The Elves Have Been Busy

The presents are wrapped, some cookies are baked and some more stitches are finished.  It is time to sit back and enjoy the next few days - after the boys help me with a quick round of cleaning in the morning!

After making the "Sleigh Rides", as seen in the last post, I was able to get a few more done for gifts.  They work up quickly and I think they look so cute!  Thanks again Sue!

I am now officially out of rusty jingle bells.  I may just have to try and make some rather than buying them.  There are a few tutorials out there in blogland and it looks pretty easy.

"Truly Thankful" by Heartstring Samplery has found a home in this:

And the Dirty Snowmen by Notforgotten Farm are now living in this:

After seeing how the snowmen look in their new home, I believe that "Primitive Winter", also by Notforgotten Farm, will find its home in the same frame. 

And finally, patterns by Sandy, "Merry Christmas" and "Noel".  I was ready to make them into little ornaments when I remembered these tiny frames that my mom bought for me some time ago.  I was so excited that they were a perfect fit!

The boys are all bathed, in their PJ's, and we are thinking of loading them in the car.  And go where?  Why to the Herr's Potato Chip Factory of course!  They have a wonderful Christmas light display set up around the factory grounds, all seen from the comfort of your car as you are driving through!  If you are ever in the area, I'd recommend taking the factory tour.  The samples of hot chips fresh off the line are amazing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!  May it be filled with much love and laughter surrounded by those you love.



December Time

Where has the time gone?  December seems to be moving at it's own quick pace.  We've been keeping busy with school craft fairs, school orchestra and band concerts, scout meetings, stitching get togethers, and of course there is the shopping (I'm done!), baking (only one batch of cookies done so far) and wrapping (oops..should get started on that!)

Today I stayed home and worked on finishing.  I started with this:

The "Believe" pattern is from Daffycat.  I stitched it in a variety of colors and made them in to little hanging gift tags.  Some of these will be going to friends as little gifts.

"Christmas Eve" is from The Sampler Girl  It became this:

"Peace" is from Blue Ribbon Designs  It now looks like this:

The small "Noel" and "Merry Christmas" are by Sandy and will be finished, along with a couple of other pieces, in a day or so - hopefully....

I also stitched this one up from Sue.  She was kind enough to share her pattern with me - thanks Sue!!

Another great stitch was from Heartstring Samplery  I loved the first "Truly Thankful" that Beth designed and was happy to hear that she will be making more variations of this for the changing seasons!  I found a great frame at my LNS and hope to frame this up soon.

PHEW!  I'm almost ready for bed.  Of course my boys think I need to wake them in the middle of the night so they can see the historic eclipse that will be occurring! 

I was so excited to check my mail this week and find a package from Myra!  Any one who has been lucky enough to receive something from her can tell you how beautiful her work is.  This is what she sent me:

Myra, I love it!  Myra made this adorable little skate ornament!  She also was nice enough to include not only the big candy cane for me, but a bag of miniature canes for the boys to share! 

In this crazy December Time, I want to thank all of you for stopping by.  Wishing all of you and your families a Merry Christmas!

(I did it!  I woke the boys up at 3am!!  This is what they saw:)

 

Crazy for Crabs!

It seems like the crab is pretty popular!!  Here is a closeup per Glenna's request.  Glenna, please shoot me an email when you get the chance!

And as a thank you to all of your support here is my Christmas Crab.  When I stitched the ornaments, I used both a Christmas red and green for the lettering.  You see the green version above and it was my favorite.  For the eyes, I used two red beads.

Christmas Crab by Bramblewood Stitches

If you decide to stitch this pattern, I'd love to see how you finish it!

We finished our decorating over the weekend and I will try and get some more photos to share.

Thanks again for stopping by and for all of your wonderful comments!

A Touch of the Season

Last weekend while the weather was still warm, my husband put up the outside Christmas lights.  The only other outdoor touches are a decorative sled on the porch bench and  a pine wreath that my mother was kind enough to make and bring when they visited on Thanksgiving.  Our lights outside are simple.  Red and green spot lights that my husband shines up into the branches of our favorite trees.  I'll have to see if I can get a picture that really shows the effect.

  I took a few quick pictures of some things that are in the process of being placed about the house.  The rest will follow this weekend, with everyone pitching in to Deck the Halls!

Primitive Winter and Dirty Snowmen are Notforgotten Farm patterns.  I stitched them last winter when we were snowed in and I am still trying to decide on a finish, any ideas?

The BBD Stocking I received as an exchange that Sharlotte hosted and it was stitched beautifully by Faye!  I have to confess that even though it is a Christmas stocking, I have had it hanging on my lamp since I received it!  I have enjoyed looking at it too much to put away!

On Thanksgiving my mom gave me the Mill Hill Santa kit.  It was a quick and fun piece to do!

  The red felt hearts were a gift from a dear friend. 

The designer for the framed Merry Christmas escapes my memory at the moment.  I really can not go searching through my stash pile to find it right now, as my husband is already asleep.  Can you guess where my patterns are?

The remaining pieces are my own.  Are you curious about the crab?  My neighbors have a house on the Chesapeake Bay and they decided to host a Christmas in July party back in 2009.  Instead of baking, cooking or buying something to take, I offered to create an ornament to mark the occasion.  Thus the crab with the beady red eyes!  This was my first attempt at sewing ornaments and I made one for each family to take home - 25 in all!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Until next time - happy stitching!



Fly on Over!!

If you have not done so already - fly on over to see Jennifer at Feathers in the Nest at http://feathersinthenest.blogspot.com/.  She is offering an amazing give away!!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  I promise I will be back soon with more to post!