Party!

Happy new year cherries!

(All images via the ever brilliant Cacao Cocoa)

God, my christmas has been good. Gifts both given and received have been most enjoyable. More on all that later. For now- I warmly wish you good food, dancing shoes and brilliant people.

I saw this New years resolution generator on Swissmiss's twitter and thought you'd like it to! My mister and I are taking a whole afternoon out to sit in a cafe and talk about our hopes and dreams for 2010 and think back over 2009. Cant wait.

Xx

Currently listening too Them Crooked Vultures and rockin out as we tidy our flat!

Twas the night before christmas ...

Dear future Hannah (circa christmas 2010),

Hello! I hope you're great! I really do! And I hope you cracked out those running shoes missy. Yes- I am talking to you! Also, don't freak out- you should be used to receiving letters from past Hannah's by now.

Just a quick one really to remind you that if you so feel the need to make all of your friends and family a Christmas present, either start making them in, oooh, say March next year, ok? Or, get a life and save a marriage and a social life and GET YOUR BANK CARD OUT. And, whilst we're on it,  it most certainly isnt a good idea to try and visit both sets of families over 1 christmas period. No. One is ample. Please heed my (/your?) advice on this. Trust you.

I wish you a very happy, and relaxed Christmas.

From the ghost of Hannah past.

(My presents. Rubbish phone picture but you get the idea)

So all that is left to do is to wish you a merry one.You're marvelous you are. Its true.

(Image by Lucy Player)

Home coma and christmas dinner...

I am in a home come. I highly recommend it. It involves leaving the house as little as possible, ordering take out, staying in your jim jams and crafting like a mo fo.

Hell yea.

 So forgive me if seeds and stitches isnt its normal brilliant and regular self whilst I finish off my Christmas presents (/ dash to oxford street in a last minute panic- its a close call). I will post pics of my handiwork at the earliest possible opportunity but until then, my cherries,  I shall leave you with an early Christmas present. These AWESOME Christmas dinner photographs are a collaboration between two friends of mine, Owen Silverwood and David Wilson.

 I. Love. These. Photo's.

 Good work chaps.

Yikes.

My child and adult selves are at war again. Allow me to illustrate.

A sea of paper and glue and glitter is slowly engulfing our home. I am revelling in it. And I’m not just talking about artesian paper crafts. I’m talking GLITTER PENS.

Image via

Also, I skipped. Like actual skipping. I’m not lying.  I was so happy walking home today because I finished work a day early! Hurrah!  ‘Goodbye scuzzy smelly office job! Hello nice lovely shiny Christmas! Oh How I love you!’  Mid eulogy, I was seized by the sudden and overwhelming desire to skip. I looked around me to make sure no one was looking, and just did it! 3 skips, right there on the street. I know that makes me a loser. It was a actually a bit of an anticlimax. My bag jangled irritatingly and my keys fell out my pocket onto the floor and I had to bend down to get them. That’s why grown ups shouldn’t skip.

Image via

I received my first Christmas card through the post today, and it might as well have been addressed to ‘extreme serious grown up’.  That single Christmas card made me feel like a true grown up with responsible organised friends who are teachers and stuff, who send Christmas cards through the post. Yeah. Those types of friends.

The other reason i know I’m a grown up is because people keep asking me what I would like for Christmas, and I honestly cant answer them. I think ‘Amazon vouchers’ gets the award for ‘least inspiring present idea ever in the universe’.  Yikes. Im not sure when I transitioned from a teenager with a 4 page Christmas wish list to today’s sorry state of affairs but I don’t like it! (side note- Friends- maybe you know what I would like? Under £20? And can be delivered before Christmas?)

Image via 

I’m also already thinking about the work I have to do when I return in January. When I was a whipper snapper the time between breaking up for Christmas and starting a new term In January seemed expansive and liberating and humungous. The sort of length of time that makes you think its ok to stick the Vs to your teachers before you run out of the school gates, because its DECADES before you’ll be back there again dealing with the consequences. Adult me is all too aware that radio 4 will be waking me up in the pitch black of a winters morning quicker than you can say Christmas bloat.

Ugh. Back to glitter pens….

P.s I am currently in a disorganised Christmas craft frenzy- anyone else? Shall we form a support group? I am 100% disorganised. Oh well. And I also have the tell tale signs of tonsilitus again too- quadruple boo.

P.p. s. Oh, the pictures? Just pretty I guess. And pertinent. There is a real snow storm outside! Oh wow!

