Christmas on Manastirishte

This Christmas, as is almost a tradition already, husband, Gaby and I went hiking. We chose a very easy and short trail, expecting something like a walk in the park. Down in the city the snow melted around the middle of December and we were surprised and a bit unprepared for the conditions on Plana. The trail was covered with deep wet snow and at the end of the hike our three-season hiking boots were all dripping wet. Luckily, the weather was sunny and a bit above zero and apart from our wet feet we were actually quite warm.

:The church at the end of the village and the beginning of the trail

:Vitosha in the distance

Hike info:

Destination: peak Manastirishte (1338 m)

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 8.2 km

Elevation gain: 160 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 2 h 15 min

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

:The old abandoned house, one of the landmarks on this trail

:The path on the ridge of the peak was covered with deep snow and barely trodden. We followed in the deep steps, left by some other hikers

:The chapel on the top

:At peak Manastirishte

:The view from the peak. The only other tourists we met on Christmas were a family on ATVs

:We had our picnic on a bunch of rocks at a sunny clearing

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants, knitted socks and hat

I:  socks, lingerie, Chaika Sweater, CC copycat hat, Borika gloves, scarf

Gaby: socks, Striped Longsleeve, Tweed Hoodie, gloves, hat, scarf

:Back to the village of Plana, with Rila at the background

DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments

Inspired by a few youtube DIY video tutorials and by the fact that husband bought a glue gun, I made a dozen (plus one) Christmas tree ornaments for the University Christmas market. It's an annual charity event for the Wild Animals foundation and ... an occasion for me to play with the new glue gun.

I collected the pine cones on Vitosha and Plana during our last months hikes and all the other bits and pieces came from my haberdashery stash, gathered through the years of crafting. It's so nice to be able to use up some of this stash, finally :)

All of the 13 ornaments. I like them and I do hope Gaby's colleagues will like them too and will take them home, contributing to the charity event.

I'm even considering making a bunch of these for our Christmas tree decoration too, but not right now. Maybe next week, or better - next year. A dozen was plenty :)

Christmas Bunting

I had an old small (60 x 80 cm) Christmas table-cloth, which was headed for the rag bin and it occurred to me to cut it into triangles and make a Christmas bunting. I like the irregularity of the print on the different triangles and I think it made a fun project. The cloth yielded a total of 19 flags, which are attached to a satin band (3 cm wide, 4.5 m long):

The bunting is double-sided, with a different back side, for which I used scraps from the table-cloth and from other Christmas projects:

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, the new camera is on its way :)))

Cross Stitch Greeting Cards

The three cross stitch greeting cards I managed to finish this season. The one with the two bells turned to be too big and complicated for a card, now I know that I should stick to simpler patterns and fewer colors when choosing a greeting card.

Handmade Christmas Cards

Several Christmas cards Gaby made this year for family and friends:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!