Christmas Countdown Trivia

I have been counting down Christmas from 1 December on my Facebook page... here is some trivia I have been uncovering during the process.

Christmas Bells... In older times he very shape of the bell is reminiscent to dome of heaven. In Christianity the ringing of a bell is a sacred announcement to the presence of Christ at mass. In Buddhism, the sounding of a bell is the resonance of pure wisdom - a tonal symbol of perfect harmony & clarity. In Asian thought the bell is also a harmonic symbol - the bell itself considered female, the clapper or pendulum within the bell is male. The two working as one to create a beautiful tone is symbolic of the union between male and female (yin and yang) to create perfect cooperation and balance

I use these pillow cases every December and have done so for about 30+ years? I have enough for everyone in the family so now I guess I have a set of "vintage" Christmas pillow cases To see a pillow in your dream represents comfort. relaxation, ease, and/or luxury. You need to take it easy on yourself

Christmas is celebrated all over the world but there are many different traditions and there are some Christmas celebrations even in countries where the majority of people are non-Christian. Celebrate Christmas by giving an "ethnic " gift .... some ideas?

According to research commissioned by eBay , this year Australians each spent an average of $662 to buy 12.7 Christmas presents, with an average cost of just over $52 per gift. Yet despite this $8.5 billion spend on gifts, more than half the respondents still received at least one unwanted present on Christmas day.

In "The Father Christmas Letters", which Tolkien wrote for his children, Red Gnomes are helpful creatures who come from Norway to the North Pole to assist Father Christmas and his Elves in fighting the wicked Goblins.

Before electricity, people used candles to light their homes and to decorate their Christmas trees. Today electric lights have replaced candles. Candles and Christmas lights represent Christ, the Light of the World. "I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life" (John 8:12). "

Gingerbread dates back to the15th century, and figural biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century.^[1 The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread-biscuits appearing was in the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests

"Run, run, run as fast as you can.

You’ll never catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.

I ran from the baker and his wife too.

You’ll never catch me, not any of you"

Did you know that holly is associated with males and is considered to bring men good luck and protection; the female counterpart to holly is ivy?

Early Christians recognized deeper symbolism in Holly by associating the leaves as the "crown of thorns" and the red berries as the blood of Christ....

From now until Christmas .... I will add a brief post daily to countdown the next three weeks to Christmas Day.

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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