Out of Doors...

-Alice

Christmas Presents!

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a lovely holiday. Our house is just starting to return to normality (which may not be considered very "normal" to some.. but you know how that goes...).
I thought I'd show you some pictures from Christmas day at my house... enjoy!

Olive wrapped her presents so pretty and used these adorable tags! For me she got this amazing red bird cage!! Isn't it beautiful?
It matches the birds Alice and I just got too! The red one is Moto (Which means "fire" in Swahili) and the blue one is Maji (Swahili for "water").

Olive got this great cast iron skillet for Mabel! Isn't it wonderful? I can't wait to see (or eat) the things she'll cook on it!

I got a bird for Olive and for Mabel. (Apparently, birds are the thing this year.)
I shall have to find out what they've named them...

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of size. ;]
The tags I cut out of some pretty paper I had and then tied with string.

Here's last years present from Olive.She embroidered this hidden pocket with my initial in such lovely colors... It has gotten a lot of use. :)

As it's just us females around our house we always wear our pajamas for as long as we can on Christmas morning. he he! I thought I'd go for the French Rococo look. While Alice went for splendiferous and comfortable. :)

I would love to know how you spent your Christmas and what you got or gave. =]
And if you're interested.. the birds and birdcages are at Michaels and the bird cages are on sale for 50 cents each! -- Just in case you want to know. =]
Well, I hope you all are having a most enjoyable weekend!
Love, Miss Emaline

Alice Tumuhairwe

Today, I took some pictures of Alice out in the yard - which, in some places, is more like a jungle. Well, to a person who is only about 16 inches high... it would be a jungle. =]

This is a little basket that I got on my trip to South Carolina! It is handmade (the same way it's been made for hundreds of years in Africa) from Sweetgrass which is native to Africa.
A couple nights ago I made Alice this outfit out of a small rectangle of fabric that I had in my scrap bag. It is cotton homespun with absolutely no seams or hems or anything. I simply just folded, wrapped and tucked. =]
back view

The scarf on her head is just a long rectangle folded so the raw edges don't show. I brought it from behind her head, tied it once on top and then laid both ends over the back and tucked them in the bottom and Voila! An African ladies attire.

This is the piece of yellow yarn (that she usually wears on her head) tied on like an arm band. She decided for today that simple seemed suitable. =]

Here are some pictures that inspire me. I've always loved traditional African dress. It's so colorful and exciting! Although most of these pictures are black and white. hmm... Oh well.

Sometime I'd like to make some African Jewelry for Alice!

Have a happy day!
Love, Marguerite