Pudding origami box

Well, Christmas is upon us!  Last year has evaporated and the New Year is looming.  I can't imagine anyone having any last minute wrapping to do - no sirree.  But, just in case, I have this nifty little 'pudding' origami box design if you have a teeny tiny (or I should say 'wee', Lee) little present you might want to wrap.  The finished size of this box is just under 2" square (~ 4.3cm) so it would be perfect for small jewellery.  A link to the instructions on how to fold it is here.

{DOWNLOAD HERE}

The lid of the box is the slightly larger square on the printable of course.  Just fold it exactly the same and it will fit snugly over the base part.  One note for the lid, the first two folds are to highlight the centre of the square for you to fold towards - to save so much creasing on the finished product just take a ruler and pencil and mark an X in the centre on the reverse (white) side.  This will give you a neater finish at the end.  I forgot to do that on this one and you can see the more noticeable fold lines on top.

I have to say, they are quite therapeutic to make.  These are the first ones I made.  I need to find a use for them now...

With that, I am going to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or insert appropriate greeting for your circumstances) and I am going to be back in the New Year!  Hope you all have a wonderful and special couple of weeks!  (fellow Minnesotans/normally snow covered bloggy friends, where is our snow????)

Dollhouse Christmas

Christmas is arriving with the speed of an express train it seems.  I keep having ideas for things to do, things to decorate, only to realise it will all be over very, very soon.  Miss E and I took a breather from activities, home work, house work, shopping etc. to sit down together and decorate her cereal box dollhouse.  It was a lovely 'slow' activity to do together.

Gift wrapping

Here is one idea for gift wrapping I am going with.  I printed out some sheets of paper I designed last year (snowflake in red here, dotty stems), wrapped red yarn around and popped it through some labels I designed and printed out from MS Powerpoint.  I really like how these turned out.  If you would like similar labels you can download them here.  It is a Powerpoint file so you can add your own text if you want (plus in three different colour ways).  I also did rounded rectangle ones that are WAY easier to cut out.  That little notch in the corner?  Pain in the butt....

Oh, I just realised I never posted a link to the snowflake paper in blue...oops.  Here it is if you want it.

Advent calendar

Phew, Christmas is approaching with the speed of a runaway train it seems.  I made up these quick advent chains today for my two kiddos (look! a sprinkling of snow - it is late this year I think).  I already have an advent box setup that I will use with the kids as well but I love the visual effect this one has.  This is so quick and easy that you could whip it up today before the kids get home from school and still be on time.

I printed off three of my paper designs in my Christmas themed colours of red, white and blue plus I used a plain piece of white paper.  Cut them all up into strips, loop and staple, loop and staple, add a bit of string at the top to hang from a curtain rod or wherever you like.  Now A wants to make a bunch more to hang elsewhere (I think my detail oriented side will win and I might have to use double sided sticky tape instead of staples on that one...).

If these happen to be your colours as well, I have created a pdf with all three for easy download (click here).

Oh, I had to share.  Mini trampoline meet pear shaped terrarium.....  (Just to explain - terrarium was on lower shelf on bookcase, kids rested mini tramp on it's side at the end of nearby sofa, mini tramp was bumped and fell over, leg struck my pretty pear.... boo hoo - but, it's just stuff, and no-one was injured so it is all good! - what do you think my chances are of finding another one in a thrift store??)