A few other projects....

Here are just a few other things I have been working on this past year for gifts....

This project I started last January.... thinking I would SURELY be done with it LONG before Christmas... I was crocheting every extra minute I could... I even kept a crocheting bag in my car so when and if (OK! If is OUT of the question :) ) WHEN I would end up at the hospital, I would have something to do... grand total.... 100 hand towels crocheted! (and a few others that I've given away during the year for gifts - but I don't know how many...) For me, these were "RELAXING" to do!  I love crocheting and it is a "no-thinker" project... and heaven knows I need "NO THINKER" projects!

The hardest part for me was sewing on all the buttons ... It's a DANG GOOD THING I have sister-in-laws that LOVE me .... or maybe it's because they just want me to shut up about sewing on buttons.... either way - they were a HUGE help... ok ok... the ONLY reason the towels got buttons - was because of them! THANK YOU!!!!!THANK YOU!!!!! 

There are a lot of towels there....

I made 6 sets like this -

One towel for every month.... 

(a couple are missing Feb. & March, because I couldn't "really" decide if I should do this or not... so I still have a few "IOU's" out there for Feb. & March towels.... As long as my sister-in-laws save me again... (in the button department)  I'm sure I can get them done shortly... :))

 

 These two I think are my favorite... :) 

I LOVE the fall colors... and gingerbread people!

Then, I got another WILD hair and decided that if I were going to give "dish towels" I needed to have "washing cloths" to go with them... right???? 

So, I started sewing dish cloths... 

I think I'm going to see about getting something for my A.D.D.... 

Seriously! I would have had my Christmas done, had I stopped getting 

WILD hair ideas! And ADDING to my gifts...

Agh! Sometimes I just drive myself CRAZY!

 Then, this was probably one of my most favorite gifts...

Table Runners

 They were so FUN to do and simple too! 

No cutting (maybe just a little) but not much and talk about quick! 

They worked up in about 20-30 minutes - less the hand sewing time... 

Which again... sometimes involved BUTTONS and my hand (and eyes) will just not co-operate in that department ... so frustrating!

 Anyway, I ended up doing a "SET" of table runners...

One for every month, and a birthday one as well! 

(Only I forgot to take a picture of them BEFORE I wrapped them up and gave them away...

But this is the one for my table... I just love the little Gingerbread people! 

I'm hoping to sit down this weekend and finish my year's worth of table runners... 

SO SO SIMPLE!! 

SO SO CUTE! 

Or at least I think they are! 

All you need is 1/4 yard fabric for the "center and 1/2 yard fabric for the back and sides...

so so simple! 

I'm sure I'll be doing some more of these this coming year.... 

Well... that's all these "sleepy" eyes can do today.... 

I'll get the rest loaded and posted before too long...

BECAUSE...

It is nearly time to get your books ready and start planning 2011 Christmas! 

I'm so SUPER excited.... 

I'm already off to a great start! 

I've got my neighbor gifts all done for 2011! 

(We haven't delivered 2010 yet... but they are going out tomorrow....)

Sneak peak... 

We are making little bags with a "$" sign on them and a tag attached that says 

"Now that Christmas is over, we heard you could use a little extra dough."

And inside the bag is a roll of homemade cookie dough.

This way they can bake them when they want to instead of having so many "treats" hanging around through the holidays that end up getting tossed because you can't possibly eat them all fast enough...AND... I don't have to spend HOURS and HOURS baking COOKIES that never get delivered... :) (Am I the only one that has that problem?)

At least that is the case at our house, except for the past few years.... 

I think that "goody" plates have become a thing of the past... 

BUT- who can't use a "Little extra dough" after Christmas??? 

WHO???? 

Well... time for some shut eye... 

Get your books out and...

Let's get ready for 2011!

It is going to be "HEAVEN!".... 

HEE HEE HEE!!!

Now... I can finally post....

Sorry it has been a while - and I promised to post the "THINGS" I've been so busily working on these past several months.... but when I went to post them, I realized that if I posted them, it would be giving away my Christmas gifts.... so, I had to keep them tucked neatly away.... safe until now.


