Christmas has come and gone...

Well Christmas has come and gone for another year....

So much time and thought and shopping and planning goes into that one day....and then it's over!

This year we are lucky enough to be on holidays for Christmas...for a while there I thought we wouldn't make it what with a lot of money going on plumbing issues and specialists appointments during the year...but we made it...just !

It took a few days for me to be able to relax into the holiday as I was still mentally counting dollars and allocating them to bills and groceries etc..  but after a day or two I decided to move on and enjoy the holiday and the family time....and get into the Christmas spirit!

We decorated our Christmas tree and put baubles and tinsel everywhere!   

Christmas eve was spent with everyone prepping food, chopping and grating and mixing! We didn't have an oven in this property so we just went for cold meats and salads with pavlova and jelly and icecream of course!

Hubby was very proud of the salad he threw together...

and miss 6 was very proud of the fruit salad Christmas tree that she and hubby put together...

We opened pressies, we ate and ate, and we swam at the beach.  It turned out to be one of the most relaxed Christmas days ever....and maybe one of the sandy-est.....argh sand!!!

1 week til Christmas...and signing off til the new year!

Wow....1 week....7 sleeps....yep, just 7.....oh my gosh!!!!

There is still a little shopping to do, still a lot of wrapping to do....and a whole heap of holiday planning and packing to do....eeek!!

The lead up to Christmas this year has been a sombre one....there seems to have been one tragedy after another, what with the tragic death of Phil Hughes, the poor abandoned baby near Blacktown, the reported finding of a deceased baby at the beach, the terrible news of the Sydney siege....

It has been a sad, sad time and this Christmas I pray for everyone who has been through a recent tragedy.....large or small.....for everyone who has someone missing from their Christmas celebrations.....

As I finalize our holiday and Christmas arrangements I will be leaving my internet behind so I will take this chance now to wish all of you here a joyous and memorable Christmas and a truly happy new year.  Stay safe and take care of those around you.

I will be popping in on Facebook and instagram here and there when pocket wi-fi allows...because I just can't resist!!  

Thank you for visiting throughout 2014....I still can't believe that you guys come here and read this stuff!!  I look forward to sharing 2015 with you all!!

3 weeks til Christmas

This quote is so me right now....I am freaking out!!!!

In less than three weeks we will be heading off on holidays and in three weeks it will be Christmas day!!

So to date Christmas shopping is incomplete, packing for holidays is not started, house is out of control and each day is filled with extra activities....panic stations!!!

This week though I did focus on putting together a hamper for St Vincent De Paul to distribute to the needy this Christmas.

I struggled with what to put in the hamper as all I knew was that it was for a family of at least 4 people...I did not know ages, gender, number of children etc...  

I wanted to hamper to be a little bit special rather than just full of $2 shop tinsel and decorations so I rummaged through my fabric stash and found some Christmas prints. I decided to make a bunting with this so then they would have something to keep from year to year.

I had also purchased yarn and other bits and bobs once upon a time to knit a wreath for our front door....I decided to knit the wreath for the family instead.  And yes I hope you are sitting down because I actually did finish it!!

Two craft projects finished within one week...a record I would say!!

Not quite a craft project...but still worthy of a mention...I also made Christmas cookies in a jar from The Organised Housewife for the hamper...I thought that perhaps it would give the family a fun activity to do together in the lead up to Christmas day.

I was glad that I was able to include the homemade items in the hamper to give it a more personal touch. 

I wanted to include items that could bring the family some fun so I included the Upwords board game and a packet of Uno as I figured both of these covered a reasonable age range and they were gender neutral.  I also included a frisbee...great for fun in the backyard!

I popped in some hand cream and bath bombs as well as a pretty little bird candle that I found at a local shop.

Then I filled the rest with food items such as biscuits, pringles, lollies etc... to hopefully make their Christmas day special. 

I really hope that this hamper brings a bit of Christmas joy to the family that it goes to.  It was really nice to focus on those who have less than we do at Christmas and to try and make their Christmas a little bit better.

Easy To Make Christmas Gift Idea...

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With only 6 weeks til Christmas it is a good time to get working on your handmade Christmas gifts.

I saw these cute Christmas mugs when I was doing my grocery shopping and  I couldn't resist buying one of each...okay so it was 4 of each...but hey they are so cute!!!!

