Christmas love it or stress it

I LOVE Christmas but having spoken to people & read various blogs it strikes me we put too much pressure on ourselves to create a perfect day & spread ourselves too thinly.

For me Christmas is not just about THE day its the build up & traditions.   I'm by no means perfect & stress about the usual things like money, when am I going to have time to wrap the presents & what to buy that awkward relative but I don't stress about Christmas day itself.

A lot of people seem to worry about squeezing in as many relatives, locations and activities into 24 hours as possible and making it all perfect. Some peoples schedules are dizzying and just what is perfect?

How can you enjoy yourself if you are clock watching, wondering when you can finally stop being a taxi & enjoy a large drink or single handedly feeding 15 people the perfect roast.

For me as long as I've seen my friends & family in the lead up to Christmas seeing them on Christmas day isn't the number one priority. Don't get me wrong it's lovely to see people but it's also lovely to relax & enjoy your children & their excitement.  Plus isn't that what boxing day is for!  With regards to the meal isn't it just a posher roast.  Why stress about it?

I always organise a big friends & family get together a week or 2 before Christmas I see everyone in one large swoop and I love it.  I also think it eliviates the pressure to squeeze too much into Christmas day itself.

It's one of my favourite Christmas events & has become a tradition.   I also love our annual panto trip, the kids Christmas concerts, the tree buying, seeing Santa & garden centre bauble browsing.  These are my Christmas bursts of happiness. It's not just about Christmas day itself.

I guess what I'm saying is remember people spread the Christmas cheer over a few days & don't stress about making just one 24 hours in the whole year perfect.  Kids will cry maybe grown ups too. Drinks will be spilt & no one will eat the sprouts even though its a new wondrous recipe.

Remember to enjoy yourself & note to self remember next year to actually pay into the Christmas saving club not just join!

White Clay Dough Christmas Decorations

A few weeks ago I saw some beautiful white reindeer Christmas decorations on The Imagination Tree website.

The dough only used 2 ingredients plus water & looked straight forward so I thought I'd give it a go with the kids.

My first problem however was working out the quantities. The recipe is American so uses cups. After several Google attempts I think I've found the right measurements. I had no idea it was so varied. For example 1 cup of flour is 150 grams but cornflour is only 130 grams!

You need:

1/2 cup cornflour 65 grams

1 cup bicarbonate of soda 180 grams

3/4 cup water 180mls 

Mix the dry ingredients in a sauce pan.

Pour in the water and heat.

Use a medium temperature & stir continuously.

It will start to bubble & thicken. 

Once it begins to come away from the sides & form a ball remove from heat & cool.

Once it's cool enough to touch you can knead briefly & then shape.

We used star, snowmen, bell and holly leaf cookie cutters.

The stars didn't work as I couldn't get them out of the mould however the rest were fine.

Remember to make a hole to thread ribbon through. I used a plastic straw to do this. 

You can then either air dry for 24-48 hours or oven bake. The website I got the inspiration from suggested 1 hour at 100c but ours took approx 2 1/2 hours to dry out.

Once dry & cool we decorated ours with felt pen & holly ribbon. You could paint, use glitter pens or leave white.

We also tried a second batch with red glitter in but it turned the dough pink & I don't think we heated it enough as it was very sticky.

The kids loved making them & I would definitely attempt it again.  Ours are a little misshapen but lovely none the less.

Why don't you have a go?

If you do let me see your results. 

Emma xxx 

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Poem - Motherhood

Today I'm feeling blue,

The kids are full of beans & chatter,

And I just want a peaceful day,

The thought of the park again makes me shudder.

Am I being selfish?

I just want some time.

I know I'm being snappy,

But I've run out of smiles.

I love my children dearly,

But would like a little rest, 

Is it OK to say that?

Why do I feel I've failed?

Kids are for life,

Everyday is full,

Some days are full of laughs,

Others boredom & tears.

