A Christmas Letter

Enter the world of the Snowlies - of a dark pine forests, purples skies and icy lakes. Children will fall in love with these magical characters as they journey across the Arctic to deliver a letter to Santa in time for Christmas Day. Pop-ups and pull-the-tabs bring Ashe Ericksson's beautiful artwork to life and make this a book to be treasured year after year.

Top That Publishing never fails to amaze me with the unique angles that they bring to books. In this particular Christmassy book we have beautiful illustrations, adorable characters, a good story plot, a warm and happy ending combined with pull the tabs and pop-out pages.

When you open this book you can almost be forgiven for expecting magical sparkles to come out. I will show you exactly why we feel this book is magical....

You have magical characters that instill that childlike quality in adults and children. Because of the fact that they look angelic and likeable you are instantly drawn in to the story. Here they are trying to deliver a very important letter to Santa Claus.


This is one of our favourite pop-out pages. The paper engineering is excellent. The owl has that eerie sparkle in the eyes which makes it look astonishingly real.

I think you will agree that the book could be greatly appreciated even if there were no accompanying words.

This is inside Mr Rat's home.

The beauty of this book never ends. Here is a pull the tab page with yet another beautiful illustration.

This is the kittens inside the magical Snowlies 3D cave.


This book even grabbed my baby son's attention. His face lit up as he opened the door and Santa comes out.


Just looking at the illustration makes you feel all snugly and warm.


Santa doing what Santa does best.

This is the very realistic looking letter. I love the added touch of the British stamp.

Just when you think the book couldn't get any more beautiful you are greeted with this letter. After you read the letter the whole books seems very poignant. The book is filled with thought and is fuelled by a little boy's love for his grandma.

The letter reads:

Dear Santa Claus,

My granny is on her own for the first time this Christmas. What I would really like for Christmas is if you could bring her a kitten. Then she won't be lonely any more.

I would like a kitten too, but Granny is more lonely than me so please make sure that she gets this present.

Thank you.

Love from Duncan

xxx

This letter draws the book to an end in such a beautiful way. The fact that the little boy is worrying about his granny because it will be her first Christmas alone signifies the bond that children often have with grandparents. This book in my mind represents what Christmas is really about; caring for others and showing love.

Besides reading this book to my son, I showed this book to my mum and we both shed a tear over it. A truly outstanding book that will remain in the family for many years to come.

Here is Master Craftiness's take on the book:

Available from Top That Publishing

The Usborne Book Of Christmas Stories

There's not much better in life than having your children snuggled up in bed whilst you read to them. So snuggle up, get warm and cosy and read Sweet Craftiness over the next few days for our Christmas book reviews.



The Usborne Book Of Christmas Stories by Russell Punter and Phillip Webb

I love Usborne books. I have fond memories of when I was little and my mum used to run Usborne book parties. It was such luxury to have all those wonderful books under our roof and the saddest part was when they all had to be returned to Usborne. I used to spend hours looking through all the books, the stories and illustrations never failed to please. I used to love the 'Farmyard Tales' series and adored the Poppy and Sam characters. Anyone remember the little yellow duck that you had to search out on every page?

Anyway, here's another Usborne book that the Sweet Craftiness family love. It's called 'The Usborne Book of Christmas Stories.' Pick the book up and it feels lovely, a big padded cover and a red ribbon bookmark is contained inside. To make the scene on the front cover look more magical, the illustration has been partially embossed in silver.

Open the book up and you will find six magical stories.

• The Elf and the Toymaker
  
• The Fake Santa
• Santa's Day off
• Chilly and the Bonfire
• Snowy and Icy
• Freezy's New Buttons

Each story is around 16 pages long and contains lots of stunning illustrations. There are lots of scenes to excite children; inside Santa's workshop, the reindeer and Santa delivering presents. Each story has an element which manages to keep the kids continuously enthralled.

Children will delight in finding out how Santa makes the toys, what Santa gets up to on his days off and just how to spot a 'fake' Santa!

One story contained within the book is 'The Elf and the Toymaker.' This is a very humorous little story where children get a glimpse of inside Santa's workshop. Santa is a very organised man and assigns each elf a specific job role. Much the same as in any factory, the elves have to knuckle down and get to work. The story revolves around a little elf named Alfie, who after getting sent home by Santa for sleeping on the job decides he wants to investigate the 'Toymaker' machine. The elf then falls down a hole in the machine and sets the machine in action. Before the elf knows it the machine is whirring and churning and he gets trapped by wires. In the meantime the machine is spouting out mini-replicas of the elf, hundreds of replicas in fact. Because of this misdemeanour, all children's Christmas lists are cancelled that year and they all have to have 'Alfie' toys instead. Luckily the toys prove popular and Santa gets even more orders for 'Alfie' toys the following year. It's a happy ending all round as Alfie gets his dream job; he gets to control the 'toymaker' machine to make lots more 'Alfie' toys.

