On the 12th day...Twelve Drummers Drumming

Today is the LAST DAY to enter!  Drawing for all prizes tomorrow, December 13th!  Remember you can leave a comment on each day for extra chances to win, and look at the bottom of each post for the extra entry opportunities!

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
twelve drummers drumming,

eleven pipers piping,

ten lords a leaping,

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a milking,

seven swans a swimming,

six geese a laying,

five gold rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree."

I feel kind of like I always do when I get to the end of this song, a little winded and glad it's over!  I sure have had fun researching this song and all it's variations, sharing those with you as well as my Etsy finds and especially my blogging friends!

Here we go... Aussie style will bring us Twelve parrots prattling (or 12.Twelve possums playing, depending on your version - there are 3!); French style has twelve musketeers with their swords

(I think I saw the 1993 movie about 5 times when it came out, I was smitten with Chris O'Donnell and Charlie Sheen!)

Scottish style gives us three stalks o' merry corn (all of theirs after the first day are in sets of 3, very strange!); New Zealand brings us Twelve piupius swinging

(a kind of skirt!)

 Rednecks enjoy 12 packs of Bud, which under no circumstances should be paired with the Cajun's 12 shotgun shells!  The Canadian version never makes it to day twelve, they got too confused!  The Heavy Metal version presents 12 silver crosses (which is probably the only day that I'd answer the door!)

Day 12 also brings us a reminder of the 12 points of The Apostles Creed, I have always remembered these from the Rich Mullins song, it is a personal favorite!

1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 
5. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
6. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
7. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 
8. the holy catholic Church, 
9. the communion of saints, 
10. the forgiveness of sins, 
11. the resurrection of the body, 
12. and life everlasting.

And now, our guest blog:

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Hi! This is Melissa from HoneyBeeBzz. It has been so nice to have Noel as a fellow blogging friend and I am excited to round out the 12 days of Christmas. Thank goodness this is over the blogosphere because I am singing the song right now, and I wouldn’t want your poor ears to get shattered. :D

I love Christmas time (and the twelve days of Christmas) because you get to spend memorable time with family. One thing that we have over at HoneyBeeBzz is kids. Between the three writers (not all of us write full time) we have 6 kids. So, in order to celebrate the Twelve Drummers Drumming, what better than to have our little drummers drumming?
Here are some pictures of out little drummers:
 




I hope that you all enjoy your little drummers drumming this Christmas season. If you don’t have little drummers to drum, then just gander at these here pictures. :D

I also wanted to post a tutorial. Not a 12 Drummers Drumming Tutorial, but a Christmas one. Turns out, I didn’t get it finished and so instead of disappointing you, I will post a great idea for Christmas gifts!

I love Picnics. When my husband and I were dating, our first Christmas together he wanted a list of things to get me. The only thing I could decide that I wanted that Christmas was a Picnic Basket. I was pleasantly surprised at the basket that he picked out. I love it! It is currently in storage, but this spring I am going to pull it out and use it with my new Picnic Roll.

Here is my very own tutorial on how to make your own. First, what is a Picnic Roll you might ask? It holds all of your silverware (or plasticware) for you to easily throw into your basket and take with you.


First, buy a kitchen towel from the dollar store. This one is from Dollar Tree. Cut the towel in half,

You will need to fold the towel over twice on the cut edge and iron it so that you create a clean edge just like the other three on the towel.


Sew down your iron hemmed edge.


Turn your towel so that your fresh sewn hem is at the bottom, closest to you. Then fold the towel up about two thirds of the way. I stuck a fork in at this part to test the height. I wanted part of the towel on top to still be able to fold down.


I pinned the towel and also pinned in a ribbon into the right side so when I sewed the sides up, the ribbon was sewn in. The ribbon is used to tie your roll into a roll shape. :D Kind of like the crayon rolls everyone has brilliantly been making!






Then, starting at the fold, after I had, I sewed up the two sides, and then down the middle.


After the middle, I measured in between the middle and the edge and sewed up that middle on both sides. Thus, creating four pockets.




This will complete your picnic roll. Simple enough. A hem stitch, and five stitches to create the pockets with the ribbon tie. 
Here is the picnic roll with silverware: forks and spoons.

I like to fold over the top before I roll up the picnic roll.


The picnic roll, all rolled up and ready to be thrown into your basket or into a lunch box. Great for a family of four, or you can fit more than one set of plasticware in each pocket.
Enjoy making it!

Also, for those of you who don’t have the time or don't want to sew your own, you can always find some at my Etsy shop for $7.

Thank you Noel, for letting Tiffany, Katie, and I from Honey Bee Bzz come and visit. Have a wonderful Christmas
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't forget about our gift certificate giveaway - with a drawing, from ALL the comments on all the days!
To enter:

• Post a comment (1 per day – so after you check out the next day’s blog, come back here and enter again – just like the song builds every day, so do your chances!
• If you haven't already, post the button (then a comment letting me know)
• Blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway with the link (then a comment letting me know)
• Follow me (then a comment letting me know)
• BONUS Entry: Follow Honey Bee Bzz, then leave me a comment that you do!
• SPECIAL BONUS LAST DAY ENTRY:
  Leave another comment telling me your favorite post, blogger or pic!

The fine print:

• You must leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry – this is the only way to keep it fair and straight (and keep me from having to kill a tree printing them out and cutting them apart!)
• All giveaways will be held on December 13th
• A random number generator will be used to determine the winner(s)
• If your e-mail address is not publicly listed on your profile, please include it with your comment(s)
• We reserve the right to re-draw if the first winner does not respond within 48 hours (please don’t let this happen – that would just be sad!)