Christmas Countdown Day 14

Christmas Countdown Day 14

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Just a very quick post today, as I am working until late today. I have been searching for some traditional decorations for a miniature Christmas tree (can't think why!! ;oD). I had intended to make some baubles from shiny coloured beads, but my search for anything suitable proved fruitless. In desperation I went to my nearest dolls house shop, a two hour round trip if the traffic is good! I looked at the cabinet they had filled with little Christmas miniatures, but there weren't any decorations (I did buy a few other little bits for the pub which will be revealed soon!). 

I was about to leave, when I remembered I wanted to look at a miniature light fitting, I went to the light display and there, tucked away were some little packs of real glass baubles! Perfect for the dolls' house, all shiny and colourful, they even had the little 'crowns' on the top to hang the baubles on the tree with.  absolutely love them and bought three packs!!

Now, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to tinsel. I just don't really like it. I remember when we were children we had the same decorations on our little 4 foot tree every year, including the tinsel, which grew more and more threadbare with each passing year!  I have to be honest, I think it looks a bit of a mess on a christmas tree, but that is my own personal aesthetic and realise it can look great on some peoples' trees! I did want some for the Swan, and found some glittery pipe cleaners on sale at John Lewis which were just right! They came in packets of assorted colours too, so you might find my miniature trees very gaudy when you see them!

Not long to go now!!!

xxx

Christmas Countdown Day 13

Christmas Countdown Day 13

Santa Baby: My Ultimate Miniature Christmas List!

Hello everyone, today I thought I would let any budding Santa's out there my ultimate Christmas wish list for miniatures. Actually the list is endless, but I picked a few ultimate gifts I have had my eye on all year, and as I have been AWFULLY GOOD this year, maybe Santa will slip some under the tree for me?!!

First on the list is a Mulvany and Rogers dolls house, naturally! This little gothick vicarage costs about £16,000. see www.mulvanyandrogers.com for more details.

I spotted these little gems whilst browsing online. A collection of blue and white dolls' house vases from Kang Xi Dynasty (1662-1722). They were valued at  between €1500- €2000 at an auction in Amsterdam last April, they were eventually sold for €4000!! Just one would be nice!! ;o)

I have been an admirer of the work of Jean-Claude Martin for several years. The Chandelier cones silvered or gilded prices start at €950.00 and go up to €1200.00. The clocks above are also beautiful and both priced at €650.00. See www.oncedart.com for more details

Tarbena Miniatures make exquisite furniture for the dolls' house. I would love to own some of their pieces, and if I saved very hard I might eventually get one, but for now they are on my wish list!

The chest of drawers costs £295.00; the linen press costs £495.00 and the corner washstand is £190.00. See www.tarbenaminiatures.co.uk for further details.

I'd love a pair of globes in my library, and would go wild if I found this lovely little pair from Small-Time in my Christmas stocking! The are £365.00 for the pair, but you can buy just one too. for further details see www.small-time.com

Mike Sparrow makes the most amazing pieces of silverware for the dolls' house. You can buy anything from a fountain pen with removable lid and tiny nib, to a knife and fork, to the Queen Anne  Sterling Silver tea kettle with spirit stove and tripod stand for £720.00. The little mustard pot with hinged opening lid and tiny spoon is also delightful and costs £82.00 See www.mikesparrowsilver.co.uk for more of his exquisite work!

Now, I can't be greedy and ask for too much can I!? ;o) The list doesn't end there, but I would love to know what miniatures you all would dearly like to find under the tree on Christmas Day?

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Miniature Display of Cards

Today's post will be quite brief, as I have had a few technical problems this evening, and have only just got back online fully!

I wanted to display a few of my miniature cards in an interesting way, and remember how my mum always used to pin her Christmas cards to lengths of red ribbon. and hang them on the wall.

I've created a miniature version of this, complete with the little red bow. The cards were free cut outs from a miniatures magazine (last year's Christmas number!). I realised that the inside of the cards was visible, so I thought I would try writing in them.

You can see the result above. The pen was really too big, but at least the Merry Christmas is almost readable!

This little display is now safely pinned up in The Swan, and I promise that you will all be seeing it, and everything else very soon!

Christmas Countdown Day 11

Christmas Countdown Day 11

Christmas Crackers

Regular readers may remember that I posted about Christmas crackers last year, but I thought there was no harm in posting about them again as they are a big part of the traditional British Christmas dinner!

Christmas crackers are another Victorian innovation which became a part of our seasonal celebrations. A gentleman called Tom Smith was in Paris and noted how some shops were selling sweets (bon bons) in small twists of paper. This was something of a novelty as sweets were usually served loose from jars back in England. He bought the idea back to the UK and sold his first Bon Bons in 1847. 

