Reindeer noses

As mentioned previously, I am in love with Pinterest ... but as also mentioned, it is easy to pin a million great ideas but not so easy to actually find the time to have a go at them. So tonight I can feel proud of myself for completing my second Pinterest project.


I spotted the very cute idea of a bag of (edible) reindeer noses from A Personal Touch and had to have a go at these for Sophie to give to some of her friends this Christmas.

I bought some gobstoppers from our local retro sweet shop (Sweet Memories of Twickenham) who very kindly picked out all the red ones for me and also a couple of large bags of Maltesers. Then tonight I popped 8 brown noses and one red nose into clear bags and made some labels to go on the top.

I decided to hand draw the labels rather than try to create them on the computer. This goes against the grain of a perfectionist who likes every copy to be identical, but I am pleased with how they came out and think it suits the simpleness of the gift.  I borrowed one of Sophie's glitter gel pens to colour the nose - you can't see the sparkle of the red nose in the photo - and I stamped a few snowflakes in silver. I wanted to get the photos on here tonight so they aren't great quality - I will try and take some better ones in daylight.

Let's hope Sophie likes them ...

© 2011 Nicola Noble

Magic Christmas Elves

Having first discovered about Magic Christmas Elves from Alayna at Alayna's Creations, I really hoped that we would get visited by our own Elves so that they could become part of our family Christmas traditions. I must have been good because my wish came true!

We thought that the elves would arrive down our chimney on the 1 December but they arrived a few days earlier, together with an introductory letter from Santa and the elves' passports and were waiting for Sophie and Justin to discover them in the morning when they came down for breakfast.

Sophie spotted them in the lounge that morning and the excited laughter told us she had found them in a sprinkling of snow with an envelope on their laps. Justin didn't really understand what was going on but joined in the laughter and gave the boy elf a huge cuddle.

The envelope contained the letter from Santa:

Dear  Sophie and  Justin

Thank you for your letters. I have made a note of the gifts you would like and will see what I can do.

As you are now nearly 6 and 3 years old, I am sending these Magic Christmas Elves to stay with you until Christmas Eve. They help me by visiting girls and boys in the run up to Christmas and reporting back on each child’s behaviour. When I arrive on Christmas Eve they will present their report on whether you have been good and then return to my Workshop in the North Pole for a well-earned holiday.Thank you for your letters. I have made a note of the gifts you would like and will see what I can do.Thank you for your letters. I have made a note of the gifts you would like and will see what I can do.Thank you for your letters. I have made a note of the gifts you would like and will see what I can do.Thank you for your letters. I have made a note of the gifts you would like and will see what I can do.

As you are now nearly 6 and 3 years old, I am sending these Magic Christmas Elves to stay with you until Christmas Eve. They help me by visiting girls and boys in the run up to Christmas and reporting back on each child’s behaviour. When I arrive on Christmas Eve they will present their report on whether you have been good and then return to my Workshop in the North Pole for a well-earned holiday.

Be wary! The Elves will explore your house from top to bottom in order to make a proper report; you may have to search to find them each day . I must also add that I have been made aware of prior incidents of Elf Mischief on the part of these Elves. Should any such Elf Mischief occur, please feel free to contact me at the North Pole.

Have fun with with your new friends and see you soon.

Love
Santa

And the passports told us that the elves were called Colin Snow and Sally Flake. They are both 142 years old and were born in Santa's workshop at the North Pole.

Sophie promptly told us that it wasn't snow but was in fact flour (she tasted it). Must have been magic snow!

So now we have two very magical elves roaming our house and getting into all sorts of mischief. Watch this space for a report on all the elf antics over the next month ...

Trees and fog

I don't know what it is but I am loving the trees round us at the moment, from the beautiful autumn sunrise shining through the yellow leaves by the river (see here) to the way the street light shone through the fog and trees last night.

It was foggy all day and as darkness fell the fog became more intense. The street lamps glowed like UFOs (according to Sophie) as you couldn't see the posts, only the lights glowing in the sky. Looking at the tree in our neighbour's garden, it was almost hypnotic swaying my head from side-to-side watching the play of beams from the street light shining behind from the tree in bright streamers of light (like a child's drawing of the sun rays). The photos don't capture the full beauty of it but I hope they give you an idea.

