Welcome February

Dear Readers,

February is already here and, as I told you in the first blog post of 2018, this year I´m going to post a picture of the Sylvanian Families calendar at the start of each month.

Look at the great choice of chocolates at the supermarket.

Those heart shaped ones are perfect for Valentine´s Day.

Hope you have a wonderful February!

Crafting miniature challenge 2: "Scrubby Dubby"

Dear Readers,

The fortnightly theme for the second forum crafting miniature challenge was "Scrubby Dubby" so it was time to think "clean and tidy".

I made something for the Nursery and for the Macavities´bathroom.

Let´s start with the projects for the Nursery.


This corner looked a bit cluttered and messy  and Lucy Fenton wanted to do something about it so I gave her a hand and I made... 

a toy basket. This will be of good help to keep the nursery tidy.

"It´s time to tidy up, kids!" 

"Clean up, clean up, everybody let´s clean up. Clean up, clean up, put your toys away" The children started singing.

"That ´s much better! Tidy place, tidy mind".Lucy says

I also made a baby wipes dispenser using a toothpaste flip top cap.

Baby wipes are very useful to clean up the mess of tempera paint and rest of playdough on tables but also to make sure all the kids have clean hands and faces when they are getting ready to go back home.

"Show me your little hands!" 

My third miniature for this challenge is a laundry basket.
A big laundry basket is what Cassandra needed for her large family.

No more dirty clothes piled up on the floor.

I also made a scrubbing brush and a mop.

Today is Alonzo´s turn to clean the bathroom.

"Let´s give the bath a good scrub".

I made the scrubbing brush using a small piece of wood and  the rough, scratchy side of adhesive velcro. A quick and simple project as you can see.

And finally,this is the mop.I followed the steps of this tutorial

I´m afraid Alonso used a little too much floor cleaner, don´t you think so? 

Hope you liked my mini projects for this challenge. 

Thanks for reading!

A big hug!

Crafting miniature challenge 1:" Happy and Healthy"

Dear Readers,

Two weeks ago, Caz who owns a lovely blog and is very good at crafts, suggested in The Sylvanian Families Forum to make 2018 a Year of Creative Crafting Challenge.

Every other week she will post a challenge prompt to work on a DIY project that fits the prompt.

The first challenge was related to the concept of "health": "Happy and Healthy"

I really liked her idea but time is always an issue for me so for the past two weeks I din´t even have time to think about what to make.

However, two days before the deadline, I woke up feeling crafty. As it was Sunday I had some spare time and I decided to take part in the craft challenge.

This is what I made :

A healthy salad. 

I used polymer clay for the lettuce, eggs and cherry tomatoes. The radishes, carrot sticks, tomato wedges, spring onions and olives( I didn´t have black clay) are made out of foam.

Basil only uses fresh and organic products for his salads. This sald is full of vitamins and minerals to boost your health.

Enjoy your meal!

 A box of tissues.

Clarice Buttermilk knows it is always handy to have a box of tissues at the Cottage Hospital for those who have a bit of a cold

and for those who cry tears of joy.

A box of band-aids using this printable. The tiny band- aids are adhesive just as the real ones but it´s hard to appreciate it in the pictures.

Annabel Buttercup stumbled on a rock and scraped her knee. Clarice examined Annabel´s knee carefully.

There´s  nothing to worry about. It´s just a minor scrape.Clarice will clean it and cover it with a band-aid.

"Good girl, Annabel! I´m nearly done".

Annabel is fine.Ready to walk and run again! 

I hope you are happy and in good health. In case you are not feeling well, I wish you a quick recovery.

Take care!

A big hug!

Happy New Year!

Dear Readers,

This is my first post in 2018 so I´d like to wish all of you a Happy New Year.

I hope you have a year as wonderful as all the pictures of the Sylvanian Families 2018 calendar.
YES! I´ve been very very lucky to get one!

Last year, I got a SF calendar as a bonus gift when I joined the Premium Fan Club. This year it seems there is no calendar included with the winter magazine so I didn´t expect to get it.

