boots made for walking...

We are still in full on winter mode here in Ohio. The last few days we have been dealing with ice, lots of ice. Sophie is not a fan of this weather - poor thing, her back legs slip out from under her on the sidewalk and she falls through the ice when she tries walking on the snow piles.

Snow, ice, and the salt used to melt said snow and ice, are bad for little puppy toes. Armed with fleece, non-skid fabric, and some elastic I put together some simple boots to soothe Sophie's frozen feet. I loosely followed the general pattern found here.

She was a little skeptical of her new footware for the first couple of days - the shoes underwent some chewing and attempts were made to lose them on our walks. Now she has settled in quite nicely, and it is great to have dry feet when we come back in [less footprints on our sofa and bed!]

This is day three with no school. I have a love/hate relationship with being snowed in. It is nice to not be able to go anywhere, but since I can do alot of work from home it just means extra hours in front of the computer. Plus I am going a little stir crazy and running dangerously low on white thread [again!] Hopefully the winter blues will pass soon... can't wait for the sun to return!

hitchin' a ride...

This little guy is one of my favorite winter creations. I made him using a pattern from Sassafras Hill Primitives. He is made out of warm and natural batting, then stuffed, then painted. A pretty easy-peasy project, just a little time consuming [and I'm a mess when it comes to painting anything].

He looks alot happier than the muddy melting snow outside my window. From what I hear, though, winter is far from over [snow is predicted in the near future]...

there's those wise guys...

Did you know that the wise men finally arrived? January 6th [twelve days after Christmas] is considered old Christmas or Epiphany. Biblically the wise men didn't make it to Bethlehem for some time after Jesus birthday. Old Christmas marks this occasion. I thought that this week would be a time to show off my sweet nativity set. Love it...

The set clearly has a modern, clean look - but I do love the very stylistically different manger! [yep, I picked that baby up at a thrift store :] Derrick is still unsure that the figures 'match' the stable.

Love it...

winter makes me wonder-land...

Just wanted to let y'all know [I'm now totally southern :] that it is SNOWING in Georgia right now. Like, inches of snow snowing. I really thought that going to the south meant that it would be warmer, but no dice. I opted to save space in my luggage by not packing my winter coat, b i g mistake, so I am stuck with my zip-up fleece jacket. I really liked this pic, Iucked out at an estate sale and scored these sweet vintage deer ornaments [one is blue and two are gold].

Back out to the snowglobe...

shiny new year...

Where-oh-where has 2009 gone? It is strange to think that we are already on day #2 of 2010. I hope that last year brought you many blessings and this year brings much hope! I have several new things to post soon [2010 looks like it's going to be a busy year]

Haven't had enough Rankin and Bass stop motion this holiday season?! Check out the classic Rudolph's Shiny New Year [youtube link] Gosh I love these classics!

christmas in the kitchen...

At our house the holiday decorations stick around until at LEAST New Year's Day. I think if we can start listening to Christmas music on November 25th, we can keep listening and looking at pretty ornaments beyond Christmas day. This past summer Derrick and I put up some shelves in the kitchen. The boards are from an old barn we tore down at my grandma's farm before the auction. I painted them with a light coat of white paint and we put them over an antique cupboard - we call it our hutch. (this is where our little village of houses is this year)

I l.o.v.e. my feather tree and snow-head ornaments! The gingerbread guy was a wonderful handmade ornament from Marlene - I see him alot during the day as he is right next to the cookies :)

up on the roof top...

Looks like no snow again today, I am still hoping against hope for a white Christmas and NOT the rainy-green one that is predicted. Oh well, the inside of the house is still lookin' pretty cheery. Last year Derrick and I started making these little 'putz' houses. The history of putz houses is really neat, I'll leave explaining it to the experts.

We like working on them - he is the architect, tracing the house outlines and wielding an exacto knife, and I am the decorator adding all the little embellishments and glitter. They are incredibly time consuming for such a little house. This year I put them on our 'hutch' (well, it's a cupboard with shelves above it, kinda like a hutch).


