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Friday 19 December 2014

Twinkle, twinkle little star - Christmas gifts for BFFs


Each year I organise for Sophie to give some of her friends little Christmas gifts.

Last year we made "stained glass window" gingerbread biscuits ...

... the year before it was marshmallow snowmen gifts ...
and the year before it was reindeer noses:


This year I came across some pretty sparkly ribbon bracelets in a local shop. I bought one for each of her three BFFs (and one for her of course) and as an extra bonus they came in matching chiffon bags.

We personalized them with a sparkly star (template made by Sophie) and added a poem:
Twinkle twinkle little star
Thank you friend for who you are.
Bracelet sparkling like that star
Friends forever, that's who we are. 

© 2014 Nicola Noble & Little Love Cakes: Please observe the rules of copyright and blog etiquette. If you use my ideas or images, please link back to my blog. And do let me know - I'd love to take a look.

Thursday 18 December 2014

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas ...

It's that time of year again when we get little visitors to our house ... Sally and Colin, the Magic Elves, joined us again for what is turning out to be another fun and mischievous December. I cannot believe that it's their fourth year with us!
They didn't arrive on the 1st December this year as they were snowed in at the North Pole, but they did manage to send Sophie & Justin a telegram to let them know they were arriving soon, posted down the chimney with a few snowflakes still attached.
The next night they provided blank letters for Father Christmas, a gentle reminder for the children to write their letters. They also gave us a lovely felt envelope to pop the letters in to make sure they reached FC super quick.
They then got Father Christmas to read The Great Dog Bottom Swap story to all the doggies in the house. Mr Snowballs has been telling us all that story for years and it is good to see it's actually real!
Sally and Colin then decided to have fun on our half constructed Christmas tree with a game of Connect 4. It looked to be a tie...
We are not sure what happened on the sixth night, but we woke up the next morning to find that Sally and Colin had shrunk and were playing mini Connect 4. It was a tie again!
 
Sleepover at the Grandparents found them hiding under a cushion den under a duvet...
Back home again and they had a marshmallow toasting session over the playmobil pirate campfire, using pirate swords as skewers.
We were beginning to wonder if Sally and Colin were ever going to return to normal size again, when we discovered them during the day with a bowl with some giant marshmallows and a note Eat Me! Sophie and Justin obliged and ...
 
... hooray, the next day they were back to normal. Still toasting marshmallows but this time normal size elves with normal size marshmallows!
On their tenth night with us, Colin showed us what his job at the North Pole is, by putting on his work clothes. It turns out he is a toymaker, and he made two wooden dancing elves. Thankfully the paint was dry by the morning.
The Elves hid very well the next night - they were in the bathroom cabinet and they had decorated some toilet rolls to look like snowmen ...
It was Sally's turn to show us her job at the North Pole, when she donned her Cookie Maker apron and chef's hat and made some yummy pecan and caramel plaits for breakfast. Sadly, the kiddies didn't  ike them,  so she whipped up a couple of pretzels while we were all out, ready for the post-school hunger pangs.
On the 13th night, Sally and Colin were very, very naughty. They decided it would be funny to draw all over my and Mr Snowballs face. The children thought it hilarious, us not so much. I only forgave them because it washed off. Thank goodness they didn't find the Sharpies!
Sally was Cookie Maker again the next night and made some yummy white chocolate cookies for our resident Cookie Monsters. Sally and Colin obviously didn't want to scare them, as they were hiding on the other side of the kitchen window watching them.
They decided to make a list on the white board of naughty or nice teddies. Sophie and Justin's best favourites were on the Nice list, but I do think Sally and Colin were a little harsh on the Naughty list - after all Sally had just made cookies for Cookie Monster and it's not Kiwi's fault he jumps on Sophie's bed - he can't fly!
Being mischievous again, they donned burglar masks and had bags labelled Swag, then climbed some ropes to steal money from Sophie and Justin's money boxes. I think they must have run out of time though as they didn't manage to get any ...
Two nights ago Sally and Colin were obviously dreaming of warmer climes and set up a sunbathing spot: suncream, tall drinks, sunglasses, coconut and "sun'.
And last night, they somehow managed to get hold of some cool snowmen and Father Christmas cups from Costa Coffee and played a game of toss with giant snowball marshmallows and mini marshmallows.
I can't believed there's only one week to go until Sally and Colin head back to the North Pole with Father Christmas but there is still plenty of time for Elf-tastic frolics ...

© 2014 Nicola Noble & Little Love Cakes: Please observe the rules of copyright and blog etiquette. If you use my ideas or images, please link back to my blog. And do let me know - I'd love to take a look.