Monday, December 3, 2012

How long does your Advent calendar last?

Last week I received a wonderful phone call! My friend Jo had found the homeless man we had been looking for (remember the one that we almost embarrassed ourselves over bad Google Translate) and she could take him into McDonalds for some food to give me time to get into town and give him the coat! My housemate was kind enough to drive me so I didn't have to huff the 25 min walk and the man was very glad to have some food, the coat, and two women for company...even if we didn't speak the same language. We tried to arrange to meet him the next day at a certain time so we could trim his now longer nails but we weren't surprised when he wasn't actually there the next day. I should clarify that he doesn't beg on the streets so that is why he can be so hard to find as he tends to wander. We did some shopping in town and checked back around his usual areas but still didn't find him so his talons will continue to grown for now.

Jo got out her mini tree and set of white lights for me to borrow, and with the rest of the house onboard, we set it up in the living room window sill with a bunch of decorations I made and a string of colored lights as well. Branden's mom also has given us some things, including some mini vintage glass balls and mini vintage tinsel garland. I think our tree is adorable! We didn't check the tree before I left Jo's house so when I got home and found that only 1 of the 3 stand feet was in the box, I was able to improvise by putting it in a Christmas tin that my dad sent his Christmas candies in last year. It looks better that way I think anyway! Here, you can see for yourselves.

 My mom-in-law made the bottle brush trees at the bottom and gave me the little doe who has a light bulb in her mouth that lights up when you push her tail. I filled the little photo frames and the one on the left is an image out of a Christmas card and the one on the right is just some fun paper with a sticker of a snowflake and a sticker saying "Joy to the World". 

 I needle felted the gingerbread man, the penguin (who has pipe cleaner feet), the Santa hat, and multi colored balls. 

 Near the top is a needle felted reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers, a needle felted snowman head, a needle felted star with red stitching and a button, and mini pipe cleaner candy canes that I made. There is an adorable needle felted snowman in the bottom right of the corner that my mom-in-law made me. He's so cute!

 I twisted a pipe cleaner to spell out "Love" which is at the bottom, I also twisted some old sparkly pipe cleaners into curly loops and stuck them all over. I also needle felted the mitten near the bottom right. 





In our room, we don't have much space to decorate. On top of our dresser we usually have a display of photos from our wedding on top of our cake stand from our wedding. I needle felted a little nativity scene and made a mini Christmas display.

That's the Advent calendar Branden's mom sent us on the left. 

There is a tiny little wooden kitty that Branden bought me at the base of the little bottle brush tree. That tree is only about 3 inches tall so the kitty is so tiny and I love it!


This is on our desk. I replaced some of our normal photos with past Christmas cards and also put out some of our past Christmas cards. 


We have some festive window stickies in our room too that Branden's mom sent but I didn't get a shot of that. The Advent calendar is pretty tasty and I love the vintage image on it. However, having a 'box' of chocolates that has to last me 22 more days is not looking promising...especially since it's the time of the month where all chocolate is sniffed out and consumed within my living space in between the hours spent curled up with a heat pad and wishing death upon myself. Thinking of how menstrual women deal with Advent calendars through the month of December inspired me to create this:


All I want for Christmas is menopause...but I have a feeling that wouldn't be something fun to find in a stocking on Christmas morning!

15 comments:

  1. I love your diminutive decorations. They are really great! With my carpal tunnel raging I can't work on anything tiny at all. I'm jealous.

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    1. Before I had put the colorful touches on my gingerbread decoration, my housemate thought it was a voodoo doll! The thing I love about needle felting is that you basically stab something into existence! It's a good way to relieve aggression ;) I don't think your carpal tunnel would like it though...

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  2. Your decorations are GREAT!!
    HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Take your time about getting to mentalpaws. I've nearly killed a few people during hot flashes. The tree is beautiful and I love, love, love your nativity scene.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I become quite homicidal when I'm PMSing and so far, most of the 'mentalpaws' (love that term!) symptoms I hear of sound so much nicer than the crap I deal with! ;)
      I have been wanting to do a nativity scene for a long time but I finally got around to doing it. I'm not entirely happy with the straw bed that baby Jesus is on, as it's not quite the color scheme, but that's just the perfectionist in me ;)

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  4. I like what you've done with the decorations. It seems a bit early for me, but I notice it's a tradition with a lot from up your way switching fairly seamlessly from thanksgiving to Christmas.
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    You'd wonder why after this time they haven't found a key to unlock the hormonal bit. That bit chocolate tries to replicate.
    All this really is a new phenomenon for in the past you'd have been married at 16 and each winter between that and 22 you'd be baking a baby. After that, unless you were very very wealthy indeed, you would exist in a semi-starved condition. Since food for a family of eight would reduce your body weight below where you were fertile. A form of natural family planning.

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    1. Too early!?! Sheesh! I've had my decor up weeks before Thanksgiving even! I wouldn't have done that if I were still in the States, but I love getting away with it here!
      They probably have found that key, but the chocolate companies have paid them off...the wine companies probably helped out too ;)
      I have heard an interesting theory that women had less breast and cervical cancers because they had more children and weren't just on birth control all the time. True, having babies is a tough business on a woman's body, but it is what it was designed to do, thus keeping things functioning and not laying dormant for cancers to attack. I have no idea if there is any truth behind it, but I thought it was an interesting theory...although I am not going to be turning my body into a mass baby maker anytime soon!

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    2. That and cancers tend to be a middle to old age illnesses. And lets face it you'd have been pushing up daises long before the cancer got you. On the food thing, it a bit like anorexia causing infertility.
      But they say much maternal death at births to be the fault of dietary changes over the year. Remember it only really the last 30 years that food's been plentiful and similar month by month. Ergo the Aug to Oct window being the best time to start a pregnancy for winter would keep the kid small. Not like now, for these days 10llb-ers are the norm.

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  5. LOL. My mom used to keep our Advent calendars up out of our reach because she didn't trust us with them. And for good reason! I *still* can't be trusted with chocolate in the house--I bought a chocolate orange for my daughter's Christmas stocking last week or so.... and I devoured it two days later. *guilt*

    By the way, hi, I'm Scope's wife. I don't know why I've taken so long to make my way over here. He keeps telling me how much you and I have in common and now I suddenly feel like I should apologize for not stopping by here sooner! *more guilt* :-)

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    1. Hahahaha, I am amazed you lasted 2 days with that chocolate orange! That is hilarious! It's great to meet you Cora! I was shocked when Scope said you had worked at the Olympic Game Farm as I grew up about a mile from there and my favorite place was the cemetery on the hill (where I wrote my vows). It's such a crazy small world, but no need for guilt as I hadn't gotten over to your place in all this time either! ;)

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  6. I don't think I've ever had an advent calendar, but my mom used to have one she put out for my niece and nephew that had a little felt puppy that you moved from one pocket to the next in a cloth calendar of December and eventually the puppy reached Christmas day. Maybe there were little things in each pocket each day leading up to it? I can't recall. I do recall that she didn't do this for me when I was a kid, though. Argh! :-) Merry Christmas, Aunt Flo!

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    1. I bet there were things in those pockets but that sounds like the cutest little calendar! I am a sucker for a puppy..even a felt one! Maybe she did do it for you and you were the one to lose all of the things in the pockets?? ;)

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  7. It's very kind of you to look out for this fellow.

    The decorations are coming along nicely!

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Does this straitjacket make my butt look big?