The week before Christmas

These days we've been crafting a lot. With my children or with some slightly older children.
I organised a Christmas Fair.
We've been to birthday parties and advent celebrations.
I've had Barefoot Books stalls at lots of Christmas Fairs locally.
I've applied for 2 jobs.
We baked Plätzchen.
We ate Plätzchen and baked some more.
We saw a panto and a friend took Cubling to the theatre.
We made oranges with cloves, wrapping paper, dry felt angels, felt ornaments, decopatch candle holders. And a few other things.

No picture available (because 1 year old is keeping me on my feet and it's getting harder to take any photos at all): the two crochet stars I made which still need some finishing (yay, I did some crochet and it looks presentable). The still unfinished knitting projects, to which a few knitted slippers were added for good measure. The glittery poo coming out of my baby's bum.

Hooked up

For years I've been wanting to learn how to crochet. Not really surprising, considering I like to knit and crocheting is, after all, doing something with yarn and a needle too.
I'm not one to learn from books, I've tried, without much conviction and can't even focus my eyes to link description and image to a sensible whole. It doesn't work for me. I'm a believer in these things being taught from person to person.

When I went on maternity leave, I had the idea of hosting a crafting group where tutors would be invited one evening a month or thereabouts to teach a small group a new skill. I still like the idea but admittedly haven't done anything about it, so it was with rather a lot of delight that I discovered two places in Glasgow that put this idea into practice and even make a business out of it. Seems I'm not the only one with this idea, and how convenient that both places opened up just as I went on maternity leave. Make it Glasgow is a sewing cafe in the Merchant City, where you can drop in, hire a sewing machine and sew away, with a fresh cuppa and nice books to get your head into. They run regular crafting classes where you can brush up lots of skills, well beyond sewing.

The Lifecraft do something similar in the Westend - there's a cafe, yarn, sewing patterns, knitting and sewing accessories, toddler and pre-schooler sessions, knitting meetups. They too have craft classes on offer.

I love the concept, and what's best, most classes are only 3 hours long, perfect timing between feeds! So I learned how to crochet at Make it Glasgow (and took Snowflake along anyway because I'm daft that way and still rather have her with me). 3 hours, a great tutor, and I think I can crochet. It doesn't look great yet, but I know my chain from my stitch and my doubles from my trebles.

I'm rather pleased with it all.

Decopatch Vase

The presents I like best at Christmas, whether received or given, are those where a lot of thought has gone into and those which are handmade. In an ideal world, and maybe in years to come, I'd like to have a handmade Christmas, where all I give and decorate has been made by me or someone else (i.e. bought on etsy or folksy).

Of course, the reality is that we're all busy and something has to give. I have less time for crafts than ever but I still sneak it in here and there. My approach is to do as much as I can myself (which is rather little), and above all, not to get pressurised into doing more than I can manage, and stick with the stuff that I find easy to do.

Which is why I'd like to share an idea for a handmade present that doesn't take much time or effort, but looks beautiful. The technique goes by the name of decopatch. You will need an item to decorate - any blank surface will do (a plain glass vase, a mirror with a decent sized frame around it, a picture frame, a box, a reused glass jar, anything goes really - Ikea has lovely and cheap basic items that you can decorate, such as vases and mirrors with a decent sized frame that can be decorated), decopatch paper (it's thinner than normal paper), PVC glue, scissors, a paintbrush and decopatch varnish. The last item on the list is the most expensive one but it will last you and make the finished product more durable. It's not essential though.

I get my supplies from Damselfly on Great Western Road in Glasgow, who also run craft classes in decopatch (this is not a sponsored post, and I'm sure you can get supplies through many channels, but I like to support local shops which have done me well).

Cut the decopatch paper into different sized and shaped pieces.
With the paintbrush, apply a layer of glue to the item you want to decorate.
Glue the decopatch paper pieces onto the item, brushing it with the glue. Make sure to overlap, you can also add second and third layers (because you apply glue while brushing the paper flat, further layers will stick). Feel free to add decorations, like a cut out flower from a different decopatch paper, sequins etc.
Let dry for a few hours or overnight.
Apply the decopatch varnish with a brush.
Done. One present ticked. If you can bear to give it away that is.

