Our Very Own Tió

This Christmas is special for so many reasons. We have our darling little Oscar to start with, our own little family. As well as that, it's actually Edu and my first Christmas in Amsterdam and in our own home which is very exciting. To make things even more special, joining my parents here in Amsterdam soon are my brother and sister flying in from Australia and Thailand respectively, making a very rare treat with us all together for the silly season. Tradition is of course very important to me (I am pretty sentimental) and being a dual-nationality family, I'm equally as adamant that Oscar grows up with a good balance of traditions from both sides of his family. I have put up my tree and hung up all my mercury class decorations and it looks a treat. Beside the tree sits our Caga Tió de Nadal – the shit log. Nope, not making this up. I first experienced this in 2011 when I had my first Catalan Christmas and experienced the magic of Tió.

Now, I knew I wanted a Tió, but pretty little logs aren't really readily available in Amsterdam, there are no Christmas markets selling them, and my wood-working skills are pretty rubbish. Given that Oscar is only a few weeks old, I thought the best idea was to make one out of felt, naturally, what else with me?! Above are the raw elements (though the green leaves I was planning to put on the stick I abandoned as it's not very traditional) and below, the finished result. I tried to keep as close to the real deal as possible... hopefully my hubby gives Tió the thumbs up too. 

I'm posting this now, but I made it a while ago while on maternity leave (as if I'd have time now with a new baby). Tió comes complete with little legs, a happy face and googly-eyes, his Catalan cap, blanket, and of course, the stick to beat him with...! I can't wait to film Edu holding Oscar and singing the song and whacking the log, and my family and I in stitches as we witness the first of many magic moments with our Tió.