Little Fimo Family

This Little Family came to our house in 2003. It was the first handmade Christmas ornament our Paddy Button received and was given to him by Nanny Button. She purchased it from our Parish Craft Stall. One of our parishioners made a few sets and they were snapped up quick smart. I think it would be fun to make some Fimo Christmas ornaments with some of the rumpty fingers around Button Central. Perhaps I'll have to visit Raspberry Pink at the BiDM on Saturday and stock up on some supplies.

Just for fun!

Today I made this for the Molly Button who has recently discovered the joys of twirly skirts. It took no time at all and I am positively delighted with the result and the twirling it provoked. Will Button, twin brother of Molly Button, donned said twirly skirt after it had been discarded and proceeded to name all the Babushkas one by one and have a bit of a twirl himself. At that point Mr Button left the house muttering under his breath and calling all Buttons outside for some rough and tumble. Last I heard, he was explaining that twirly skirts are not acceptable de rigeur for footy.

Of course, one of the side benefits of using this little piece of fabric is being able to make lots of these with the leftovers.

I have three ideas floating in my head for them.

Some more of these cause I do love making them and giving them to people.

Or something like this on a tee to go with the twirly skirt. Please note the date on this post, Kathy had completed Christmas outfits for her twins by November 17 and was finished early enough to blog about it!

I also have a hankering to try something like this. She is, of course, totally correct about the addictive nature of the self covered button. These kits really should come with a warning and a number for some sort of help line.

The Dogs are Barking**

Or so my mother would say. After yesterday's post I was awash with feelings of creativity, originality and the virtue that comes with organising presents in a timely fashion. Today I took a little time out to float around in blogland and found dozens of people had already started making birds and what not for Christmas trees the world over and to be perfectly frank, some were even nicer than mine. No, I'm not posting any links, you'll have to go and find them yourselves! Trust me, it won't take long.

I was telling Nanny Button this information and her reply was, "Well, I didn't like to say anything at the time when you were so excited, BUT, we girls (meaning my aunties), did the same thing years ago when you were all babies. Yours are still very nice and the fabric is probably different." So there it is in a nutshell, fashion is cyclical and obviously, so are Christmas ornaments.

I shall not be deterred, however. I have no recollection of such ornaments and that should mean a goodly number of other family members will also have forgotten the last time the pinking shears got a good workout. Production is in full swing!

Here's one of the handmade ornaments we have received in past years. A dolly peg angel. I love her rustic wings and the simplicity of her outfit. I'm going to share a few more over the next few weeks because they are just too nice to keep to myself!

**Rough translation: Everybody is doing it.

Ties that Bind

"Wombat loved Christmas. He loved the carols and the candles, the presents and the pudding, but most of all he loved the Nativity Play."

Wombat Divine by Mem Fox (probably the sweetest Christmas story, EVER, by the best children's author, EVER, if you want my opinion)

I am a bit like wombat in many ways and I REALLY love Christmas and always have. One of the things that I love the best are the traditions which pepper the way my family celebrates this time of year.

This is a tradition from Nanny Button's side of the family. I've told you about Nanny Button and her family before....Nin (my maternal Grandma) was the consumate crafter. She had seven girls, one of whom is Nanny Button (my Mum) who is crafty to her core and always finding ways to help me in my little projects. There is a good bit of craftiness running through the veins of the rest of those sisters and also through the squillions of cousins they've gone on to produce.

A number of years back, the family decided that present giving for the mob was requiring a small loan or petty thievery which was not really in keeping with the season. The collective wisdom was that Santa would bring a small gift to any of the wee folk who still went to primary school. The rest of the families would exchange cards and a decoration. Thus, a family legacy was born!

The craftiness takes on a life of it's own in the lead up to Christmas. I think Nanny Button may be the most secretive of all, going to great lengths to keep her decoration a mystery until the party date. People do all kinds of things. Sometimes they are simple - card and glitter in a tree shape with family names printed on it. Sometimes they are exquisite and elaborate - like the beaded angels, sometimes it is Christmas baking. Always they are precious and uniquely beautiful. I love, love, love this part of Christmas and I love, love, love my Christmas tree and it's treasures.

Due to a not entirely explained delay receiving shirts from our supplier, there is a bit of a lull in the Cute as Buttons market restocking department. In the space, my mind turned to the decoration we are going to give this year and I have been having a lovely time playing with some ideas today. My efforts over the last few years have been less handmade and more mass produced. This year I am going to redeem myself! Using pinking shears, I cut two of the birds I designed for Cute as Buttons a while ago, and added the wing heart from Sharon's bird. I running stitched the wing to each side of the body and then running stitched the two bodies together, leaving an opening to stuff the bird and adding a ric rac loop for hanging. I then stitched a button on each side for an eye. I was pretty pleased with the results so I didn't stop there.

I made a heart:

Then our 2008 Christmas tree:

Next a star:

Finishing with this year's Christmas tree.

I can't wait to give them to the clan and you never know, they might even pop up around the place if you think you'd like some for your tree.