You can decorate vases:
Mirrors/frames:
Glass jars and make them into candle holders:
Or even your toilet seat. The technique is so simple that pre-schoolers or older children will be able to help.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: me-time or a birthday treat or making felt

As a treat for my birthday, Mr Cartside took the girls to the park nearby while I learned how to felt:

Lantern making time!

Well, it's this busy time of the year for us again. One celebration follows the next and we struggle to keep up. One thing is for sure though, no half German household is complete without making a St. Martin's lantern! If you want to find out a bit more about St Martin's Day, a festival celebrated in many European countries, head over to Red Ted Art's blog (and you get another lantern design too!). Last year, we had used an imported kit to make a mermaid lantern. Nice one, Cubling was into mermaids, but the kit was not ideal for a 2 year old. This year, we opted for an easy version that Cubling could help with more.

It took a few minutes to make. All you need is an empty 2l plastic bottle (transparent), scissors, glue, paintbrush (to apply the glue), semi-transparent paper, some wire and a stapler. Optional: cardboard of various colours to make lantern into an animal lookalike.

Cut the semi-transparent paper (multiple colours) into pieces. Cut off the top of the bottle. Apply glue to the outside of the bottle with the paintbrush and then stick the semi-transparent paper pieces onto the bottle - overlap is fine, use as many or little as you like.

Staple the wire to the top of the bottle.
Then you should have something like this:

Optional: you may want to add cardboard pieces to the bottle to make it into an animal - just cut out eyes and other features and glue to the lantern. I haven't done this yet but will do before the big day (I hope anyway), so no picture, sorry.

Get a lantern stick (that's the tricky part, they don't retail in the UK, Maggie over at Red Ted Art has some alternative ideas in the comments section) and you're done! Now all you need to do is practice your St Martin's songs, find a German expat group and walk the walk!

We are lucky that here in Glasgow there is a big St Martin's celebration, organised by the Kinderclub. It kicks off with lantern making this Saturday 1.30-3.30pm at the Hopkins Building (£3 which covers materials) and is followed by the short service and procession at University Chapel on Sunday from 6pm (with play afterwards, this is free). Anyone can come, you don't have to be German to take part in this event - it's always a great atmosphere and very well attended, and the lanterns - well, you'll get an amazing display of lantern making.

image from blog.labbe.de.

I can feel a moan coming over me... oops, here it is.

Once again all the half written posts aren't getting written. Instead, I feel overwhelmed with life in general. Things aren't getting better and the prospect of 11 weeks of pregnancy ahead of me, 7 of them working almost full time, scare me. So what's wrong with me? Well I've already mentioned that I've been diagnosed as anaemic, which is not helping my mood or general feeling of exhaustion, but the real physical strain is that of constant dizziness when coming back up from toddler level. And I'm there a lot, because Cubling has copped on to the fact that I'm not very mobile. What I thought was a pulled muscle or ligament has turned into full blown SPD. I'm slow, but worse than that, every movement makes the pain worse.

So instead of long walks, aquanatal classes, swimming or yoga - even instead of gardening, I sit. And sit. And sit some more. My pain level is so directly related to daily activity that I know punishment is just around the corner. So I try to keep physical activity to a minimum, which isn't always possible, and sometimes I'm simply not prepared to sacrifice every fun activity to this relentless pain.

So today, although I was already sore upon waking from making this nice set of drawers for my crafty stuff which is currently piling up behind the dining room door (made from a very cheap and ugly IKEA unit;

we went to the local farmers market and moved on, via a swing park, to Bungo in the Back Lanes, a fabulous community backlane festival for the whole family, where residents let people into their back yards, sell second hand stuff, crafts, home baking and much more. It's a truly successful initiative, totally community run and simply a great day out. And great it was - such a perfect day for it, lovely sunshine but not too hot, lots of people but not too busy, and I love the way I always run into people for a wee chat. The only draw back was that they didn't get licence to sell alcohol this year, because it was getting too busy and successful and "security" wasn't high enough (as if anyone in Strathbungo was out to steal booze, come on, get serious you spoilsports).