One of my most favorite projects was this......

A cute little playhouse that fits over the card table.

  

It was SOOOO much fun....

 and SOOOOOO much work!

 AND SOOOO WORTH IT!

 I even added in their favorite puppies... 

Max and Molly

 And I just LOVED this little mail box,

complete with letters... 

You can find the pattern for this and soooo many more designs at 

MissPrettyPretty on Etsy.... Click here

My advise... I'm thinking it would be soooo worth it to purchase the KIT from her. 

Everything is already cut out and ready to sew...

UNLESS you start your project in plenty of time... and or 

you are a sewer... I am NOT a sewer...

In fact, my philosophy has ALWAYS been...

"If it ain't hot clued... I don't do it"

BUT I did do this!

ALL....BY...MYSELF too!

Sure, it isn't the best "sewing" nor by any means the STRAIGHTEST

BUT HEY! I did  it! I made it all by myself and I was quite happy with the finished product! 

 THEN, I found this absolutely DARLING fleece hat - 

OH SO SIMPLE! 

And yep~it is sewn!!!! 

Don't worry, I don't hot glue EVERYTHING! 

 And then, I made SEVERAL of these little scarfs...

SO SIMPLE! 

Start to finish... about 15 mintues! 

and... not to expensive, especially if you purchase fabric on sale!

OH SO CUTE!

well... that's about all I can share tonight...

I'll post some more tomorrow...

They eyes are winning the battle now.

Good night everyone!

Hope your Christmas was all you
DREAMED it would be and then some! 

My top 12 day 2....

Another of my FAVORITE things about Christmas .... is CHRISTMAS CARDS! 

I LOVE getting Christmas cards!  Since the first Christmas that we were married, I have saved every Christmas card we have received. (I think...I'm pretty sure...ok, pretty close!)  I box them up every year with our Christmas decor and I just LOVE pulling them out and taping them to the door after we have reminisced.... taken our little stroll down memory lane... I especially love the cards with family pictures :)  It is so fun to see how everyone is growing up! I also date the card on the back - just in case ... and I try to put cards from the same families through the years together ... OH SO FUN!  I just LOVE it!  

One thing that I find very sad is that the cards have dwindled through the years... we use to get a lot of cards... and just the past 5-6 years they are pretty sparse... guess that goes to show you what the economy has done for most of us... so sad... BUT I still love to go back through the years... We have been so very blessed with so many WONDERFUL friends and family! 

Now...I know what you are thinking... "But SHE never sends out cards!".... weeeellllll.... let me explain.... don't get me wrong here - I do cards EVERY year.... but.... they rarely get sent out ... why? Because I am either "broke" or too lazy to go to the post office to get stamps...  or the biggest reason.... I start to "worry" that people don't want to hear from me... that maybe I say something in my "Christmas letter" that might offend or hurt someone...or sound whiny... or be boring.. or stupid... or they might laugh.... oh the torment I put myself through... it takes me MONTHS and MONTHS to get my Christmas letter done - and then months and MONTHS of editing it.... and pretty soon.... it's Valentines.... and it's just TOO LATE to send a Christmas card... so I tuck them away in a drawer... and I open that drawer - like on days like today - and I find 4 years worth of Christmas cards ... sitting there... in envelopes.... addressed...and all that is missing is the stamp.... but they are ready to go - and yet they sit!  AGH! Why do I do that to myself?? WHY!?!?!  Well, after going through my Christmas Cards today - and visiting with such amazing families (via my cards) I'm determined to just "SIGN" my cards and drop them in the mail!  HECK! No-one really cares what we've been up to,  do they? I mean - I LOVE getting CHRISTMAS LETTERS and CARDS! I LOVE reading about my friends and family and all that they have done through the year1 I LOVE IT!  But.... I don't really do much of anything - we're kinda boring... there really isn't much to share, so signed with "LOVE US" should be just great - or is that too "impersonal"...SEE! .... agh....the worries... what to do....I must send them! That's what I'm going to do! just SEND THEM! 

In the mean time.... I just LOVE Christmas cards!  Absolutely LOVE them! So... please.... keep em coming!  :)

My top 12 favorites!

