A Squatchy Christmas Morning

The Twelve Days of Christmas are winding

down. It's almost January 6th, which is Epiphany!

The Day of Twelve Drummers Drumming is also my birthday, which is another reason I like to celebrate all the days between Christmas and Twelfth Night.

In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the Christmas celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas (or what the English called Christmastide). On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.

I've been enjoying time with my family and haven't had a chance to share some of the projects I completed lately. College Girl is a fan of Finding Bigfoot. She says it's the funniest television show she's ever seen. I think she's seen every episode. She saw a Sasquatch stocking online and asked if we could make one for her. So I purchased some nice felt, then she helped cut out the pieces. We layered all the cut pieces over a blue stocking base, which would show at the top and look like the night sky.

the layered pieces are ready to be stitched down

We used a pattern we found here

for the Sasquatch silhouette. I cut out trees from green felt and snow from off-white felt. I decided the stocking wouldn't need a lining since I was using such a thick, sturdy blue felt as the base. The scene I built from the trees and snow added stability, too. Since felt doesn't fray, I just top stitched all the scenery pieces down to the snow or mountain. I changed our stocking up from those we had seen online by adding a fur cuff and moon. To add the fur cuff I placed a circular/tube shaped strip of fur on the inside of the stocking (right side fur to wrong side of stocking), stitched a 1/4 inch seam around the top edge and folded the fur out over the top of the stocking.  Ta da...here it is!

I have to show you one more thing that

I ... oops, I mean Santa... stitched up for 

College Girl. This little guy has been on her wish list for a few years but somehow never got made. While I had the sewing machine warmed up and plenty of felt at the ready, I made a quick pattern from paper and crafted up an Ice Bat!

Here is Ice Bat waiting patiently for College Girl on Christmas morning. I think he felt right at home in the snowy Bigfoot stocking!

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Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum

 

Sunday was Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas. It was also the birthday of a few famous people such as Rowan Atkinson, Danny Thomas, King Richard II and Joan Of Arc. For me it began with a surprise birthday cup of steaming Chai Tea Latte when I stepped out of the shower!

Next, College Girl spoiled me with a bottle of Viva La Juicy, which I recently discovered I liked. I'm not a huge perfume person, but I keep one or two bottles on my vanity for special times. This pretty bottle with the crest and pink bow will probably find it's way into College Girl's bathroom now and then. I think she had an ulterior motive when she got it for me! Haha~

 

Handyman had flowers waiting and made sure to inflate my old blow-up cake. He bought that inflatable cake for me the first year we were married and I love the sentimentality of it! Of course, we had a real cake too. College Girl baked Emeril Lagosse's Spice Cake, and she used a delicious Sour Cream frosting recipe from All Recipes dot com. I'm sharing the recipe below: she ended up using an extra cup of powdered sugar to make the frosting thicker, but if you want a thinner glaze-like consistency, use 2 and 3/4 cup as the recipe calls for. It tasted wonderful on the Spice Cake. 

 I love my new Jonathan Adler Nook cover. It has a question mark on the back cover and small pockets inside.

We waited for rain all day since the weather report gave us a sixty percent chance it would be a wet day. But, as always since our daughter was born, the sun shone and kept rain clouds at bay. I call her my 'Sunshine' for this reason, and more. College Girl has a 20 year sunshine streak going for me! Before she was born it always rained on my birthday~

the view from our backyard

The day ended with Tostadas for dinner, card games, popping open our '12 Drummers' Toy Soldier Christmas Crackers, and eating cake. 

 Here's that yummy frosting recipe we used:  

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Stir in confectioners' sugar, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Submitted by Lilly's Mom.   Getting older is not so bad when you do it with traditions that mean the most to you and people who bring sunshine into your life! A little Spice Cake with Sour Cream Frosting doesn't hurt either. sharing this post with:  Mosaic Monday Freedom Fridays

7,8,9,10,11, Epiphany!

I'm behind! We left off at Six Geese a-Laying, so now we are up to Seven Swans a-Swimming. The Seven Swans represent the Holy Sacraments, or seven Gifts Of The Spirit.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)

On to 8 Maids a-milking! This represents the eight Beatitudes. 

 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)

Shall we dance? Nine Ladies Dancing are next~
They represent nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,
6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Ten Lords a Leaping symbolize the Ten Commandments~

We've reached 11 Pipers piping! Do you know anyone who plays the bagpipes? A dear friend of mine who lives in Mississippi plays the bagpipes in full regalia!
For the song, Eleven Pipers piping symbolize the eleven faithful apostles.

And, finally, the 12th Day Of Christmas...Epiphany! Epiphany is on January 6 and commemorates the arrival of the Magi visiting baby Jesus. The 12 Drummers Drumming symbolize the Apostles Creed. Many people around the world celebrate 12th Night, either on the evening of January 5 or January 6, depending on which theological calendar they use. It is also called 'Three Kings Day' and many people bake Kings Cakes for the occasion.

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King. (D. Bratcher). It is the official end to the Christmas season. After today, we will put away our Christmas decorations but I have enjoyed every day of Advent and the special time between Christmas Day and Epiphany! Here is another fascinating fact about January 6; "Around January 6, the symbol +C+B+M+ with two numbers before and two numbers after (for example, 20+C+B+M+12) is sometimes seen written in chalk above the doorway of Christian homes. The letters are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These letters also abbreviate the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, "May Christ bless the house." The beginning and ending numbers are the year, 2012 in the example above. The crosses represent Christ." HAPPY EPIPHANY!

the following source was used for this post~http://www.crivoice.org/cy12days.html

Five Golden Rings ....necked pheasants?

Well, we may never get to the bottom of this 12 Day Of Christmas song...some sources say it is a catechism carol, others say it was originally a French forfeits/memory game! I bet you think of jewelry when it comes to the 'five gold(en) rings', eh?

But some sources state that the five gold rings refer to five golden Ring Necked Pheasants! Charity Suthard writes,

"And on the fifth day, five golden rings. Finally, a gift that's not a bird, right? Wrong! The fifth day is not referring to the finger-adorning jewelry, but rather, to another type of bird, either the ring-necked pheasant or the goldspinks which is an old name for goldfinches. Even though, the song originated as five gold rings, it is often sung as five golden rings, because it flows better. In the religious aspect of the song, the five gold rings represent the Pentateuch which is first five books of the Bible's Old Testament also known as the Hebrew scriptures."

Ring Necked Pheasants or five gold bands, it is still a nice day leading to New Years Eve... and then eventually to January 6 which is Epiphany. And, it also gives us singers a chance to catch our breath!! ('five golden riiiiings!' Inhale! lol)

I had to chuckle when I read a blog post by BJ. She said her house is clean as a whistle and all the Christmas decor is packed away until next year....and it is still December! Wow, you go, girl! However, we have a tradition to keep Christmas decor out until Epiphany, the 12th Day Of Christmas. It is somebody's birthday here, and the grand finale of the Christmas season for us.

I made a New Years' card  today and couldn't keep away from my tea themed stamps~

I used~

• Martha Stewart corner/edge punches
• green Bazzill cardstock
• Stampin Up teacup
• white ribbon, inked pink
• Distress Inks
• black and white bakery string