Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

No, I haven't disappeared entirely (although you might be forgiven for thinking so)!  I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted here!  I think posting here more often might have to be one of my New Year's resolutions... 

Anyway, before 2024 slips away entirely, I wanted to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas!  

You may or may not remember that a couple of years ago, I was the extremely lucky recipient of a family of Yule Rabbits, a custom family made and gifted to me by my forum friend, Terra.  She sent them to me naked, as she knows Caitlyn and I enjoy making clothes for our critters, but I am ashamed to say that I have not yet dressed them all!  :(

There has been a little progress recently though, so I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the mother and daughter of the family...

The daughter's dress was made by Caitlyn, and the mother's dress was made recently by me.  There is a little bit of subtle sparkle in the mother's dress that isn't obvious in the photos - you can see it a little better here (especially in the circled areas):

Hopefully I will have more Yules dressed before next Christmas!  But in the meantime, these two have been making paper snowflakes, and are here to wish you a (belated) Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!  

From all in Macadamia Grove, and from my family to yours, here's hoping 2025 is good to you!

Happy New Year 2024!

Hello all, and Happy New Year!

As you can probably tell, last year was a busy year for our family, and therefore not one in which I had much time for my Sylvanians, I'm afraid.  They have definitely not been forgotten though!  I have lots of new critters to introduce to you, and so many ideas and projects I want to do with them!

To start with, I'd like to show you some of my Christmas presents (just the Sylvanian ones!)  I was lucky enough to be given several new families:

(The penguins simply could not wait to get out of their box!)

I am so pleased to be welcoming all these new critters, but must give a special mention (VERY excitedly) to the delightful mole family, which was sent to me by my lovely forum friend Terra!

More details will come about these new additions, but I also want to share with you my very first Sylvanian project of the year - just a little one, but definitely a step in the right direction:

Meet Lolly Chocolate!  She is the youngest child of a family of Chocolate rabbits who live in our seaside area, Starlight Cape.  Soon I will update our Meet The Families page with their names and pictures, but first I had to make Lolly a dress (couldn't have her being mistaken for Freya Chocolat, now could we?)  lol

Here is the back:

I wanted a nice bright Summery feel for Lolly's dress, as not only does she live at the beach, but she is a bright, bouncy sort of bunny, who definitely needed colourful clothes.  I am quite pleased with the result.

So from everyone in Macadamia Grove, Starlight Cape, Town and beyond, as well as from Caitlyn Hazelnut and myself, welcome to 2024 - a much more Sylvanian year!

Christmas Presents!

I have waited a shamefully long time to post this, but better late than never, and I would like to share some of the wonderful gifts I received for Christmas (the Sylvanian ones, that is!)

The very first gift I got for Christmas was this special parcel from one of the members of the Sylvanian Families collectors forum, HThistlethorn.  She was my partner in an organised Christmas gift exchange that some of us do each year.  Look what she sent!

So many sweet little cross-stitched works of art!

She put an incredible amount of work into these, and many little families have been very excited to receive beautiful rugs, wall hangings and table mats to grace their homes.  

My next surprise was from Jackson Butterglove, another forum member, as part of our annual Christmas card exchange.  With my card, Jackson sent a tiny book of real sheet music - songs from the musical two of his critters wrote (this was part of a series of his stories).  He included a note saying that the little book was a gift for Hugh Grunt, who as you may remember is very keen on musicals!  Here he is, showing off his new prized possession:

On Christmas Day, there were more gifts!  I was very excited to receive a family of giraffes from my Dad and his wife - I was very much hoping for these!  They also gave me a cute storybook.  :)

I also waited for Christmas Day to open an amazing package from my forum friend Terra.  She sent me a family of sloths, which is wonderful as we do not get the sloth family in Australia.  They have such cute little friendly faces!  There was also a special Park baby (which are sold in the Sylvanian Families theme park in Japan) - she very fittingly chose a grey rabbit baby for me  :)  But perhaps most exciting of all were the family of Yule Rabbits!  These rabbits are green-accented Christmas customs that Terra made herself using spare Chocolate Rabbit figures.  She sent them naked, as she knows I like making clothes for my figures.  They are very very special, and I will have to put my best crafting brain on to come up with some fitting outfits for them!