My top 12 are not in any specific order.... other than... just when they "POP" into my head....

One of my most favorite things about Christmas is "STORIES" ... I LOVE to collect stories, especially CHRISTMAS stories... I have a book that I've printed over the years with different stories - some are very short, some are long... but none the less - I just LOVE them! One of these days I'll have to tackle the project of sorting them - that would really save a lot of time... but not right now... Nope! Not gonna happen right now anyway......

This year I decided to take it one more step.....

Have you ever heard "THE PICKLE JAR" story?

I LOVE this story!  I used it a few years back in a Young Women's lesson.... but had forgotten all about it until I received it in a email a few weeks ago... I saved it because I just KNEW it might help me get through the "rough" spots of the holidays....Then... THEN, when I thought I was just about DONE, a IDEA POPPED into my head... and I just couldn't get it out!  So, I started searching... and searching ... and searching... I knew there was a company here in town that sold "glass" jars - but for the LIFE of me I just couldn't remember the name of it.  Then one day a name came to me - I looked it up - and it was located in the area that I remember going to to get jars... I called - "NOPE!"  WRONG STORE!  shoot!  Still searching I eventually found it.... and guess what! THEY HAD JUST WHAT I NEEDED!!!!

A PICKLE JAR!

Isn't it just CUTE!?!?! 

 

I found this 1 gallon sized glass pickle jar for $2.39.... 

I added the vinyl and just stuffed it with green tulle for the picture... 

Cut a slit in the top of the metal lid and WAH-LAH!

I have a PICKLE JAR to go with the PICKLE JAR story! 

I just LOVE stories.

This is one of the "ELF BUCKET" treats.... 

It just might show up sooner than later.  :)

Click here for the PICKLE JAR story...

I think you're gonna love it too! 

I just added our own little message at the bottom. 

"It is our prayer, that you will find a way to make
“THE PICKLE JAR”
become part of your “gifts” to others in the years to come."

Introducing.... My top 12 Favorites

First of all... I just have to say .....

Ahhh...

Doesn't it feel good to have Christmas all wrapped up... ready to be placed under the tree... Doesn't that just "FEEL" better?.... ahhhh.... I'm soooooo happy for all of you !!!

I'm still working on it... but I'll be there soon!
I PROMISE!

I thought that I would just start off the 1st day of Christmas by taking the next 12 days to jot down my "top 12 favs!" ....I'm sure it is going to be hard to do - because I have so MANY favorites - but... one has got to start somewhere ... so for this year - it will be my favorite 12  things of Christmas.....

So... stay tuned... Tomorrow starts "MY TOP 12 FAVORITES!"

Here comes the WRENCH!

YEP! A wrench!

A BIG FAT wrench has been thrown in my plans.....

I'm working on the forgiving part ~ I really am... :)

Saturday, Nov. 20 marked my VERY last SATURDAY (well, actually my ONLY Saturday in 5 weeks) to get the BULK of my CHRISTMAS done.....

I had a LIST (surprise) of what I needed to accomplish THIS Saturday....

Yes - I'm sure it was a little tiny bit overloaded.... 

but I was determined to get most if not all done! 

I ended up staying up until 4:45 am on Saturday morning... (but I'm ok..) I knew that this was NOT going to be a good sign, but I had talked to Mr. and he KNEW what I needed to get done and I asked him to make sure I was up early so I could get my stuff done! 

WELL...... needless to say - he was being a SUPER KIND hubby - and decided that I NEEDED to sleep (I don't know why! I'm FINE!)  So I somewhat woke up about 9:15am...and continued to just lay there in a "non-coherent" state until 9:30 - at which time - I realized I was LATE for the girls Volley Ball tournament..... AND OH MY GOSH! I so did not have time for this! I must get on the road! THINGS TO DO! SO.... I began to "gather" my hoopla so I could get into the shower - which.... as I was just getting ready to get in - the phone rang and it was Elf #1 telling us that Elf #2 wasn't feeling well, and they needed me to come and get her...... agh....I asked Mr. to go get her.... He said "I need to shower"... ahhh HELLO! What do you think "I" am going to do????  I started to the shower then quickly changed my mind because I knew it would take me a good 30 minutes to get in and out and such - and Elf #2 would be FURIOUS!  So, I got out and put something "decent" on to go to the church house to get her. Mr. nearly ran to the shower at this point..... 

