Tai ka. 2012? Atidunda. Atskuba. Kaip koks neisvengiamas svetys. Masiskas laukimas. Kazkas svencia, kazkas jau atsvente. Kazkas dziaugiasi, kas gal asarele kita nubraukia. Kas kaip. Mes va, nusprendem ispudi Naujiem Metam padaryti. Namus puolem (pries)paskutine diena is pagrindu tvarkyti. Kambariu paskirti pakeisti (nerekomenduojam!), apsikuopti, apmazinti uzgyventu daiktu skaiciu. Atsinaujinti. Sakom gera pradzia toliau su minimalesnem pastangom daugybe geru dalyku atsinesa. Tai stai kaip mes i Naujuosius, svariau, erdviau ir su daugiau vietos smegeninese svajojimui ir tu graziu dalyku auginimui.

Esam dekingi 2011-iem. Nepavyko mum labai susidraugauti, bet geru dalyku situose metuose vis tiek netruko. Ir palydesim besibaigianciuosius su sypsenom, su apkabinimais, su meile sirdutese ir geru zodziu.

Aciu uz Jusu pasisveciavima sitoje kuklioje erdeje, aciu uz sildancius zodzius, laiskus, uz naujus namus mano kurineliams! Sekmingo Nauju pasitikimo ir graziu, visom prasmem metu!

So, 2012? Approaching. Rushing in. Like some unavoidable guest. Masses of people are waiting. Most are celebrating (big), some already did. With joy or a few tears wiped away. Whoever does what. We, completely out of the blue, have decided to impress the New Year. Moving rooms (not recommending!), de-cluttering, clearing and cleaning. Renewing. For 2 days in! It’s believed that a good start, brings lots more of good. So that’s how we’re heading into the New Year: cleaner, with more space and with also lots more room in our brain for dreams and good things to grow.

We’re thankful to the 2011. We did not get to become very firm friends with it, but still, there were plenty of good things in this year. We’ll send off the 2011 with smiles, hugs &  love in our hearts!

Thank you all for visiting this small space here, always thanks for your warming words, e-mails & for all the loving homes my creations live in! Wishing you a beautiful, in all ways possible, New Year!

Kisess, Mia

Here goes my very last tick on the Christmas to do list! Phew! This handmade shoebox dolls house (more pictures sometime soon) is a surprise for my little son and his little fox toy… and I’m officially joining in the festive mood!

Merry Merry to you all! x

Merry Merry to you all!

See a 12 year old boy making a raggy for his 7 year old sister, because she has read a book and could not stop dreaming about her very own doll that can speak, because it was made with love and came to life. I had to bargain with my brother and for a promise to do his bed for him for 2 weeks, I got my doll. Very primitive, nothing like the one I hoped for, but even more dear and really, one that spoke. For real.

That Raggie was the only doll he’s made so far, but look at what my lovely brother makes now, many many years later, but still with love. So who knows, maybe these wooden figures will speak to you… or to your little one…

One more day & 2 nights to manage till the very big event… and what better way ‘to kill’ the time than making something. It was a spontaneous project with not enough patience, but who will know? We had this plastic LED wreath from IKEA since last Christmas, with no concrete plans for it, so I decided to give it a purpose. A temporary one.

You will need:

*a ring with either some LED lights attached to it or a  Silhouette light from IKEA (ours is from last year, instead of a ring it’s only stars available now)

*paper snowflakes

*double sided sticky tape

The process couldn’t be more simple: I cut out the snowflakes from paper, various sizes and just stuck them on the ring with a sticky tape.

the final result

and I managed a Polish porcupine ball. They are time consuming so 1 will have to do… for now. Video tutorial

Among many many good things that Britain brought into my life I’m gonna mention scones today.  Plain ones, with raisins, cheese or cherries… but most importantly with a cup of  tea – I love scones so much, that to prove my love I bake them very often. My current best version is a wholemeal ones with shopped apricots, sultanas and raisins. I get them ready for breakfast and I’m not gonna say the number – all of them are gone (somewhere) by the end of the day.

I’ve also found a great apple cake recipe

and a new Polish recipe that makes  really yummy Christmas cookies

50g butter

1 tbsp golden syrup or honey (I used honey)

50g light brown sugar

225g plain flour

3tsp mixed spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon..)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3tbsp milk

1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Melt the butter, syrup or honey and sugar in a pan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the melted butter mixture, milk and egg yolk. Mix to a soft dough.

Kneed until smooth, then roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Stamp out forms using cookie cutters. Place on the baking sheets. Make a hole in each if you wish to hang them up later. Bake for 10 minutes, until a slightly darker shade.

Speaking of cookies, I had to make some for my kids school’s Christmas fair. I used simple gingerbread dough and decorated it with the icing. No idea how successful they were, but it was fun making these.

Ok. Next up buckwheat pancakes

Made from  wholewheat and buckwheat flour (50/50). My kids actually love them. I also substitute normal sugar for black molasses, it not only is healthier, tastes better, but also makes the pancakes look brownish, so my kiddos call our pancakes ‘the chocolate ones’

So that’s baking. Now making. Lina and her goodies. Already in my shop

I also have a bigger bear that needs to be finished… and a couple of other things…  so I might do my last shop update next Tuesday night, but no promises here

That’s it. The sun outside is calling – have a great Sunday!