Santa's workshop :)

Hi there!

I hope my US friends enjoyed Thanksgiving and you are not feeling too stuffed ;-)
Guess what? Only 29 days till Christmas (or 28 in our case, since we celebrate on Christmas Eve). I'll be spending the holidays with my mom.
My tiny home office currently resembles Santa's workshop as I'm putting the finishing touches on gifts and writing the last of the cards. As every year I like to get this done early, so that come December I can sit back and relax while watching everyone else frantically rushing from one shop to the next! I tell you, it's a great feeling crossing that off my to-do list ahead of time.

Hallöchen :)

nur noch 28 Tage bis Weihnachten! Dieses Jahr verbringe ich die Feiertage bei meiner Mutter, und werde auch schon eine gute Woche vorher fahren. Bei mir sieht's momentan aus wie "Santa's Workshop" :) Bin aber total froh, dass alle Geschenke bereits verpackt, beschriftet und teilweise nach Übersee versandt worden sind. Also ich kann mich im kommenden Monat bis zu meiner Abreise entspannen. Alles erledigt! Und ihr?!

Oh, and if you are still looking for unique and affordable gifts, The Artisan Group has compiled a wonderful selection in their Holiday Gift Guide on Pinterest.

Have a wonderful day!
Habt einen wundervollen Tag!

It's a boy!

A very dear friend of mine recently gave birth to her first child ~ a little boy! She just moved to England and I plan to visit her next year. I can't wait to meet the little guy, plus I get to explore Devon; I've never been! 
Eine liebe Freundin von mir hat vor zwei Wochen entbunden und es ist...ein Junge! Sie ist vor kurzem nach Devon, England gezogen, wo ich sie nächstes Jahr besuchen werde. Ich freue mich schon auf den Kleinen!

I made a little something for her...(I hope she doesn't sneak a peek)
Zu diesem freudigen Anlass habe ich etwas genäht...
(hoffentlich schaut sie heute nicht auf mein Blog; es soll ja eine Überraschung sein)

baby slippers / Babyschuhe

 

bib / Lätzchen

The Vintage teddy (over 30 years old!) is demontrating the fit :)  Hier musste mal der über 30! Jahre alte Teddybär herhalten :)

It all comes in this matching fabric gift bag...   Dazu ein passender Geschenkbeutel...

fabric gift bag / Stoffbeutel

Welcome to this world, little J.
Willkommen in unsere Welt, Kleiner!

Early Birthday present for me. Woohoo!

I feel much better today! Thanks for your support and kind words, guys - what would I do without my blog friends? Speaking of blog friends. Dear sweet and thoughtful Mel sent me two beautiful gifts all the way from the Philippines for my birthday coming up this month:

Aren't these earrings pretty? Mel must be psychic to know that I love round shapes :)
And, of course, I love heart-shaped things too! And pink! Guess what this ingenious little device is? It's a bag hook! You can open the 'rim' of the heart and hook it on to the edge of a table to hang your bag instead of having to keep it on your lap or on the floor like most of us do. How cool is that? If you want to find out more about these heart-shaped bag hooks visit Mel's shop here.

Thank you so much, Mel. Your thoughtful gifts put a big smile on my face! Yay for blog friends!!

Hope you all have a great day! I know I will :)

Little girls love make up bags too!

I feel better today. Thank you, my blog friends, for your well-wishes! I was feeling down because my doctor discovered a weird lump at the base of my throat, and I have a CT scan scheduled for tomorrow. I kind of thought I would be spared having the radioactive agent injected into me yet again. Oh well. Better to find out what that lump is, right? Anyway, a few weeks ago I made some more gifts - for a few pre-teen girls I know, and who always complement my make up bags whenever they visit. They will be getting these for Nikolaus Tag, which is celebrated here on December 6th. Happy Tuesday!

Gifts galore!

Each year I get THE LIST. Let me explain...the list is a list of requests from family and friends to make something as gifts for Christmas. I usually get the first request late September, and it gets longer the closer we get to Christmas. This year was no exception :) Let me share a few of the items I made. The recipients are unaware that they will be getting these, so it's safe for me to show. Various aprons (the yellow one and the ovenmitt is a set) Black floral make-up bag, XL gift bag (with gift inside) which doubles as a shopping bag There are a few still left on my list, so I better get cracking :)

Christmas Shopping

Well, I'm glad to say I've finished all of my Christmas Shopping, which is no surprise, because I buy gifts throughout the year. I've written about this in a post on my personal blog, which you may want to read here. But what about unexpected visitors knocking on your door at Christmas time? Or maybe you exchange gifts with your neighbours? You would want to have a little gift ready, just in case! I made up a few zipper pouches in red and tan tartan. I wanted something that had a wintery feel to it, so I chose fine italian wool. I didn't need to buy much of the fabric, since these pouches only measure about 15 x 13 cm or approx. 6 x 5 inches. They are lightly padded and lined with either green or orange checks. For that special touch I appliquéd each one with a different motif, i.e. gingerbread man, heart, angels etc., using scraps of fabric. In the picture below you can see two examples. The red tartan one has a little teddy bear with heart; the tan tartan one has a little birdy.

click to enlarge

So now I don't have to worry about being empty-handed!

Nikolaus Tag

On Saturday, December 6th , we celebrate 'Nikolaus Tag' (St. Nicholas Day), in honour of Saint Nicholas of Myra - also known as St. Nicholas the wonderworker, since many deeds and miracles were attributed to him. He was also known as 'the gift-giver' - leaving coins in the shoes of those that left them out for him. Nowadays it's mostly a festival for children. Kids across Europe leave their shoes outside their bedroom door the night before St. Nicholas Day, and the next day they are 'miraculously' filled with colourful wrapped sweets and chocolate. (Thanks, mom☺) More health-conscious parents buy their children a small gift instead (book, pencil case, something useful for school) - sort of like an appetizer before the main course: Christmas! It's also not uncommon for spouses to buy little gifts for each other and we do this among close friends too. At the workplace it's custom for the boss to put a small gift of appreciation on each employees desk. Since this year it's on Saturday, most will receive their present on the following Monday. When I was still part of the 9-5 workforce I was given everything from a huge chocolate Santa to a box of candles to a gift certificate! Boy, did we love those gift certificates! By the way, that little 'Nikolaus' pouch you see in the photo is what my niece and a few of my younger pupils (aged 8 - 10) are going to receive from me...

Send a little joy to the less fortunate children...

As every year, the weeks running up to Christmas are always stressful, as most parents run around in a frenzied panic buying food for Christmas dinner and gifts for the family, especially the children. Please pause for a moment and think about what you could do for the less fortunate kids who have little joy in their lives. Here in Germany (and also in Switzerland and Austria) there is a so called 'shoebox' campaign. Participants donate gifts (stuffed animals, toys, drawing equipment, skipping ropes etc.) and pack them up in a shoebox, which is then wrapped up nicely and tied with a bow. The shoeboxes are collected in various cities and then sent on to the organizer who distributes the gifts to countries, such as Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Kasachstan, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Mongolia and others. The organizers of the respective countries ensure that these shoeboxes do indeed reach the (mostly orphaned) children. Over 470.000 shoeboxes were delivered to less fortunate kids all over the world last Christmas. What an amazing success! Although subsidized by the Christian Mission, the gifts are distributed to children regardless of their religious, social or cultural background. Instead of sending Christmas cards this year or eating a humongous Christmas meal, I will donate to the Mission and other charities, if it helps to make one or more children smile and feel a little joy in their lives this Christmas.