Hurrah for Christmas! It’s definitely getting close now - there are more open windows on the advent calendar than closed and the presents are nearly all bought (don’t mention the wrapping though!). I really love this time of year and could have filled this 5 Happy Things twice over, but here are my highlights from the last two weeks. It’s been quite a creative week of baking and crafting now I look back!

 

01. I always love putting up the Christmas tree - it signals the start of Christmas for me. This was the first year that Max has been fascinated by it all too, desperately wanting to join in with hanging up all the decorations. I got some lovely photos of him decorating the Christmas tree - he was so intent and focused, such a contrast to the little whirlwind that I see most days!

 

02. I had a lovely relaxing evening with my Mum at Nirvana Spa last week. I’d had some reservations, as the evenings have been my worst time with the pregnancy sickness, so I wasn’t sure how good I’d be feeling, but it was lovely to get out for the evening and just relax. Obviously being pregnant there are lots of spa activities that you can’t do (no steam room, which is my favourite!), but I was surprised at how many things I could do and how quickly 3 hours passed by. I came out feeling really refreshed and calm rather than tired (which given that I had to drive back home at 11pm was definitely a good thing - I’m normally in bed at 8pm these days!).

 

 

03. I love making these Santa Christmas cards with Max. He’s always been a bit funny about any kind of messy play, and although he now loves painting, he doesn’t like to get his hands messy, so it took a bit of convincing. But he was so pleased with his cards, and loved giving them to his grandparents.

 

04. We made gingerbread! I’m not a great baker, and I seem to have lost my love for cooking a bit since Max arrived, but I really wanted to decorate gingerbread with him. I made the dough and baked while he had his nap, and although my men expanded into what you’d probably describe as gingerbread blobs, Max was thrilled to decorate them and actually squealed with excitement! Despite looking a bit of a state, they tasted pretty good!

 

 

05. I made a Christmas wreath for the first time last year and it was something that I really wanted to make an annual tradition. It was so much easier than I’d expected! I’d wanted to do a workshop this year to finesse my finished product a bit more and to get some expert tips, but with the sickness it wasn’t something I could commit to this time around. My big mistake last year was to go for pretty things that don’t last particularly well in a wreath - the ornamental cabbage looked great for a while, but had to be removed by the time Christmas day rolled around. I opted for more foliage and more traditional ornaments like pine cones and dried oranges this year, but still couldn’t resist adding in some cute pink berries - we’ll see how they do!