Looking through the window of this house, you can see a picture of my mom as a little girl sitting next to their tree with a Christmas village nestled underneath.


My little hand-dyed trees worked out beautifully! I use vellum for the windows - I think it lets the perfect amount of light through.


This year we made time to put together three houses - two for others and one to add to our little collection. (the one in the picture above lives with us now :)

"A merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night..."

beginning to look alot like christmas...

Okay, so it isn't an original title for a blog post this time of year - but it is very appropriate. With a week left, we finally got our decorations out and our Christmas tree put up. Who knew all it would take is a little snow to get me in the holiday spirit?! This week I hope to show you a little peek into our home in all of it's winter glory.

Sunday night we put the tree up. Normally our little tiny Charlie Brown-ish tree is plastered with all of our childhood ornaments. This year (especially since we were so late) we went simple; just using vintage bulbs. They're a mixed lot of my grandma's bulbs and thrift store finds.

One of the boxes we opened had no metal hooks - so we improvised with some wire. (note: this paddle wire is perfect for crafting hooks, if you snip the wire in the center of the flat sides, the bends in the wire are perfect for making a loop on each end)

I'm off for a busy day of prepping for our Christmas party tonight (and watching the snow out the window :)

they're available...

Added a few last minute holiday items to ye olde etsy shoppe...

pink & blue hand-dyed trees


4" & 5" plain trees (ready for you to hand-dye them :)

springy snowman

is it snowing in here or is it just me...

Shhh... don't tell, but this little guy might end up being someone's Christmas gift! The inspiration for this project came from the rusty spring. When we cleaned out my grandma's farm for the auction there was a HUGE pile of scrap metal (which actually was one of the more profitable items at the auction - who knew?!) Amongst the rubble were a bunch of old bed springs. I knew I had to do something with them, I just wasn't sure what. This snowman is a compiliation of a pattern I saw for a much smaller snowman head and my own creativity. I think he turned out pretty swell.

He is mostly made of muslin that is painted after sewing (his head, hat, and holly leaves). His nose is a painted 'twistie pod' - and no, I'm not exactly sure what a twistie pod is except to say that it is some kind of natural element that is intended for snowman noses. I love his scarf - a coveted piece of Westfalenstoffe fabric that has been in my stash for quite some time.

My most favorite part is the little red bird - he started life out as one of those pink-flocked-1970s-wedding birds. I pulled out his wings and tail feathers (ouch) and painted him red, then I painted his wings with tacky glue and sprinkled some chunky vintage glitter on. He's too cute!

I would love to hear some more ideas on projects to use up my nostalgic rusty spring collection - what do you think?

note: I made this snowman a friend - they didn't get along too well, so he's looking for a new home. He'll be in my etsy shop soon!

secret santa...

My secret Santa gift is on its way to a warmer climate! This is the first time I have been involved in an online exchange - it's been great so far! I was inspired by the season, so I went with fat quarters and fat eighths in reds and greens - the red one is one of my favorites, I used it for a half apron and it turned out lovely.

I made these little ice skating snowmen. You may be thinking 'pipecleaners, really?' I know they can be a little 1989-Family Circle-magazine-crafty, but I love kitschy Christmas decorations. The other day at the thrift store I scored some sweet felt clip on birds for the tree (you know the kind with the glitter :) Hope my exchange partner enjoys her gift!

Today I got a little yellow tag in my post office box - that (generally) can only mean good things. And it was a good thing... a REALLY good thing! My secret Santa gift from Dana arrived! I felt so honored THE Dana of the Old Red Barn Company and quilt along fame was my partner (that's just pretty cool in my opinion). The fabrics are lovely and the package smelled super (she included one of her own chestnuts and brown sugar soaps).