Not to be outdone, my daughter Caitlyn Hazelnut presented me with the most beautiful dress and bonnet she had made herself:

Here it is being modelled by a Chocolate Rabbit Town girl - doesn't she look special?

Clearly I will have to get to work on my (much-neglected) next instalment of Sylvanian Pride & Prejudice!

And finally, just last week my holiday card from another forum member, Florence, made it here.  In it, she had included the most beautiful tiny handmade shawl...

I am just in AWE of the work in this.  It's amazing.  Here it is being modelled by Madison Hamilton, although I'm not sure yet which critter will get to keep it...

So many talented people on the Sylvanian forum!

I feel very humbled to have received such beautiful gifts from so many lovely people!  Thank you all very very much.  I look forward to many more years of sharing this delightful hobby with you all.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The gifts are wrapped, the sleigh is packed, and the Northern Mouse is on his way!  

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

from GreyRabbit, Caitlyn Hazelnut, and all the critters in Macadamia Grove & surrounds!

Applewood's Christmas Window

On a night out in Town to see friends for Christmas, the Honeycrackle family passed by Applewood Department Store.  The children couldn't help stopping to look at the exciting window display!

Maisie wanted to look at the dolls in the window, but then her eye was caught by a very fine elephant in a top hat, further back on one of the shelves...

Meanwhile, little Jason was feeling quite overwhelmed - there were so many wonderful toys, he just wasn't sure what he liked best!

After dinner at the Delicious Restaurant, the Honeycrackles passed Applewood's again on their way home.  The children ran straight back to the window to gaze once more at the brightly lit display.

Their mother laughed, and called "Come on children, time to go home to bed.  Who knows what the Northern Mouse will bring you on Christmas morning?"

Caitlyn Hazelnut's Christmas Presents

 Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year.

Today I'd like to show you some of the presents I received this year:

I was also very lucky to receive an Applewood Department store:

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and best of luck for the New Year!

GreyRabbit's Christmas Presents

Hello to all our Sylvanian friends!  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

I was very happy to find some Sylvanians in my presents this year - it's quite a modest collection compared with last year's Sylvanian-fest, but that's because I received lovely non-Sylvanian gifts this year, too (thank you, family!)

I was especially excited to see the Border Collie family!  They are one of the families released for Sylvanian Families' 35th anniversary year, and they are very lovely.  They have very friendly faces.  I hope to introduce them to you properly soon (complete with names etc).

Also my Grunt pig family is waiting impatiently to receive this Fruit Wagon - they will now be able to sell some of the produce they grow straight from the farm.

Rounding things off is some bathroom gear which will come in very handy, and the makings of a takeaway pizza shop which will be based in Town (I wouldn't like to step on Caitlyn's Fielding family's toes by opening another pizza place in Macadamia Grove!).  Not sure who will run the new pizza shop yet;  I shall have to think about it.

Finally, one last special present:  a gorgeous little Christmas dress, made for me by Caitlyn Hazelnut!  Here it is being modelled by Isla Slydale:

She is going to get to keep it, too (much to Priscilla Thistlethorn's disappointment.  Priscilla needs to learn though that not all new dresses are automatically for her!)  

I hope everyone was able to have a lovely Christmas (even though it may have looked a bit different than usual for some people).  I'd love to hear about any Sylvanian gifts you may have received!

A Sparkling Night Out

Recently, flatmates Alice Marshmallow and Catherine Periwinkle spent a delightful night out in Town, looking at the beautiful light displays up for the festive season.

This golden Christmas tree was just their style!

"I wish we could have a smaller version in our apartment!" said Catherine.

"It would need to be a LOT smaller!" laughed Alice.

They spent quite a while watching the ever-changing projections on this cathedral - there were many different scenes, from summery beach scenes, to Santa's preparations, to a traditional nativity.

Alice especially liked this cockatoo, and insisted on their having a picture with it, although by this time, Catherine was getting a bit hungry...

"You know I'm pretty sure there was an ice cream shop on that last corner..."

These photos were taken on a night out of our own to see the Christmas Lights Trail in Perth city.  We are very lucky to have had this event go ahead this year!  :)

Merry Christmas everyone!  Stay safe, and look forward to a better and brighter new year. 

Christmas Presents!... and Changes...

Hello all - GreyRabbit here!  As 2019 comes to an end, there are a couple of things I would like to say...