Even on a bad day,

I know things will improve,

Happiness is on the horizon,

A kiss, a hug, a smile.

I feel better sharing,

I hope you understand,

Motherhood is hard sometimes,

But we'll all muddle through.

Pink hair - I finally did it! Crazy Color review

For a few weeks I've been umming & ahhing about dying my hair pink.

I originally liked purple but after some research it is v bright to start with & the lilac shade will only work on v blonde (platinum) hair.

My hair is half highlights half natural which is dark blonde or light brown depending on your point of view. On the hairdresser colour chart I'm Ash Blonde.

My highlighted hair colour.

I bought Crazy Color Marshmallow as wanted something subtle & it did absolutely NOTHING!!! It is v light and could barely be seen on my hair once applied. After washing it disappeared entirely.

I therefore decided to get Crazy Color Pinkissimo. I did roughly half head (underneath) and one large stripe on top as I was curious how it would turn out. I left it for approx 30 mins although I did get distracted by my son so it may have been a tiny bit longer.

This is what it looked like wet.

Love how it looks up.

Bit patchy but you can't tell when its brushed & normal.

I love the results. I didn't get to my hair line properly but as its underneath you can't tell.

Crazy Color is £4.00 a pot on their website but I got mine from eBay which cost £3.15 and £3.25. There are numerous colours some of which are extremely vibrant but I'd be too nervous to try them.

Crazy Color Marshmellow

I got a hair dye brush for £0.99 also on eBay.

I didn't have plastic gloves so used sandwich bags ha ha!!! Worked rather well.

I'm not sure how long it will last especially as I wash my hair daily. They are semi permanent dyes so wash out gradually.

I'll keep you posted.

Hope this helps any newbie Crazy Color buyers.

Happy hair colouring.

Emma xxx

Lego Jurassic World Main Hall T Rex L not working

Not my usual blog post but thought it might help someone.

Lego Jurassic World Glitch

Main hall
End sequence
T Rex fight
L not working         

My son got this game for his birthday and we got to this section & nothing. I was at the point of giving up but after googling found other people had the same issue. It must be a glitch in the game.  Some people said to press A & D I assume this is for keyboard players.  I therefore tried L & R and it worked. Yippee!!!        

Press Left & Right quickly and T Rex will start to shake his head & cut scene will begin.

Happy playing.

Emma xxx

Latin - An ancient language dead or alive?

Whilst researching words for my short stories I became quite interested in Latin.

Latin is considered a dead language. No one speaks Latin as a native language anymore but is it really dead. Definitely not if you look its all around us. 

It was interesting to see Latin still creeps into today's language and is commonly used in Law, Medicine and Music.  Latin also still influences many of the popular children's names today. I found loads but here are some of the most popular -

Olivia (from Latin 'Oliva' meaning Olive), Emily and Amelia (from the Latin 'Aemilianus', a Latin family name) and Grace (from Latin 'Gratia', meaning goodwill or kindness).

Anthony (from Latin 'Antonius' meaning praiseworthy), Luke (from Latin 'Lucius' meaning bringer of light), and Max (from Latin 'Maximillian' meaning the greatest).

I also came across many familiar & lovely phrases whilst researching so thought I'd share my favourites - 

Verba Volant, Scripta Manent which means Words fly away, writings remain.  I think this is quite apt for a writer and is beautiful.

My absolute favourite is In Somnis Veritas which means In dreams there is truth.  I have used this phrase in a story and would one day love to have it as a tattoo.

I also think this one has strength using very few words. Transit umbra, lux permanent - Shadow passes, light remains.

I think the increase in celebrities being inked with Latin phrases has also increased exposure and interest with the likes of David Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Ian Somerhalder and Colin Farrell all having famous Latin tattoos.  I myself would love to get one but am having difficulty picking a body part ha ha!!!

Do you have a Latin inspired tattoo?

Or is your child's name influenced by a Latin name?

I'd love to hear from you.

Emma x