I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas, and that your respective Boxing Days are, like mine, meandering along on a placid sea of chocolates, films and yummy sandwiches filled with leftovers.  I’m eschewing the outdoors today in favour of all of those things plus plenty of crochet and an impressive volume of tea.  Just the way the day after Christmas should be, with not a huge red SALE sign in sight.

In between middle of the day naps and turkey-themed feasts, I’ve spent most of my holiday catching up with friends from school.  And as per normal, we spend a while telling each other our news before proceeding to drink lots of booze and have a jolly old time, party games and cheesy Christmas songs included.  Coming home for the festive season has come to feel like putting my ’real’ life on hold in order to be fifteen again: to be silly with people I’ve known forever and to forget all about my career, my electricity bills and my waistline for just a little while.  I’ve come to regard it as fuel for the coming year – who could possibly proceed to tackling 2012 without a sizeable chunk of quiet (and sometimes raucous and red wine-splattered) indulgence to keep the car running? 

Speaking of 2012, it is but a week away.  Usually I’m pretty big on New Year’s resolutions (as big as I am indifferent to Hogmanay, in fact).  But in light of the fact that my 2011 plans took a nosedive somewhere around May, I’ve decided not to bother making any promises in 2012.  Not so much because of fear of failure, but more because I’ve found over the course of this year that good things come about regardless of how much or how little planning I do in January.  This year I saw three new countries and seven new cities, I went travelling alone, I learned to crochet and I saw two of my favourite bands in concert.  I also finally ate at that Chinese I’ve been meaning to try out for years.  Twice.  I foresaw none of that good stuff happening way back on January 1st.  So with that in mind, here’s to a 2012 that’s free of pressure but choked to the brim with noisy, interesting, beautifully unexpected LIFE.  I can’t wait to see what it brings.

Image above from here.

This week has been all about trying to stay warm in the face of increasingly chilly weather (bitter out there, innit?).  The cold snap and the bizarrely fierce winds have forced me off of my bike and back on to the bus so I’ve also been able to finish a couple of books.  I skipped my way through One Day by David Nicholls at the start of the week (I found this really rather corny if I’m honest, despite enjoying the film in the Summer), and I also finished The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton.  I won’t pretend that I understood the whole thing, but it was fun at the time…

The week has also seen me crocheting like a crazy person.  My boyfriend has taken to rolling his eyes and reaching for the nearest phone/computer/book whenever I mention the ‘C’ word, but I don’t care - I FREAKING LOVE CROCHETING!  I haven’t been this excited about a new hobby since I discovered bread making.  If anyone has ever tried, and failed (like me, several times) to knit, let me tell you now: try crochet instead!  It’s easy, it’s satisfying and you can produce just as much in the way of pretty woolly things with one hook as you could with two pins.  And it took me a total of two hours to learn, thanks due both to YouTube and my Mum.  My first project is a patchwork quilt, and so far I’ve finished around 25 of my planned 64 ‘patches’.  The best thing about creating individual squares is that I can carry my project around with me wherever I go: on the bus, in the coffee shop, on the train…yes, I’m that person.  I’m even taking a few balls of wool on holiday with me tomorrow.  Let’s face it, if the weather carries on down this track there will be no time to lose in getting another cosy wool blanket on my bed!

I also found time to fit in a film this week.  My Week With Marilyn was surprising affecting – has anyone else seen it?  It made me realise that excess amounts of fame have been burning holes in societies and individual levels of self-confidence (the levels of self-confidence of the stars themselves included) alike since way before the X Factor came along.  The most touching thing about the film for me was the way Michelle Williams brought out Monroe’s striking naivety.  I’ll admit to knowing precious little about the woman herself, but the film to me portrayed someone who had an almost non-existent grasp on the position she held and the power she was unconsciously wielding as a result.  Williams was fantastic.  And on a much more vacuous note, she looked pretty damned gorgeous in all those pencil skirts and skinny belts.