I couldn´t believe my good luck the day I saw a SF 2018 calendar for sale at a bargain price. Sylvanians are becoming more and more popular in Spain but, as far as I know, this calendar is not easy to find so the last thing I could expect was to find the calendar for sale in Spain.

My only regret was to ask for ordinary mail instead of registered mail.

The calendar took more than a month and a half to arrive. As days passed by, I really lost the hope to get it. I felt so disappointed... but it finally arrived when least I expected.

A notification from the post office arrived two days  before the 6th of January, the day when we  get presents at Christmas time in Spain. I wasn´t at home at that time so it was my husband the one who went to the post office to pick up the calendar. He didn´t tell me anything about the desired package. Instead,he wrapped it up as if it were one more present from "The Three Kings or The three Wise Men" (Los Reyes Magos). (I told you about this spanish Christmas tradition in one of my old posts.) 

I was elated when the morning of the 6th of January I unwrapped my presents and surprisingly I found the calendar. Nobody could understand why I was so excited! 

If you are a Sylvanian collector or you just like Sylvanians you know this is not just an ordinary calendar and the fact that I lost hope to get it made it  even more special.

It´s lovely! This year the pictures of March, May, September and December feature the town new series.

This is the January picture. Lovely winter scene , don´t you think so?

I´ll probably post a picture of the calendar at the beginning of each month.Even if I don´t have pictures or stories to post on my blog, I´ll just pop in to say hello and wish you a happy month,just as Emily did on her blog  "Dandelion Creek" in 2016.

I consider the calendar a present from the "The Three kings". "It was lost and "Los Reyes Magos" founded it for you mum, aren´t they amazing?" My 7th year old daughter said. She knew  how much I was so looking forward to it.

By the way, these are some of the presents "The Three Kings" gave me. I only took a picture of the Sylvanian gifts.

I´m delighted with my new additions! I especially like the Dormouse family and baby. They are so cute!

If you are from Spain or familiar with spanish christmas traditions you will have recognized the ring shaped cake on the table straight away. 
In case you are curious about it, I´m going to tell you something about this tradition.

It is called "Roscón de Reyes" and it is traditionally eaten on the 6th of January, on Kings´Day. The "roscón" is a sweet, brioche-like bread made into a ring to resemble a crown. It is usually decorated with colourful candied fruit to represent the jewels on the crown.

The first day of January, and even earlier, bakeries and cake shops display the "Roscón de Reyes" on their shelves and windows.

It can be eaten plain or stuffed with fillings such as whipped cream, whipped custard or chocolate cream. Yummy, yummy!

In addition, there are two plastic wrapped surprises hidden inside the cake: a fava bean and a king figurine.

The unlucky person that finds the bean will have to buy next year´s roscón.

Whoever finds the king gets to wear the paper crown that comes with the cake. Every family memeber gets involved in the search of the hidden surprises and each one wants to be crowned!

I found the king this year!

To finish this post I´d also like to show you a present that arrived only two days after the Three Kings´s Day and that I was also looking forward to receiving it.
It came from Germany and it also took a long time to arrive. It was from Nina who has a lovely blog "At the Periwinkles"

The sweets she sent are already gone but look at her lovely handmade card and miniatures.
Thank you so much, Nina!

One more thing, my daughter wants me to show you one of her presents from The Three Kings.
A 300 pieces sylvanian families puzzle.

I didn´t have the intention to write a post as long as this one but one thing led to another and it ended up being much longer than I meant.
I just wanted to wish you a happy new year and show you the SF calendar but then I thought I could also show you my presents.
When I saw the picture of the Christmas presents I thought it could be interested to write about the "Roscón de Reyes". Hope you didn´t get bored. Maybe, some of my pictures made you a bit hungry. 😋 

Have a nice weekend!

A big hug!

Merry Christmas!

Dear Readers,

Just a very short post to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year filled with love, happiness, joy, good luck, good health and Sylvanians!

Lots of love and Christmas hugs.

An early Christmas present

It is nearly Christmas and it hasn´t snowed yet in Sweet Berry Valley.
This time last year, the village was covered in a white blanket of snow and everyone was getting ready to celebrate the festive season.

