Black Flower Necklace

Handmade Baby Gifts

 I recently made these gifts for a friend's newborn baby boy. Firstly, a baby carry bag which is made from some super cute Japanese fabric.

 Isn't the print just adorable?

 This little bear was made from a kit I purchased in Kyoto.

I love his face!



Christmas in Australia-Part 2

 We held our Christmas party in our backyard. I am very fortunate to have a lovely swimming pool.  I have tried to make my yard look like a tropical resort with various tropical plants.

 My daughter made the table cloths with fabric from Ikea.

 I forgot to take photos of what we ate for first course.  We had: ham, turkey,chicken. prawns and various salads and vegetables.  I made a variety of small desserts which were all devoured.  Above is chocolate mousse with a brownie base, garnished with raspberries and Flake chocolate.

My daughter made these Rudolph reindeers for the kids.

My dessert bar consited of: tropical trifle, choc mousse, brownies, mini chocolate Christmas puddings, apricot balls, layered jelly, fruit mince pies and sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce

I made these Christmas crackers from cardboard and a beautiful sheer white paper I found at the florist. I filled them with chocolates.

Our Japanese friends brought along their friends who were holidaying with them.  They gave me a lovely gift of Japanese biscuits.

Every Christmas on the Gold Coast coincides with storm season...and here it is, right on cue!

Christmas in Australia - Part 1

Did everyone have a good Christmas? I thought I would show you how we celebrate Christmas in Australia, or more precisely, how I celebrate Christmas.

As my family and I are Christians, Christmas means we have been given the gift of eternal life when God came to earth in human form.  The great thing about this is, anyone can receive the gift- all you have to do is accept it by opening your heart to God and living the way he intended us to. You don't need to earn your way into heaven. The gift of eternal life is free to anyone who wants it.

I also enjoy the other aspects of Christmas.  Even though it is always hot where I live at Christmas, I still can't help decorating using European and wintery icons.  In fact, many Australians do, despite our climate.
I had a big party on Boxing Day, so I spent alot of time beforehand creating and cooking in preparation. These little softies were take home gifts for the children.  I hand sewed them from sweaters.

Then I packaged them up with a bar of Ikea chocolate.  The kids went nuts over them.  Even the older boys all wanted one!

I made these gift baskets for all the ladies to take home. They contained: jam, truffles, apricot balls, pudding and cake- all made by me of course.

They were decorated with a handmade fake cookie.  Actually, my daughter wrapped all these for me.

My daughter made this table tree from a fake tree, fake snow and berries. We then painted fake birds with white paint and glitter.

These were easy to make from papier mache reindeer, painted with paint and glitter again.

My 12 year old son made all these cones which we filled with chocolate.  I got the template from the Marie Claire Idees website. As you can see, my children have inherited my creative genes.

I placed the take home favours on pretty crystal platters.  This is the only time of year all the wedding presents see the light of day!  When we got married 20 years ago, it was the tradition to receive heaps of crystal as wedding gifts.  We even received three whiskey decanters.  I've never drunk whiskey in my life!

We made these as table centrepieces, once again using the crystal wedding gifts.  I collected pinecones off the street near my work and covered them in fake snow and glitter.

 We used to have a Hello Kitty and Thomas the Tank Christmas tree. Now my children are older, I have replaced all the decorations with more stylish ones.

This little bird in a cage is from "Natural Kitchen" in Shibuya, which I picked up on our last trip.

A funny little Danish Christmas Elf.

Please check back tomorrow when I will show you the rest of my Christmas celebrations.

NOMURA TAILOR - KYOTO

Here's what I purchased at Nomura Tailor:

Gorgeous chirimen.

Cotton Japanese prints

Organic cotton towelling for soft toy making.

Sumptuous brocades.

I don't know anyone having a baby, but I had to buy this kit all the same.

Cute fabric labels.

All in all, I had a big whopping heavy bag of fabric, so I was very happy.

A lovely store, with excellent customer service, of course!

I'm going craft shopping in Japan

Off on my massive shopping expedition to Japan tomorrow. So happy! My poor credit card....

Japan Dreams 4 - La Droguerie

La Droguerie is a French craft store and has several branches across Japan. Have a look at these gorgeous pictures from their website.

Apparently, their products are quite expensive, but that won't stop me from purchasing a little of their merchandise. And, I'm sure it is all high quality. I want to make this necklace - it's so unique.

They seem to specialise in vibrant jewel colours, which I adore.

These two books captured my interest.  I would love to own one.

Has anyone ever been to La Droguerie?  I'd love to know what you bought there!