Firstly, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

As far as presents are concerned, I was very spoiled this year - and my family certainly enthusiastically embraced the idea of buying me toys for Christmas!  Would you like to see what I got?

I am very excited to have received a Field View Mill - it is such a pretty building!  Also a Log Cabin, and not one but TWO Cedar Terraces!  This is fantastic as now all my Sylvanians have somewhere to live - even the new ones!

Speaking of which, I also received the Periwinkle rabbit family and Spotter meerkat family - both second hand, but in lovely condition - as well as a lovely selection of furniture.  Here is a more detailed picture of the smaller items:

The dress on the right was made by my lovely daughter Caitlyn, and is intended for Joy Woolly.  Here she is modelling it:

Joy is very pleased with her new dress!

But wait - there's more!  My husband also had an extra special present for Caitlyn and myself to share - a beautiful House on the Hill!  This is our favourite house, and we never thought we would get it.  It's retired now, and due to its size, the shipping cost on second hand ones usually puts them well out of our price range...

The cute cushion in this picture is from my mum (it is a shared present too), and the table they are both sitting on is another of my presents from Caitlyn and Husband - it will form a new part of Macadamia Grove.

The second thing I wanted to mention is that a bit of a change has occurred here at Sylvanian Sunshine - you may have already noticed.  My daughter, known as Caitlyn Hazelnut here and on the SF Forum, has decided not to continue her own separate blog, but to share mine instead.  This makes sense, as all our critters share the same neighbourhoods, so it seems sensible to keep all their stories together too!  So a big "Welcome!" to Caitlyn as a new author on OUR blog!  :o)

Speaking of which...

Hi, I'm Caitlyn Hazelnut, GreyRabbit's daughter. I am excited to become part of Sylvanian Sunshine, and would like to share with you the Christmas presents that I got this year:

This year I received the Fielding mouse and Cottontail rabbit families, the Baby Tree House, two baby blind bags (baby band series), a second-hand Li'l Woodzeez bakery and quite a lot of furniture. I also received the Farthing dogs and and lovely Mcburrows mole (second-hand). 

I feel very lucky to have gotten so many lovely Sylvanians this year!

Forum Christmas Cheer Exchange - Part Three

You may recall that I took part in the Sylvanian Families Forum Christmas Cheer Exchange this year, and received lovely presents from Fox in the UK!  I also showed a picture of the gift (still wrapped) that Caitlyn and I sent to my swap partner Terra in the USA.  Some people have expressed a wish to see what was inside...

Those of you who are members of the Sylvanian Families Forum will have already seen them, as Terra showed photos there.  For any readers who are not, I thought I would show you quickly here.

The kitten in the sleigh is a Christmas ornament for Terra's tree - I painted the wooden sleigh, and made the little sack and Santa costume.

The Macadamia Grove Village Committee sent the decorated Christmas tree (I bought the little sisal tree and glued the decorations on - they are mostly brads and beads).
The dress was made by Mrs Prickles (ie sewed by me), and the lovely warm scarf was made by Rose Babblebrook (ie made by Caitlyn) - I am very annoyed because I didn't get a photo of the scarf before it was wrapped!  Oh well...
The Cranberry Macadamia Nut Bread, the chocolate truffles and the macadamia nuts were all made by me from Sculpey (and supplied by various members of the village).
Caitlyn made the pavlova using Whipple, and I added the kiwifruit slices to it (these are fruit slices intended for nail art).
Caitlyn also made the fruit cake, using paper clay (I believe it came from Mrs Hazelnut, who is an excellent cook).

Taking part in this exchange was a lot of fun, and we hope it will become a new tradition each year!

Visiting the Northern Mouse

Before they moved to Macadamia Grove, the Outback koala family lived in Town.  Like many Town children, Adelaide Outback always looked forward to visiting the Grand Department Store in December.  Not to shop for presents, nor because of the lovely festive atmosphere, but to visit the Northern Mouse!  He wasn't the real Northern Mouse, of course, but the Grand Department Store always had the best "Northern Mouse", and at three years old Addy was still little enough to think he just might be the real thing!

Although they had moved away, the Outbacks wanted to continue this tradition, and this year would be the first time little Karri would be in the photo too!  So one fine December day, Kylie Outback took her two children to Town on the train.  They did some Christmas shopping first, had lunch in one of the cafes, and then - finally! - it was time for the long-awaited visit with the Northern Mouse.

