eve.  When I wrap them I am going to pop them into the stockings.  I remember when I was a kid we used to get a present from our Pop & Carolyn to open on Christmas Eve and it was always pajamas so I wanted to do that for Imogen too.

I used this pattern via Purlbee.  I made the stockings a while ago and they sat on my sewing desk for quite a while before I tackled the embroidery.  Embroidery is not exactly my strong suit so I was a little wary to get started on it.  I eventually did though and although they look a little, shall we say, rustic I am happy with how they turned out.

So that's one more item off the Christmas to do list.  Only a couple more items left now.  I am hoping to make a couple of small presents but not sure if I will get them finished in time.  One I definitely will but the other two are maybes.  I also need to get started on Imogen's Christmas outfit but that will be nice and quick to make.  Hopefully I will be able to share that with you soon.

I am so excited the weekend is finally here.  We are having a very festive weekend this weekend.  Tonight we are off to White Christmas at Movie World, tomorrow we are going to go and get Imogen's Santa photo and then tomorrow night we are going to check out the Christmas lights in our area.  But the most exciting part of the weekend is that my sister is arriving Sunday night and she will be here until Boxing Day.  I can't wait to see her!

Homemade Marshmallows

One of my advent calendar activities for this week was to make marshmallows.  I was a little bit nervous about making them because I had it in my head that they were going to be super difficult.  I have wanted to make them for ages but I was always too scared to tackle it.

I am so glad I finally tackled this cooking goal because they are really delicious.  They are quite gooey which I though was because I made them so thick but mum said it's probably because of how hot it is at the moment.  I am going to try making these again in winter and see if they set a bit firmer.  But I quite like them gooey.

So I made Corey hot chocolate on Monday night using this recipe and when I was making the marshmallows he asked me why I didn't make the marshmallows first so he could put them in his hot chocolate.  Clearly I didn't think about that when I was assigning the advent tasks to dates.  Oh well! Next time.

Now in the spirit of full disclosure I must admit not all the marshmallows turned out as cute little hearts. This one took me 15 minutes to get out of the cookie cutter because it stuck to it.  Even though I dipped it in icing sugar first it still stuck.  So the rest of the marshmallows ended up looking like this....

 

Homemade Marshmallows via Donna Hay Kids Magazine

3 1/2 tablespoons gelatine

1 cup boiling water

3 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups liquid glucose

2/3 cup water (extra)

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup cornflour

Place gelatine and boiling water in the bowl of an electric mixer and set aside.  Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium-high heat and boil without stirring until soft-ball stage on a sugar thermometer.  

With the mixer running at a high speed, slowly add the hot syrup to the gelatine mixture.  Add the vanilla and beat for 12-15 minutes or until the mixture is thick and fluffy.  Pour into two 20cm square tines lined with non stick baking paper.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Sieve together icing sugar and cornflour.  Turn the marshmallow out onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar and cornflour mixture.  Cut into squares or use a cookie cutter dipped in icing sugar mixture to cut out shapes.  Marshmallows should be stored in an airtight container.

Crisp Coconut Cookies

Yesterday I went and visited my work mates and since I knew they had been having a few busy weeks I thought they could do with a sweet treat.  I had a flick through my cookbooks to find something that I could cook with the ingredients in the cupboard.  I had coconut leftover from when I made the sushi cake.  Since I can't eat coconut I thought this was probably the only opportunity I would get to use it.  I saved a few for Corey and he loved them.  They last about 5 minutes before he inhaled them.  They also made the house smell amazing!

Crisp Coconut Biscuits from Beautiful Biscuits by Australian Women's Weekly

125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 cups sr flour
pinch salt
1 cup coconut
extra sugar

Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg.  Add sifted flour, salt and coconut.

Roll into balls and press flat between your hands.  Dip top side in extra sugar.

Place on a greased oven tray (allow for spreading).  Bake in moderate hot oven 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes about 40.

Rainbow Granny Stripe Blanket

 

I have wanted to make a granny stripe blanket for ages.  I have seen so many great ones around the blogosphere and always wanted to make a rainbow striped one.  Although every time I went to make it there would be a colour that I was missing so it kept getting delayed.

Pattern: Granny Stripe Blanket by Attic 24 
Yarn: Mix of colours from the stash
Hook: 4mm
Ravelry Page: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kat21/granny-stripes

Finally I cast on at the start of November.  It has taken me just over a month to complete this blanket but finally it is finished.  I have had it sitting in my project basket and every time I sat down to watch tv I would crochet a few rows.  So it was slow going but it was nice to have a project that didn't need to be finished to a deadline.  Also I am really bad at sitting still so I like to be doing something while watching tv.

I am not too sure what I am going to do with this blanket.  I cast it on without a person in mind.  I might keep it to use for Imogen but she has quite a few blankets already.  My cousin's girlfriend is having a baby in February but they are having a boy.  Is a rainbow blanket too girly for a boy?  It will probably just end up going into the gift box till a suitable recipient pops up.

70s Summer Dress

A little while ago I did a swap with the lovely Reana Louise and she sent me a gorgeous 1970s dress pattern and some lovely orange fabric.  Well I finally got around to making the dress and I am in love.  It is going to be perfect for this hot summer we are in for on the Gold Coast.


The pattern that I had was a size smaller than I required so I did some dodgy grading to make it fit.  I have never graded a pattern before and since this dress has such basic pattern pieces I decided to just wing it.  Luckily for me it turned out perfectly.


I also made a minor alternation to the waist of the dress.  Instead of doing a tie waist I did a simple elastic waist.  I did this by sewing thin elastic straight onto the dress and stretching it as I sewed it on.  This way I can wear a belt with it.  I also raised the waist slightly from where it was on the original dress.  I am pretty happy with how this dress turned out.  I wore it this past weekend and it was super comfortable.  There may need to be another one added to the wardrobe to get me through summer.  I am thinking a cool tribal print or maybe a nice kelly green colour to wear with a gold belt and flats.

2 Months

Yesterday Miss Imogen was 2 months old.  I honestly can't believe she has been here for two months already.  The time is flying by!  Especially with Christmas just around the corner it feels like the days are just disappearing.  We truly are very lucky with our little munchkin.  She is pretty happy and cheery 90% of the time.  She usually sleeps very well during the day but when we are out she likes to be a part of things so she fights sleep.  She is a social butterfly!  She has also been sleeping through the night for the past two weeks.  She goes to bed at 7pm and I feed her at 10pm and she has consistently been sleeping through till 6:30am-7am.  It's been a godsend.  It is amazing how much more normal you feel when you get a full nights sleep.  The funniest part of this past month is that she has started to "talk" and giggle and smile.  When she is in her bouncer she has full on conversations with the animals that hang on it.  It's so funny to watch. I wish I knew what was going on in her little mind.

I am really excited for Imogen's first Christmas.  This weekend we are going to attempt to get photos with santa.  Fingers crossed that she doesn't freak out too much.  I may have to just jump in the photo with her.  We are also hopefully going to head out to see the Christmas lights this weekend but it depends on the weather.

Have you been to get santa photos yet?  How did your little ones go?