So now we find ourselves in December.  And I feel fully justified in talking about Christmas as a result.  Whether you hit the high street with the masses or if, like me, you give only one or two gifts and make as much as you can yourself, the season of giving is well and truly upon us.  So if, by chance, you missed my list of DIY gifts, find it here.  Let me know if you try anything and, more importantly, what the result is!

Tomorrow morning my boyfriend and I are off on our travels again.  This time, our destinations are Krakow, Prague and Berlin, all in one week, all on the cheap.  I’m hoping for glittering Winter sun, lots of cake and coffee (or kaffee und kuchen as my half-German other half reliably informs me) and maybe even some authentic festive markets.  Is my fledgling Polish up to the test?  Definitely, shamefully, not.  Let the frantic gesturing, raised eyebrows and manic smiling begin…

What have you been up to this week?

Image above from here.

Last month I was talking about having no time for projects.  Like writing, and sewing, and crochet – the new joy in my life.  So this month, I’m making a bit more of a conscious effort to squeeze in time for those things (I actually am, take no notice of the pithy amount of posting I’m doing here – it’s all being pummelled into crocheting my first blanket!).  And as anyone who has had cause to venture anywhere near any kind of shop lately will surely testify, jolly old Christmas is most definitely upon us.

So.  Finding time for creative projects plus Christmas, season of goodwill and foisting of gifts upon others.  When it comes to Christmas presents, my position is thus: no to mindless consumerist blow-outs but emphatic yes to all things second hand and home-made.  A position that I’m finding I can happily combine with my ‘do more creative stuff’ November goal. And true to form, I’ve produced a list of fun and easy projects to have a go at this festive season.  Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.

• Knock up your own three-tier cake stand.  Charity shop-sourced plates, a handle from eBay and your Dad’s (or Mum’s, or your own – we cater for all possibilities here) cordless drill.  Amazing.
• Sew an elasticated skirt.  Some pretty patterned fabric, piece of elastic for the waistband and a few straight(ish) lines on the sewing machine.  Bish, bash, bosh.
• Baked goods! Truffles, cakes, biscuits – small cake decoration stores (or the dreaded Hobbycraft if you don’t have access to such a place) will present you with an array of colourful packaging options.
• Put your (home-sewn?) apron on, and make batches of jam, or pickle, or spicy golden marmalades.  Store in cheap cask jars from Ikea and tie with pretty ribbon.
• Whip up some festive (or not so festive!) bunting…
• Make a DIY advent calendar – I made one of these a few years ago, with numbered pockets and christmassy fabric.
• Make a DIY non-advent calendar.  It doesn’t have to look professional – in fact, my favourite home-made gifts are the ones that actually look home-made (yes I would be happy with a dried macaroni and glitter spray effort).
• Decorate a boring photo frame with buttons, jewels, safety pins and any other crap from around the house you can get your hands on.
• Write someone a poem (which doesn’t have to rhyme!)
• Hand-craft a meaningful card
• Sew your own tea cosy!
• Transform some scrap fabric or lace into a gorgeous peter pan collar.  A Sewing Odyssey is your friend.
• Buy a plain photo album, fill it and write a message on the inside.  You can even decorate the outside…
• Infuse some olive oil with garlic, chilli or lemon.  Store in tall glass bottles (the ones with cask lids are my favourite).
• And on the ‘infusing’ note, I once made a huge cask jar of pickled eggs for my boyfriend – the whole thing cost about £6 and I’ve never seen a bigger grin on his face.  (Yes I know, not everyone is lucky enough to have a pickled egg enthusiast in their life…)
• Sew some PJs!  Pyjama trousers are a seriously easy sewing machine project – the trickiest part is deciding which fabric to use!  Easy-to-follow patterns abound all over the internet and let’s face it – no one ever groans at a new pair of PJs.
• Grow someone a plant, some flowers or a few wintry herbs.  Snaffle some cute pots or even chipped teacups from a charity shop for storing them in and pass on some new life…
• Create your own vouchers.  Some people see this as tacky but I think it’s a great idea.  The best part is being able to tailor your vouchers to the person you’re giving them to.  Offering a knackered new parent some free babysitting?  Priceless.
• Draw someone a picture.  Simple yet surprisingly touching to receive.
• Write a short story.  I love this idea, although I haven’t tried it yet.  Make the giftee of your work the protagonist and take them somewhere exciting for a while.
• Get your brew on: cordial, elderflower wine, mulled wine for Christmas…
• Make some jewellery: rings, brooches, beaded necklaces.  I love rings made from buttons or coins of places I’ve travelled to.  Uniquely personal and not to be found in trashy Topshop.  Lovely.
• Create a mix tape or whatever the modern day equivalent of such a thing would be (a personalised Spotify playlist?  I find that depressing, but the sentiment is sweet…).
• Create a scrapbook!  Old photos, cinema and gig tickets, programmes from the theatre etc.  No two scrapbooks are ever the same.
• Buy some dolly clothes pegs and make some angels for the tops of friends’ Christmas trees.  Make sure to use plenty of glitter!
• Sew a Christmas stocking!
• Make soap!
• Bake a cake.  Everyone loves cake.
• Glass painting (thanks @hapsci for the suggestion).  Wine glasses, glass jars to hold candles, picture frames etc.  I’m reliably informed that the materials can be found in Hobbycraft (I hate the place but it does come in useful sometimes).

