Christmas 2012

So I am finally going to write this post that I think a lot of you have been waiting for... I know, it's already 2013... I'M SORRY! I'm horrible at staying on schedule. I think I should add that as one of my resolutions... I am also a huge procrastinator... ANYWAY here it is:

22nd of December - Prep Day

Daaaaaah!!! Everything is so hectic in this house that you would think you're running a marathon!! Neither of us have eaten a proper meal in the last three days because my Dad doesn't want us eating the ingredients in the fridge and my Mum has been running all around the house vacuuming each room at least five times per day! I feel like I'm not doing anything at all because 

A) My Dad gave me the lovely job of decorating the house ( I looooooved this idea ) but over the week he has forbidden me to decorate certain places of the house before the whole house was off limits to me decorating. That really annoyed me. 

B) My Dad (once again) doesn't want help in cooking because ( in his mind ) I m an immature child who throws food and cuts myself every time I am a meter away from a blunt knife. 

C) I can't just sit down and relax because I am immediately told off by my parents that I'm not doing anything and 

D) Every time I try and help my parents tell me to do something else and get out of their way. It's hard being a teenager. 

Anyway, enough of me whining, let's get back on track. I finally found something to do which was making the first batch of Christmas cookies! With my Mum we decided to make some sugary shortbread biscuits in my brand new gingerbread men mold that I had bought at the Christmas market a few days back. The recipe came from a small book containing recipe's that only had "La Vache Qui Rit" in them. Unfortunately we only had Emmental flavored Vache Qui Rit in our fridge ( *face palm* ) so it added an... interesting flavor. We also added some speculoos crumbs into our biscuits to try and hide the Emmental flavor... When the mixture was done, I hastily stuffed the mold and put it n the freezer so that it could set. I was now, once more, left with nothing to do. I ended up watching TV until the cookies were ready and I dropped all of them and they ALL broke *sad face*. So that's pretty much what happened that day. 

23rd of December - The journey begins! 

On the 23rd my Grandma arrived alone just before lunch and we almost immediately went out to lunch all together to the very refined french restaurant just up the road. We all ordered mussels and fries with alternate sauces and the adults then took a small coffee. When we arrived home we sat and chatted and ate some delicious holiday chocolates (mmm! This time of ear is when they taste the best!). Time passed a bit too quickly and we all realized that it was near the end of the day and there were still presents to be wrapped and cookies to be baked! We immediately took action and started with the cookies. It was exactly the same recipe (yippee, more cheddar tasting cookies) except we had the help of my grandma. Which helped. A LOT. But anyway, while the cookies were cooking we did some speed wrapping and ribbon tying. I would say that out of ten our efficiency and speed put together were a nine and a half. It was as if an elf had come in and wrapped our presents (because everybody knows that elves are amazing at wrapping presents). The cookies were ready and I had the right mind to ask somebody else to take the cookies out of the oven and obviously they didn't drop it (I'm such a clutz). By the end of all that we were all pretty tired (except my Dad who spent his time quietly reading his book. *face palm*) and didn't wait long to go to bed