Everything I needed for this project was easy to find...I bought my supplies at my local Woolworths store...

Here's what you will need...

Coffee Mugs

·        Hot Chocolate sachets

·        Marshmallows

·        Chocolate biscuits (individually packaged works well)

·        Plastic spoons

·        Baking paper

·        Chocolate melts

·        Cellophane

·        Ribbon

Step 1

Collect all of your supplies together

Step 2

Lay out your plastic spoons on some baking paper.  Ensure that they are as level as possible.  Melt your chocolate.  You could use any chocolate that you like such as white chocolate or dark chocolate…I have used milk chocolate here.

Step 3

Fill your spoons with the melted chocolate…do not overfill!  You could use a piping bag for this step or simply spoon the chocolate into your plastic spoons.  Tap your spoons gently to make sure there are no air bubbles and to help the chocolate spread.  Pop your spoons into the refrigerator.

Step 4

While your spoons are setting in the fridge you can divide up your marshmallows into little packages and tie them up in cellophane using curling ribbon.

Step 5

Once your spoons are set you can wrap them also using cellophane and curling ribbon.

Step 6

Fill your mugs with one chocolate spoon, one hot chocolate sachet, one individually wrapped chocolate biscuit and the marshmallows.  Then wrap with cellophane and your gift is ready to give.

So easy to do and these look great!  They would make a great gift for pre-school teachers, swimming teachers, neighbours etc...

8 weeks til Christmas...

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Woah only 8 weeks to go until Christmas...and just slightly less til our beach holiday...oh my gosh!!

My search for beach themed Christmas craft, decorations and food, as well as presents for the girls that will give the 'wow' factor but won't take up all the room in the trailer, has continued this week and this is what I have found...


I am a little bit in love with these beachy Christmas stockings...so simple but yet so so cute!

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And how about this watermelon beach bucket....this would be the perfectly fit our beach theme!

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My eldest daughter slept over at a friends house recently and she has not stopped raving about the sheets that they had...apparently they are the softest sheets EVER....so this week I have added linen to the Christmas list...maybe not the most exciting gift ever...but sometimes we have to add practical items to the gifts too!

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This virtual online window shopping is so much fun...but I had better check my budget before I get too carried away adding items to my shopping carts!

Do you have a budget per child for Christmas presents or do you just try to make sure that you have the same number of gifts for each of them to open (to avoid arguments!!)

9 weeks til Christmas....

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Okay I am starting to scare myself now....we are down to single digits in our weekly countdown to Christmas....oh my gosh!!

As you know we are going away at Christmas time....so that is now 9 weeks til holiday and Christmas...'squeal'... double the excitement!!!

My search for beach themed Christmas craft, decorations and food, as well as presents for the girls that will give the 'wow' factor but won't take up all the room in the trailer, has continued this week and this is what I have found...


Check out these starfish Santas....they are just so cute and so beachy...perfect!!

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Once I saw these reindeer drinks  I just couldn't go without posting them...they are such a clever idea....and if we experience our usual hot summers Christmas day drinks will be high on the list of priorities, especially for the girls....these will definitely be making an appearance !!

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Now my girls are no strangers to social media...but I must admit they are limited in what they have access to... they have started a blog (it's in it's early days)...shameless plug...you can check it out here and they enjoy photography so they have an instagram account linked to the blog...you can check it out here.   So I couldn't resist adding this cute Instagram purse to the virtual shopping list....  It is handmade from Spanish wool felt and is just oh so adorable!!

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Feeling like I need to get my act together and get some more 'real' shopping done....it's just that 'virtual window shopping' whilst in my pj's is so much more fun !!!

So come on guys...how are you going with your Christmas shopping...have you started yet...only .9 weeks and counting !!!!

11 weeks til Christmas....

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Oh wow I think I am making myself nervous now!!  The weeks are counting down so quickly!
11 weeks of school plus all of the concerts and performances and end of year festivities...but best of all 11 weeks til we are on holidays!!  Can you tell that I love holidays! They are often few and far between due to the cost so when we can manage a holiday I get a wee bit (over) excited!!


This week I am continuing on with the thongs theme of last weeks biscuits (check them out here..) but this week it is in the area of decorating!  I couldn't choose between these two thong decorations... I just love them both!

