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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 :)
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
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!
I had this plan, a vision really, of a world where all my projects were completed... Then I woke up - after months of working steadily at my pile of ufos (unfinished objects) I feel like I am no closer to being done. So here is a new project that I started and is currently underway. Procrastination got the better of me with this round of the ORBC quilt along. I got to the 'pick out your fabric stage' and never moved forward. Then I was inspired by this post on cluck cluck sew. Isn't it great?!? I was instantly smitten with it. The material once meant for my ORBC quilt is now cut and on it's way to becoming something different - still with circles though! The fabric in the foreground is my inspiration, a favorite Kaffe Fassett that has been waiting for the 'perfect' project to come along.
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...
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!
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 :)
And we have a winner: Lynn was chosen by the random number generator! As soon as I hear from her, the pillow will be on its way. I am so excited to have some new followers: thanks to everyone who entered, it certainly made me feel good :)Hopefully I will have some FINISHED projects to share with everyone tomorrow! (last week I spent too much time perusing blogs and entering giveaways!)
Here she is - the newest woodland elf: Serenity! I loved making this little hat for her - I think it's the bees knees. The hat is from the book bend-the-rules Sewing - it combines some of my favorite elements: quick, easy, and so darn cute. 
Initially, as a 100% wool purest, I had my doubts about wool felt. While I still won't be making any heirloom pieces with it, I have grown quite fond of the material. It's great when you need something sturdy without the aid of a stabilizer or interfacing. I was excited about how well the flower turned out. It's one of my few attempts at machine applique (I'm a hand stitcher) and I made the wee pom-pom in the center.
ahem... yesss... it is a little big for miss Serenity's head - but hey, the only model I had was Sophie :) She looks pretty swell in it too!
