Secret Message Acorns!

I'm back in full swing of collecting things again so my head has been swarming with ideas of things to make with all these wonderful nature objects I've been finding.

I just looked out the window to what I thought was giant flakes of snow...  I'm on total high snow alert since what may prove to be the first big winter storm is possibly heading my way :)   But, what I was seeing was not snow at all... it was actually feathers falling slowly!  I looked up and saw a few birds acting casual.  None that I could actually pinpoint as the culprit but the grey feathers did look awfully pretty falling against the wintry yard.  Now that I'm looking out the window again I'm realizing that it is snowing!  yay!

Anyways, I've started making these little acorns out of clay and I decided it would be cool to make a hollowed out area on the inside to hide trinkets or secrets inside of.

I made that set of browner acorns for my Dad and Mary as a Christmas present and I hid a little note inside for each of them.  The other one with the white acorns I made for my sister and I hid some of her tiny frogs in them.  I thought for sure she was going to notice the frogs missing from her shelf of tinies and the jig would totally be up but I slid it past her!

The untrained eye has no idea what lies inside...

Pick up the top to reveal the secret.

The littlest note!

The littlest frogs!

They're about the size of a fingernail!

Joyeux Noel & Happy Holidays

Here's some highlights from my holiday week.  

It all started with a belated birthday celebration for my Dad.  I decided that getting Chinese food would be fun since my dad loves it so much.  Since I didn't get a cake we put the candles in the chicken wings and sang to him.  I think he really liked it.  The candles didn't even fall over when he blew them out!

Note to self:  Don't over eat when it comes to Chinese food.. yikes!

 On Christmas Eve we had a big party at my dad's house where most of the fam from his side came to visit.  My mini cousin Emilie made a really nice dvd of photos in tribute to Grandpa and my other cousin Jean Louis got a sweet tee that said I love being a prick.

On Christmas morning Dad, Mary, Becker, and I gathered round the tree and got ready to open our presents from one another.  Just as we were about to start Mary asked me a question so we all turned to look at her.  Just then... her chair started to crack and she started a slow descent towards the piano bench.  Luckily she wasn't hurt and we were all able to have ourselves a great laugh.  It was strange how good the timing was though...

Here's a good pic of Dad holding his troll child!

Solstice Traditions

I love traditions/celebrations and have been spending some time researching different types of Christmas and solstice traditions. 

Here is a tradition I found from Newfoundland which holds roots based in the old Roman celebrations of the solstice.
"Mummers, also called ‘Jannies’, have been a tradition in Newfoundland since colonists from England brought the custom at the beginning of the seventeenth century.  Mummer comes from the old French ‘momer’ which means to wear a mask; pantomime.

People would disguise themselves with old articles of clothing and visit the homes of their friends and neighbours.  They would even cover their faces with a hood, scarf, mask or pillowcase to keep their identity hidden.  Men would sometimes dress as women, and women as men.  They would go from house to house. They usually carried their own musical instruments to play, sing and dance in every house they visited.  The host and hostess of these 'mummers parties' would serve a small lunch of Christmas cake with a glass of syrup or blueberry or dogberry wine.  All mummers usually drink a Christmas "grog" before they leave each house. (A grog is a drink of an alcoholic beverage such as rum or whiskey.)
When mummers visit everyone in the house starts playing a guessing game. They try to guess the identity of each mummer. As each one is identified they uncover their faces, but if their true identity is not guessed they do not have to unmask.  For a time the old tradition of "Mummering", or "Jannying" as it is sometimes called, seemed to fade, especially in the larger centers of Newfoundland. " 

This sounds familiar to me as the ancient frocophone tradition called  Mi-Carême (mid lent) practiced in Acadia (the maritime provinces)  My grandparents on my dad's side were from this area and just about every time they dressed up for Halloween they made up costumes that looked alot like the photos I've found of the Mummers and Mi-Carême.  I wonder if they ever celebrated this.  I've talked to Crystal and she seems interested in hosting a party like this! woo hoo!