Oh, and maybe you wanted to know who will be adding a little tree to their Christmas decor?! My sweetest friend Jordan picked #7 (she wasn't sure why I was asking her to pick a number, but she was glad to help me out :)

#7 had this humorous comment:
"You know, it really is difficult to decide which color is best (truly, you should sell them in little multi-color groves). My vote is for blue because blue is new to the Christmas scene. Red and green are expected, but blue says "I'm here to stay, green. Pack your branches, red." Know what I mean?? "

So a little tree will be on its way to Duff, who, judging by her blog, wins everything! Thanks for all of the nice notes - I enjoyed reading all of them!

p.s. Lynn, the pillow is making it's way to you, sent it priority mail on Wednesday...

g-i-v-e away...

Last call for the little tree giveaway... I'm drawing a winner tomorrow (edit: the winner will be drawn around midnight Thursday nite, feel free to enter all through Thursday!). Leave a comment on the last post. Best of luck...

The hubby is out with some guys, so maybe I will sneak away to the craft room!

going green... err blue or pink...

It's the holiday season isn't it? After hosting my very first giveaway, I'm hooked! It was so fun to hear from all of you and to share something that I put together with my own two hands. So, who wants a free tree? Yup, I'm giving away one of my hand dyed trees (see this post if you're not sure what I'm talking about).

Leave me a comment and let me know what color tree you like best. I'll let you know the winner on Friday - that means you have through Thursday to enter. Best wishes and Merry Christmas; I'm off to pack up Lynn's pillow and my secret Santa gift for shipping tomorrow.

p.s. this giveaway is partly because of the MANY wonderful comments I had on the trees; thanks for your kindness :)

o christmas tree...

Nothing says kitchy-vintage Christmas like a pink bottle brush tree! I recently decided to deck out the house using bunches of these little trees. A couple of thrift stores and an antique mall later, I realized that my dream of finding vintage trees was not going to come true. I looked online and favorited a few on etsy, bid on one on ebay... my thirst for little trees was not satisfied. Then it happened, I found a tutorial for dying your own trees! A quick trip to Pat Catans and I was home with nearly 75 trees of all sizes (up to 5" of course).

It is really a pretty easy process: remove the wooden bases from the trees, let sit in a bleach & water bath. RINSE WELL. Dip in dye (I just used Rit powder dyes - you only need a little dye and a very short dip to get LOTS of color!)

These trees are made by limiting the amount of time you leave your little green trees in the bleach bath. I think it really gives them a vintage flavor, it's as if they have been around so long they faded. It might be neat to try a bleach bath after dying.

These trees are just bleached - no dye needed for some frosty white trees!

We thought that the pink ones almost looked like candy!

I may have some of these up on my etsy soon... check back :)
ALSO: I will be participating in Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day - so stay tuned!

let it snow...

Okay, so I am not ready for snowflakes yet, but these little snowballs are! Another project has been dusted off and worked to completion. I love using these for credit cards and a little cash - they're just the right size. As I have looked through the box of ufos (UnFinishedObject), it appears that I am most inspired during the Christmas season. Winter projects abound, but winter must also be a time that I am easily distracted because, until now, none of these projects saw the light of day.

After a quick sew of the lining, this little bag is ready for the ball. hmmm... also a wintery project!

(note: the laptop case is still unfinished. The ufo d'jour is a tree skirt, who knew, another winter project!)

here comes santa clause...

Working in a craft store makes it seem as though we are always a season or so ahead. If only I had a nickel for every crafter who said they were 'working ahead' on Christmas gifts... I however never seem to be the least bit motivated to stitch up a reindeer when the sun is shining and the grass is green outside my window. But I have made a decision that I will work (at least partially) through my half-done box of crafts before endeavoring on another project. So, on the top of the pile was a bunch of snowman pocket purses. Originally I had made them for party favors, but I only finished the exact amount I needed. That meant a bag full of cut out snowman heads, leftover beads, and the like. All told there were 7 unfinished bags; and I am proud to announce there are now 7 finished bags - and it only took 6 years! Hopefully this victory will encourage me to continue in my project-finishing quest! Next Up: wool felt laptop case (oh yeah, and the roman shades still aren't finished :0)