Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a very blessed and joyful Christmas!  May you have a time of rest, relaxation and enjoyment spent with friends and loved ones.  Thank you all of you for your support of my blog this year, especially to those who faithfully read every post and comment when you can.  Things will be a little quiet on the blog over the next few weeks as I recover from the hectic schedule my family always seems to have during the Christmas new year period.  I look forward to seeing you all and feeling revitalised in 2014!

(Image: Birdhouse Blessings)

"...the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Christmas Cooking

With Christmas just two days away, I am now in the throes of cooking the masses of food I have promised to bring along to our various family Christmas celebrations.  Being of Chinese descent, I am more excited about cooking my favourite Asian or gourmet meals for Christmas rather than the traditional roast turkey and vegetables.  To give you an idea of what I mean, my Christmas cooking list this year consists of beef rendang, siu mai (dumplings), a Vietnamese-style salad and an Italian-style salad!  However, I do love a few of the traditional western Christmas foods.  One which my children adore is gingerbread, which we have been merrily making for the last few weeks.  I use a failsafe recipe shared with me by an old friend, which I have included below.  So let me know, what kinds of foods do you cook at Christmas time?

Gingerbread Biscuits

Ingredients

- 60g butter or margerine

- 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

- 2 eggs

- 3/4 cup golden syrup

- 2 1/2 cups plain flour

- 1/2 cup self-raising flour

- 1 tsp bicarb soda

- 1 tsp mixed spice

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves

- 4 tsp ground ginger

Method

1. Melt butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan.  Let stand for ten minutes to cool slightly.

2. Sift half the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the butter and sugar mix to the dry ingredients.

4. Sift in half the remaining dry ingredients.

5. Mix in the eggs.

6. Sift in the remaining ingredients.

7. Lightly flour a chopping board.  Knead the dough into a ball (add more flour if too sticky) and wrap in plastic wrap.  Leave the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

8. Roll out the dough 0.5cm thick.  Cut out your gingergread shapes and put the biscuits on greased trays.

9. Bake in a moderate oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool biscuits on a baking rack.

10. Enjoy as is or ice and decorate your biscuits!

Things I Love - Chandeliers

I am a big fan of chandeliers and would dearly love to have one (or more) in my humble home.  But, since the style of my home doesn't lend itself to the installation of these elegant lighting fixtures, I just stick to admiring them.  However, I recently found a whimsical and quirky chandelier which I think would look amazing in a child's room!  Gillian Harris' book, Carnival of Felting, has a host of felt craft projects, including the amazing felted chandelier you see above.  It is elegant, grand and so much fun all at the same time.  And best of all, this chandelier is probably a lot more affordable than a traditional crystal one!

Something New: A Two Cheeky Monkeys Sneak Peek

With just over a week until Christmas, I have been busily working on a new range of jewellery for Two Cheeky Monkeys amidst the chaos of end of year functions and Christmas preparations.  This new range of bracelets, the Asymmetry range, encompasses many of my favourite jewellery styles to create.

Half of this new range includes bracelets combining vintage glass cabochons, beads and/or glass jewels.  Not only are the bracelets asymmetrical in the way the clasp is situated and the use of both beads and vintage glass jewels, but several of the bracelets are also split in half colour-wise.

And I couldn't create a new range of jewellery without including a few creations from my signature Literary Jewellery range!  The Asymmetry range will include bracelets celebrating many favourite characters, such as Mr Darcy.  I have started to list some of these new bracelets in my stores, but you'll have to wait until the new year before the whole range becomes available.

Sew Mama Sew Giveway Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in the Sew Mama Sew giveway week fun this past week!  I've enjoyed finding new blogs and "meeting" my new blog readers - I hope you have all had fun too.  Unfortunately, there is only one winner of the Bennet sisters button set, and our winner is Robyn, who said that she is like Elizabeth Bennet (as did a large number of the other entrants).  Congratulations Robyn!

Summer Holidays Craft Tutorials: Beading

Today's post is the last in my series of summer holiday craft roundups.  I have saved my favourite, bead crafts, for last.  Don't forget to let me know if you tried out any of the tutorials I featured - I'd love to hear what your children thought.

Small for big has the cutest bunny bookmark tutorial.

Personalised beaded napkin rings are a fun idea and might help your children to eat less messily!

Make your own gumball necklaces using polymer clay.

A retro craft making a serious comeback is macrame!  Teach your kids this age old technique by following kimmelcrafts' key fob tutorial.

Kleas shares a tutorial for making beaded "icicles".

These beaded dreamcatchers over at Crafting Connections are a fun and colourful way to decorate a child's room.

Summer Holidays Craft Tutorials: Glue

All children love to play with glue, possibly because it is gooey, sticky and messy!  While I might shudder at the thought of the mess my kids make when creating with glue, a strategically covered table (and floor!) will make the cleaning up much easier after all the fun's been had.  And with super fun projects like these (for both grown ups and kids), it should be easy to overlook the mess that is made during the creative process!

I loved glue yarn balls when I was a child!  You can find a straightforward tutorial over at Make and Takes.

Dana Made It has the sweetest no sew (all glue) flower tutorial!

For a very creative idea I would never have thought of myself, learn how to make a glue and foil work of art from Art Projects for Kids.

This crepe paper Christmas wreath tutorial can easily be adapted to make a wreath you can use all year round.

Happy Hooligans shares a very simple papier mache bowl tutorial - love it!