So long, farewell!

Aussie Adventures is now officially on a break till I return from holidays next year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everybody!

Thanks so much for reading and for being a part of the Aussie Adventures community!

How well do you know the Bible?

A friend sent me this little game that I thought I should share with all of you who believe they are fairly familiar with the Bible.

There are names of 16 books of the Bible mentioned in the paragraph below. See how many you can find. A minister found 15 books in 20 minutes. But it took him weeks to find the sixteenth one. Let’s see how much time it takes you.

“I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu: kept people looking so hard for facts … and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalised. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of herbal tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph.”

So far, I've only found seven eight, but then again, I've got no patience and only spent about five minutes on it.

How many more can you find? Leave a comment and let me know!

Paper Flower CD Case

More Christmas presents being packaged!

Seriously, I think I give presents just so that I can gift wrap stuff.

Anyway, this is a present for D's mum and what better way to spice up the packaging than with a Paper Flower CD case, courtesy of Nick and Norah?


It was pretty easy going once I actually found a protractor, which I had to borrow from my workmate.

I felt like I was back in primary school though, working with angles and using a ruler and pencil and what not.

If I were to do it again, I would use slightly stiffer paper - gift wrapping paper is simply too flimsy.

However, I had fun, and once I find some big enough heavier card stock, I'm going to make a template so that I don't have to borrow that protractor all the time.

Solo necklace

Simple, understated, classic.

A real breeze to make, once I found a bead actually big enough for the rope thing to thread through!

I had to throw away another bead because I tried to thread the rope thing with a needle and it got stuck in the hole of the bead. It refused to go through completely and was not coming back out as well. So I ended up with a bead that had a needle sticking out the middle. Probably not too pleasant to wear.

Had fun making up the gift pack though.


The gift bag was made from an envelope that was lying around. (Tutorial here.)

And the gift tag was printed on my computer using alongthedottedline's free template I got ages ago.

Christmas gifts

As with most people, I've been thinking alot about Christmas presents these last few days.

I'm making a list, checking it twice...

But the thing is, I don't want to simply go out to the shops and buy someone something.

I just don't like the consumeristic nature of it (K-Rudd may differ in opinion since my way is technically slowing down the economy...).

You go out there, you buy something without much thought, you give it to the person, the person says thanks and it just sits in the person's cupboard growing mildew or something. Perhaps it'll get recycled as a present for someone else, but then it will just sit in that someone else's cupboard or so on and so forth.

Unless of course the present was honestly bought with much thought for the person, and is actually something that person would love and use. Now that's another story.

But if you really want to give someone a present, why did you have to wait till Christmas to give it?

I like giving gifts, and I may wait for birthdays and such to give them, but that hasn't stopped me from also randomly giving presents to people just because, well, I want to.

And that's why I like making my gifts from scratch.

I like to think I'm creating a unique gift and am having little impact on the environment if I use recycled materials. But best of all, I'm not supporting blind and/or mass consumerism.

The only problem? Hand made gifts take far too much time. If I start making presents now, I think I'll have them in time for Christmas 2009.

But then there are these gift ideas from the Tree Hugging Family.

Giving the gift of experience or a gift of necessity is not only more useful than giving a product gift, but both use fewer resources and thus, are eco-friendly.

Gifts of experience:

• Tickets to a play, the ballet, a concert, or art show.
• Season sports team tickets.
• A trip to the zoo, beach, art museum, or national park for a child.
• Movie tickets.
• Enrollment in a class - places like community colleges offer low-cost art, craft, and computer classes that people may enjoy.
• iTunes gift certificate.
• A gingerbread house making day.

Gifts of necessity:

• Pay someone’s mobile phone bill for two months.
• Offer to change someone’s oil, breaks, or other car issue.
• Give babysitting certificates.
• Organize someone’s garage.

What are you giving for Christmas this year?

Link.

101 reasons to buy handmade.

Pensionbook

Facebook for pensioners...


Note: I didn't actually create this. It was sent to me by a friend.

'Tis the season...

...to be a bit strange.

Mildly amusing happenings around the world, being this close to Christmas.

In London, angry people are beating up Santa Claus.

And in Germany, a real baby is found in the manger of a nativity scene.

Funnier that the baby is then named Christian.

On the Melody front?

Not much really, other than....10 days to Christmas holidays (not counting weekends!!)

One pretty thing

I love crafting. I cannot draw for nuts, but I love being able to get random scraps of materials, putting them together and ending up with something pretty.

That's why I love knitting.

I don't do it for the relaxation properties other knitters claim it has. I do it because I get to create. I get to take raw materials and transform it into something that is more or less useful.

But yarn and knitting aren't my only vice. I just love hand-making all sorts of different things.

And this website has my absolutely hooked.

Everyday, it comes up with a list of things that you can potentially make. And like its name, every single thing is pretty.

The only problem is that I can't seem to find the time to do all those things!

Between working, knitting, writing, reading, sleeping and going out, how does one find the time to fit in more things?

I don't think I have a busy life. At least I don't feel like I'm stressed or overwhelmed or anything. I just cannot seem to find the time to pursue everything in life that I want to.

Perhaps during retirement?

Noodle generator

What do you do when you are someone who often struggles when it comes to making a decision for dinner?

Cue the Noodle generator that will give you oh so delicious sounding options. It even has a vegetarian option!

If only it also dispenses the dish out of the CD-drive...

Link via Craft Magazine.