Mini New Yorker....Making the perfect Christmas (getting ready for Christmas 2012)

Ok, you may have read that title and said "are you mad? We have only just finished Christmas." Well yes we have you're very right. However I decided because I felt bad about going out and buying every single present this year....wait hang on I mean last year......well this last Christmas gone...any way I want to make them for 2012!!! I also got hooked on Kirstie Allsopp craft ideas and her "Homemade Christmas" show. I think I'm now slightly obsessed with trying to make this Christmas the best Christmas ever.....!!! I remember one Christmas fairly recently I was rather broke (not much has changed) I decided to give everyone paintings I did and put them in frames (which I bought gradually.)

Well I think most of my relatives were surprised I could actually paint rather well....lol!! I think they thought I had been doing finger painting in my art GCSE or something....!!! Any way they went down a storm...in fact one of my little cousins stole his parents presents and put it in his room...lol!!

Any way I'm going to turn my hand at a few different crafts to create some nice Christmas home made gifts. Now there is some debate on some forums about it being for cheapskates however let me set this myth straight....!!! It isn't a cheaper alternative if you are new to each craft....eg. you have to buy things to do the craft so actually the outlay to start off with is high....and to say it's an easy root is not true...I tell you what, I tried to find a cream jelly roll for my quilt I wanted to make and it's taken about 2 weeks of scouring the net to find the damn thing. So not only is making stuff more of a hassle and more time and effort but also it can work out more expensive because unfortunately I'm not lucky enough to have Kirstie's craft goodies closet. I don't have a cupboard with stacks of fabric and buttons and pretty things so I'm building up my collection. However I have found a slightly easier way to do some of the crafts.....craft kits...YAY!!  Yes its slightly cheating but my gosh does it help, it actually is just pre-organising the items you need. The instructions are easier to follow as most kits are for children. I did make a teddy bear from a kit and at first I couldn't work out what went where but after reading it a few (hundred) times you get it.....!!!

So I have had a order for a new teddy bear for a friend in Aus. The next craft I am going to try is making a quilt however I am still waiting for my cream jelly roll which is in the post. And I tried to use my mums sewing machine and couldn't figure out how to set it up, any way I think I have made my point.

I think that sums up what home made crafts are actually all about. They are certainly more thoughtfully, probably more expensive and more time consuming but actually its more fun and much more a gift from the heart rather than from the credit card....!!! So I'm going  to try and give the ideas a go as I have got both her books now......I will be posting my progress or lack there of.....depending if I am good at each craft or a total disaster......!!!! I had an idea as fun day with the girls you could do a craft day or something and do face masks, cocktails (mocktail for me) and craft nights.....although thinking about it if you had had a few cocktails some of the crafts you make may not come out perfect but hey....!! I might put this idea into action when we move back and I can throw a evening like it with my girls...!!! Any way I'm off to do more crafts so Toodles xxx

Mini New Yorker....... Fake fur faux pas?

Well I realised that gilets are all the fashion at the moment and most are fake fur. I just wondered as soft and fluffy as they are, is it ok to wear faux fur?? Some people still think that it represents endangered animal in some far flung corner of the globe! Well you may say Katrina "the globe is not flat" which I am obviously aware of but are we still thinking the same way when the world was "flat"?

I recently walked into a shop and found my self faced with racks of fake fur gilets and coats with fur colars! I know it is fake so should you fell guilty....!!! I did because I know lots of charities are fighting to stop these things being produced to save some very endangered birds and animals. So do people really care about what happens across the other side of the globe or is it about the next fashion statement? I added up all the pro's and con's of wearing one and in the end I gave in....!!! It's warm and because its fake no animals were hurt so I guess I'm off the hook....although I was wearing mine in another shop and a gentleman was shopping with his wife (quite begrudgingly...all the same) he was unimpressed by his wife picking out a fake faux gilet and made some rather loud and slightly rude comments about them looking like road kill, then his wife looked at me as I think I may have gone a bit pink with embarrassment at which point she winked at me and then smiled...(as if to say ignore him, he's just in a grump cos I made him come shopping when he wanted to watch the grande prix....or some other sports)

I walked off with a little grin on my face....it made me laugh.....So I guess that's my conclusion.....so toodles xxx 

Mini New Yorker...her rules of engagement.....

As soon as you get engaged suddenly it feels like things go a million miles an hour. Now we have all seen the films with weddings but let me tell you its not as easy as it looks. I would suggest you buy a few wedding magazines, it helps you with wedding etiquette and how to do it properly. this book was free with a magazine.

The most helpful bit of the book is the check lists....and if you are anything like me and love making list then this is defiantly something you should invest in. You can pick them up in charity shops and this should be your bible when organising your wedding as should Cosmo bride magazine.

Now you will start off well at the beginning of organising your wedding but wedding brain will set in. So check lists are the best way not to forget anything.

You can type them up and print them out and hand them out to the people who need them. By being organised and doing it like this you don't need a wedding planner as this is another expense. My mother was my wedding planner really. She was able to help with everything from flowers, to picking things up to checking on progress of things booked, just a god send.....!!!

Now I was the first of my lovely circle of friends...(why do they call it a circle of friends?Any way...) to get married and a few months after my friend announced she was engaged....so now I can pass the torch on to her with all my wisdom gained.....!!! I can't wait to have another married couple to have dinner parties with...!!

Any way I am getting off track but there are so many things to remember....
So put all your thoughts into a wedding book...it's just a little mood board...but don't get to specific in your details as some may not be possible or in the end look right. I thought I was going to have a column wedding dress but ended up with the total opposite. Use magazine cuttings or print outs to remind you of things you have seen. Or stick in your own photos...I did take a few to get inspiration at a wedding fair until I got told off by security.....lol... oops!!!

The best tip don't leave things to chance or till last minute...that's when things go totally wrong and you could end up with some weird things happening.....!!!

So good luck ladies....I have have made my a friend a list and note and put it into a folder and I think she was surprised.....!! But as it turns out there where things she hadn't thought about...so a good job really....!!!

Any way I am off as I haven't actually finished my own wedding album and had any of them printed out so see you soon.....Toodles xxxxx