December Festivities with the Nielsen Family

Hello everyone!

The last challenge for the year at the SF Collectors' Forum is:

Challenge #23: December Festivities

The close of the year brings festive celebrations to people around the globe, including our friends in Sylvania. Show us how you and your Sylvanians enjoy the season!

Make an item or items, photograph a scene, write a story or do whatever inspires you to create a project around the December Festivities theme!

For this challenge, I decided to decorate the Cozy Cottage I own for my polar bears, who hadn't made an appearance yet. They are the owners of an ice-cream and crêpes eatery, but today we're going to visit their home and see how they've been decorating and preparing for the festivities. 

An overview:

There's not much space in the Cozy Cottage, but I did my best to make it comfortable for a family of five (parents Noah and Barbara, daughter Julia and twin babies Briony and Noel, who share the cot). The beautiful miniature Christmas tree on the parents' bedroom, as well as the delicious-looking Christmas cookies on the table downstairs were both gifts from my dear friend Cutata. She sent them to me last year, and they're finally making an appearance! Thank you Cutata!

Noah, a coffee enthusiast, loves the December festivities. While he makes his first coffee of the day, he's pondering where to hang the beautiful wreath the family has acquired this year. Inside, up on the wall next to the tree, or would it maybe go better outside, on the front door...?

Young Julia is about to start writing her letter to Holyster, so to get into the spirit of the festivities she has just set the cute toy tree she got from one of her best friends, Cleo López, on her table. I wonder what she'll ask for...?

Julia is supposed to be watching her baby sister, Briony, but she's quite distracted as you've noticed. Luckily, Briony is a well-behaved baby who mostly keeps herself entertained with her toys. She loves to eat ice-cream, even in Winter, so as you can imagine, she's very happy about her parents' job!

Baby Noel, on the other hand...

"Let me get your bottle for you, my darling".

I don't think the bottle is what he wants, Barbara!

Seems like Noah has finally decided where to hang the wreath!

"What do you think, sweetheart?"

"It looks great, dad!"

As you can see, the family agreed to pose for a picture to send you all their good wishes (and mine!).

Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay safe and healthy, and might 2021 be kind to us all.

The Holsteins Prepare for Winter

Hello everyone!

While finishing my latest story, I read through the suggestions for Challenge 22 in the SF Collectors Forum and they inspired me to set up some scenes to participate.

Just three pictures this time, no elaborate story. I still hope you enjoy them, I had fun setting everything up!

Challenge #22: Winter Preparations

The winter months are fast approaching. Throughout the Sylvanian Forest, families are prepared for the coldest part of the year. Storing food and other advance preparations are crucial for thriving during winter season. This means wood for cosy fires, well-stocked larders, warm clothing, and planning fun indoor and outdoor seasonal activities!

Make an item or items, photograph a scene, write a story or do whatever inspires you to create a project around the Winter Preparations theme!

This afternoon, the Holstein family members are busy gathering the last harvest of the year. They own the biggest farm in the area, and their fresh vegetables are very popular in Arcfield. With them, they supply not only the businesses in town, but also some of the neighboring villages'. Although they also grow fruit, it's mostly for their own use (mother Katharina loves baking pies!), as the fruit stall in town is owned by the Waters beavers, who grow their own produce as well. The Holsteins also supply the village with firewood

The whole family is here today; Katharina has gone to check that the tools are in their place and ready for use, but she's just discovered that her twin babies Hilda and Helge seem to think that the apples and oranges she recently finished gathering are wonderful toys! Her husband Ulrich is already working in the vegetable patch, and her eldest children, Jonas and Charlotte, are also helping.

Temperatures have already started to drop in Arcfield, so when they their work is finished, the whole family runs inside the farm to rest and warm themselves. Ulrich brings in some firewood and gets the fire in the chimney started. Katharina helps him, and is pleased to see that her son Jonas has already made tea and hot chocolate for his parents and sister. While she wouldn't admit it out loud, Jonas is the apple of her mother's eye!

In the meantime, Charlotte has just finished taking a bath. It feels great to have a long, warm bath to get rid of the cold, dirt and soreness after helping her parents in the vegetable fields! The babies are having a blast splashing around in the water!
"Come on you two, it's time to get out!".

Hope you all like the pictures! Have a great week-end!

December 2020 Calendar Picture

Hello everyone,

Here we are, the last month of 2020. It sure has been a ride... A truly difficult year for me (and for everyone else, I imagine) in many, many ways... Let's hope 2021 is kinder to us all.

In the meantime, let's look at the picture for this month in the SF Official Calendar:

We have a beautiful snowy scene this time, with the gorgeous huge mansion that can be built by connecting several of the new homes and buildings together, all decorated for the holidays. I love the whites and reds in this picture, as well as the beautiful Christmas tree in the left, and, of course, the cute snowman to the right.

As for the Sylvanians themselves, there's a lot to see here! They're all having fun and playing in the snow, interacting with each other (well, except for Mr Osborne who is shoveling snow, haha!). To the left there's little Crème, adorable with her Santa suit and her sled, and it seems like Mr Chocolate is bringing some more Christmas decorations home. I wonder what the two girls to the right are doing, with a bucket seemingly full of dirt. Planting saplings that will sprout in the Spring, maybe?

Freya is also here, of course, but she's not taking center stage or participating in any games and even seems a little pensive.

And that's it for the final picture of this year, everyone. I hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures for each month. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll continue posting the Calendar pictures next year, as I haven't been able to find a 2021 calendar locally, and importing it from Japan is quite expensive. I should also probably let someone else take over if they want to, as I've been posting the pictures for two years already.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Please follow all the necessary precautions during the holiday season and stay safe and healthy!