Tea Parties

It was my birthday in December and my DS and DIL took me out to tea here. We had a lovely time and the sandwiches and cakes were delicious. I'd had a tea party at my house for a few friends a couple of months before this and realised that tea parties were fun and a good change from inviting friends to dinner. I find putting on a dinner party very exhausting these days so tea parties will be taking their place at my house. With this in mind my DIL gave me a couple of lovely gifts this Christmas, the cake stand in the picture and a book entitled Afternoon Tea Parties with ideas for themed teas. I wasn't really sure how much food should be offered on these occasions so this book was a big help. Then yesterday morning I got an unexpected phone call from friends saying they would be dropping in to see us that afternoon and immediately saw this as an opportunity to put on an Afternoon Tea!!! Luckily I had some ready prepared finger food that I had bought in 'just in case' I needed it over Christmas and New Year and all I needed to buy was some fresh bread. It was the quickest meal I had ever prepared, I didn't get stressed and worn out rushing around trying to get too much done in a short time. What a pleasure it was to be able to welcome my guests in this way.

Machine Sewing

On Wednesday my DIL came to my house so that I could help her line baskets. I lined two so that she could see how it was done then my DIL lined one and made an excellent job of it. We had a bit of time left after this so I made a Christmas hangie for her. The next day I had a rummage through my stash and found some fabric printed with various Christmas designs so, as usual, I got a bit carried away and made nine of these hangies, all with a different Christmas design on it. Three I've given away and the rest are added to my decorating. Unfortunately, all the leaning over to cut out started my 'bad back' off and I've hardly done a thing this last two days, hope it recovers soon, there's still quite a bit to do before Christmas Day!!!

Paper Trees

Yesterday I was surfing around the web looking for paper-craft ideas when I came across a card making site that showed some very interesting paper Christmas trees. I followed the link to here and followed the instructions in the tutorial. I was amazed at the effect folding an old magazine achieved! I ended up making four of these trees and I then showed four of my friends, who came around in the afternoon for a craft session. We all got very excited that an old magazine could be transformed into a lovely Christmas decoration (can't you tell we are all craft addicts?). So I imagine that yesterday evening there were four ladies (five including me) rummaging around looking for magazines to fold!!!