The Laboratory

You can tell it's the school holidays when the Advent Calendar starts falling behind ... sorry! We have enjoyed meeting lots of friends this December, and a special hello to John B who we caught up with for the first time in 2 years yesterday. While we were round at a party on Saturday we spotted this rather strange Xmas tree decoration. Either Han has got really big or the Millennium Falcon has got very small.

Anniversary Flashback: 2012 Our trawl through the last 10 years is now almost up to date, with last year's top post being: These are "Knit The Droids" you are looking for! To download all of 2012's pictures, click here . Bonus beats: a cool trend this year is to make your own Star Wars snowflakes. Get a load of these: and there are loads more - not necessarily easy to make, but with patience and a craft knife... Try these links here: http://anthonyherreradesigns.com/index.php/component/content/article/8-ahd-blog/8-star-wars-snowflakes-2013 http://starwars.jumpsquares.com/star-wars-paper-snowflakes-instructions.aspx (with handy templates) And for fans of Game of Thrones: http://www.kryshiggins.com/free-game-of-thrones-inspired-snowflake-patterns/

It's here! 12/12/12! The most exciting date since 10/11/12, or maybe 08/10/12, ... Also known as International Soundcheck Day, many say we won't see another triple date in our lifetimes. But as Whitney Houston sang, I believe the children are our future. [I really shouldn't type these so early in the morning or late at night] Everyone seemed to like our Star Wars decorations on Day 1, so here's a round-up of some other Star Wars stuff that's appeared this Christmas. I call this one "These are Knit the Droids you are looking for." Aren't they adorable? With Jedi numbers falling in the UK (see yesterday's 2011 Census data release ) some have posited the existence of a Death Star near Earth turning people to the Dark Side. Here's two Death Star gift ideas! and anyone who's received the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar will have been disappointed by December 2nd's Jar Jar Binks, but hopefully you've been cheer...

Welcome to our Advent Calendar! Now in its 10th year, we're so happy to have friends, family and random visitors joining us again for our Christmas preparations. Do send us your ideas, your photos, and your feedback. OK, enough chat, on with the show! We're going to start decorating the house today, and what better way to brighten up the window than with some paper snowflakes? But with a twist ... STAR WARS snowflakes! Thanks to Anthony Herrera, who has designed a whole Jedi Council of snowflakes, like R2-D2 above, you can have Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and even Admiral Ackbar. Download the full set from Anthony's blog . Bonus beats: buy "Darth Vader and Son" , a heartwarming cartoon book by Jeffrey Brown, about what would have happened if Lord Vader had to use his parenting skills (rather than the Force) to bring up a 5-year-old Luke.