Jennifer Michie

Tag: christmas (page 8 of 22)

December 6, 2017 / 0 Comments

Happy St. Nicholas Day

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I know I’ve written about it in this space before, but this was always one of my favourite days at school. We’d slip off one shoe and place it in the hallway and then scramble back to our desks. Our classroom door would close and try as hard as we might to concentrate, we were all straining our ears for the sound of jingle bells.

Eventually you could hear the far off tinkle, twinkle of them and they got closer and closer and closer and then silence. We could hear rustling and a jolly laugh and then the bells would start tinkling, twinkling again and the merry sound would slowly disappear.

Once we got the all clear, we jumped out from behind our desks and into the hallway where all our shoes were lined up. Tucked inside was a fat little orange, a piece of chocolate or a candy cane and a little domed plastic snow globe with either the nativity or a winter scene inside.

It was a day that held magic. I hope today holds magic for you!

{Image of a Ukrainian Christmas Stamp FOUND}

December 1, 2017 / 0 Comments

The First

Not only did we usher in the first day of December today, with a few morning snow flurries, I might add, but the beginning of Advent has also arrived.

I was so excited to see what was behind our little paper window this morning! Mr. Michie carefully pulled it back and our miniature scene today was of a boy pulling a sled over a frozen pond.

I adore paper Advent calendars. They bring me back to my childhood and all the little glitter covered paper calendars my Nana would give us to celebrate the season with. Happiness is…

September 28, 2017 / 2 Comments

Colour Scheme

It’s not always fun to be practical. I’m in the realm of pumpkins, hot apple cider and walks through the woods that are slowly turning a delicious golden and red hue. However, I do have to put my practical hat on because October is just around the corner. In fact, October will be here this weekend and I don’t have that much longer to design this year’s Christmas card so it can be sent off to the printers.

Last year, I did a full watercolour winter scene. The year before that a Christmas in London theme. In previous years I’ve also created a collage and used a photograph of a winter wonderland that I designed. This year, I decided I wanted to keep it simple. I toyed with a lot of ideas, sketching them out and then scribbling them back out. But, I’ve finally decided on what I want to do.

It’s going to have a 1950’s/60’s design flare. Almost everything will have been created out of basic shapes that I’m reinterpreting.

Above is the current colour scheme, there is still some tweaking to do, but I’m very happy with where this project is going. It’s always nice to see an idea come to fruition.

Here’s a sampling of some of my previous cards. Goose Girl & Foxy managed to get onto one of them:

Christmas Card 2013

The Anatomy of a Christmas Card

A New Years Card

January 8, 2017 / 0 Comments

Tivoli at Christmas

This is not the first time we have visited Tivoli at Christmas. It is always on our list of “To-Do’s”, when we go to Denmark.

Already a magical wonderland to begin with, Tivoli transforms into an enchanting fairytale world during Christmas. The smell of hot apple cider and Æbleskiver, permeate the air. Stalls selling hot dogs and Christmas roast pork sandwiches are dotted along the paths as well as cabins selling Christmas goodies.

This year we visited the Honningkageslottet (Honey Cake Castle). Here you could not only “watch” the elves make the honey cakes, which is made using the honey harvested from Tivoli’s bees, but you could also buy a honey cake to decorate yourself. We bought one to eat and one to decorate. The smell of honey, spices and chocolate infusing the air was intoxicating.

Whatever season we visit this fairytale land in, I am always amazed at the gardens and hanging baskets. I know they work tirelessly to keep it looking so magical. The planning that goes into the design layout is months and months of work. It is a feast for the eyes.

Tivoli will pick over a thousand trees for Christmas. All of them will be adorned with lights in the forest, before they are cut down; so they are ready to be placed amongst the gardens upon their arrival. The smell of all that fresh greenery walking around that Christmas tree farm, well it would just be Heaven!

December 19, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Last Monday

Today is the last Monday before Christmas. How can that be? December seems to be flying right past us, even though we are drinking up every single drop.

Last night we watched Home Alone, while I wrapped up a secret Santa present and finished the last of our Christmas cards. I was missing two addresses and between my Mom and my sister, they had me covered and happily forwarded me the details.  Mr. Michie sat at the table with me and wrote out his cards for work. We drank tea and ate the most delicious brownies, sent to me by a kindred spirit.

Mr. Michie also very graciously gave me about three hours of his time yesterday, helping me rework my blog. It’s been a long time, since I’ve done some behind the scenes hacking and I was happy to have expert help on hand. So now, no matter what updates are thrown my way, everything should just stay put! I might change a few more things, but for now, I’m satisfied.

This morning, I ran to the grocery store after a frosty 6 mile walk and couldn’t resist the fresh rolls they were putting out. They were still warm! So, off I meandered home to eat a warm roll with butter and make a cinnamon hot chocolate for breakfast. Our lights are glowing, the candles are lit, my Christmas potpourri is simmering away on the stove and Christmas music is playing throughout the house. I’m so very happy!

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