24th of December - HO HO HO and a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Before they arrived in the morning (which was at 11:00 am FYI) my grandma and I made a second quick batch of cookies so that there would be one each for each person. Luckily we finished them right before they (if you don't know who they are, scroll down and read 'Coming up...' ) arrived (by five minuets no kidding!) and it FINALLY felt like Christmas! I also found out the the unknown girlfriend is called Nada and she is from Thailand but lived in California most of her life and speaks mostly English but also knows some french (enough to communicate with others). She also has a talent for drawing which obviously pleased me. I shared my drawings with her and she commented on them and I was so happy!!! BUT let's get back to where we were, so my cousins overloaded me with their stories and adventures. Thao showed me a great drawing that he made on the train (I'm so proud!) and Thuan just kept talking about anything and everything. You can pretty much have a whole conversation with him if you nod occasionally and do "aaah" and "oooh" noises when it sounds like the end of the sentence. While my Dad was preparing lunch Nada and I decorated the cookies (unfortunately the second batch burnt a little so that looked like they had a good month under the sun) with various icing and decorations. We had an absolutely HUGE goose for lunch which we barely finished but did in the end thank to Pierre Axel who became our human trash can. The rest of the afternoon was slow and lazy (except for the two little ones who were somehow strong enough to carry the weight of their bellies). My Dad bought for the occasion a box of chocolates that was ameter long and about ten centimeters wide from this famous chocolate shop which I can't remember the name of... but we tried them out during our lazy period (we somehow found space deep inside our stomachs to store it)  and oh my word they were AMAZING!!! Truly amazing. When it started to get dark Pierre Axel, Nada, Thao, Thuan  and I went in the garden to light some candles. This was so that Santa could see our garden and know where we were. It was also to help land his sled since it's not always easy finding a parking spot on roof tops. It took several tries (about twenty I would guess) to get all four of them to stay alight all at the same time. The problem was that when we would start heading back to the house, one of them would just die and we would have to go all the way back and try to light it again. Finally we managed to light all of them (at least long enough for us to go back to the house) and convince Thuan that Santa had called Pierre Axel to tell him that he saw the lights and had saved the address on his GPS. Soon enough it was time for the two little ones to go to sleep after another HUGE meal and this was when things got a little more exciting. Everybody went to get their presents out of their bags and in total there was a mountain of wrapped presents waiting to be revealed! We randomly placed them under the tree which made it look stunning. I then took my Dad's crocks and made mud footprints from the garden, into the house, around the tree and back (unfortunately there was no snow so it didn't look as magical *sad face*). My Dad then wrote a note coming from Santz and placed it next to a cup of milk (half of it drank by me) half a cookie and some carrots that have been bitten out of (some were thrown into the garden so it looked more realistic). After that, everything was done and I was anxious to get into my bed and see the faces of my cousins the next morning.

25th of December - Presents!!!!!

Presents!!!!! Lots and Lots of presents!!!! Obviously my cousins were the first ones to find them and ran furiously around the house waking everybody up. When we were all downstairs and somewhat awake ( which I was not ) my cousins opened their presents BUT I must share with you that right before they opened them, Thuan said the most adorable thing which became the highlight of my Christmas. When he saw the santa hat trapped between the door he said " at least this time he left us a clue! " IT WAS SO ADORABLE I felt like I was going to melt into a pond of purple goo :3 But now to continue the story. My cousins opened their presents first while the others watched and obviously loved every single present they got (expecially mine because.... well, it is me! ;) I got Thao a StarWars Lego alorm clock if you must know, here's a pic:  )

Hey guys, I am back from the future and do not want to finish this post (it's the 21st of Febuary and I started this post before Christmas... WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY LIFE?!?) and so I am now going to make a very short list of bullet points so that this post is OVER WITH.

• Went to plaisirs d'Hiver
• Went inside the Ice Monster - Thao and Thuan ran ahead before running back screaming and hiding behind Celine
• Went to see Ernest et Celestine (great movie for any kids!!)
• When going through two buildings the wind was so strong that Thuan "flew" into me
• Another cute quote from Thuan "Olivier looks hard and scary on the outside, but I know in the inside he's a nice person" Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!! Too cute!!!
• Pierre Axel got sick on the last day with Diarrhea and vomiting (yuck!)

So FINALLY this post is done! Sorry for the lack of detail at the end but this just HAD to be finished! Phew, I feel lighter all of a sudden. I am just going to fly away and leave this pit hole of a post once and for all! Ciao!

T Shirts

Suit up! OK, that was a really bad entrance but it was gonna be awkward otherwise... Anyway, a few weeks ago it was my friends birthday. Actually, it was two of my friends birthdays! So, for their birthday (this is like the third time i'm saying birthday in only three sentences...) I made them T Shirts! And they arrived today! (I know, I'm really late on the present giving thing but I did give them a small one before hand to wait! Check out my post called Movember if you want to know what it is!) I know this may not sound like the most amazing idea ever but if you're ever hesitating or don't know what to get for your friend/family member/annoying person who demands a present from you, a personalized T Shirt is a really great idea! 

You can do this in a few ways, you can:

• Draw on a light colored T Shirt with special pens made to draw on fabric (these are usually found in toy shops for little kids. At least that's where I found mine...)

• You can iron a picture on a blank T Shirt (I've never done it but my friend has... I would deeply recommend looking it up on the internet... mostly for security reasons and if you ever want to see that picture ever again.)

• Or you can send it to a company where they print out your own personalized T Shirt. If you live in the US or Canada, there's this great side called http://www.customink.com/ where you can design sweaters, pants, hats, shirts, water bottles, anything! And they have a wide range of fonts and pictures you can use (in addition to your own). For people who live in other countries (like me), I went to a near by printer shop where they will gladly print your picture to a T Shirt. If that doesn't work you can use a little website I like to call Google!