The mouse in the suit this year was a very kind gentlemouse, who had played the Northern Mouse at the store for several years.  He greeted Adelaide, who was nearly jumping out of her skin with excitement!

Karri wasn't so sure about this strange big mouse in the bright red suit...

It was time for the children to sit in the Northern Mouse's sleigh for their photograph.  

"Lift me!  Lift me!" shrieked Adelaide - she couldn't wait to hop into the sleigh.  She could already imagine herself zooming through the night sky...!

But Kylie lifted Karri in first.  Her little bottom lip had started to tremble...

Karri was not cooperating.  She clung to her mother fiercely, whilst Kylie tried hard to put her in the sleigh.

Finally, Adelaide couldn't wait any longer, and decided to take matters into her own paws.  She scrambled aboard...

"Oh dear," thought the Northern Mouse to himself, "Not another one..."

Kylie was never quite sure, afterward, how they managed it, but between the two of them (and with the help of the photographer), she and the Northern Mouse somehow got both little koalas under control and into the sleigh!

"Just look at them!" she said to her husband that evening, showing him the picture.  "You'd never know that one of them was nearly bouncing out of the sleigh, and the other one was petrified with fear, would you?"

Steve chuckled fondly.  "Well, it doesn't seem to have done Karri any lasting harm," he said, looking at her asleep in her sling.  "Don't forget, Addy was a bit nervous the first time.  I bet next year Karri will be right as rain."

Merry Christmas, Outbacks - and Merry Christmas to all!

*******************************************************************************

Edit:  For anyone who may be reading this post several months later, you may be wondering why the Outbacks suddenly only have two children in this story!  Don't worry - no harm has befallen little Jarrah!  We found him in a SF Shopping Series blind bag in early 2020, and decided to add him to the Outback family.  I didn't want him to be a newborn though, as they already have Karri in that role (and he's bigger than her anyway).  So I have just slyly inserted him into the family, but I decided to let this story stand as it is rather than completely rewriting and reshooting it.   - GreyRabbit.

Forum Christmas Cheer Exchange - Part Two

Happy December!

You may recall me mentioning the Christmas Cheer Exchange we are taking part in over at the Sylvanian Families forum.

We are very excited as a parcel has arrived for us from Fox in the UK!

Here is the pretty gift box our presents were contained in:

We just couldn't wait to open it!

Mmmm... those brown stripy lollies are delicious - they are like hard peppermint humbugs on the outside, but they have a surprise chewy caramel filling.  Yum!  We haven't tried the lollipops yet...

Fox has very sweetly included individual gifts for both Caitlyn and myself - Caitlyn received yet more lollies (sour Haribo ones and some chewy bars) and a cute Santa shaped eraser, whilst I have a delicious-smelling packet of bath salts to indulge in...

Plus most importantly there is another gift for us to share:  an adorable little squirrel has come to live in The Great Pine!  (This is what our Sylvanians call our Christmas tree).  Fox has made him a cosy little outfit, and plenty of accessories for Christmas Eve.

Here is a closeup of the cute little squirrel baby, all ready for Santa to come!

I wonder if that candy cane is for Santa too, or if the little squirrel plans to eat it himself?  He seems quite attached to it...

And here is a picture of our lovely new ornament hanging on our Christmas Tree:

Thank you so much for our lovely presents, Fox!  We like them very much!
Macadamia Grove wishes the critters of Foxbridge a very Merry Christmas!

Forum Christmas Cheer Exchange - Part One

Hi there!  If it seems I've been a bit quiet here lately, it is only because life has been busy. 

Actually we have been doing a bit of Sylvanian-related crafting lately, but I can't show you any of it yet!  That's because I have been making things to send to my swap partner in this year's Christmas Cheer Exchange over on the Sylvanian Families forum. 

The idea is that our villagers are sending a Christmas cheer care package to another Sylvanian village, so many of the critters in Macadamia Grove have been busy preparing things to send.  :o)

What I can show you is what I have shown on the forum already - just a little teaser picture of the parcel, in the middle of being wrapped up to send:

I hope my swap partner likes their gift!  Once they have received it, I will be able to show you more, so stay tuned for Part Two...

Christmas Presents!

