Snippets around my Christmasy Home..

4 nights more until Christmas...Star is lit,gifts are wrapped,Dubai nights are cold,fingers numb,faces aglow,carolers came last night..all set for baking cookies...
Thought I'll post snippets from around my home..
Star light star Bright..

Gifts under the tree..

                         

Tree lit up...

                            

and the kitchen..

Air dry clay-angels...

More angels..

Decoupaged lamp..

and candles and ...us...(blush)

Foamboard word sign (Believe still in the making)

Decoupaged frame..

Red 'n green for my kitchen

and finally my Rudy and his big red nose !! 

Keep spreading the Christmas spirit.

Merry Christmas !!

Advent...."Holy Impatience !!!!!!!"-Tutorial.

5 sleeps and 8 hours until Christmas !!!!

Inspired and overwhelmed by zillion ideas for advent and rolled paper christmas tree, I thought why not combine them..Been wanting to do a christmas craft with Jr, so we both set out to get our hands messy..(ever done a project with a 2.5 year old BOY????-Now that is messy)

The whole idea was get Jr to stick each piece-every day till 25th.plus learn to count till 25 :o).but yeah I was sooo impatient-we jumped to 25th today-Grin.

Here's the tutorial for my Holy impatience.

Materials needed:
scrap paper,glue,scissors,frame-doily/burlap,marker varnish (optional)+ impatient momma and lil one.
I dint have enough scrap paper to make rolls so I simply folded them into a thin strip.(Improvise baby,Improvise)

Layout your papers and decide which order you want them to be in and using the bottom strip as your measure, cut the rest of the strips 

As I said before,if you have a big sheet enough to roll, go ahead.or simply fold them into strips and glue each piece.

Use a brown shade for the stump.I used 3 strips for the stump, coz I wanted to give it some dimension.I had an old picture frame that I covered with doily and burlap, used that as my base for our advent calender..Idea was Jr to stick each piece corresponding to days until Christmas..wanted to start a christmas tradition with crafts..but we I got too impatient and let him stick all of it -after 3 days. He loved doing this..and after each gluing process, he beats the life outta the strips (making sure they stick firmly to the frame)--God save the rolls!!!

I stuck the 'stump' 3D. and let him glue the rest of the strips onto the frame..(I had to guide his hands though)

Wrote 1 on stump and went uptill 24 ,We dint go for the star as topper, simply cut 2 and 5 and stuck 'em on the top.I varnished them -when Jr was napping.But thats optional.

Santa's lil (impatient)helper :o) - He loves sticking...(he's got a thing for tape too!!)

Ca'nt  wait

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...

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Holy Impatience!!

Hope y'all are getting impatient about 25th..I did a lil reading about 'Advent' this morning..It means 'Coming', and is a season observed in many Christian churches,a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

                                  Enjoy the Season..remember the Reason....Merry Christmas.

Mish mash series... Bread pudding

Lately someone asked me whats with the 'daily mish mash'??
Well..its mish mash that happens daily..lol..
I've been fascinated and inspired(and turned all green) by food blogs and tried few recipes with my own modifications..(Not into photography so I dont do the powdered sugar seive and all that)

Here's one I tried -No fuss Bread Pudding.and it was an instant hit !!
I'm bad with measurements, My recipe does'nt call for specifics..so just go with the flow and adjust everything according to your taste.

In a buttered baking dish..add 

I used condensed milk for making custard..love the flavor.  

For a loaf , I used about 4 eggs.

Make sure that the warm custard is poured slowly,to cook the eggs.

First time I dint pour enough-for the cubes to just float (Pic 8)

So instead of just adding plain milk, you can add the leftover crusts with sugar/condensed milk.

Pour away... (does'nt get easier than this.can it?)

Scroll back and see the levels in Pic 8..

Fire up the oven..preheat..blah..blah...and

.

.

.

.

Ta..da..

Some like to have it cold..but I'd have it warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream,drizzled with some caramel/date syrup) 

Enjoy the season..and happy mishmash baking.

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree..

Living in an apartment,we really thought twice about getting a tree thats over  2 feet :-) Last 2 Christmas' we had a mini tree which gracefully adorned our home..

My pooh bear near our tree (Dec 2011)

And this year we started hunting for a big one and luckily we got it for 100aed !! (27$), got some bulk ornaments from Day to Day (Dollar store version), painted them to match our  taste and ...