Seedy santa's...

Its been all sweetness and light and festive merriment over here on seeds and stitches, so for good measure, and for the virtue of balance, and in namesake to this blog here are some seedy santa's. Update: Sorry if this is a bit much for some, it was circulated round my office and made me chuckle! I sort of cant work out if its sick and wrong or hilarious!

That face is fear personified, non?! poor little girl!

They are from the brilliant 'Sketchy Santa' website (Maybe you've heard of this site already? Im sorry if so- I  couldnt resist bringing a little seediness to seeds and stitches!)

Treehugger Christmas cooking

On Saturday night we cooked dinner for a pretty mahoosive group of people. This is how we did on the (relative) cheap.

First of all I wrote lists and lists and lists. This is almost the best bit. Kidding! (sort of)

Then you trundle off to your local market with your trusty shopper...

And buy a whole trolley full of veggies- all under £10! If it was bought from a supermarket it would have been triple the price! Its true!

And then you visit your lovely local butchers. My possibly maybe one day future brother in law, would like to one day super definitely be a butcher. So he evangelised to me about the virtue of  local butchers and free range meat. And i've more than a touch of hippy round my edges, so I happily obliged. So we bought a free range WHOLE belly of pork. This is waaay cheaper than buying free range chickens. And a bit different too, which is nice.

And then you hobble on home with your trolley full of lovely.

Then you spend a lot of time cleaning- both pre and post meal. And play silly Christmas songs. And start drinking early.

We have a small flat but each year we clear out the furniture and borrow friends tables and chairs and host a sit down smart dinner. And, let me tell you,  my mister whipped up a storm in the kitchen.

The key to keeping it thrifty is asking people to bring things- not too many things, and things that are not too pricey either. But asking one person to bring chocolates and another to bring a hunk of cheese, and everyone to bring a bottle,  and before we knew it we had a bargainous, VERY BOOZY 5 course feast!

There was pheasant Terrine (cooked by my possibly maybe one day future brother in law who would super definitely like to one day be a butcher) and there were sprouts with bacon and chestnuts and roast potatoes cooked in goose fat and parsnip puree (delish) and stuffing and braised buttered cabbage....

and then there was desert!

 Look at the flaming pudding!

and there were silver birds on each plate

 and there were also personalised Christmas tree badges made by a lovely friend!

Oh and then there was  BOOZE.... a lot. Hence the blurred photos from here on in....

There were also home made mince pies, flowery crockery, polaroids and even a quiz!

We had a blast. I don't think my neighbours did though. (Sorry about the stomping- there wasn't supposed to be dancing)

So yes. Thats how to do it. Even if you have a piddly budget and you don't cook that often. And even if you have  a humungoid group of people that you want to invite but you dont have a humungoid house. Its do-able really. Especially if you have nice friends. Which I do. And I'm sure you do too.

Hurrah for fake Christmases with friends!

Treehugger Christmas. Being a nut bag.

A bit of self flagellation never hurt anybody, non? This is the theory on which the premise of this post rests. Allow me to explain. I am currently unable to think about anything other than Christmas. I’m dreaming about it, I’m not getting any work done and It dawned on me recently that the reason for my recent sleepless nights is because I am excited about Christmas. Yes. I am a loser of epic proportions. For the last week, as soon as my alarm has gone off I have rolled over and screeched ‘Christmaaas!’ in my misters face as he wakes up. I am not his favourite person at the moment. He has started to call me a nug- bag, in an affectionate way of course. Ahem.

I never used to be that excited about Christmas until last year- when i was unemployed and had time to make things. I remember feeling bereft when putting away the decorations last year. And it was with glee that I took my boxes down this year.





I opened the lid...





...and saw something poking out of the newspaper....





A note! How sweet! Apart from its from MYSELF (why am i doing this to myself?!) What kind of nut bag writes notes to themselves? This nut bag right here. Hello.

I need to go before I start spilling all of my insanity beans.

Yours,

A Christmas nut bag.

P.S On Saturday my mister and I are hosting our annual Brockley Christmas meal. We are cooking a Christmas feast for 17 people. Yup. 17. There will be a whole other post about thrifty Christmas group cooking but I thought id let you know, so you can join me in my nervous mania, and also so I have an excuse to write YIKES in caps. (Its one of my favourite nerd words. Try it. “Yikes!” Don’t forget to raise those eye brows)


X

Treehugger Christmas cards

So treehugger Tuesdays has busted out if it's shackles and run free all over the days of the week and all over this blog. Well just in the run up to Christmas anyway. Hope you don't mind!

