Merry Christmas

Just popping by to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all have a wonderful time and that all your Christmas wishes come true :O)xx

Advent swap

A few months ago I signed up to take part in Laa Laa's Advent Swap and I was paired up with Ada Bea ~ who has a lovely blog called Vintage Sheet Addict.

These were the parcels that I sent ~ I really did enjoy putting together the swap parcel for Ada and my daughter was also really enthusiastic about it and gave me lots of help and advice along the way, suggesting that " the lady might like this" in practically every shop we went in to! She also handmade a present for me to include in the parcel too.

If you fancy having a peek at what I sent to Ada then you can pop over to her blog and take a look. There is also a Flickr group for the swap if you would like a wee browse at all the other swap pressies.

It has been really has been rather exciting having a little pressie to open up each day ~ much better than having a chocolate Advent calendar! In fact, my children want to know why they can't have an Advent parcel to open every day and are asking if I can make them up a box each for next year ~ we shall see!!

This is what I have received so far::

Day 1 ~ embroidery threads
Day 2 ~ a little bar of Green and Blacks chocolate
Day 3 ~ a pretty sea shell
Day 4 ~ a pack of vintage wall paper
Day 5 ~ a little bar of Green and Blacks chocolate(this one didn't quite make it as far as the photo shoot as it was too tempting and got eaten with a nice cup of tea)
Day 6 ~ heart decorations
Day 7 ~ vintage sheet material

I'm looking forward to the opening the rest of the parcels and will let you know what's inside once they have been opened :O)xx

Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who left a comment on my recent bloggy birthday Giveaway post.  This year I somehow managed to get my brain into gear and work out how to use the Random Number Generator thingy ~  however, I didn't quite manage to work out how to post a picture of the said generator results onto my blog!

The lucky number selected was comment number 11 which was from Tales from a handmade home. Congratulations to you! ~ please can you e mail me with your details and I will get your book posted out to you sometime very soon :O)xx

The Polar Express ~ All Aboard!

Last weekend we headed off to Weardale as we had booked ourselves tickets on The Polar Express!

We all love the film of The Polar Express ~ we watch it faithfully every Christmas Eve ~ so the chance to have an actual trip on it was too much for us to resist.

We boarded the train at Stanhope station and set off on our journey through the dales towards the North Pole. The small people were dressed in their pyjamas and dressing gowns which made it seem even more magical for them.

Each carriage was decorated with Christmassy wreaths and baubles and had it's own conductor and fleet of singing and dancing chefs who served everyone with cups of hot chocolate and delicious chocolate chip cookies. During the trip the story of The Polar Express was read over a sound system whilst the chefs carried a beautifully illustrated book up and down the aisle for all the children to see.

For those of you that are not familiar with the story ~ it is a lovely story about a little boy who is just starting to doubt the reality of Father Christmas. He embarks on a magical train trip to the North Pole ~ along the way there is a ghostly hobo who preys on the boys doubts, but he is looked after by the kind conductor and all the other children who are on the train dressed in their pyjamas and dressing gowns. At the end of the journey he has his beliefs reaffirmed when he meets Father Christmas at the North Pole.

Our journey towards the North Pole was really enjoyable ~ the chefs went up and down the aisles singing and dancing and the ghostly hobo made the occasional appearance trying to steal the children's golden train tickets. As the train got nearer to the North Pole all the children on the train got very excited ~ pressing their little faces to the windows trying to get the first glimpse of Father Christmas. Once we reached the North Pole, Father Christmas and his elves boarded The Polar Express and all the children got a chance to tell him what they would like for Christmas and he gave out silver bells from his sleigh to all those who believe!

It really was a most enjoyable trip and I am now starting to really get into the Christmas spirit ~ not many sleeps to go now!! :0)xx