© 2011 Nicola Noble

Christmas cards

I recently made my first Christmas card for this year (for a friend who lives in Malaysia so it had to go in the post early!) and it reminded me how much I like making Christmas cards but also how much work it is to make enough for everyone!

The first Christmas I was a stay-at-home Mummy I set to and made cards for all 60+ people on our list and I also made a large number for my husband to send to work contacts. The next year I made for the the good friends on the list and the year after that I made for the very good friends on the list ... 

I still have aspirations to make all my cards but the reality of two children under six has put that idea on hold again for this year at least. So for those of you who get a hand-made card this year - consider yourself the very, very good friends!

The cute puffy reindeers came from Paperchase last year and I painted them with silver glitter to add the obligatory sparkle. The snowflake stamps were a (self-bought) Christmas gift last year from Muji. I stamped them in dark blue (which came with the stamps) and silver for a bit more sparkle.

Previous years' designs have all been created using my Sizzix die-cutter and include snowflakes and various designs of Christmas tree.

So if you are making your own Christmas cards this year, have fun and I will try to do better next year :o)

 © 2011 Nicola Noble

Autumn

I love the colour of the trees in Autumn and we are really lucky to have a field maple behind our house that changes to the most brilliant yellow every year.

A couple of Saturdays ago, I noticed the sun shining through the early morning mist from the river and lighting up the tree so I grabbed the camera and took some photos. I think they came out quite well for a complete amateur ...

© 2011 Nicola Noble

Monkeying around

It's a friend's little boy's first birthday today and in keeping with the cake she has made, I decided to make him a monkey birthday card. I have a set of jungle die-cutters with a very cute monkey which I have made several time before. It looks very complicated, but I am always pleasantly surprised by how quick and simple it is to make.

I made it on a green card initially before deciding I didn't like it, so cut the decoration out of the card, keeping a wider green border which I then fixed onto a white card, and then added 1 today in green. I don't have any number cutters so I used an upside down lowercase L for the number 1! I finished with a touch of glitter paint.

The other animals in the jungle collection are a lion, giraffe and elephant. I have used these on other cards and embellished them with a "funky" square surround and some foliage. So cute ...

© 2011 Nicola Noble

Cookie dough truffles

I have recently become addicted to Pinterest. For those of you who haven't yet discovered it, it is a virtual pinboard where you pin links to things you like/love/aspire to create. There are so many talented people out there with such fantastic ideas and I find myself frequently lost in a daydream of creativity. But I am learning that it is very easy to pin things but not so easy to find the time to actually have a go at creating some of them.

So when I came across a recipe for cookie dough truffles (here), I knew I was on to a winner. Sophie has been bugging me for absolutely ages to make cookie dough "not to cook but to eat". These truffles fitted the bill perfectly.

The cookie dough doesn't include egg so is fine if you are worried about eating raw egg. I made the balls a little too big and they would have been nicer slightly smaller. I also didn't let them chill enough so that when I came to coat them in chocolate they kept falling off my skewer which meant they got a bit messy. I might think about investing in a dipping tool which would help if I come to dip truffles etc again.

I used chocolate coating rather than "real" chocolate as it is easier to melt and also makes very little difference to the taste as the coating is very thin.

Overall the truffles were yummy - albeit a little (!) sickly and Sophie was very pleased that she got to make the cookie dough to eat raw!

Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles

Makes: 30+

Ingredients:

375g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
220g butter or margarine, room temperature
170g granulated sugar
150g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
75ml milk or soy milk
100g mini chocolate chips
300g chocolate/ chocolate flavour cake covering (for coating)

Method:

Beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy then add the milk and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix on a low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When the dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form the dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place the sheets in the freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate coating in a bain-marie (place a bowl over hot water but make sure it's not touching the water) or in microwave according to package directions. Dip the cookie dough balls into the chocolate to cover, remove any excess coating by lightly tapping, and return to the waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.