As I said before, please feel free to chip in with your own suggestions for Christmassy projects.  The more ideas the more fun we’ll all have.  And if you attempt anything on the list, please drop me a line and let me know how it went!  Now where did I put my pritstick…

Image above from here.

I’ve decreed this Boxing Day my own personal day of slovenliness.  Pyjama-clad and with a box of chocolates within easy reach, it’s safe to say I harbour absolutely no intentions of going outside today.  My family are gathered infront of a film in the next room, the cat is curled up on the sofa behind me and I’m basking in that lovely feeling of post-Christmas warmth, the kind that naturally follows a day of relaxation, laughter and nice food.

You can imagine, therefore, my despair when I logged onto the BBC news website to find this story earlier on.  That’s right, shoppers were “screaming with relief” when they were finally permitted to enter the hallowed halls of their favoured money-sucking meccas this morning.  Apparently those pesky Sunday trading laws were keeping agitated spenders from their bounty, leaving them foaming at the mouth and stamping their feet outside in the cold until the unthinkable hour of 11am.  I can imagine the outrage: how DARE the day of rest get in the way of the best binge of the year?  Surely some MP somewhere must resign at the alter of consumer capitalism for such an atrocity?  No?  Ah well, back to the tills then.

The sarcasm is, perhaps, a touch unnecessary.  The question, however, I think is pretty clear…

What are we doing to ourselves?

Why oh why do we so stoutly refuse to say no to shopping?  Why is it that a mature, well-developed and relatively well-educated society such as ours has decided to enslave itself to ‘things’ to the extent that we have?  I know I had this rant at roughly the same time last year, but I still don’t get it.  I still don’t get why people would actively choose to go out and spend yet more money when they’ve only just finished bankrupting themselves over Christmas.  It’s absurd to the point of extremity that some people are still shopping, when they know fine and well that they will spend the whole of 2011 struggling to pay off the debts they’ve incurred over the past three or four weeks alone.  And what’s all this spending for?  For a bunch of consumer chattels with a limited lifespan and absolutely no power to bring joy, that’s what.  It’s madness.

I’m fully aware that this year the unhappy prospect of a 2.5% VAT increase looms over us, and that in a purely practical sense it is much wiser to make necessary purchases this side of January 4th than the other.  Nevertheless, I can’t for one second believe that astute tax planning is what’s motivating a sizeable proportion of the masses at the shops today.  What’s motivating many people, I would conjecture, is the desire for more.  More clothes, more DVDs, more electronic gadgets.  Forget about the stuff we received in our stockings yesterday, today is a bright new dawn of half-off consumer spending – make the most of it!