So, as you may have guessed, I used the third option for my friends though in the past I would amuse myself with drawing pretty pictures on white shirts (if you have kids, this is a great activity to do at home!)

Here are the pictures of the finished shirts that I make for my friends Jiwon and Lea.

Front

Back

Front

Back

You can really be creative when you make these shirts for your friends/family/annoying person who demands a present from you! You can put a friendly message, an inside joke, a picture of their favorite band, anything! Another fun thing to do is to add a few "accessories" to it. Sew on buttons, ribbons, some fancy lace on the sleeves (this is more of a girly thing boys unless you really enjoy frilly ribbons on your shirts) anything to make it personal! If you want a more trashy look you can rip the sleeves or add something more rebellious... I don't know what that would be, that's why I put three little dots. 

...

Bye!

P.S: For all of you who desire to see my shirt in action (which means being worn) then please go to my my friend's - Jiwon - Blog! Click on the MUSTACHIO (by mustachio I mean the word.... but not this one, the one before that). For all of you who are following my blog (thanks!!!) then you will have already found a link to her blog earlier on.... and now for the final word: Bye.

Accordion Athena

My friend Athena is dying to learn how to pay the accordion so to motivate her I drew a picture of her with... can you guess??? An accordion!!! 

Thought I would share it with you guys too in addition to the fastest accordion player in the world! (He's pretty amazing!)  So sit down and relax!

Good luck Athena!!!

Twit - a - woo

Did you hear that? I think it's the owl with my Hogwarts acceptance letter!!!

That's what I would have liked to say the day of my eleventh birthday but never did! I never understood why... Maybe I should send a quick e mail to Dumbledore and tell him that my letter hasn't arrived yet... BUT if you have a friend that is simply dying for theirs (like I do!) then here is a crafty solution just for you!!

You will be needing:

- White and yellow paper
- Paper in the color of your choice (this will be the color of your owl. I chose brown)
- A black Marker
- A metallic green pen
- A cream colored envelope
- Glue
- Scissors

1. Cut out the outline of the owl (without wings and feet) from the colored paper

2. Cut out the outline of your wings from the colored paper and an outline of a tail.

3. Cut out the feet outline from the yellow paper

4. Make an origami beak out of yellow paper. Click here for a tutorial. I cut out the edges of the beak to make it fit on my owl.

5. Cut out 2 large circles (eyes) from the white paper and 1 big oval (stomach)

6. Draw 1 small circle (pupils) in each white circle with a black marker to make the eyes. You can also draw small curved lines in the oval (see final image) in the oval for its stomach.

7. Stick the eyes and stomach onto your owl. Secondly, stick the beak right under the eyes. Then stick the wings and tail on the BACK of the owl.

8. Stick the feet just over halfway up your owl. DO NOT stick the toes!

9. Take your envelope and write on the outside the name and if you want their address with the metallic green pen. (e.g: Mr. Daniel Radcliffe  22 unknown street in a land far far away)

10. Finally stick the MIDDLE toe of each foot at the front of the envelope (where the name and address should be) and the outside toes at the back (where the flap is).

There! Now your friends can stop worrying about their letter and get on with their magical studies at home!

P.S: I THINK I JUST SAW AN OWL OUTSIDE!!!!!!! :O

Movember

Happy Movember everybody!!! Hope yours is growing long and shaggy!
But what about girls you say??? Well, here is my cunning solution for all girls who would like to participate!!
I have made a simple stache that will make your friends laugh so hard their mustaches will fall off!

You will need:

- Cardboard
- 1 lolly stick
- Glue (strong)
- Black paint or marker
- Transparent nail varnish (optional)

1. Cut out a mustache shape out of some cardboard.
2. Color / paint the card board and lolly stick COMPLETELY
3. Stick the lolly stick on the side or center (depending on you) of the mustache
4. Leave to dry
5. Coat the whole thing with nail varnish and let to dry (optional)
6. Voila!

You can also add a top hat by cutting half a toilet paper roll (cardboard part, not paper!) and sticking it to a circular shaped piece of cardboard. I stuck a bobby pin under it so that you can keep it in your hair!

So, here are a few pictures of my friend Jiwon with the mustache! If you would like to visit her blog (which she would deeply appreciate!!) click here.