Now I'm paying for the afternoon stroll and probably tomorrow too.
But that's find, I knew what I was doing. What's not so fine is the frustration of wanting to enjoy this summer, my girl before she has to share me, this pregnancy, the magic of it all, of growing a person, and all I can do is moan and wobble. Blooming? Me arse. I feel like snapping at everyone who tells me that I'm looking well (if you read this, please remember next time you see me and just don't) because I know I look horrible, can you not see those massive feet, my hobble walk, my wrinkles of pain inscribed on my face? My undone toenails because already I can't reach? My short temper with Cubling because she takes advantage and tests her boundaries at every opportunity knowing that she's faster than me? The dependency on my beloved, who really does all he can but can't take away the feeling of inadequacy that is slowly but surely taking over?

Above all, the prospect of this pain getting worse (as if it wasn't bad already)  in the weeks to come is doing my head in. I had a different form of SPD last time. I know it gets worse and I got it much earlier this time. How on earth can I give birth like this?

And then I hear from other friends who are struggling for very different reasons and how everyone has their weight to carry and is trying to stay on even keel, and only just about managing (or maybe even not because don't we all try to keep up some appearance of keeping it all together?). I know that this pain at least is temporary, I will get through it, and the main thing is not to let it take over, to take delight in the little things that make me smile or happy.

Just sometimes it's harder than usual.

(Cubling hiding from my camera behind a gingerbread man from the farmers market)

There are some sitting activities though: watching football, knitting and maybe (once I get through the chaos that is my craft corner) even sewing. And then there was another little something that really brightened up my day. Just some words, implicit, not even aimed at me, but so breaking the pattern of communication that I've been extremely worried about recently. Funny how just one positive can break the pattern of negatives.

And that is what makes me hopeful that I'll get through this phase of The Moan.

A Reverse Competition of Christmas Spending?

I came across a blog post today that tickled me in so many ways that I decided, rather than comment, to continue the discussion here. MrsW over at Clinically Fed Up elaborated on the middle class malaise of a competition of minimalism when it comes to Christmas spend on the kids, and a competition for the handmade which may or may not link in with this minimalism. Of course, I'm summarising here and I do encourage you to read her post before you continue to read mine.

Well, as you can imagine, as someone who has blogged about the senseless consumerism which seems to gnaw at our very existence (though it wasn't meant as a criticism of purely Christmas spending), as someone who tries to include as many handmade items as I can, and as someone who's been rather struggling financially this year, you can imagine that MrsW's post whirled up a bit of sand in my slightly scattered head. It really got me thinking. Am I contributing to the pressure on parents to be picture perfect and have a handmade home? Is my attempt to cut down on spending decidedly middle class (a question I ask myself almost daily)? Can I afford to spend but decide not to because I'm stingy?

To be clear: I find the £50 limit on spend per child artificial. This year, we spent more. In spite of being broke. Last year and the year before it was less, but that was because Cubling was too young and had more toys than she could play with anyway and I truly didn't see the point. The £20 limit is just daft. I spend more than that on other people's kids. The inverse competition isn't something that I've come across, in fact, I've never discussed with even my best friends how much they spend on their child. However, I can relate to so many examples linked to the minimalism of spending.

This year in particular, I've been found to complain about the abundance of presents. Not just for the kids, but for us big kids too. We (Mr and Mrs Cartside) are in our late 30s, yet we are given presents by relatives and friends, who now also give an additional present to our daughter. I know that for some, this is a significant expense, and I'm not comfortable with this. On the other hand, being given presents undoubtably creates a pressure to give presents in return and it does get rather difficult finding a present for people who actually have all they need (or don't disclose what they do need and have not). It's no secret that I hate waste, and the thought of any present, regardless of value, not being used, makes me question what all this present giving is about.

I only need to take my father as a glowing example. Every single present I've given him since time immemorial has been unused. He's my dad and I can't seem to be able to come up with a single thing that he may appreciate. I've tried. Rarely, I've been successful. His own approach is that of monetary gifts, one that I don't particularly like but at least he's (brutally) honest and tells me he can't be bothered imagining what people may want and he really doesn't want any more tat even from other people.