This year, most villagers wonder when the first sowflakes will begin to fall but weather this Christmas is white or not, it´s time to create a holiday atmosphere in their homes.

The Mulberry grandparents are a bit eccentric but when it comes to Christmas they are very traditional.

Mildred and George enjoy decorating their home for the festive season.

Mildred had just hung a wreath in the front door when George arrived with a Christmas tree resting in the sidecar.

They are so young at heart and so enthusiatic about life that they love Christmas as much as their grandchildren.

The Christmas wreath on the door and this welcome mat will tell all who entered that Christmas has come to the Mulberry grandparents´home.

But nothing says Merry Christmas more than the smell of their kitchen.

Homemade orange and cinnamon buns...

Hot chocolate and mulled wine simmering away...

and  the heavenly smell of christmas cookies and baked goods wafting through the house bring out the warmth and comfort of the Christmas season.

Talking about comfort, there´s nothing better than suggling up in a nice warm blanket on the sofa next to a wood burning stove when it´s cold outside.

A knock on the door made Mildred stand up from the sofa.
"Ike, Candy. Come on in,my dears." Mildred  welcomed her grandchildren warmly.

Ike and Candy came to help their grandparents put up the Christmas tree.

Decorating the tree was fun but tasting their grandma´s homemade cookies was a real treat for Ike and Candy.
George was trying to tune in to Christmas SF, a Christmas music station very popular at this time of the year.

The fun and festive tunes coming from the  radio put them in the mood for dancing away. 
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...What a bright time, that´s the right time to rock the night away..."

The music was so loud that they didn´t hear a car coming. 

Someone got out of the car and knocked on the door repeatedley but no one answered. The visitor slowly opened the door and entered the house.

He went straight to the living room and asked "Can I join the party?"

"EDWARD!" Mildred and George said at the same time.

"UNCLE EDWARD!" Ike and Candy exclaimed.

They all ran up to hug him. It´s been a long time since they last met. Edward hasn´t been in Sweet Berry Valley since last Christmas.

"What a lovely surprise, my son!" Mildred exclaimed. "We didn´t expect you until Christmas Day. You are always so busy at this time of the year that your visit caught us by surprise" She added.

" This year I´ve decided to arrive earlier. It´s time to break the bad habit of getting home five minutes before Christmas dinner" Edward said.

Ike and Candy wanted to tell their parents about their uncle´s arrival. George offerd to give them a ride home to tell Elma and Mae.

Mildred was so excited! She missed her son so much that his visit was like an early Christmas present.
Actually, the best Christmas present she could wish for when she heard Edward saying:

"Mother, I´m here to stay.I´m moving to Sweet Berry Valley. This village needs a toy maker and I need to be close to my family. I feel lonely some times, you know?

"Edward, that´s the best news I´ve heard in  ages!. I´m so happy!" 

Mother and son  hugged each other long and with great tenderness. 

After a while, the whole Mulberry family gathered in the living room. Edward had so much to tell and his family so many questions to ask that they stayed up until nearly midnigth. As it was so late, they all spent the night at Mildred´s and George´s place.
"It feels like Christmas Day" Candy said.
She was right,that was an especial family gathering just a couple of weeks before Christmas.

The next morning, when the children woke up and looked through the window they couldn´t belive their eyes.

"IT´S SNOWING" They shouted in amazement.

Sweet Berry Valley was a winter wonderland. A crisp, white blanket of snow covered the green fields.
Shortly after breakfast,Edward asked with a naughty smile : "Anyone for a snowball fight?"

Mildred and George enjoyed looking at their children and grandchildren having fun in the snow. They were delighted to have their family reunited.

"Come on grandpa! Come on grandma! Join us!"
 

The Mulberrys spent a lovely day together and without a doubt they will have a wonderful  white Christmas.


*******************************************

As you have just seen, Mildred , George and the rest of the Mulberry family are happy to have Edward back with them.
I´m also very happy to have added Edward, the toy maker, and his  work bench and most of his accessories to my collection. The toy maker set has always been one of muy favourites.
Edward´s decision to move to Sweet Berry Valley was his family´s best Christmas present and an early Christmas present for me too. 

Wishing you

A big hug!