Christmas cards. Expensive, mostly meaningless and wasteful. And, while were on it,what's the point in the ones that simply say to x from y, I wonder?!

But they don't have to be totally pointless. I'm not buying any and am only giving a few so I made them. Again they have been made from stuff I already have plus 1 bought sheet of cheap floral wrapping paper.

I have a pile of printer card already so I folded it in to quarters to make it stronger...





...And then covered it with paper, mostly recyled wrapping paper....





I then used some of my trusty stripy paper bags salvaged from a bin to cut out my tree's...





And then I stuck them onto the cards.

For the last year I've been pressing my flowers to elongate their life. So I decided to use my recycled flowers as bau bauls on my cards. Perhaps not very festive but pretty none the less.











The envelopes will be the green and white stripy paper bags, and they may each display a festive message of some sort too. So far I've made 15 at a cost of £1.50. And I've loved making them. I highly recomend making lots at once and setting up a mini production line if you have a willing pair of exta hands! And regular high fiving is a must!

Have you made yours? I haven't found a way of making more than 15 cheaply or quickly, have you? I'd love to know just in case I suddenly become insanely popular and want to send more!

P.s Friends, your cards are clearly no longer a surprise. Apologies. You could always feign it?!

Treehugger Christmas decorating!

So, I'm going for a no (/low) spend Christmas. Novel idea huh. I should probably give you a bit of background as to why.  I just finished reading The Book of Thrift by India Knight and Through the Eye of a Needle by John-Paul Flintoff, both of which encourage a more self sufficient make it yourself lifestyle, and I've got the bug. Id really recomend both. Quite light reading, but with a lot of interesting ideas.

So far, we've discussed the tree. (In the end I opted to keep my fake tree and get as much use out of that before I move to a bigger house and need a second tree- when I'll hopefully grow my own!)  We've also discussed  home made presents. (I will show you what I make a little later on- I cant give away my ideas lest the intended recipients read this!)  Now it comes to decorating my home....

It is my opinion, that for maximum christmassification (yes its a word) in the home, nothing beats garden greenery. This enterprising idea was shown to me by my auntie P, the queen of making luxurious interiors with a less than luxurious budget. I dutifully pulled on my wellies and trudged around my overgrown garden, battling bugs and little scratches and even bird poo (!) to collect my carefully chosen garden greenery*.

I gave it a good shake outdoors and let it dry out in the hall before piling it on to my mantle piece. I then tied little bits of red gingham fabric (from my stash) around some of the branches, and put some jam jars in the mix, each with some red gingham fabric tied to the rim, And voila! An almost free and lovely looking Christmas mantle. (The fake red berries were bought from a pound shop last year- without them it would have been totally free!)

Do you remember the fabric garland I made with my sister in law on Friday, cherries? I made the garland by cutting up my scraps of fabric into little circles, then folding them into semi circles and threading them onto a piece of string. Well, I was so enamoured with this little technique that I used it again to make a paper wreath and garland. I interspersed the newspaper circles with some spare white cupcake cases I had in my cupboard, which I flattened before folding in half and threading to the garland.

I completed my mantle display by threading my stash of round vintage doilies onto a piece of string and hanging it above my fireplace. Again I had all the materials to hand as I happen to be a hoarder with a penchant for good string and attractive doilies. Above my doily bunting is yet another garland, this time made fromare some ikea Christmas ornaments I bought in the sales last year. Each set of 6 cost me 50p, and I just re strung them with red gingham fabric and threaded them onto a length of string.

The fabric garland hangs underneath my mantle...

My paper wreath now proudly adorns my front door, along with a ‘welcome’ borrowed from a much loved box of scrabble.

The paper garland hangs accross the windows in my lounge- alongside the paper chains I made on Friday.

...and this is how they started. I used a wire coat hanger for the wreath, and recyled the sunday papers.

(Update!- Oops forgopt to show you a picture of the full mantle- here it is!)

I have really enjoyed making all of this. Each idea is incredibly simple and FREE! I really have the Christmas bug at the moment, so there is no doubt that more home- made decorations will be made, and probably blogged about too, over the next few days.

Happy Christmas tree hugging! (but watch those pine needles!)
Hannah x

* make sure what your picking is in abundance or overgrowing, don’t chop down a neighbours beloved bush!