This is a good story to read to your child if they spring on you with a newly written Christmas list after you have done their Christmas shopping. It's a good moral to the story as children don't always get what they want at Christmas but sometimes they get to like the most unexpected of things.

There are five other stories in the book and all contain excellent story plots to engage children and get them to use their imagination. Well done Usborne, we thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Love is......

Best of..... Christmas Decorations

We are now officially on countdown until Christmas. It's just 22 days left and there's no better place to be at Christmas than at home (unless you have extremely bad-tempered relatives). So to make sure your humble abode looks as cosy and welcoming as possible, here's a roundup of the must-have Christmas accessories for the festive season. These are the products that are now adorning my house.

1. Lakeland LED Mini Christmas Tree

This is a really cute little tree that looks like it has been plucked from fresh fallen snow. The frosted clumpy effect at the base gives this effect. What I love about this tree is that it is battery operated so there are no trailing wires and it looks great wherever you put it. I have placed one in my son's room and one in the centre of the dining table. It looks really magical as it flickers from purples to pinks. It's quite small at 35cm so is great for highlighting any advent calendars or Christmas cards. Particularly good for anyone who likes all things contemporary, as this is a modern cone-shaped tree.


2. Lakeland LED Votives
What can't you highlight with these gorgeous votives? You get all the benefits of a cosy candle but you don't have the worry of them catching fire or burning out. As the flame flickers the reindeer and snowflake silhouettes glow magically, you could picture these in a magical cottage somewhere. Red inside and silver on the outside, they look magical even when the LED's aren't on. Because of the sheen of the red and silver you can almost be fooled in to thinking that something is shining inside. These can be placed as a table centrepiece or they can be placed under the Christmas tree to give all the presents an enchanted ambient glow. They also co-ordinate with the Christmas check overcloth pictured below.

How cosy does this look?

3. The Eden Project Baubles
Obviously we were drawn to these stunning baubles because of the beauty of them, the red and whites look really festive. However, there were quite a lot of other things that impressed us about these baubles. One of the main advantages of these baubles is that they are very child-friendly. Come Christmas time and you usually have to be on guard in case the children go near the tree and smash glass baubles; these are made out of recycled newspaper and so are safe for children to hold.

Even better is that they come in their own Jute bag. A Jute bag is made from plants; it lasts, it looks great and when you can't use it anymore it biodegrades completely.
Aside from being really eye catching and safe for children, these baubles are also eco-friendly. They are made and painted entirely by hand in Kashmir, India by a small family firm. The family firm is a sustainable fair trade business which provides much needed work in the local area. So when you look at these baubles you get a warm glow in the knowledge that you are not harming the environment and are helping workers get a fair wage. I think the pictures speak for themselves in terms of beauty.......

They are available in two different sets. Set one comprises of painted balls and set two comprises of hearts and stars. Team the two sets up for a really festive look.




4. Lakeland Flashing Bauble Trio

The Lakeland Flashing Baubles are a treat for any tree. Take one boring looking tree and add these baubles and you instantly add a magical element. The noses of the characters light up and flash in various parts around the bauble. They all have protruding noses, which gives the bauble a 3D look. Hung from ribbon they look very classy. Batteries are included for the baubles and you have an on/off switch on the base of each.
As if that wasn't good enough, they come in this gorgeous gift box, which you can place under the tree to look like a present.

5. Lakeland Dancer and Prancer

Add these to any room in the house and watch for smiles from everyone. These are a pair of hand-made felt reindeer decorations. Their feet are weighted and they have button joints so that you can pose them in virtually any position you want; stand them up, sit them down or pose them with Santa. They are fantastic quality, which is always what you can expect with Lakeland products. They co-ordinate with virtually all of Lakeland reindeer products, which makes it easy to create a recurrent theme.


6. Eden Project Christmas Crackers

If you are fed up of the usual junk that goes in to Christmas Crackers then Eden Project's Christmas Crackers are for you. No rubbish in these ones although the hats are made of recycled paper and contains a packet of seeds and an environmental message. Even the boxes the crackers arrive in don't go to waste as you can use them as a postage box to send the crackers to a loved one as an alternative gift.

They look a lot more funky and modern than most crackers on the market. It's nice to know that the contents won't end up in the bin either. Give a gift that lasts.....

I think you will agree that they look great!




7. Original Gift Company Christmas Rose Centrepiece

To add the final touch to your Christmas decorations, how about this Christmas Rose Centrepiece from Original Gift Company! Although this rose decoration looks incredible in the photo, it looks even more outstanding in real life! The centrepiece is made by a company named BLOOM. It's a glorious seasonal silk arrangement of crimson and burgundy roses, sedum and red hydrangeas. The flowers are held in a glass comport and looks really realistic as you have ice-cubes, berries and leaves contained within it.