On the other hand, there's the financial pressure that I am under at the moment. It's temporary, so it doesn't worry me the way it worries others. But I know plenty of people who've recently lost their jobs and who still may give presents. It isn't right. I don't want them to give presents, I do appreciate the gesture very much, but really, it's not necessary. We have all we've got and a visit, a phone call, some time together is the best gift there can be. There is also the sad fact that those who struggle the most will still spend to make Christmas special, and end up in debt. Serious debt I may add.

Add to that my very real concern about the temptation of quick buys in cheap shops, the consumer society we live in which produces stuff that is not needed on the expense of natural resources that are limited, I have come to the conclusion that I can only try and address this in some way. So, yes, my way has been to try and increase the proportion of handmade items. Handmade in the broadest sense. Of course MrsW is very right in saying that a) handmade is actually not necessarily cheaper, especially if you look at my favourite sport, knitting; that b) it takes a lot of time and it's not realistic to make a handmade only Christmas; and that c) most of us aren't talented enough to make it anything that someone may appreciate. I struggle with c), really, I love making things, but the only thing I'm reasonably good at is knitting. Which takes ages. I could never ever knit enough to make even the smallest of presents for those closest to me.

As to b) the time involved in making things - that is a very important point. As much as I do like to increase the proportion of handmade items, it doesn't work because I work. Simple as that. I work 4 days a week, sometimes evenings and weekends, I'm the cook in our family, I keep the house tidy (barely let me tell you) and I also help out at another household. There is only so much time in the day and more often than not, my energy just about suffices for a quickly scribbled blog post.

So why do I try? Well, it is about trying to somehow break the endless consumerism I'm surrounded by. If I knit a baby hat, I know that I gave it 2 full evenings of mine. But evenings where I was able to relax. It does make me appreciate the real value of things. Because, even though you can buy a knitted hat/cardigan etc in the shop for a fraction of the cost of yarn, nevermind the time, I also know that the shop hat is cheap because of exploitation, cheap labour, pollution, consumption of natural resources (yes it takes oil to make a baby hat). And I try to opt, where I can, not to buy, not to consume, not to create more stuff. And yes, I'm acutely aware that this attitude is decidedly middle class which makes me very uneasy a lot of the time.

I also want to make sure as of the year to come that anyone who wants to give us a present knows that we are happy if they chose not to. That we appreciate a very small token and are open to agree not to give presents. And as to the kids, well, it's a hard one. I love giving to kids, and so do others. But truth be told, my daughter plays little at home - she's either at the childminder or at her cousin's house, or we are out and about. She already has more toys than time to play with them, and when she plays she actually prefers to help me cook, to play with empty kitchen rolls and other random items. She is great at imagination - e. g. she'll play hairdresser without any toys, she just imagines soap, hair dryer and scissors. I really feel, as much as I hate to say it, that the £30 (I'm guessing) play house that she played with a few times and doesn't now touch, was money wasted.

Therefore, for birthdays and Christmasses to come, I hope our friends and relatives do not feel obliged to buy the latest pink toy for our daughter, or anything at all for us, the parents. And, radical as it may be, second hand is just fine when it comes to presents. The bottom line is that it's hard to tell what will be played with. I'm very happy to spend a lot of money on one item if this is something that will be cherished (which is why we bought a large item for this Christmas) but would rather do without the stuff that won't get played with. And for us - well, do we really need anything? Have we not got more than enough? This year, I've made some handmade presents, some knits, lots of biscuits. They will come in lieu of gifts to relatives who we feel have been burdened with our badly selected gifts in the past.

Surely, food is always appreciated. And if it's homemade, it doesn't have the "I didn't know what to get you so I bought you a box of biscuits" feel to it. I do pledge to do more of this next year. Not as a reverse competition (we will always be happy to spend a lot if it's an item that is appreciated and will be used lots), but as a way of getting the balance right. And not making people thank us for another useless item that we randomly selected for them.