I got stuck doing something for the "dogs".... and then couldn't find my car keys .... 

I went back into the bedroom because I didn't hear the water running anymore and found that Mr.was out of the shower and he walked to the edge of the bed - he was complaining that he was "dizzy" and his head was spinning..... after a few minutes he decided to "lay down" - I made sure he was ok - then left to get Ris -  Upon my return - as I was running frantically because time was "ticking" away rapidly - and with this hair of mine it takes HOURS to dry - I knew I was going to be in for a long day... but a long day of wet hair it was going to have to be....

I walked into the bedroom and Todd says "I need a Nitro".... "WHAT!?!?! You said you were dizzy and light headed - you didn't say ANYTHING about your heart!"

Time: 10:15 am

I give him the nitro - make sure he is good - he assures me that he is and I run to the shower! Hurray as quickly as I can and as I'm drying off I hear a faint "Mrs.!"....  At first I thought I was just being paranoid ... so I continued to dry off.... "MRS!".... I poke my head out the bathroom door - he informs me that he needs another NITRO - it is not working...... 

Time: 10:33 am 

I give him another nitro - 

Run back to the bathroom, get dressed and TRY and brush my hair out.... 

Time: 10:45 am 

He calls me again and said, "Maybe you better call 911".... "REALLY????? SERIOUS??????"

"Well, maybe not, let me just change positions"

He moves around, and slides a pillow between his knees.... 

I return to the bathroom to attempt the snarled mane again...

Time: 10:48

"I think we better go to the hospital:".

 "OK....let's go"

He attempts to sit up and falls back down.... "I can't right now.... I'm out of breathe...." 

Ok.... what to do what to do..... 

Time: 10:50

called 911

Time: 11 something..... 

my bedroom is filled with paramedics, firemen, machines, bags of this that and the other 

and 3 minutes later.... stretcher in the hall.... 

Out the door they go... as I stand here with 3 upset girls....and a very wet mane! oh! And no make up either... SCARY!  Poor prarmedics! I do apologize... but at least I "smelt" clean... I hope.... :) 

SO.... all of a sudden.... my LIST was changed.... 

Did you see anywhere on there 

*SPEND NEXT 3 DAYS IN CVICU???? 

Well, I didn't either, so in order to make me feel that I accomplished SOMETHING on THIS my ONLY Saturday.... I just had to make some changes......

There! 

I feel much better now! 

Other than the fact that I'm not going to be done "CHRISTMASING" by Nov. 30th.... 

Oh well... it could have been so much worse! 

Feeling very blessed and grateful....

I think we'll just enjoy Thanksgiving and THEN we'll think about Christmas.....

Operation....

Projects underway....  and time is TICKING!!! OH MY! 

 It hasn't ALL been about Christmas ... 

Because you KNOW I love the fall as well! 

So, I had to sneak a couple of "GIRLS CRAFT WEEKENDS" in... 

And here is what we did.... 

I LOVE my "CHUNKY" Punkins! 

They stick around all of October and November.... 

I've had a set for YEARS! And everyone LOVES them - so this year - I cut them out and we "crafted" our PUNKINS.... 

I just LOVE seeing a piece of wood come to life! 

Then... we just HAD to get a bit more FESTIVE and we made the REALLY cute 

"Jingle all the way!" yard signs... again... very simple... 

 

And then.... I must admit... But PLEASE do not think of me any differently....

I have a "fabric problem" ... and the worse thing about it... 

(insert quiet voice) I do not sew.... 

I just had to have a Holiday pillow.....

 

Then, we decided to "SNEAK" in another "CRAFT TIME"... 

and we made THIS cute little yard sign!

 I know! I know! This is NOT helping me to accomplish my
TIS THE SEASON stuff.... 

But I'll get there - I promise... 

It sure makes me HAPPY though!