Category Archives: Advent Calendar

Christmas Countdown – Day Seventeen

I can’t believe we’re on Day Seventeen of the Christmas Countdown already, time is just flying by. Things are not progressing very fast here at the moment as we are beset by cold germs. It’s at this point I wish I was SO much more organised and didn’t have such a long ‘Last Minute List’

Ho-hum…maybe I’ll add that to the New Years Resolution List!

But back to Day Seventeen. Last year in the Advent Calendar it was all about mice and you’ll find quite a selection of them featured in this post.

Planet Penny Mini Mice – Etsy Pattern

But I’ve been having a scout round and it’s surprising how many mice you’ll find scampering about in cyberspace. These are Racing Walnut Mice! They sound lots of fun and an easy craft to do with the little ones, just click the image for the link as always…

Walnut Racing Mice Christmas Countdown Day 17

Oh Baby!

Here’s a dear little tree decoration with a jingly nose…

fabric mouse tree ornament - Christmas Countdown Day 17

Pimp Stitch

A couple of years ago I made this little group of needlefelt carol singing mice which I sold and then rather regretted losing them I must make some more just for me!

carol singing mice Christmas Countdown Day 17

Planet Penny

I love the little fabric mouse below from Lucy Kate, don’t you?

Lucy Kate Crafts

And finally, we have the mouse in our house who lives in the skirting board.

PAWS – Paper and Wire Sculptures

All right, I’ll admit it, it’s all pretend. Can you imagine Higgins tolerating that situation? It’s a little sticker from the very clever Sue McLearie which I secreted on to the skirting board. So far only one person has noticed it…

…but he doesn’t seem too bothered!

I hope you like this collection of Christmas Mice..

I’ll be back tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Sixteen

Day Sixteen of the Christmas Countdown and I’ve just found the paper decorations I made for last year’s Advent Calendar…

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Sixteen

The music sheets I made them from are photocopies from a music book I came by in a most puzzling way as I explained in last years post. Looking around on the web I found various other ideas using the musical theme which seems to chime in with Christmas very well…

Path Less Travelled Market

I used the paper heart garlands as part of the decorating for my son’s wedding last year, it’s a perennial motif, isn’t it? Suitable for all occasions!

The Path Less Travelled – Etsy

No instructions for this next one, but I think it would be simple enough to fiddle around with paper strips and work out a template…

Not On the High Street

The instructions for this lovely bauble are in Hungarian, but I’m sure Google will translate for you, and there are pictures too…

Kifli es Levendula

And finally there are these amazing trees which would look lovely on a mantelpiece with white fairy lights…

HGTV

I hope this has given you some musical inspiration…

I’ll be back tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Fourteen

It’s Day Fourteen of the Christmas Countdown and I’m all behind! With spectacular bad timing I’ve come down with a stinking cold and my carefully planned run up to Christmas (lots of scribbled notes on scraps of paper) has rather fallen apart. The cards are yet to be written, and my only decorations to date are the Christmas cards which other , more organised people, have sent to us. Still, not to worry, Christmas will happen whether we are ready or not and I’m sure if I can spend enough time this weekend steaming my head, drinking hot lemon and honey and cuddling Higgins (who is an excellent hot water bottle) I’ll be fine.

Higgins in Hot Water Bottle Mode

Day Fourteen in last year’s Advent Calendar was Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and I made these from last year’s Debbie Bliss pattern, you can read about it here. Little jumpers seem to be quite popular as Christmas tree decorations, these from Ravelry are cute…

littel jumpers - Christmas Countdown Day 14

Berroco Design Team

…and I love the embellishments on these…

little jumpers Chrismas Countdown day 14

Braybrook and Britten

This teeny tiny cardigan from Bugknits is just amazing. Follow the link by clicking on the photo to see more views. I just can’t imaging knitting something this small.

Bugknits

This little set is very sweet, but with no pattern I can track down…

However, if you would like a change from jumpers, how about these adorable mittens from my blogging friend Mrs Micawber?

