12 Days of Christmas - Day 11 with Melinda

Can you believe it... five more days until Christmas? Are you all prepared, presents wrapped and under the tree, menu planned and baking underway, house decorated with Christmas lights? Hello everyone, it's Melinda with you today and I'm busy with pre-Christmas preparations here on the farm. I promised myself I wouldn't rush around this year so I am taking it easy and only doing what I can get done with the least amount of fuss as possible... so far so good!

This year I decided to make my children a fun little snow-globe to count down the days until Santa arrives and each day they have replaced the little number tag inside and given it a shake to make it snow. Although being from Australia we won't be having a white Christmas, instead we will poolside with cool drinks, seafood, salad and lots of yummy cold sweets.

Here's how I created the Christmas snowglobe:

Step 1.
Using the snowflake stamp from the Doodlebug/Hampton Art clear stamp set, place it onto the white ink pad  (without a stamping plate) and push down until you have a generous coverage.

Step 2.
Place the stamp onto the globe and gentle push down with your fingers and then use the palm of your hand to give it a good push. I don't use a backing plate with the stamp because of the globe's curved surface. I find I get a much better result by simply pushing it down with my hand.

Step 3.
The next step can be done in two ways... either pour your glitter over the stamped area or place your glitter in a tray and gently press your globe into the glitter.

Step 4.
Gently shake off excess glitter and then using a soft bristle paint brush carefully brush away any remaining pieces of glitter. Don't be afraid to brush directly over the glittered image as it will only remove the glitter that hasn't stuck properly. Give your globe a light spray with a firm setting hair spray from approximately 30cm away which will seal the remaining glitter in place and won't come off when the kids pick up the globe to give it a good shake.

Finish your globe by decorating the lower rim and then create number tags to match the size of the template that comes with the globe. Your kids will enjoy being responsible for replacing the little tag each day and as an added bonus you can leave a bowl of chocolates next to the globe so they can enjoy a little treat each day as Christmas gets closer.

I would like to finish by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year - Melinda