So Christmas is over for another year!  That's a little bit sad, as I love Christmas - it is my favourite time of year.  But I'm also very happy, as I have a whole new set of Christmas memories to add to my collection.  :o)

Also, now that all the Christmas craziness has died down a little, we have the fun of looking at all the lovely presents our family gave us!  I feel very lucky this year - I received many beautiful presents; some Sylvanian, some not, but all very much appreciated!  I would like to show you my Sylvanian Families presents.  Here they all are:-

Three new families (and a Freya) - how exciting!! 

Let's have a closer look at them.  First, meet the Thistlethorn Mouse family:

Aren't they cute?  This family was given to me by my lovely Mum and her husband.  They were bought second-hand (for those who don't know, they are a retired family, and no longer available new), but they are in mostly beautiful condition (the brother is missing his tail, and the sister has a little flocking damage to one arm, neither of which you can really see when they have clothes on.  I am going to create a back story to explain the lack of tail though - stay tuned for that in a future post).  I am in LOVE with these mice!

You may have noticed a little blue dress in the foreground of the main picture - this is a lovely dress that my daughter Caitlyn gave me for Christmas.  She made it herself, and it is for Priscilla Thistlethorn (the sister figure) - here she is modelling it:

Next we have the Hedgehog family.  I knew I was getting these from my wonderful husband and daughter, and they have been VERY eagerly awaited - this is one of my favourite families of the whole range, past and present.  They were actually the catalyst for me getting back into collecting my own Sylvanian Families, as they are not a family Caitlyn wanted for herself (much to my disappointment at the time).  At some point I suddenly thought to myself, "Well, why shouldn't I have them for me?"  Aaaaand, the rest is history...

Look how CUTE they are!!!  They each have a little brush or comb to groom their spikes!  The cuteness!!  I have decided to name them the Prickles family.

Last but not least, I am pleased to present the Outback Koala family!

They are also a gift from Husband and Caitlyn.  As you can see, this family is somewhat different from most, as not only are both the children girls, but they are also both babies - one jointed standing baby, and one sitting.  A very cute feature of this set is the sling that either Mum or Dad can use to carry one of the babies, whilst still keeping his or her arms free:

So the baby koala can be carried on its mother's back, just like a real baby koala!  :o)

At first I mostly wanted the koalas because I thought it was weird that we didn't have any Australian animals living in our corner of Sylvania, but every time I saw them in a shop, I liked them more and more.  Now that I have them, and have had a chance to get them out and see them properly, I love them to bits.  They will be a very important addition to the village too, as both my Outback parents are going to be doctors - they will be the first medical professionals we have had!

The final animal added to my collection is little Freya Chocolat - she will get to keep her official first name, as the Freyas Caitlyn owns have both been given different ones.  It looks like we are going to end up with a chocolate rabbit family living in Macadamia Grove, although we don't have any parents yet, just lots of kids!  I actually really like my Freya's red and white spotty dress, it is very pretty.  My Freya came with the Cosy Cottage, but she isn't going to live there.  The Prickles hedgehogs are going to be the lucky ones to move into this cute little house.

I also received a Street Lamp from the new Town series (which is very elegant, and includes real lights that flicker like old-fashioned lamps would have);  a Family Table & Chairs set, which is great as we are a bit short of tables;  a Garden Decorating set, which the Prickles and Bouquet families have already claimed parts of;  and a second-hand bathroom set.  This bathroom set is really cool as it comes with a section of tiled floor, a shower curtain and a little cupboard, as well as more or less all the pieces the Country Bathroom set comes with. 

I suspect this may be a retired set called the Cottage Bathroom set.  There may be a couple of little pieces missing, but nothing important, and it is in great condition.  I am very happy with it!

Finally, the one present I didn't have in the first picture was this lovely new cushion:

If you are on the Sylvanian Families Forum, or if you read my daughter's blog, you may remember a while ago we won one of these cushions (with different pictures on it).  So imagine how happy I was to unwrap this one on Christmas Day!  They are going to make a gorgeous matching set...

 

Wow, this turned out to be quite a long post!  Thanks for reading (if you have made it this far!)

I really appreciate all those people who read and comment on my blog.  It's nice to know there are others who share this funny little hobby!  I hope that you and your families had as wonderful a Christmas as we did, and wish you all the best things that 2019 has to offer.