The Dirty Secret

I'd like to share some pictures of my pretty Christmassy house.

Our mantle, lovingly decorated and waiting for three perfect furry red Christmas stockings to be hung with care on Christmas eve.

Our dining room where we'll have our Yule and Christmas and Boxing day feasts.

The pretty view from my kitchen where I keep an eye on the kids sledding down the toboggan hill.

Home made cookies...

there's even some dinosaur sugar cookies!

It's all quite wonderful, no?

The thing is, while there's all that pretty stuff there's also some of this going on...

dishes on the counter...

laundry begging to be done...

a desk full of projects...

runny, sticky jam...

that ruined my perfectly lovely sugar cookie Christmas trees...

Over the past few days I've been reading a lot of bloggers who are feeling overwhelmed at the mo' and I just wanted to say ... it's hard, I know, and I feel all that pressure too.

If you're feeling the holiday crazies over the next couple of weeks please try remember that it's ok not to be perfect... in fact, I like you better that way :)

Much love and big hugs to all of you!

xoxoxo

Christmas Bliss

It's around 11:30 am, I'm on my second cup of tea, second load of laundry, the beds are made, I've showered, done a bit of painting, started a couple of Christmas crafts and crossing my fingers I don't burn out and need a nap by 3 this afternoon :)

My husband sent me this link today... it's made me insanely happy so I thought I'd share it.

That old feeling is squirming it's way back in!

Woo hoo! Ok, I'm slowly getting out of my funk. I've been watching The Vicar of Dibley for two days straight and that big beautiful, enormously talented and terribly funny woman, Dawn French, has cheered me right back up again. (A wee bit of snowfall didn't hurt either)

Anyway I've been making and baking like crazy and here's what I have to show for it...

Festive jamma pants for the kidlet.

Loverly bags filled with hand painted clothes pegs

Black diamonds

Thumb print cookies with homemade jam

Chunky hat and scarf for me muther

Still lots to do but since some holiday cheer is creeping back in I'm not dreading the doing, in fact I'm rather enjoying myself :)

Judika Illes Book Giveaway at Weiser Books

Weiser Books is doing a 5 Days of Yule Giveaway. Today they are giving away two Judika Illes books. I adore Judika's books, I have a few of her titles and I use them all them time.

Head on over and check out the contest link here ... http://weiserbooksblog.com/2010/12/13/day-1-of-5-days-of-yule-giveaway/

Good Luck!

Rain?!?

A quick gander out my window today... and it's raining. Rain?!? I find rain in December wholly depressing. I'm missing the fluffy stuff. I think I overloaded on Christmas joy. I seem to have crashed mighty hard over the past few days because I'm just not feeling 100% jolly.

Gah! On to better things, eh?

I've been working on this for the past few days...

This is probably a my aunts Christmas gift. I say probably because it will depend if I mess it up or not as I continue to work on it. It's based on a photo she took of two of her boys... my godkidlets.

We don't see them much (they live about 2 hours away) and it's really a shame. I hope that next year I can get my act together and be more of a proper fairy godmother to the fellas. Everyone needs a fairy godmother after all.

Making Lemonade

I'll spare you the sob story (because really, who wants to hear me whining?) and just tell you that I'm offering to do some custom spirit boards for $80. If you're interested check out the listing in my esty shop.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my very merry giveaway!

A Very Merry Giveaway

I've decided to jump up and down on the giveaway bandwagon and offer up this lot of witchy goods :)

It's a nice little haul that includes: "The Psychic Cup" (a cute tea reading kit with a book, cup and saucer), the book A Floral Grimoire by Patricia Telesco, a vial of black ink, Fast Luck, Come to Me, Follow Me, Van Van and Essence of Bend Over Oils, Oberon's Love Powder, Black Salt, Four Thieves Vinegar, Red Ochre, Comfrey Root, Rose Petals, Lavender, Chamomile, Sage, Five Finger Grass, Mugwort, Rue, and Pennyroyal.

So what's the catch? Just follow this blog and solemnly swear that you'll remain quite cheeky but do a good deed anyway in 2011. That's it! If someone nudged you in this direction, mention who sent you and if you win the lot above, I'll send them a wee something too.

On January 5th, 2011 (the night La Befana visits!) a random entry will be chosen to receive the giveaway prize above.

If Knickertwist's reaches more than 100 followers by the draw date I'll select an additional three names for a mini-giveaway of 13 packaged herbs.

Pfftt, who am I kidding, I'll do the additional draw anyway :)

PLEASE ENTER ONLY ONCE! Multiple entries will not be counted. Also, remember to take your local customs and duty laws into consideration when entering.

Cheers & Good Luck!