I am sooooo spoilt.......

I have been the lucky recipient of some gorgeous goodies in our P4P Advent Swap. Thanks Tea for organising this...... Each person sent 24 small pressies to their swap partner, one to be opened each day until Christmas. At least half had to be handmade. Then on Christmas Day we got an extra special pressy! My wonderful, talented and generous swap partner is Mill (in the middle with the cowboy hat lol...) Here's what she sent me, thanks so much hun!

Grow baby grow.......

The garden is growing like crazy, we have had the odd drop of rain, and the high organic content in the soil retains moisture really well......

The big picture..... lots of recycled materials to make the beds and supports..... not so pretty on the eye but soothing to the soull..... think I'm turning into a greenie lol....

The tyres have pumpkins, melons and rockmelons......

Above are my beans, theres a few peas in there too and some carrots still to come up....
Corn, lettuce and a trellis with crystal apple cucumbers starting to climb......

Love this 5 colour silverbeet, yummmmm

Zucchinis, I have six plants so we have heaps!

And just for fun my lovely gourds......

My Xmas pics......

If you click on the slide show, maximize your window and click original view you will be able to see the pics up close.............

Furry ornies and my raggy tree skirt......

I love Christmas decorating, but it is a "trifle" tricky with my little helpers...... Nutmeg decided that the reindeer atop my tree was fascinating and must be hunted down!

Cinnamon thought impersonating a panther was a good idea...... Nutmeg wasn't so sure.....

Put the two together and the tree became a wonderful playground! But not for long, I have my trusty "Puss Off", a concoction of citronella oil and water in a spray bottle designed to repel even the fiercest panther...... My real Christmas ornies are too precious to be hunted by this dastardly duo. The girls may adorn my bed instead......

BTW I made a raggy tree skirt! Turned out pretty good I reckon....

Mmmmmmmmmm apricots..........

We are lucky to have a lovely neighbour who allows us to pick her fruit in exchange for a few jars of jam - thanks Nan!

After bubbling away on the stove for a bit I bottled 11 jars of jam....

The best fruit went to making dried apricots, gotta love the dehydrator! Lots of work but well worth it for the tart yummy treats.....

There's plenty more where that came from, we'll be picking apricots for weeks, and then there's the plums and figs, not to mention the peaches Mum grows...... There's something very satisfying about looking at a cupboard full of hand made preserves.....

Pretty pleased with this......

For the longest time I have been searching for a clock to suit my primitive decor. They were all too small or too cutesy. So I made my own! Well sortof anyways....... I bought a very modern stainless steel rim, white faced, big numbered, cheap clock. I pulled it to bits and painted the face and rim matte black. Gotta love spray paint - too easy. I sprinkled the face with cinnamon, letting a little float on to the hands. Then all I had to do was hot glue some rusty stars (some of which I painted with the spray paint) onto where the numbers should go. Put it all back together and wahlah! A prim "rusty" clock........ gotta admit I was pretty pleased with the result!

Great skirt tutorial........

Been looking for a pattern for one of these for ages. I have tried on heaps of tiered, gypsy or peasant skirts over the years but they are always too short on me, making my legs look stumpy. This tutorial is great, you just enter your measurements and it calculates the size of each piece! There is a choice of two lengths as well..... Now excuse the pics, I have had this fabric in my stash for about 10 years and I still have 10 kgs to lose on WW so those two factors combined don't make for the best shot lol...... However I was really pleased with the result and it is soooooo comfy, great for the hot days ahead. Now I know the pattern works I might just splash out and buy some more fabric to make another couple.