Little People

We make a lot of crafts out of found objects. Here is (another) example of what you can do with pinecones.

I chose a pearl gray instead of the more traditional silvery paint this year. I am going to wrap these little constellations with cellophane paper and red ribbon. I love Christmas.

Self portrait of the day

Lee with nails and teet, 4 years old

Lanas-Derecho y Revés-Valencia

A note on wellness – be creative

One day as I walked over to the market I passed this little yarn shop. It looked so cozy and nice. I looked in but didn’t bother to go in. The following week I took the same route but I rang the doorbell and walked in. Since then, this hole in the wall yarn shop has become twice as big with tables where the ladies (and sometimes their husbands) sit around knitting and chatting away. Almost everyone that comes into this shop asks the owner questions about patterns and instructions. The owner (who I believe is a retired English teacher) takes her time with all her customers, and sometimes you have to wait around for 30 minutes. There is no stress or impatience, everyone just sits down and work on their sweaters or baby boleros. Mainly, I think it is a contact point a place where to go and be creative, talk to the other women in the neighbourhood.

When I got there today, three women where ahead of me and they all needed help. The first one, a fancy looking lady had wrapped her baby pink dress in a hand stitched table cloth, handling her work as if it was a treasure for a princess. The next two women were searching for the perfect red merino wool mix and that took some 20 minutes, and we all helped comparing samples and finally they found what they were looking for.

Yes, if you live in Valencia and have some extra time, you should visit this store and you should sit down with your knitting sticks and just enjoy the nice feeling of being in this wonderful, wood panelled environment.

Lanas-Derecho y Revés

c/Música Padilla n 4,  46002 Valencia

Enjoy!

Christmas crafts, hearts

This is one of my favorite christmas tree ornaments. The braiding technique is a bit tricky but after a few trials you should be able to figure it out. You can make them in any size you want and with whatever kind of paper (although not too sturdy). You can fill them with candy or as I am intending to do this year, with different Christmas spices. Enjoy.

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Another doll….

This one was also a present for someone and it was the first one wearing a jumpsuit. I like the development. ; )

 

babydoll

Here is one of the latest dolls that I have made. A friend of mine commissioned it from me and it was very exciting to make it for her and I really hope they will like it.

In the past couple of weeks I have been working on Christmas themes, so if you are in Valencia on 11/28 (between 14.00 and 20.00), you should come down to the office and buy some Christmas crafts (and some Glögg)!

Heart-Shaped Jewellery Box

We finally made use of the metallic Pink paint we bought about a month ago. I got them heart-shaped carton boxes and they got to paint and decorate them. L chose pink pearls which she carefully glued on top. M chose glass beads which she pretty much sprinkled all over and inside the box. We have solved their need for jewellery boxes (although they will ask Santa for the Ballerina jewellery music box.)

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I prefer to bring hors d’oeuvres to a party. They should ideally only be bite sized, placed on a tray or a plate and ready to be eaten without any utensils or condiment. Here follows some pretty easy suggestions.

1. Duck pâté garnished with bacon, caramelized walnuts and a drop of redcurrant preserve.

2. A mix of anchovies, eggs, chive, red onion and mayonnaise.

3. Crab fish mix with crème fraiche, garlic, dill and garnished with fish roe.

4. A mix of cream cheese, smoked salmon and horseradish with a dash of lemon.

5. Gorgonzola with garlic and rosary sautéed beetroot.

 

Enjoy!

Halloween craft

It is Schalloweeeeeen, Lee yelled as she came home from school.

It is funny how popular this Holiday has become, even outsider of the US. Maybe it’s really a children’s holiday since I don’t remember paying much attention to it when I lived in NY. It is fun, the girls are dressing up like (oh what a shock) princesses tomorrow. I have no idea what J and I are dressing up like…Anyway, felt creative this morning so I made this pumpkin (or punk-man as Mae says). This is my contribution to Halloween this year!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!