2min Christmas candle makeover..

Candles and Christmas.....
I had 2 white candles decoupaged few months back..and for Christmas I just cant have enough candles..
When I was cleaning (Yeah, I am forced to clean my house once in a year!!)I  found this

All hearts come home for Christmas…(Wall Decor/sign Tutorial)

Inspired by this title..,I knew I wanted to make this sign,plus I get to try out my 'paper roll frames'

Items needed..

Foam board ,tracing paper,fine tip pens,large magazine,2 bamboo skewers,glue,embellishments,white paint for rolls (optional)

5 min Christmas Decor.

I had to finish this before Jr woke up this morning..infact took less than 5 min.(Before Mr.T finished his cuppa,moi made this, and cleaned the table I worked on too.)Super fast-project for 'crafty mommies with baby Hurricanes'.

Three lil canisters on my kitchen shelf wanted a christmasy makeover,..here's what you need..

Less than 5 min at hand ;-) .....+

Faux Doilyplates-Christmas Decor-Tutorial

Last night Shelley's (House of Smiths) milky white doily plates  inspired me to make ....

Faux Doily plates

I wanted to make 3- for  J.O.Y.

JoY tO ThE wOrLd .......(Inspired by House of Smiths)

Jesus is the reason for the season.....

Shelley from House of Smiths :o)  inspires me every now and then..Her ever-changing kitchen vignette area makes me 'ever-drooling'.Check it out and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Her vignette area screams "Christmas''...maybe I should rephrase it..it 'elegantly screams' Christmas !!!!!!!

Fell in love with her milky white doily plates and vinyl letters..

It is such Joy..It is JOY.........

Thank you Shelley and Merry (almost) Christmas.

Gearing up for Christmas...

Its the most wonderful time of the year.....

With the kids jingle bellin' and everyone telling you..

"Be of good cheer"

I started off with these....
Cheer up and Craft on......

No sew DIY Fabric pumpkin.-Tutorial

Pumpkin is the icon of fall.. I soo wanted one for my decor (we are not big on pumpkin pies)So why buy a real one and trash it...so one afternoon while Jr was napping I got hold of an old yucky orange (very annoying piece of fabric) shirt of Mr.T and sat down to make a pumpkin pie.

Before I say 'Bye Bye November'..

December is almost here, and I'm smelling cinnamon already !
But before I say Bye Bye November, let me show you what I'm been busy with, during Thanksgiving.
I started off with a simple burlap wreath

Happy thanksgiving 2011

"Remember God's bounty in the year.String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts,except so far as they are breaking out in the light! - Henry Ward Beecher.
                               

       Give this one day to thanks, to joy & to gratitude.

        Happy thanksgiving to all.

Word of the day-Ampersand ..... &.......

Ampersand -a punctuation mark (&) used to represent conjunction (and)


Never knew Shift +7 {(&)} was called 'ampersand' until today..(yeah go on.. call me illiterate)


Thanks to Caroline of C.W.Frosting  for the lesson.

Instant Keepsake box

When I talk about Jr growing up so fast I get all teary eyed..He's 2.5 years (yeah not 25) ALREADY !!??!! Beaks my heart every time he tells me 'Mama no hold hands'and 'Go 'ou-tide' when he goes potty...Big boy (sigh) He hangs around with his new best friend-'No' these days..I just wish he does'nt grow up this fast--like a weed !

Faux-Mosaic Picture frame.

Love all things faux and frugal..

Was clearing 1/100th of my 'ocean of junk' and found few torn paper bags and brochures (left overs from the amazing  MBC goodie bags we got, at their launch party ) Though the bags were torn (mercilessly) the patterns were so amazing, I just dint feel like trashing them.So thought of going a bit 'green' and tried a mosaic craft with an Ikea frame that was lying around.

First day at (Blogger) School

So here I am,turning 31 in 2 days and today is officially my first day at B-school.As much as I'm excited to be here, I'm terrified too.

Crafts bring me sunshine..plus I'm inspired by other 'mish mash' of anything that catches my eye.I hope I never stop loving, learning and crafting.Being an expat in Dubai is'nt easy for a crafter like me, coz we dont have Micheal's or Dollar store here :o( So that kinda makes me craft more...

Thanks for visiting my blog.I hope you find something here that inspires you.