Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to my lovely readers! 

Here is one of my new favorite Christmas songs, I hope you enjoy it:



I will be back to wrap up our little Deck the Halls celebration in a few days {there is still time to link up} but otherwise this space will probably be quiet into January sometime - there has been a death in our family, and I just need to spend more time hugging my kids and less online.   I'll meet you at the gym in January, and we can work off all those Christmas cookies together, ok?

Simple Stitches

My sewing machine was in the shop for two and a half weeks.  I haven't mentioned it here because it is hard not to complain about it even though really, going machineless is not one of life's bigger problems.  A quick glance over the headlines will prove that.  It isn't even the biggest problem in my own life, but it kind of felt like one more thing, you know?  Not having my creative outlet wears on me. 

Yesterday I was able to pick up my machine, but like a good Mommy I cooked dinner and did all those bedtime things Moms do instead of plugging in and stitching away.  But today I was able to sew.  Oh my gosh, my machine purrs now!  Why did I wait so long to have it serviced?  {wait, I remember - I get separation anxiety} The stitches are so smooth, the motor sounds so happy, and my machine doesn't shake anymore with faster stitches. 

I should be making up for lost time and doing the frantic elf thing, but instead I pulled out my Madrona Road squares.  The 2.5 inch squares are getting sewn onto the 5 inch squares, just like in the photo up there.  Nice and easy sewing.  Just what I needed :)

Christmas in a nutshell

***You can find my Christmas link party & giveaway Here!***

I found this sweet tutorial a couple weeks ago, and knew right away I wanted to make this one with my sons :)

We had alot of fun just trying to crack the walnuts in half without completely smashing the shells :)

 

When I pulled out my craft supplies, I barely had any white felt.  My first thought was 'Oh no!' but almost immediately I thought 'Who says Baby Jesus wore white?'  Personally, I think orange is his color  :-)

One important lesson I have learned during these crafts - one of each tool isn't enough.  While forced to wait for brothers to finish up, little boys with four extra {googlie}eyes stuck to their foreheads will complain they are bored.

{I see a trip to the craft store in my future}
I will be linking up to these fine linky parties:
Happy Hour Friday; Petals to Picots; Do Something Crafty & Friday Fun Party @ Craftionary

Christmas Onions?

***The Alpine Wonderland giveaway & Christmas decoration linky party can be found here!***

The kids and I made Onion Bulb ornaments for the tree with the double sided scrapbook paper.

Now that the Christmas tree is up, I don't have to take our decorations outside to get photos :)

 

I love the extra fun that having a different print on each side of the paper adds to the decorations :) 



We stapled the ends of our onion bulbs together, because my hole punch was too large for the grommets I had.  We banged a couple up with the hammer {definitely the best part for the boys} but they just fell out. 

Merry Christmas-ing! :)
I'm linking up to Fireflies & Jellybeans and Frogs & Snails & Puppydog Tails

Sunday Stashing - I love the Grinch!

My Black Friday loot came in the mail!  whoo hoo! I snapped up these five How the Grinch Stole Christmas prints plus the panel from the second Grinch collection from Fat Quarter Shop.  These are going to be so much fun to sew with! :)

Oh Deer! is one of those collections that I just love to pieces {except the pink bits.  I don't like pink much}.  For now, these tiny deer prints are all the fabrics I have from this collection.  Maybe I'll stash a few more another day {the dots are fantastic, don't you think?}.  That print on the far right is from Me & My Sister Designs, and the color wasn't anything like I expected!  This photo doesn't show the color accurately - the orange is a little too neon for my tastes.  And the print is a little too beige-ish.  Oh well, that is going to happen sometimes when ordering fabric online :)

These are the two charm packs of Alpine Wonderland I'm giving away, so technically I haven't stashed them, but that doesn't mean I can't admire them while they are here, right? :)

You can find the linky party here!  {along with everything you need to know if you want to make this fabric yours!}  There are some great Christmas decorations linked up already, click on over to add yours!

One more thing I'm super excited about - I made a button! whoo hoo!  Grab it and stick it in your blog sidebar for another chance to win the Alpine Wonderland charm packs :)

*Please leave a comment on the linky party page to let me know you grabbed my button!*  

I'm linking up to Sunday Stash @ Finding Fifth! 

PS - Did you notice my blog header?  {!!!}  I'm so excited to have a header! {I was getting tired of blogging topless}