It’s honestly not my intention to sound all preachy and holier than thou, so if I do, I sincerely apologise.  I fully accept that we are fortunate enough to live in a society where people are, by and large, free to do what they like.  There’s no law against shopping, and neither do I think there should be.  It simply depresses me to think of all the money that’s being wasted as I sit here and write this: pounds being poured down the throats of people like Philip Green, the gap between our country’s rich and poor haemorrhaging with every transaction and all because we can’t keep a lid on our desire for material wealth.  It upsets me to think of all the Christmas presents, unwrapped with frenzied haste a mere 24 hours ago, but already consigned to the far corners of minds as their recipients race to the tills in search of the ever-elusive more.

But what upsets me most about the Boxing day shopping bonanza is the fact that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world who don’t even have enough to eat, let alone enough to fuel the festival of excess that has become the great British Christmas.  The fatal twist of the knife, and the thing that is so profoundly abhorrent about the entire charade, is the fact that for some people in this country, even Christmas isn’t enough.

Image above from Flickr – gagilas.

And so we come to the final entry in the Mince Pie Diaries.  To all those who have taken the time to contribute to the series, THANK YOU!  It’s been lots of fun listening to your tales about the festive season, and the giggles we’ve shared have definitely helped to stave off some of the irritation I feel at this time of year when frenzied consumer spending, short tempers and general madness move in and take over our lives.  Today’s entry, written by my boyfriend, Laurence (follow him on Twitter if you’re into technology, politics and unbridled sarcasm) is particuarly poignant for me as I think it wholeheartedly represents the best thing about Christmas (for non-Christians that is) – the fact that it’s a holiday.  So read, enjoy and then stuff a mince pie in your gob.  And wherever you are in the world, may I wish you peace, joy and a very Happy Christmas…

My favourite thing about Christmas has always been the legitimate excuse it gives, for a short period of the year, to postpone and stop worrying about your obligations. Until a few years ago this for me was the period immediately following the end of the school term, when everyone knew there was no homework or assignment remotely important enough to merit a second thought until well after New Year, and playing games and praying for snow became all that mattered. That period, from around the 20th of December until about the 5th of January, was about as close to freedom as it got back then (the other example being, of course, the beginning of the summer holidays – but that didn’t have the delicious prospects of snow, presents and Lebkuchen).

Once you’ve entered working life the freedom effect is somewhat reduced by depressing realities like ‘annual leave’ and the unspoken pressure to go into the office in the week between Christmas and Hogmanay. That’s not to mention the unbelievable pressure to morph into a turbo-consumer and buy vapid, meaningless gifts which vaguely fit the desire profiles of those you’re “supposed to buy for” (says who?). This disregard for the freedom I’m talking about is especially evident in the retail sector, where working long hours over Christmas is expected, and indeed lots of high street stores will draft in an army of extra labourers to help cater for the horde’s insatiable desire for more. And we as consumers are treated like little purchasing units whose only purpose is to make sure the high street takes more this year in the run up to Christmas than it did last year. Looking at the queues at the tills, it’s not hard to see how the time for ‘peace and goodwill’ has become anything but, except perhaps for a few precious hours on Christmas Day (when most shops are closed…).

If, however, I insulate myself from some of the more egregious crimes of the consumer machine, I can usually still foster a feeling of freedom at Christmas time. Most obligations – even the really boring/nasty ones – get the benefit of a light dusting of goodwill, making them that little bit easier to bear than at other times of the year. That slight upward shift in spirits is what I like the most, especially when combined with numerous festive touches like Christmas lights, gingerbread lattés and the German market.

For me, the run-up to the day usually feels more Christmassy than the day itself, because as with so many things hype and expectation loom ominously and create undue pressure to have a Good Time. But in those weeks and days preceding the main event, the simple pleasure of wrapping up, putting on some sturdy boots and drinking slightly too much Glühwein on a weeknight represents a spontaneous kind of simple enjoyment which for me embodies not just Christmas, but also how we should approach living our lives all year round.

Image above from Flickr – theqspeaks.