Over time other trifles and novelties were added, such as small gifts or trinkets, paper hats, motos the all important snap. Some say that Tom Smith  was inspired to add a snap when he heard a back from the log on his fire. The snap is similar to that use in pop guns, and is released (or not as is sometimes the case) when the cracker is pulled in half. 

The moto developed into the jokes we know and groan over today. Where do they get these jokes from? I once read that some are sent in from the general public, but many are thought up at the factory, what a job! One thing seems certain, the lamer the joke, the more likely it will be used!

Tom Smith's company still makes millions of christmas crackers each year, and they provide the crackers that grace the table of the Royal Household at Christmas.

And here's a little Christmas cracker for you all, The Good Life Christmas Special from 1977, which has some Christmas crackers in it (all be it homemade ones!) - Enjoy!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 10

Christmas Countdown Day 10

Wassail

Love and joy come to you

And to you your Wassail too,

And God bless you and send you

A happy New Year

And God send you a happy New Year.

OK, there are several Wassail songs about, and they are often heard at this festive time of year, but  what is a wassail, and how would you go wassailing?

There seem to be two main types of wassailing, one has evolved into a festival to bless the cider apple orchards in southern England, the other has developed into what we would now call carol singing.

The term wassail derives from the old Saxon words waes hael which translates roughly as, be healthy.

So it is a toast to good health. 

In the cider producing counties of southern England, wassail refers to a mulled cider, a hot, spiced, sweetened cider which has pieces of toast floating on top. The wassail cider is carried from orchard to orchard, often by a wassail king and queen, and is used to bless the apple trees in the hope of a good harvest. The toast from the wassail cup is placed into the boughs of the apple trees, sometimes by teh wassail queen, sometimes by a small boy. The customs vary from region to region. These blessings are often carried out between New Year and Twelfth Night (and are often extended to 16-17 January, the old Twelfth Night on the Julian calendar).

Twelfth Night was traditionally the time for parties and celebrations, with Christmas Day reserved for religious observation. Everything has become mixed up and condensed these days, so much of what was celebrated at Twelfth Night is now part of Christmas. In the Royal Court, plays and masques were often performed on Twelfth Night, and that's the time of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was first performed for Queen Elizabeth I. 

The other type of wassail, which is the origin of carol singing door to door, evolved from the custom of peasants visiting the home of the Lord of the Manor, singing songs and asking (not begging) for food and drink. Think of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which dates back to the 16th century, where the singers bring glad tidings and call for 'figgy pudding'.

So there you have it! Wassail is a toast to good health and a spiced hot cider; wassailing is a blessing to apple trees and an early form of carol singing. 

Christmas Countdown Day 9

Christmas Countdown Day 9

Miniature Wrapping

Oh Dear! Another post a day late, I am sorry, but I was so busy with RL preparations for Christmas that I simply forgot about my blog until late last night when I was just too tired to continue.

Anyway, here is my post for day nine. A miniature Christmas scene may well need some miniature Christmas presents, I know mine does, and so I have been wrapping up tiny little gifts for the Swan Inn.

The 'presents' themselves are various suitably sized oddments, small scraps of wood, a rubber, some bits of foam board, anything clean and square seems to work best. The wrapping paper comes from various sources too. The purple one is tissue paper, the holly came from a magazine and the blue and white paper is actually the inside on an envelope! I've stuck it all down with tiny pieces of tape, but they could have been glued too. A length of thin ribbon tied around some of the parcels adds a finishing touch.

I have done more than three presents of course, but I don't want to show off too much of what's inside The Swan Inn just yet!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 8

Christmas Countdown Day 8

Scrooge in Miniature

Whilst searching for some suitable images for my previous post about A Christmas Carol, I came across these delightful little miniature scenes by Anne Thomas, from Cumbria, which are currently being displayed at the Dolls' House Emporium's shop at Houghton Hall Garden Centre in Carlisle. I wish I was closer so I could see them close up, but will have to make do with the pictures! 

The scenes show various events within the book, the picture above is when Marley's ghost, complete with chains and safe boxes, appears before Scrooge to warn him of his fate!

This scene shows the Ghost of Christmas Past, the first of the three spirits to visit Scrooge, notice the light on the spirit's head, a nice little detail from the story.

And this scene is, of course, the spooky Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, showing Scrooge his lonely tombstone. 

If you are lucky enough to live near Carlisle, do drop in and see this exhibition at Houghton Hall!