December Round-Up: A Surprisingly Laid-Back Month with Birthday Treats and Festive Calm
Hello everyone, and a very happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a wonderful festive break.
Before I dive in, I have a small confession to make—this blog post is entirely imageless! As you’ll read below, my camera really didn’t get much use at all in December, so you will just have to use your imaginations this time around.
Looking back, December felt surprisingly laid-back this year. For once, I actually felt organised—presents were wrapped and cards were sent relatively early. It made such a difference to just be able to enjoy the month without that last-minute panic!
Here is a little look back at what I got up to.
Crafting
Honestly, aside from the flurry of Christmas and birthday cards I mentioned previously, I haven’t done a huge amount of crafting this month. It’s been nice to just have a little break.
I did, however, have a little play around with making my own stickers, which was great fun! It was a bit of trial and error to start with, but I ended up really happy with the results. I think I’ll need to invest in a new printer eventually to make some higher quality ones, but for now, I’ve enjoyed making little batches to pop into letters for penpals.
Over in my book folding Facebook group, our theme for December was “Watches and Clocks”. I found some really cool images and I have a plan to hopefully turn a book fold into an actual working clock sometime soon! Watch this space (pun intended!).
Photography
As I mentioned, my big camera didn’t see much action in December. Apart from a few quick snaps on my phone to capture memories, I didn’t really take any “proper” photographs. I’m hoping to change that in January though—I’d love to get out and visit some new places and perhaps challenge myself with some different techniques.
Real Life
Last month I mentioned getting a new PC, and oh my goodness, I am still so incredibly grateful for it. It’s made such a difference for designing crafting projects, but it also means I can properly play games now! Marc and I have both enjoyed Minecraft for years separately (me perhaps more so!), but we’ve never actually been able to play together. Now we have our own little vanilla world, which we are absolutely loving. I don’t normally play vanilla, but I’m finding it so relaxing. We have lots of grand plans and are really looking forward to building our world together.
Our Minecraft journey did hit a bit of a bump in the road, however. I unfortunately developed tendinitis. It started gradually with some thumb pain while moving it. I tried wearing a support I already had, but it just got worse—to the point where I couldn’t sleep or move my arm without pain. Off I went to minor injuries, where I was given a splint and told to rest and elevate it for a few days. Thankfully, it began to improve. It’s still not 100% right, but it is much better. I just need to concentrate more on my hand placement and ensure I’m moving it around more now. Live and learn, eh?
Despite the sore thumb, I did manage to celebrate my birthday in December. I had such a lovely day; I spent the daytime pattern making (my happy place!), then headed out to meet Marc for a meal and a trip to the cinema. We discovered a place called Tamatanga and had some absolutely beautiful food. Afterwards, we saw Fackham Hall, which was such a silly, stupid film, but so very funny. It was a really lovely birthday.
Shortly after the birthday celebrations, it was time for Christmas itself, which was incredibly quiet this year—just how we like it. We mostly just ate and relaxed. There was nothing good on the TV, as per usual! However, everyone did have the privilege of sampling my Yorkshire Puddings, which I must say were so good! I’m not generally a confident cook, but I do enjoy making a cracking Yorkshire. New Year’s Eve was similarly chilled with nice food and movies. I did find myself checking my watch at 10:30 pm though—I think I’m getting too old to stay up so late! New Year’s Day was lovely; we had a little party with silly games and gift opening. I did get bullied a bit for my height, but it was all in good fun!
Speaking of all that food, I am still plodding on with the weight loss jab. I am currently on week 11 and am now down 25lbs in total. I won’t lie, the Christmas and New Year period has been a real struggle with too much food around and trying to break old traditions. I found it incredibly difficult to leave food on my Christmas dinner plate after spending my whole life being the one who always finished hers (and others’!). My stomach was uncomfortably full, but my head was telling me to carry on eating. It was a strange battle. I knew Christmas would be my biggest hurdle, but I actually only put on 1lb over the festive break, which I was absolutely over the moon with! I am very excited to get back to normality now though.
Looking Ahead to January
January for me is always about making plans. I don’t really want to make rigid “resolutions,” but I will be writing a separate post soon about my hopes and plans for what I want to achieve in 2026.
After a short break from book folding, I am itching to jump back into it and hopefully get a very detailed project finished soon. January will also hopefully see the start of a couple of long-term Pokémon projects I have planned.
Finally, my wonderful Facebook group chose “Mushrooms” as January’s pattern theme. It’s such an exciting subject and I’ve already added some really cool patterns to the site for it.
If you are interested in book folding, or just want to see what it’s all about, do come and join our lovely community over on Facebook. We are a very friendly bunch and love welcoming new members, regardless of experience level!
Here’s to a creative January!