The beauty of this rose centrepiece is that the flowers will never wilt and die; the everlasting arrangement will remain undiminished in beauty for years to come. The beauty is clearly evident. I would go as far as to say that no other ornaments would be needed if you had this centrepiece.

Have a fantastic Christmas!

Grumpy Badger's Christmas

Last night my son snuggled beneath his duvet in his new pyjamas, clutching his Yoshi toy to wriggle his toes in enjoyment of this book named 'Grumpy Badger's Christmas' written by Paul Bright and Jane Chapman. The book is published by Little Tiger Press.

The blurb on the back cover reads ' Christmas is coming and everyone is so excited - except for Grumpy Badger. "Piffle!" he shouts. "I am going to sleep until the spring and if anyone wakes me I shall be VERY grumpy!" But then Grumpy Badger has three visitors... and there is a great crisis. Will he learn the error of his ways before it's too late?

A charming twist on Dickens' A Christmas Carol that will make children laugh out loud in delight!

So why do we love this book?

Grumpy Badger's Christmas won us over immediately with the front cover. Although they say that you should never judge a book by its cover, in this case it worked for us. The illustrations on the front cover were a good indication of the delights that were contained within the pages.

Before I discuss the story plot, I wanted to mention the fact that I really admire how the illustrations are displayed with just the right amount of text. My son is now seven and so most books that contain pictures target a younger audience, whereas longer stories can cause him to turn off as there is nothing to hold his interest. The illustrations are beautifully drawn and successfully manage to capture the excitement and anticipation that Christmas provides.

Character-wise, I am sure most people will be able to relate to the character of Grumpy Badger. Most people will have a grandparent or aunt or uncle that can become scrooge-like at Christmas. His utter contempt of Christmas and over-the-top miserable behaviour makes it hard not to chuckle. The constant use of the word 'piffle' seemed to make my son laugh a lot as well.


You can feel the anger building as repeatedly Grumpy Badger is disturbed from his cosy bed by the woodland animals in the Christmas spirit. Much the same as in 'A Christmas Carol,' it is ultimately a case of conscience that makes Grumpy Badger have a frightening dream and realise how unacceptable his behaviour has been.

I also think the writers of this book know exactly what appeals to children; as talking about the food in the larder and under the bed had my son listening intently. Regales of puddings, pickles, pastries, packets of hams and cheeses, crispy crackers, jars of fruit and sticky-sweet jams is enough to have anyone salivating. Great descriptive powers used and also the illustration works well with the given description. Parallel to 'A Christmas Carol' Grumpy Badger comforts himself with thoughts of his hoards of food as opposed to Scrooge with his piles of money.

In the end Grumpy Badger realises the important things in life are sharing and friendship and being together at Christmas. A message which would be good for everyone to learn. It's a heart-warming and cosy ending which children will love.

The book also seemed to have a magical soporific effect as when my son saw Grumpy Badger tucked up beneath the cosy duvet with his fluffy pillow and hot water bottle, he huddled down in his own bed and looked very cosy. Once he heard the happy ending off to sleep he went before telling me that he loved the book.

And if anyone tells you that they don't like the book it will be 'triple piffle with knobs on top'!

Available from www.amazon.co.uk

Over the next few days Master Craftiness and myself are going to be taking a look at some of our favourite Christmas books. Check the blog each day for a new Christmas book review.

Violet Posy Christmas Decoration Tour

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com#

Part 2 coming later this week.

A Letter To My Sixteen-Year-Old Self

This post is inspired by 'The Sleep Is For The Weak writing workshop prompt.'
For all your newbies here’s how it works… you are given 5 writing/blogging prompts. Pick one, pick two, or do them all if you’re really keen – it’s up to you. How you respond is your choice. You could share a real-life story, or make one up. You could write a poem or just free-write without thinking too hard and see what happens. It can be funny; it can be serious; it can be emotional. It can be whatever you want it to be. The only rule is to have fun with it! Find more details of this workshop at Sleep Is For The Weak.

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Dear 16 Year Old Me,

I know you don't like your mothers advice at the moment and think that she is your worse enemy but in 4 short years you will realise why she does the things she does. Your independence scares her and despite wanting you to grow in to a woman, she wants you to have a safe journey in life. Try to remember that being a mother is not easy, especially when she still mourns for your father and the advice that he could have provided. Don't argue as you will soon come to learn that she will become one of your best friends in the entire world.

Enjoy your freedom and embrace the wonderful man you will meet on 10th October 1998 with all your heart. He will become your world and make you endlessly happy. When you fall out with your school friends through important exams, this doesn't matter. The only thing that will matter is that you have met the most perfect man ever for you, and he will love and protect you and make you feel the most special person on earth.

Be glad that your grief is subsiding for your dad and that your love is growing and deepening every day for your one day husband.

Your life is now going well and be thankful for what you have and love who you love! Just try to be a bit nicer to your mum!

Love Me xx