Heaven Sent

Handmade Heaven has now been restocked with lots of lovely Cute as Buttons goodies. Our girl singlets are stocked to size 4 and boys to size 2. If there is interest in any big, boy singlets, we'd love to know - just leave a comment at the end of the post. Lots of tees to choose from in sizes 000, 00, 0, 2 and 4.

We have a great range of sizes in the the Christmas shirts and if you see a colour combination in another size and want to order it to suit your Little Button, just let Liesa know and she will pass the information on to us.

Mr Button had to throw his shoulder to the wheel last night and spent a therapeutic couple of hours tying gingham strips to a coathanger to help make our Christmas Hair Tie Display. He wants to know if this qualifies him as a Handmadie - Micky, what is your decision? I must say, he did quite a nice job and once I banned him from using the scissors, things went swimmingly! I'm not sure he'll be rushing back to repeat the effort so it may be a one off original!

More goodies crossed off the Christmas List after my time visiting the shop. Liesa and her Mum have made a Christmas Nook to make your treasure hunting even more fun! Look how many beautiful Christmas things were hiding there today! Christmas shopping made easy at Handmade Heaven, Old Flour Mill, Brisbane Rd, Ipswich.

Making My List and Checking Tonight

Tonight I have tucked 3 very weary Little Buttons into their beds and I am sure I will not be too far behind them. We had a great time at the The Handmade Expo and although we were back in Brisbane collecting our Dad by 11:30 it was exhausting.

Just look what we managed to check off our Christmas List.

Presents for teachers from Mango Wednesday. All we need to do is load them up with some homemade yummies and wrap them in cellophane. I love to give teachers decorations or Christmas china as an end of year gift. As a teacher, I loved receiving them and as I decorate my house for Christmas, I remember all the little people who gave me the ornaments and plates that I use at this magical time of year. Incidentally, one of my favourite Christmas plates was given to me by someone who left for Schoolies this morning! I am sure these little plates will also give years of joy.

Christmas gifts for the nieces from Denim by Deborah.

Christmas gift for my sister from Denim by Deborah.

If Deb starts some sort of Loyalty Card business, I am in like Flynn! This takes my D by D purchase total to 8! Each one has been unique and quite hard to give away...I am sure I could squeeze in another bag or two!

Christmas outfits for the Little Buttons from min nah kids. They are cute, cute, cute!

The boys' outfits will match. I am not sure if I am going to get away with that...I have a feeling there may be mutiny from the 6yr old button! I'll keep you posted.

Sadly, there is no evidence of the biscuits from The Cupcake Ladies, Debbie's delicious Fudge from Heaven or Tina's Moreish and YUMMY, coconut ice, cupcakes. I shudder to think of the POINTS value but it was worth every one!

Molly snaffled some Bubba Chenille pants and a necklace from Handmade Heaven but she has gone to bed with them stashed beside her so the photos will have to wait till another day.

Sharon had a busy day on the Cute as Buttons front although, she seemed reluctant to accept my offer to leave one or two of the Little Buttons behind to assist her with her work! Go figure. Our next market weekend is a Double Header - The Handmade Expo on the 12th December and Boutique Markets on the 13th December. I'm going to make sure my Christmas List is ready and raring to go!

Spot the Buttons

Image: Taryn Newland

The Handmade Expo will be on at the Ipswich Turf Club, tomorrow, Saturday 21st November. Sharon will manning Cute as Buttons as I am still taking a break to care for Mr Button and the family. I will be attending the Expo with the Little Buttons in tow while Mr Button is at the hospital for his daily visit. No doubt you will see and hear us coming from a long way off!

We have great plans for present buying from Bubba Chenille, Denim by Deborah, min nah kids, Fudge from Heaven, The Cupcake Ladies and Mango Wednesday. If you see us, do stop and chat!

I am slowly replenishing the stock for Handmade Heaven. Some singlets and a few Christmas tees made their way there today. More will follow next week. We will be fully stocked with our Christmas range tomorrow so don't miss out! The min nah girls will have co-ordinating bottoms and my advice is get in nice and early to secure that special Christmas outfit.

Image: Rachael Zelensky

From tomorrow, entry to The Handmade Expo is FREE! What more incentive do you need to start your Christmas shopping?

Sunday saw Sharon making an early start to set up for the final Mathilda's Market for 2009. She was run off her feet selling those (see above) and these:

and all the other lovely singlets in our range. They are such sensible and comfortable attire for wee folk during the heat of a Brisbane summer. There were lots of familiar faces and plenty of brand new ones. Stocking up for Christmas seemed to be the order of the day.

If you're stocking up for Christmas, pop over to The Handmade Expo for a chance to win some market cash to help you with your purchases.

You might like to visit Cute as Buttons at the Boutique Markets at Portside on Sunday where Sharon will once again be holding the fort while I tend to Mr Button during his recovery. We are most appreciative of your comments on the last post. He and his donor are continuing to amaze us with their remarkable progress.