Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone, from the reindeer they look more like shelter dogs at the pound, but I tried!…..

My Two Favorite People in the World

Dear Daughter always sends out funny Christmas Cards to friends and family each year.... by humiliating my grandsons
I cannot believe how she gets them to co-operate ...sometimes... not. Each year seems to get a bit better as they seem to co-operate more as they get older.

The first year was a disaster..Walmart banned her from the portrait studio. It was a complete disaster.....can you blame them, who would want to be an elf when you could be a tree?

This year the get ups were a take off from the movie "A Christmas Story" ...they seem slightly more impressed.

Oh how I love my little "Cookie  Takers"......my absolute Heart Breakers!

Half Baked

That's how I feel right now...perhaps I did too much baking for the holidays. Dear Mom and Dear Eldest Daughter were over to help decorate and box up the mountains of sugar and flour I had mixed together. Over the course of the last 2 weeks I had made a different recipe each day and froze the batches. Everything came out Monday and we had a marathon decorating party, then packed all the goodies away in cute little parcel packs for giving.

We made orange infused, pistachio and cranberry, gingerbread dipped in white chocolate, peanut butter cups, macaroon Hershey kisses, mincemeat tarts, pecan pie cookies, cranberry dream bars, sugar cookie cutouts and gingerbread boys with devoured arms, legs and heads. Whew!

Sweet Treats

Dear sweet eldest son, bless his heart, always bamboozles me into something...."Hey mom. Friday is Potluck Lunch at work...do you have anything I can bring?"  Sure let me just pull that out of my     ass  pantry son!

    How bout chili and cupcakes?

 Just kidding, I had bought these little cupcake toppers and had wanted to decorate with them over the holidays anyway so it was a great excuse. Besides, don't all moms want their kids to be the most popular kid at school work?  He said they were a big hit! The little cars and snowflakes were from Wilton...just fabulous for the holidays.

Starbucks Refill

 I'm always interested in fancy ways to package and wrap things. I love when they look creative, fun and inviting to give and open.
I've seen a few ideas on Pinterest  for reusing Starbuck bottles and thought I would give it a try.
In the fall I picked up a few bottles of Spiced Pumpkin Frappuccino, and if they weren't good enough, they came in these lovely little glass bottles with resealable lids.

 Well it doesn't take me more than an overdose of cold caffine to get the brain cells working overtime and I knew I could support Greenpeace and recycle the bottles.

A few Licorice Allsorts, vintage paper and a punch along with some Christmas tags and we were good to go.

 These are great little add in's to Christmas gifts, just a little special sweet treat added to the mix.

Christmas Candy Buffet

I had a few layer cake size pieces from the Timeless Treasure Line of Holiday Treats....so cute and better still they were all glittery.Very festive. Combined with black and white polka dot and a bright green sashing I managed to squeeze out a table topper.

 The pine trees have different prints from the line in each one....candy canes, Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and gingerbread.

Add a few canister jars tied up in ribbon and filled with Christmas candies and we have an instant candy buffet.

 Yum Yum

 

We have seen more of our boys in the last few hours in the living room, than we have in the last year....wonder why that is?

The Bigger the Better

I have never, ever seen pine cones as big as the ones my Dear Eldest daughter got for me....these were on steroids!

 I wanted to have them displayed over the Christmas season and found a nice wire basket at Homesense that worked perfect. Just the right size and shape. A few birch logs, a festive Christmas bow, berries and a special greeting for all our guests that visit over the holidays.....
Holiday Greetings

Spooling around with winter approaching

Ug…it’s that time of year again….dreaded winter! I found solace in my new spools though…something to brighten the holiday spirits. Michaels had these little vintage bobbins in their $1.50 bins and I couldn’t resist. A vintage wire basket is the perfect vessel for storing them, a little added greenery and I’m ready for the holidays.
I’m so pissed at winter right now…it’s all I’m putting out for the holidays!

Remember when?

You would go out and cut down your Christmas tree or get it from the Christmas tree lot at the mall before Christmas. Then you’d haul it onto the top of the car, tie it down and head home. You would see cars all over the town, heading home with trees tied on top of them.

Remember when it was real, instead of fake from an oversized box…Which by the way, have you noticed, always comes perfectly packaged…every needle and light in place. Haven’t we all tried to get that sucker back in the box it came in after Christmas?  It never….. ever….goes in the way it came out. Do you ever wonder why that is.  I try and cram, and ram, but damn….the box never looks the same. Mine always bulges, and the flaps never close down and I have to wrap two miles of packing tape around it just to get it down the stairs to the basement. I always feel like a complete loser….surely there is a way to get to fit….all logic says there is, cause it came out of it initially.  And the tree manufacturers…they know this…cause they are in business with the fellow who invented the tree bags you can buy to store your fake tree in when you can’t get it back in that box………….

I tried to reminisce back to the days of real trees by making these little tree toting vehicles……oh, those were the days…….

Ready for Next Year

Dear Eldest daughter and her future hubby are all ready for next Christmas with their own themed stockings. They have bought a home and are getting married in May but have literally nothing. No furniture, no housewares….yet. It felt good to get sewing and whip up these stockings.

Becky got a stylish boot with themed chicken fabric….she wants to start raising chickens for eggs when they move into their rural property. Kyle got a traditional shaped tractor themed stocking, perfect for the fellow that owns his own tractor and farms on his days off.

No couple should start off a new marriage and life together without Christmas stockings!

Sew Sisters…Christmas gifts

We always have a lovely Christmas get together with all the staff from Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.

Michelle is the best Santa ever!

This year I made little dish soap aprons for each of the staff. Super cute to make and to give! The original pattern was from Camille Roskelly and I have made tons of them for friends and family. You can find the link here.

http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/2011/09/moda-country-fair-.html

The color purple

Dear Eldest Daughter loves purple…purple everything! i saw on Pinterest this cute idea for old skates…painted then dolled up with fancy ribbon and adornments.

I thought that they would look nice displayed on her front porch….found an old pair at the local second hand store, found the perfect purple spray paint, found the perfect gingham ribbon and feathered trim.

Scared the crap out of her though…..she ventured to ask…..”Hey Mom, those aren’t my skates are they?”

Pinecone Wreath…redo

Believe it or not I made this wreath about 35 years ago. It looked much different then, just pinecones with red berries and a bit of baby’s breath. My mother, bless her heart had tucked it away all these years and recently gave it to Dear Eldest Daughter. Well, everyone knows that Dear Eldest Daughter is all about the bling, so I re-did the original wreath for her. It was all spruced up with silver spray paint then some glitter birds and baubles added and it looks amazing. She couldn’t wait to get it on her new front door.