St Lucia program

 C & i went to a St Lucia program at a castle where we met some friends

C wore this dress with a red ribbon... we enjoyed listening to a story

 then together we made a St Lucia crown

 if you would like to make something similar, you will need: green card stock approximately 22" by 7", scored at 1.5", 3.5". 5.5", white craft foam 4.5" by 1", small pieces of yellow craft foam, large glue dots

 to make it: fold the green card stock in half, cut up to the score line at intervals 1" apart, fold card stock so that triangles form, to form a ring tuck one tube inside of the other, attach yellow flames to candles with glue dots, then attach candles to crown with glue dots (the candles could be attached to the inside or outside of the crown, but if they are attached to the outside, some of the card stock needs to be cut off)

 & then together we made Lucia buns out of Crayola Model Magic (you could make these out of Play-Doh, too)

 after the program we went to the play area

 in the play kitchen we pretended to bake & eat Lucia buns (which were carved out of wood)

 C decorated a child sized Christmas tree with Swedish ornaments, she had so much fun that day that she wanted to back the next day !

Happy St Lucia day on December 13th !

St Lucia crown/wreath centerpiece

i was inspired by the St Lucia celebrations that they have in Sweden & wanted to make a crown/wreath.  i think what i created will make a nice centerpiece for the Swedish smorgasbord that we plan on having this next week.

this St Lucia crown/wreath centerpiece is super simple to make...
supplies needed:
:: 6-inch wreath, i got this one from Michael's (for only $0.79!)
:: 4 white wooden chime candles, can be bought here
:: green felt
:: tear drop shaped leaf pattern
:: glue gun

 how you make it:
:: with tear drop leaf pattern, cut out 24 leaves from the green felt
:: with a glue gun, put glue on the bottom of the wooden chime candle & tuck it into the wreath so the candle will stand up straight
:: with glue gun, attach all the 24 leaves around the wreath

Happy St Lucia day on December 13th !

St Lucia knitted crown

 {this next week i'm blogging everything Santa Lucia} 

i think it was a couple of years ago that i saw this Santa Lucia Crown pattern in Handknit Holidays & this was the year that i decided to knit it ~ here's the ravelry link

it was easy to knit & only uses small amounts of yarn, so you can use up some of your stash yarn, but there were about 50 pieces that had to be sewn on, so just be prepared to weave in a lot of ends :)

Saint Nicholas Day

 Saint Nicholas paid a visit

 the night before, the kids put out wooden clogs ~ these came from my childhood when my parents visited the Netherlands & brought these back for my older sister, older brother, & i

 wood Saint Nicholas is from Ostheimer

 each one got the traditional clementine, candy cane, & gold chocolate coins

 this website has a lot of great ideas including how to turn a chocolate Santa into a Saint Nicholas

 out Saint Nicholas collection: book & coloring book (from France) & Saint Nicholas prayer cards (from the local Christian store)

 watching Saint Nicholas A Story of Joyful Giving

 brown paper packages tried up with red wool yarn

very easy to do, no tape needed, just brown paper, red wool yarn, & a paper doily stamped with rubber stamps

Happy Saint Nicholas day !!

holiday ideas house

 {this is not my house}
remember the Bachman's Spring 2010 ideas house & Summer 2010 ideas house ?  well, this is the holiday ideas house... again Ki Nassauer is the vintage consultant.  nearly every item is for sale.  enjoy the tour !
first of all in the above photo: spools of string used for house numbers

 on the front porch: homemade Christmas trees made of birch poles, wreaths, greens, & tea strainer ornaments (!)

 in the living room: horizontal birch poles added to Christmas tree for added dimension

 floor gate turned coffee table w/mirror added

 leather belts used to bundle birch logs together

 salvaged shutter turned into window box

 books turned into Christmas trees, vintage irons as stocking holders

 in the dining room: vintage casserole holders became wall mirrors

 scarves & ribbon used as chair tiebacks w/light bulb rings added

 floor lamp cut down & used for floral centerpiece

 in the kitchen: milk strainers turned into flower holders

 ironing board closet turned into an Advent calendar w/Christmas tree ornaments

 cookie cutter light fixture

 in the bathroom: ice skates used to hold vase & greens

 the boy's bedroom has a hockey theme: hockey pucks turned into lamps, hockey sticks turned into headboard, vintage locker room baskets as organizers, hockey jerseys turned into pillows

 hockey sticks turned into a chair, packages decorated w/shoelaces, license plate letters, & rubber bands

 the girl's bedroom has an aspiring artist theme

 in the master bedroom: oil cans used to make ornament stands

 in the gift wrap & sewing room: restaurant cart becomes a worktable, ladders used for wall idea organizers, fabric balls & embroidery hoops turned into ceiling decor

 yarn spindle wreath, aprons turned into tool & supply holders, drapery rods used as wall-mounted gift wrap holders

 sewing patterns turned into valance, curtain rod made of old broom handle, colored paper clips used as ornament hooks & spools of thread used as Christmas tree ornaments

 scrabble letters used as basket labels

 bendable rulers made into stars w/stencils & paper spelling out NOEL

 drawers turned into wall shelves, game board turned into ribbon rack

 vintage shoe form turned into decor

 December wall calendar made from scrapbook papers & plexi

 in the bathroom: vintage door w/junk spelling out JOY used as a towel holder

 in the back yard: decorative metal bells hung in the apple tree

 galvanized buckets on potting shed as window planters

vintage ceiling tin letters spelling HAPPY HOLIDAYS

if you can make it to tour this house, i highly recommend it, it is so beautiful !!!

holiday ideas house is open Nov 11 - Dec 12 (closed Mondays & Thanksgiving)