Competitive Cakes

Since our boys were little it has been a tradition in our family that they decorate the Christmas cake on Christmas Eve.  Even when they moved away from home, first to University and then to employment, cake decorating on Christmas Eve was still mandatory :)

The cakes started out with traditional themes like polar bears and Santa's but in recent years they have gone a bit "off-piste" with the Elvis year being a particularly memorable cake!

This year, with the three of them living away from home and two of them now married there were some changes afoot in the tradition.

So, during December I made them each a plain Christmas Cake and delivered them complete with packets of coloured icing and left them to their own devices.

Here's what happened next!

Middle Son and his wife went for a Cool Runnings theme for their cake

So we have Santa careering down a Bobsleigh run jettisoning presents right, left and centre! (If you haven't seen it, Cool Runnings is a brilliant film about the Jamaican Olympic Bobsleigh team)

Youngest Son went for a completely different tack altogether and opted for a Game of Thrones-themed cake!

Naturally, being a Northerner, it is a House Stark cake because Christmas is Coming. (For those of you not acquainted with Game of Thrones, the motto of House Stark, who rule over the lands in the North, is Winter is Coming)

Finally, our Eldest Son and his wife got their act together and decorated their cake. Being big Game of Thrones fans too, they went for a similar theme. Living and working in the South now, our Eldest chose to ignore his Northern heritage and opted instead to represent a Southern power, House Baratheon! Their motto "Ours is the Fury" needed a bit of tweaking though, so it became "Ours is the Christmas" which suits that stag much better I think.

So, it looks like we have a new family tradition in the making :)

Needless to say, being boys, there was an element of competitiveness in the unveiling, so I promised them all that I would post the photos on my blog and ask readers to vote for their favourite. Naturally I couldn't choose between them :)

New to Me in December

Merry Christmas, I hope that wherever you are and whoever you are with you are having a great day.

Welcome to the last New to Me Link party of 2014

Time to celebrate all those new to you activities that you have tried out this month.

Surprisingly my New to Me activities are actually sewing-related this month :)

My first attempt at partial seams for Nicky's Siblings Together Quilting Bee block

My very first Hawaiian Applique block! The needleturn applique took forever!

My first QAYG pouch, my Pay it Forward gift to Nessa

and a really special New to Me

An early present from me to me :)


So that's my New to Me this month, now it is your turn to share all the fascinating things that you have been up to in December. As ever please help to spread the word by linking back to this post in your post and/or adding the blog button to your sidebar.

<div class="Celtic-Thistle-Stitches-button" style="width: 125px; margin: 0 auto;">
<a href="http://celticthistlestitches.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjeUnrQPLNmW-4ESmelY-jw6xs1jBL5J9Jv7Fd7WhD217cWdzSpq8iQ2fNHOn5pCqsIKkjCVZVBxzgzSKcqNG8vDPRu-xFGPA-OE32ELHOgetwzRMvO7Xa8LTxKExx5Jr9pUe5-x0jII/s125/New%2520to%2520Me%25202014%2520graphic.jpg" alt="Celtic Thistle Stitches" width="125" height="125" />
</a>
</div>

Check out the other links and leave a comment along the way. The emphasis of this link party is to celebrate the trying of something new, whether it works out exactly as planned or not, so a little encouragement here and there would not go amiss! 

The link will remain open until 23.59GMT on December 31st, so you have plenty of time to try something new and link up and join the party :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Last of the last minute gifts!

Isn't there always a need for a quick, last minute gift no matter how organised you are??

Here is what I have rustled up today

Spiced sugar jar for a baking friend and last minute invitation. Simplicity itself with layers of dried cranberries, sugar and cinnamon sticks!

Another set of wine glass charms to accompany a wine bottle gift

And Christmas Earrings for my d-i-l and fellow Christmas market traveller :)

They took me all of about 10 minutes and most of that was spent hunting for the cinnamon sticks :)


If you have been rustling up any last minute gifts, don't forget to link them up to this month's

The Link Party is hosted this month by the lovely Marie

Merry Christmas one and all!