Capture the Details

the value of homemade

Sarah has two girlfriends at school that she is especially close to and she wanted to make them each a Christmas gift. Sarah loves felt (she has even asked me if she could open an Etsy shop selling felt items) and she wanted to make both of her friends an ornament. I told her she needed to draw up a template and I'd help her from there.

Sadie loves dolphins and Falisity loves penguins, so after Sarah drew the templates and the felt shapes were cut out, I did the sewing and Sarah did the stuffing and accessorizing.....

 
( Sarah loves penguins, too, and now that she made this one as a gift she wants to make one for herself!)

I am so proud of her - the shapes were very well drawn and she did a great job. I'm glad she is learning the value of a special, made with love, homemade gift. :-)

368 days until Santa arrives!

That's what the little chalk board sitting on the back of my stove says...

I've been counting down the days for the kids, and my husband, sigh, he has to do his thing. He's right. It is 368 days until Santa comes - next year. This started when the countdown was at 8 days. I came out in the morning to make breakfast and laughed when I saw he added a '3' to the front and made it '38' days.

Gotta love him. :-)

idea for gift card holder

Sarah's teacher loves Dunkin Donuts coffee and I picked up a gift card for Sarah to give to her teacher as a little Christmas present. I used a library pocket as a holder for the gift card. Sarah can write her note on the library card. The library card and the gift card fit perfectly inside the pocket.

 
I found the perfect ribbon at Kmart (I love Martha Stewart's products!) and it's appropriate for a teacher because the pattern is rulers - how cute! I stitched the ribbon to the top of the card....

I added a Santa that I cut from patterned paper and hung him from a bead chain on the card...

I used the Santa paper (from My Mind's Eye) on the back on the pocket to keep the project unified....

The front of the pocket has an accent of metal letters (from Making Memories) spelling out 'joy'. They slide onto a piece of ribbon (American Crafts)....

The word 'december' was cut from a magazine and then I used a packing tape transfer to get it onto the front of the envelope.

The library card is stamped with a Christmas greeting (stamp from EK Success) and the date and has room for Sarah to write a little note to her teacher and sign her name....

And, of course, if you know me by now, I always have to do a little somethin' somethin' on the back....

 
Ho! Ho! Ho! :-)

okay. got it.

Is anyone else out there feeling the frazzle dazzle of the Christmas season??? Getting stressed out by the mile-long to-do lists? Just wondering. :-)

I will admit I'm feeling the frazzle dazzle.

I think that's why I was sent a message. I'm scurrying around here doing the everyday laundry and dishes and the daily 'pick ups and put aways' while also trying to do the Christmas baking and decorating and shopping and wrapping and gift making. It leads to holiday

As I was doing the dishes this afternoon I got my message... Stop. Take a breather. Take a break. Look around you and enjoy all that you have been given. And how, you may ask, was this message delivered?

By this little sparrow. He sat on the window ledge outside my kitchen sink taking a nap, and I thought How can he afford to do that when it's so cold and he should be busy eating seeds and keeping warm???

Then it occurred to me. The lightbulb lit above my head. If this little bird can pause for a few minutes and collect himself and not freak out because there is only so much time in a day to get his things done, maybe I should do the same. This little bird will still be here tomorrow and he will still have his list of things to accomplish, but he will be a happier bird because he paced himself and didn't worry. OK. Got it. I need to allow myself to

 

Close my eyes and be still. Take in the smells... cookies baking, a fresh Christmas tree, bayberry candles burning. Take in the sounds.... holiday music playing softly in the background, the kids peeling the plastic wrap off their candy canes, Benny tapping his foot on the floor as he lays there writing more things on his Christmas list (LOL). Take in the sights... the glass container filled with Christmas cards from family and friends, a beautiful tree decorated mostly by Sarah and Ben, a pretty pink poinsettia on top of a cabinet in the living room, our two nativity sets laid out just so by Sarah.

Relax. Enjoy the season. Let go of the guilt (that's a biggie for me... don't know why I carry such a load of guilt about everything). Message received and taken to heart.

Even Sophie gets it. LOL!   buh bye frazzle dazzle....

:-)

a few new things at babes in a blanket

Leann added some new goodies to her store. Some scarves.....

 
This ruffled pink one can be found here.

This really cool twisted scarf is here.

I love this yarn! I have a cowl that Leann made from it and it is so soft. Info on scarf here.