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Now given that we will be on the coast it would be wrong of us not to include some fresh seafood in our Christmas day menu and I love the look of these prawn skewers on the barbeque...perfect because they can be prepared ahead of time and because they will cook so quickly!!  This is making me so hungry right now!!

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And lastly I am still on the lookout for Christmas presents for the girls.  I found these little shorts for the younger girls...they so cute!!

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Hmm sooner or later I am actually going to have to start making purchases rather than just window shopping online!!!

So only 11 weeks to go....have you started to think Christmas yet or are you still in denial haha!!

12 weeks til Christmas...

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Only 12 weeks until Christmas and our beach holiday.....I can't wait!!

As I mentioned in my previous Christmas countdown post.......14 weeks and 13 weeks ...
space will be of a premium as we pack for our holiday.......yet I am keen to make our temporary beach house as Christmassy as possible....

So this idea is brilliant....not only will it provide a Christmas tree of sorts but it will be a great holiday activity as we scour the beach for twigs and driftwood and for shells as well...

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I have also found the cutest summer/beach themed biscuit/dessert.....perhaps if we decorated these in Christmas colours they would match our theme....I think they are just the cutest.....don't you agree?

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Lastly I have been online window shopping....trying to keep my focus on what other people want for Christmas...not just what I want!  And since the four eldest girls have their ears pierced earrings are featuring highly on my shopping list!  Miss 16 loves turtles so she would absolutely adore these earrings....

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So I think so far things are coming along well with my Christmas preparations....even if it is all just 'virtual' at the moment!!!

How are your plans coming along??

13 weeks til Christmas...

Now it is only 13 weeks til Christmas and equally excitingly our beach holiday that I told you about here last week.

So I have begun my search online for decorating and craft ideas for our temporary Christmas beach house, ideas for cooking and baking with a summer, beachy feel and I am on the look out for gifts for the girls that can easily be transported so not too big in size but still give a 'wow' when opened!

Here's what I have found so far...

I absolutely love these glass Christmas baubles filled with sand and shells....they would make a perfect decoration and activity at the same time....okay so transporting glass baubles in a trailer load of supplies might be a bit tricky...but I'm definitely going to give it a try!

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I love this idea for watermelon Christmas trees that I found over at www.eatingvibrantly.com ....perfect for the summer and beach themed Christmas....and they don't look too hard to achieve which is what I need!!

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And as for gifts I think these Dot To Dot books by Thomas Makes Stuff would be perfect for the older girls....they won't be hard to transport, will provide an activity that can be started on holidays if we encounter rainy days, and the finished product can be displayed in their rooms when they get home...so I think they are perfect.....and I want to do the Elvis one!!!!

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So tell me, have you started planning your Christmas yet....or is it still way too early for you to even think about it!??

14 weeks til Christmas !!!

Wow....only 14 weeks til Christmas...can you believe it??!!

This year has gone by at a lightning pace and the next 14 weeks will be no different, especially when they start to fill up even further with dance concerts, drama performances, school Christmas activities, parties and get-togethers with friends.....busy busy!!

I have to admit that I love, love, love Christmas!!  

I love thinking about what to buy people, I love sneaking all the presents away in places that I notoriously forget by Christmas eve, I love Christmas craft and Christmas cooking and I love going to cut down our Christmas tree, bringing it home and decorating it as a family...

This year we will be away from home for Christmas which is hugely exciting...we will be here....

and to say that I can't wait is an understatement!!  Firstly it means that I won't have to have our house clean enough for guests on Christmas day...yay! Secondly it  means that we can have a beach Christmas....my mind is already racing with ideas for decorating and baking!!

We arrive at the house we have rented on Sunday 21st December....and I am hoping to smuggle as many Christmas decorations into our packing as possible!  It also means that I am on the look out for Christmas presents that are going to survive the trip in the trailer, will be small enough to mean I can have a good number of gifts for each of the girls and yet will still have a 'wow' factor.

So join me over the next 14 weeks as I start my online Christmas shopping adventure, share any bargains that I find, search for decorating ideas for our (temporary) beach house, and have a lot of fun along the way....Christmas bring it on!!!!!!

Do you love Christmas as much as I do??  Are you counting down already?!