In honour of the most famous reindeer of all (and the reason, after all, that Father Christmas makes it safely down our chimneys every year), here is a splash of vibrant red for your seventh day of advent!
Heartmade Project ~ Red Woolen Heart
Cut two heart shapes from an old woolen jumper. It doesn’t matter what size your hearts are, I made 24 small hearts to tuck into the pockets of an advent calendar, but these are from a much thicker jumper and I have made them bigger. And stuffed them with old pillow stuffing and some dried lavender.
Sew the edges together with blanket stitch or simple running stitch in a contrasting thread. I think pale cream or white looks great; very Scandinavian. Very festive. Sew from the bottom point, up one side and down the other.
You don’t have to stuff your hearts, but if you’d like to, you need to stop sewing a few stitches from the point, leaving a small gap. You can use all kinds of things for the stuffing, depending on the wool you use and how small your stitches are. Try one or more of these:
* rice
*dried lentils or beans
* a screwed up carrier bag
* scraps of fabric or paper
* wool or string
Or recycle some old pillow (or cushion, or quilt) stuffing and add some fragrance, if you like, with some dried lavender. You could use rose petals instead, or some cloves. Or a few drops of your favourite essential oil.
Sew up the gap and add a loop of wool or ribbon to hang, if you like. You could use these as drawer scenters, as Christmas decorations (they look great on a tree or hanging from a door handle, where they will make a room smell gorgeous too) or wrap in tissue and ribbon as a gift.
Heartmade Recipe ~ Vegetable Chilli
Not exactly a Christmas or advent recipe, but definitely a fantastic meal for the Winter months.
Using a large saucepan, this will cook enough to make two meals for 3-4 people. Gently soften some chopped onions, garlic, red and yellow peppers and fresh chillies with olive oil. (You can use chilli oil, dried chillies, chilli sauce, or ground chilli powder, if you prefer.)
Chop any vegetable you like into pieces; cut harder vegetables into slightly smaller pieces. Very soft vegetables such as courgettes, can be added to the pan a little after all the other ingredients.
Open the following tins (I rarely use use tinned food in recipes, but I use a few here!): three tins of tomatoes, two of baked beans, and three of any other beans you like. You could use dried beans, but I often cook this chilli on a whim (because I feel like I really need it) and haven’t the patience to wait 12 hours for bean-soaking.
Add your vegetables to the pan and stir for a few minutes to absorb all the oil, then add all your tinned ingredients to the saucepan, plus a handful of red lentils, a squeeze of tomato puree and a little tomato ketchup, plus salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until all your vegetables are cooked.
Serve with rice or jacket potatoes or in a bowl, just as it is. Perfect for keeping the cold out. Cold weather and, I think, that pesky cold virus, too!
Heartmade Tip ~ Don’t Worry!
Try and avoid the stress associated with the festive season; it really isn’t inevitable! When things feel like they’re getting on top of you, take some time out, if only a few minutes to slow down, to just breathe. To just be.
Here are three great quotes for you, to remind you that worrying is hard work, and never makes things better. And that all we need to do, sometimes, is to step away and look at things from a different angle.
Worry gives a small thing a great shadow. [Scandinavian Proverb]
And this was given to me by my wonderful Mum… thank you, Mum! It helps to keep me on an even keel during stormy weather:
I have no idea, where this last one is from, I have written it in the front of my diary for years and it still make me laugh every time I read it:
Don’t get your knickers in a twist. It just makes you walk funny!
For some reason, it really reminds me of my extraordinary Great Auntie Katie … it’s just the sort of thing she would have said!
Find something to laugh about every day, it really is the best stress buster. :O)