Mrs Micawber

or some cute little socks from Little Cotton Rabbits…

Little Cotton Rabbits

I hope this has given you some knitting inspiration, I’ll be back tomorrow… See you soon…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Twelve

This time last year there were a lot of robins twittering around on Planet Penny so I thought I’d include them in the Christmas Countdown. I haven’t had time to make any this year, and I really miss them so this is a good excuse to have them on the blog!

Today for the Countdown I found some mini wreaths, just the right size for the Christmas Tree. I made these for our local Christmas Fair last year. Very simple and effective – hooray for the trusty glue gun!

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Twelve

Oh, and here’s a another robin getting in on the act!

Planet Penny

I have a box of rather old and tatty curtain rings tucked away, this next image has given me lots of ideas for recycling them, using an assortment of pretty oddments from the ‘Bits and Bobs’ box.

curtain_ring_wreaths Christmas Countdown

This little crochet wreath is really sweet…

Planet June

This is simple and effective and made with a white rose would be perfect for a wedding…

Sew Made By Me

And here’s an great way to use up tiny scraps of fabric too pretty to throw away…

Crafty Painter

And finally, we’re back to buttons again….

Martha Stewart

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to squirrel away for Christmas crafting now and in the future,

I’ll be back with more tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Eleven

Day Eleven of the Christmas Countdown and I’ve been looking at gift bags. Last year I used some precious wrapping paper to make the ones below, there’s more likelihood of it being treasured by someone else when the paper has been used this way and it goes that bit further too.

If you click on the photo it will take you to the link from last year…

Planet Penny Advent Calendar 2012 Day 11

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Eleven

Meanwhile, here are just few other ideas which might give you wrapping inspiration…

Creature Comforts

This is a jolly use for a plain brown paper bag…

…and this would be a lovely way to dress up a present for the ‘Domestic Goddess’ in the family…

Gift bags Christmas Countdown Planet Penny

Celebrate Creativity

There’s a tutorial for this little felt gift bag over on MilkyMug…

MilkyMug

And although I can’t track down exactly where the post is for the photo below on Rosebuds Cottage, it’s still inspiring if you fancy a little bit of Christmas sparkle!

Giftbags -Planet Penny Christmas Countdown

Rosebuds Cottage

I’m looking forward to being back tomorrow for Day Twelve…

See you then…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Ten

Here we are at Day Ten of the Christmas Countdown and now I can really relish the Pompom obsession!

Last year on the Advent Calendar I featured my Pompom Makers which take a lot of the hassle out of making them, you can find out more from the link below.

Planet Penny Advent Calendar 2012 – Day Ten

I’ve just tracked the source of my love affair with Pompoms. I was in my second year of my Visual Studies Degree, and I had just received issue 3 of Selvedge Magazine – December 2004 (I have every one from the beginning!) and this was the cover…

Selvedge on Pinterest

I fell in love with the camel from the feature inside…

I made quite a lot of pompoms at the time, but never found a camel to decorate!

However, it’s obviously becoming more and more apparent I need a stag’s head for the wall…

fetepress.com

The image below is one of my very first ‘pins’ when I joined Pinterest, Wouldn’t it look fabulous garlanded round a Christmas tree?

pompom garland Christmas Countdown day 10

birchandbird.com

If you decide to make your pompoms in bulk the following tutorial is very useful…

making pompomsin bulk Christmas Countdown day 10

flaxandtwine.com

I was interested to find this image which shows the beginnings of a pompom wreath. the maker pointed out she had only got this far and had used up 30 odd pompoms already so I think you’ll need to start now for Christmas 2014!

pompom wreath Christmas Countdown Day 10

Black Cotton Candy

More inspiration with no source but Pinterest, alas…

pompom garland Day 210 Christmas Countdown

This would look wonderful as a whole twiggy pompom tree…

I’m now itching to go and dig out my pompom makers and I’ve got far too many other things to do!

I’ll be back tomorrow, have fun….x