 
What a fun scarf! Great for a child with the bright colors! Info here.

This idea is really cute - a baby blanket for a baby doll - and Leann can make a matching pair... One for your child and one for her baby doll! She made one of her popular, best-selling multi-color blankets and has it available here.

Adorable! Please stop by Leann's store and check things out. :-)

unending work in progress

I think I am finally going to get my Christmas decorations up and it will be time to take them down! This Christmas feels like a work in progress that will never end! But it's all good! :-)

We are still decorating the tree. I did the lights today while the kids were at school. Had a bit of help, too...

Tonight the kids were putting on the *special* decorations.... their handmade ornaments from school over the years and all the decorations that have a special history and meaning. Next is the antique shiny bright ornaments that I inherited from my grandmother. And finally the bead garland and the star of the tree ~the angel. All in good time. LOL :-)

After school today Ben was working on a special project for the student teacher that will be leaving their classroom on Thursday. Each child is creating a page for a book that will be given to her on her last day. I had my camera out from the afternoon when I snapped a shot of my lighting assistant, so I took a few of the kids at the table.

Of course, Miss Don't Take A Picture Of Me realized what I was doing....

...and gave me the look... 

I was even trying to be sneaky and use Mr. and Mrs. Claus as a shield but she still knew what I was up to. The girl knows her momma. :-)

By the way, Mr. and Mrs. Claus were made by my Grandmam a good 25 to 30 years ago. I remember her sitting at her dining room table making them. She made three sets, I believe, and her set came into my possession this past summer. They sit prominently on my kitchen table and I treasure them dearly. :-)

santa tag printables

I designed these cute Santa tags for you! You can print out as many as you need on cardstock or sticker paper.

Get them here...

  Download Santa tags

:-)

the boots + a winter wonderland

I did a digital layout using Marks Paper Company's digi kit, Winter Wrap. This is one of the things I look for every year on Christmas Eve, and it makes Christmas complete for me in a sense. Kind of silly, but it's a personal tradition that goes back many, many years....

........................................................................................................................................................
 And I also wanted to share these pictures that I took this past Sunday morning. I pulled open the shade in my room and gave a verbal wooooow when I looked outside. It was like a winter wonderland. This is what greeted me out the front bedroom window....

(click on image to see it larger)

and out the back door...

looking out the back and to the left, my neighbor's house and the Blue Mountain....

and out my kitchen door towards the fruit trees and vegetable gardens... Some little critter was through and left a trail of footprints...

The pictures just don't do it justice ~ it was magical. Everything was coated with a layer of white.   :-)

challenging project

I have a friend that asked me if I could create something for her granddaughter's 11th birthday. I told her she was giving me a challenge and that I looked forward to it.

I started digging through my supplies and came across a set of giant paper clips and an idea was born. I designed a BFF (best friends forever) wall hanging that the girl can use to display pictures and memorabilia of her bff's and the fun part is she can swap things out and change it up when she wants to.

The wall hanging is simply a 12" round wooden dowel that I painted white and attached a fun, sheer polka dotted ribbon to as the hanger. The giant paper clips dangle from the dowel on different lengths of bead chain. Three of the clips have paper accents with special spots for photos. I have some cute dangly accessories like a crown, an ampersand, a plus sign and the 'bff so happy together' theme accent. A few items are hanging from funky colored and textured fibers.

I have the hanging all packaged and ready and that's how I photographed it. It has to be shipped to Texas so I used my years of experience as a parent opening gifts for their child on Christmas and tacked this baby down good! I have it presented on a 12 x 12 inch piece of cardboard covered with a coordinating Hambly patterned paper. Each dangling clip is tacked with a wire so things stay put. I added a few pictures cut from a magazine for display purposes.....

I'm hoping she will like it, I think it turned out pretty cute! :-) 

hello hello hello

So sorry about the crickets chirping around here for the past week. I have been extremely ill, ending up in the emergency room, as a matter of fact. But there is light at the end of the tunnel! Yea! I am still weak and in slow motion but sitting here and typing this is a huge feat . :-)

I am hoping over the next few days to get something fun back on here besides those boring crickets. I am miles behind on laundry and housecleaning so I have to chip away at that and I also realized that Christmas is coming. I lost this whole week and that threw a big wrench in the works so I have to get busy busy busy with all the preparations for that.

I'll be back soon! :-)