In Colourful Company Secret Santa

I took part in the In Colourful Company secret Santa for the first time, and I was completely blown away by the generosity and thoughtfulness of Shonagh (@shoggypopsrocks). She had obviously read my likes well (I'd said I liked Japan, stationery, and science) but she'd also managed to pick up on some of my other loves such as llamas, colourful socks, pin badges, and chocolate!

I decided to open my present on Christmas Eve, while lazing about after having been for a jog. It was so much fun opening all the little individually-wrapped gifts, and the best one came last - a Chemistry-themed pin that I'd been looking at!

Planet pud Christmas cards

I’ve been busy this month and I really struggled to get motivated to start making my Christmas cards, even though I had some idea of what I wanted to make.

My older nephew has been doing a project about space at school, and is loving learning about all the planets in the solar system, so I knew I wanted to base the cards around that, and I also thought about the book The Little Prince.

I sketched out my ideas, and came up with the idea of a Christmas pudding planet, with the icing as the snow-capped pole of the planet and the raisins as craters, a few Christmas trees on the planet’s surface, stars in the sky, and Santa’s sleigh travelling around the rings!

The planet itself was really easy to make, because all I needed was a few large circles in brown with craters punched through the top one, then another in white which was cut to shape. Then it was just a case of adding all the little details. The reindeer was so fiddly that I decided to leave the rest of the sleigh hidden behind the planet!

Pinvent calendar

I made a pinvent calendar! What is a pinvent calendar, I hear you ask? Read on and find out how to make your own!

Choose 24 pins, badges or brooches. I chose some with a Christmas theme, and others that I felt I should wear more often. 

Wrap them up in tissue paper and seal with washi tape, adding a ribbon to each parcel. 

You could put them in a bag, box, bucket or basket, leaving the ribbons trailing out. I put them in this lovely Shaker basket that I usually keep my washi tapes in.

Each day of December, pull a random ribbon and unwrap a pin. I have decided that I have to wear that pin on that day (I can wear others too). 

This is an idea based on the sleigh full of sweets with attached ribbons that my Mum did each year when I was a child. It's also about appreciating the things you have rather than having to have new things. You could do it with other small items, e.g. toys for a child.

Post-Christmas purchases

After Christmas I had a few trips to the town centre and to Edinburgh where I was able to spend my Christmas money. Here's what I got.

Secret Edinburgh: An Unusual Guide is a great wee book that will be perfect for putting in my handbag when I'm exploring. It actually has a lot of Edinburgh places in it that I didn't know about! Hygge and Kisses I just bought for the cover and the Hygge theme (it was particularly appropriate as it was snowing heavily that day!). It was harmless enough but a bit predictable.

From the Fruitmarket Gallery where I got the Secret Edinburgh book, I also got an enamel pin by Ustudio Design, and a gorgeous postcard with an illustration from a Japanese matchbox label.

I got some clothes - a black jacket, black pencil skirt, and cream blouse with a bow, as these were items that I felt I needed for my capsule wardrobe, and a Seasalt dress that I found cheap in a charity shop! It's a summer dress, so it could be a while until I can wear it!

I also got a peg/letter board, which was something I'd been wanting. It was reduced in the sales, and I have a bit of a crafty idea for it. Also reduced in the sales I got The New Vegan by Aine Carlin. I already have another book by her that I like, and, although I'm not eating completely vegan this January, I still like to eat a lot of vegan food.

From Eteaket in Edinburgh I got some delicious Earl Grey tea and a badge.


And I did some online shopping for books, getting The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees, How to Bullet Plan by Rachel Wilkerson Miller, and Creative Lettering and Beyond.

Christmas cards

This year's Christmas cards were partly based on my Mini-Inuit tree ornaments from a few years ago, and partly on a little mint tin from M&S.

The people on the cards were made using the same technique as yesterday's gift tags, I just used a smaller punch for the faces this time.

Christmas gift tags

Do you need an idea for some last-minute home-made gift tags? These are so quick and easy to make! If you don't have a circular punch you can draw circles by hand.

1. Punch some holes in white card using a circular punch about 1 inch in diameter, then cut around the holes with a pair of paper edging scissors.

2. Punch some peach or pink paper with the punch. Draw faces on these.

3. Cut some red or blue card into the shape of a body and head. The head needs to be a little bit larger than the circle punch.

4. Glue the peach and white pieces to the head.

5. Thread some red and white string through the neck area using a large needle, and tie a knot in the end.

6. You can stamp the recipient's initial on the front if you like, and write your message on the back.

These were partially inspired by my mini-inuit from a few years ago, who also featured on some of my cards this year.

Moomin post-advent calendar

I've always been a fan of traditional advent calendars. None of your calendars filled with chocolates, perfume, candles or nail polishes for me! That was until I discovered you could get a Moomin advent calendar! By the time I found out about them it was too late to get one for December, but that worked out really well for me, because I thought it would be even better to have a "post-advent" calendar to brighten up the dreary month of February!

I've been having lots of fun opening the calendar each morning, and finding creative ways to photograph all the Moomins and their friends.