"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'it will be happier'"...

This quote, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, will be in my thoughts as the clock strikes midnight tonight to usher in the beginning of a new year. I hope that 2021 has been a wonderful year for all Glamumous readers, but those of us who have suffered loss, sadness or disappointment during 2021 may well be glad that this year is coming to an end. 

At midnight, our family will raise a glass of good cheer to those who are no longer with us, and to all of you, I wish good health, happiness and many occasions to smile in the year ahead. 

Photo credit: PxHere

For our family, this Christmas has seemed hectic. As unpredictable obstacles chipped away my sense of organisation, I even found myself traversing the shops late on Christmas Eve searching for an elusive pack of Christmas crackers! So it was no wonder that I completely forgot to secure a set of thank you cards to send after the big day - it was all I could do to be prepared for the 25th!

Rather than venture out again, I found a stack of card stock and decided to create my own this year: an elegant, understated design with just a touch of festive colour. These cards are designed to fit standard C6 envelopes, which are easy to source if you don't already have a few lying around. 

I've created an A4 size PDF for this folded thank you card, which you can download below. Use the guides to cut neatly along the edges and score along the centre to create your card. 

Feel free to download and share this free printable thank you card to your heart's content. However, selling this design (either as a template or finished card) is forbidden: the content presented here is intended to be free to all!

Download this elegant, free printable thank you card (PDF)

I hope you will enjoy making and sending this free thank you card! You may also like to look at my collection of beautiful free thank you printables created by talented designers from across the web.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

This Christmas sees many families here in the UK facing unprecedented hardship. The effects of Covid combined with rising food and duel prices means that many are struggling with the costs of the festive season and harboring concerns about putting on a decent spread for dinner on the big day. 

Marcus Rashford, the footballer famed for his campaign to tackle food poverty in the UK, has teamed with chef Tom Kerridge to create a Christmas meal plan for struggling families for just £10! 

The meal plan includes a Christmas Day feast of stuffed turkey roll, with tray-baked vegetables and greens, plus potato and carrot hash with eggs for Boxing Day lunch. The meal plan is designed for those using Healthy Start vouchers (which would cover the cost of the vegetables) though states that others would be able to recreate the dishes for just £13-14.

The entire meal plan is detailed in an instructional video on the Full Time Meals Instagram channel, which I've embedded below:

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A post shared by Full Time Meals (@fulltimemeals)

Of the meal plan, Marcus Rashford has said: 

"Christmas has a great ability to bring family together and I want as many children as possible to wake up on Christmas morning happy and without the stress of wondering where their next meal is coming from... I want families in communities like mine to look forward to creating something special in the kitchen together and making memories."

To learn more, or donate to FareShare to help feed families on a low income, visit the FareShare website.

Image credit: Photo by Travel Photographer on StockSnap

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We recently redecorated our lounge in preparation for Christmas and I realised we have very little seasonal art to accompany our tree and tinsel. As a remedy, I designed this simple festive printable, and decided to share it here for others to use too.

I've created PDFs in two different sizes to suit differing needs. We printed the 5x7 size which sits in a frame on the mantelpiece. Alternatively, you may prefer the large A4 size, which you could easily adapt to create cards, tags or any other design you may need. 

Download the Joyeux Noël printables here:

5x7 size, with crop marks (PDF)

A4 size PDF | A4 size PNG (for use in other projects)

Please feel free to use this free printable in any of your projects. However, I would appreciate credit to Glamumous by means of a link should you share the printables on your own site or social media.

Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below.

In those precious moments of calm between furtive festive preparations, what better way to unwind than to curl up with a classic Christmas tale or two?

Luckily, there are many seasonal novels and stories of this variety we can download to our e-readers for free, saving both time and money for those occasions when inspiration strikes. 

I've collected here a selection of classic Christmas stories which are available for both the Kindle and Kobo, and where possible I'll direct you to beautiful or illustrated editions - all of which are completely free!

A Visit from Saint Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas), attributed to Clement Clarke Moore

Old Christmas by Washington Irving

First published in 1886 and illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, these five stories chronicle the American writer Washington Irving's nostalgic recollections of Christmas traditions in 19th century England. 

How did Santa Claus invent the first toy? Why does he travel by night and enter homes via chimney? How did he come to travel with eight reindeer? Beloved writer LYMAN FRANK BAUM (1856-1919)-creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and author of 13 other Oz novels-introduces us to a fantastical Father Christmas raised by a fairy queen among the magical denizens of an enchanted forest, a mortal among immortals who outwits evil Awgwas in his quest to share gifts and spread love around the world. First published in 1902, this is a beautiful, mythic tale, one that will charm children of all ages.

A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was published two years after Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and shares its mythological cosmos; in the story as in the novel, Santa lives in the Laughing Valley on the border of the Forest of Burzee, and is assisted by knooks, ryls, fairies, and pixies. However, in this short story, Santa is kidnapped by jealous daemons who resent that children are more satisfied with their Christmas gifts and no longer visit their caves.

Download A Kidnapped Santa Claus in all formats from Project Gutenberg

Alternatively, Kindle owners can download directly from the Kindle Store

Image credit: Willguard, via Pixabay

The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

A tailor in Gloucester sends his cat Simpkin to buy food and a twist of cherry-coloured silk to complete a waistcoat commissioned by the mayor for his wedding on Christmas morning...

This classic tale from the author of the Peter Rabbit series of books will delight the young and old alike at Christmas time! 

Download the illustrated edition of The Tailor of Gloucester in all digital formats from Project Gutenberg.

Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope

Christmas at Thompson Hall collects the best Christmas tales of Anthony Trollope, and are mostly set in Trollope's imaginary county of Barsetshire. The stories depict the festive period with all Trollope's trademark zest, humour, and cheerfulness, and offer rich and psychologically acute portrayals of the middle class and gentry of Victorian England at Christmas time.

Download for all device types from Project Gutenberg.

The Fairies and the Christmas Child by Lilian Gask

The "Christmas Child" in this book isn't Jesus, but rather a boy born on Christmas Day, named "Chris". After his father forgets both Christmas and Chris’ birthday (not surprising as the father is an impoverished, overworked surgeon) He runs away from home and finds himself in a park, where he meets the fairy-queen. She tells him that all children born on the 25th of December have the gift of talking to the fairy-folk. What follows is an account of Chris’ adventures and meetings with the fairy folk and the stories they tell him.

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

Jim and Della live in a furnished flat in New York City, scraping by on a minimal income early in their marriage. At Christmastime, Della sells her beautiful, long hair for money to buy Jim a platinum pocket-watch chain. On the same day, Jim sells his heirloom pocket watch to buy a set of hair combs that Della has admired. Their Christmas gifts are compromised, but they realize they have the best gift of all - each other. 

Download The Gift of the Magi for all device types from Project Gutenberg.

Alternatively, download direct to your Kindle from the Amazon store.

Photo credit: Monika Stawowy

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann

Young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Image credit: MaxPixel

Santa/Father Christmas

Santa’s Grotto

Reindeerland

XM4 5HQ