Making a Recycled Tealight Holder

As today's entry for my craft advent calendar is still waiting for a contribution, and there are still another 5 entries available to bring us up to Christmas, I thought I'd share a very simple idea, suitable for crafting with young children (that means roughly 2 1/2 years plus). It also enables you to recycle food jars. It's about time I came up with something really, admittedly I hadn't yet made a proper contribution to it myself. You may consider it a late contribution to the fabulous Recycled Christmas Carnival over at The Rubbish Diet.

You will need:
-A wide jar, big enough to place a tea light in
-transparent craft paper in different colours. I think decopatch paper (which is semi transparent) should also look nice
-pvc glue
-a paintbrush to apply glue with
-a tealight
-scissors (not essential)

Cut or rip the transparent or semi transparent paper into small pieces.
Using a paint brush, cover part or the full outside of the jar with glue (it may help to thin the glue down a bit). Stick the paper pieces on the jar, brush them smooth. You can add layers by simply applying glue to the paper already attached and sticking more paper on. Finish off covering all the paper with a thin layer of glue. Feel free to add some glitter for sparkle.

You may create shapes with this, like a night time sky, a flower, Santa - or keep it simple (as we did) for just some colour and a project which a 33 month old can complete from start to finish. Let dry overnight. Light your tealight and enjoy.

(Well, you may need to also unglue your toddler from the table, and gather the sprinkling of paper bits that will have made their way into every single room of your home. But other than that...)

Something I made earlier

I've been slacking a little bit in the card making department. For the last few years, incredibly, I managed to make almost every card that left our house. Not so this year - somehow, knitting took over. It could also have something to do with my reluctance to sitting in the dining room in the evening rather than the living room (where there is no suitable surface for making cards). The decision was made to give Christmas cards a miss for this year, but to at least attempt to get back into personalised card making for other occasions.

Baby Roisin and Baby no-name-yet finally gave me the kick in the Popo that I'd been waiting for. So, the other night, while my beloved was busy writing Christmas cards, I made few new baby cards. They are simple to make and the techniques are self explanatory. I'm not a card artist, just someone who enjoys crafting here and there, and who enjoys to personalise cards that little bit. The cards I make are simple, and I expect that anyone can create something similar (or even better).

I use plain coloured card stock in various sizes which can be purchased at almost every arts and craft shop (Millers and The Art Shop in Glasgow, Hobbycraft in the Fort in Easterhouse/Glasgow, and in Cardwell Garden Centre in Gourock which has a great crafts shop). I tend to go for the cheapest option (usually it comes as 50 cards and envelopes, the quality is decent and much cheaper than the lower quantity options - I find that I use white and ivory most, with red and green card stock for Christmas cards). I also have a supply of toppers and a selection of different type of card, fabric, stamps and pens to colour in, beads and any other decoration you can get your hands on. Ikea currently does very cheap scrapbooking sets which can also be used for decorating. Children's craft scissors are great for unusual edgings. Or you can rip hand made paper to great effect. Finally, I use letter stickers to personalise the card once baby is born and the name is known.

So six cheers for last week's two babies.

Craft Advent Calendar

I had an idea. It doesn't happen a lot, so if it happens, I get all excited.
Inspired by Violet Posy's Thrifty Christmas, and today being the first day of December, it occurred to me how nice it would be to have one little Christmassy craft project for children for each day of December. A sort of Craft Advent Calendar.

So, I'm inviting all you fellow bloggers who have Christmassy craft ideas to blog about them and add the link to this post, and hopefully together we'll be able to create a unique crafty advent calendar which we can all draw inspiration from.

Are you up for it? Consider yourself tagged!

looking for creativity

The last few weeks were full of pressure at work and trying to get 100 and one things done in the evening. I slept little, stayed up late. Every night I planned to squeeze in some creative time, some knitting, sewing and felting (the latter thanks to Betz White's Felt and Stitch Holiday which I'd taken part in). Each night, I failed. Yes, I did do some creative work with my photos and produced some amazing photo books and calendars, which I do count as creative work. I did follow the felt workshop and discovered new techniques, yet failed to make time to implement them. Try I did, succeed I did not.

Erica over at Little Mummy recently posted and interesting pyramid of needs and while I don't subscribe to the rather radical theory, it was clear that my head wasn't free to make mind time for crafting. It was frustrating. My approach has always been that all my crafting has to be enjoyable and not a chore - so I went with the flow. Last night, at last, the urge came back properly and within a day, I completed a knitting project. It was triggered by a visit to K1Yarns' Glasgow shop. For anyone who doesn't know K1Yarns, it's a top notch yarn shop, with one shop in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow. The owner very kindly agreed to sell the print copy A Hat in Time without any commission and the reason for my visit was the delivery of a batch of books. In the shop, there were knitted tea cozies on display and amazing books on knitting and sewing caught my eye. Torn between 3 books, this one on Japanese Zakka (home style) sewing inspired me, ending up home with me along some wonderful knitting yarn:
There I was, frantically trying to source linen fabric, my head full of ideas, buzzing as it hadn't been in a long time. That very evening, I started to knit a tea cozy which I've just about finished (bar the finishing, excuse the pun). The feel of the yarn running through my fingers felt good beyond words, the pleasure of the texture created so satisfying. The joy of having found the right idea for someone special this Christmas. Thinking of the person while knitting it and which tea pot the cozy may keep warm.

It made me ponder how in spite of the sewing inspiration and the felting workshop, with all the materials lying about, I'd defaulted again to knitting. I feel at home knitting, unlike sewing and felting. I'm determined to become at home at least with sewing because somehow I feel it's meant to be, as my paternal family made their living from it. I can boast a father who can sew and cross stitch like you wouldn't believe it, having picked it up from his mum and aunt who were seamstresses and who were the sole breadwinners in the postwar years, with a fiance fallen in the Great War and a husband (my grandfather) injured in the Second World War. My father never was a great teacher, and while picked up knitting from my Mum, never did I do more than watch my Dad sew and stitch.

Sewing, for me, is something I still aspire to enjoy and get good at, because it's a family thing, a tradition, it should somehow be in my genes and there's pride in it too. Pride that my paternal grandparents were crafts people, a seamstress and a bricklayer, one to make homes, the other to make clothes and mend. A perfect combination, and considering I'm rather far removed from bricklaying, at least I want to do my father and his mother and aunt proud.

While for this weekend, I'll keep to knitting, hopefully next week will have some sewing in store at long last.

The day of lanterns

While this blog has been silent, we've been busy. To celebrate St Martin's Day in style, I'd brought lantern making equipment from Germany and last week saw us putting it together. What was meant to be fun ended in tears. The lantern was a bit difficult to make, and Cubling's fingers kept interfering at the wrong time at the wrong place. I was frustrated, so was she. Eventually, I gave in, let her cut into paper and make her own stuff (she used the scales of the mermaid to make a door and a door handle, which I was rather impressed with), and I finished off the lantern after her bedtime.

Next morning, her first sentence was "where's my Laterne?", and le voila, there it was, all done!
She was delighted, and I think she believed she had in fact made it herself. That's what counts, right?

Yesterday was the big day. Cubling's first Laternenumzug. We managed to just about sneak into the University Chapel before it all started, and luckily they were selling the right batteries and even the much needed light sticks - if only I'd known, I'd have saved myself a lot of worry and hassle. Cubling's eyes lit up with the little light. We met up with some of her little friends. Songs were sung, children read out the story of St Martin and Cubling was full of wonder of the interior of the chapel. As we left for the lantern parade in the "cloister" (it's not a real cloister), she broke into tears. It took me a while to realise why. She thought we were going home and no, didn't like this idea at all: "I want go Hause nicht!" It took some intense explaining that the parade was part of it and we were just going outside for the parade and no, we had no intention of going home just yet.

She carried the lantern as if it was a race, then found new uses for lanterns (they make good leaf holders) and finally found it much more interesting to run off. Posing for a picture? No chance.

The Umtrunk (wee dram) thereafter was busy and Cubling found some flipcharts she wanted to decorate. Malen! Laufen! (draw, run) were the battlecries of the evening. Just as well, it was so busy that by the time we got there all the food and drink was already finished. It didn't take her long to make some new friends and she loved it all so much that she was last to leave and even then only very reluctantly.

As we got home, she carried her lantern proudly, singing "Laterne, Laterne - Sonne, Mond und Sterne". It was the first time she'd sang this song, and it melted my heart. Of course she didn't part with her beloved mermaid lantern this morning either, showing it off to the childminder and the other girls.

I think we managed to make it into a successful day, one that she will hopefully remember.

Admittedly, I find the bicultural diary a bit demanding at this time of the year. Halloween, Bonfire Night, St Martin and Nikolaus all within five weeks of one another. Phew.

The Treasures of our Trip

This is what we're bringing back with us from our short trip to Germany, to keep the link glowing for the months to come:

1. transparent crafting paper, a large cheese box, a mermaid instruction booklet and an electric lantern holder

To make a mermaid lantern for Glasgow's St Martin's Day lantern parade. Cubling is big into mermaids (and other less girly stuff, just that the less girly variations the craft shop had on offer didn't resemble combine harvesters, cranes, diggers or tractors) hence the mermaid booklet. She's still too young in my opinion to be trusted with the real thing, i.e. a lantern with a candle in it, so the electric variant has to make do for this year.

2. A hair band.

Nothing too German about that. She just wouldn't leave the shop without it and to be fair, it would help her hair style immensely. If she kept in in for more than two seconds that is.

3. A Brotbrettchen.

That's the flat rectangular with a slice of bread and a cow-shaped cold meet slice on it. It's a wooden board for eating your bread on. Instead of plates, you see. Very German. And they have such fun versions of it, I love them. This one was picked by Cubling as a souvenir.

4. Bernsteinkettchen (amber necklace).

A souvenir for my little niece and her teeth which may bother her. Amber necklaces apparently soothe teething pains. Believe it or scorn it, Midwife Muse tried it a little while ago on her gandchildren and maintains it worked (and she's not German so it must be true).

5. Various CDs and DVDs of German music and cartoon series.

That's me hoping that letting her watch TV in German will magically make her love all things German. To be fair, I can't wait to relive my own childhood by watching Die Sendung mit der Maus and Co. And I'm obviously big time into bribing toddlers.

6. A wooden sewing toy

Given to Cubling by my friend A. The needle is a mouse who eats through food. Cubling loves it, she's such a food addict and loves feeding any real or imaginary person or mouse.

7. Another present from A.: a drawing block, crayons, and a magic pencil with all the colours of the rainbow. The latter is a particular hit, Cubling loves making the colours change and telling me all about it.

8. A nursery rhyme singalong book.

One of those really annoying toys. I really had tried hard for Cubling to pick the autumn teeming book (Herbstwimmelbuch) which was my book of choice. However, she saw this and was not to be separated from it. So we've not got a book that plays 10 different German nursery rhymes, which is going under the name "Big Book" and is compulsory bed and nap time reading material. Did I mention my rotten cold? Imagine the scene, me singing with a sore throat and stuffed nose, 10 nursery rhymes at an impossible pitch for me at the best of times. It may annoy me and everyone in earshot, but Cubling has already started singing along and it certainly is her favourite book at the moment. So much so that I could've left all the other books I took at home.

9. Yarn

I spent my last Euros on 6 balls of Italian made yarn to knit a summer dress for Cubling. It's another F.Pea creation (cowgirl butterfly astronaut vest) and the suggested yarn, being US made, is not available here. I think I've finally found a good replacement.

10. Oops, forgot the scissors. That's because they had to stay as we only had hand luggage. When I went to my beloved craft shop aptly named "Zauberkoerbchen", Cubling wanted them. Then they became her precious. Imagine, my ever energetic, ever moving, ever running, never calm or sitting for any length of time, my one and only spirited girl - there she sat with a pair of scissors and a sheet of paper, cutting into the edge. Ever so carefully not to cut her fingers. For half hours at a time. There is magic in a pair of scissors as Slugs in the Refrigerator has described more eloquently.

And this is the lovely yarn I was knitting with while in Germany: Hachos de Mirasol, a Peruvian and fairly traded yarn which I just adore.