Only 364 days left to do it again.

I enjoy christmas. It is a great reason to get together with family that is not often seen together.
Next year I'd like to continue these traditions:
- visiting Santa with pictures
- baking cookies and making candies
- handmade gifts (even though this year I kinda lost momentum)
- decorating the house
- new ornaments for the felt tree

I want to institute these traditions:
- advent calendar with activities relating to the season
- making a few kid friendly crafts for A to give as gifts
- make the month more about seeing friends & family (all year long)

We love visitors

We got special visitors today. Hubs brother & sister in law brought the newest member of the family over. Little L is only 5 weeks old. It must have been serendipity because just yesterday I was missing the brand new little stage with Bubba. Good stuff.
Bubba provided great entertainment after our meal. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Parmesan crusted mahi mahi, creamed spinach and rice with tomatoes. Our guy had a good time as you can see above. He was rockin' the air guitar (his latest musical thing) like the rock star he is. Who knows maybe someday he will have a real guitar.

We are gearing up to the final days before the holiday. I have lots of cookie making and baking to do. Since we had visitors today and we will be visitors tomorrow I forsee a late night coming up.

What we've been up to

Christmas is the perfect time to make candies. Here are my salted chocolate caramels. I am going to attempt True Love Truffles tomorrow. And if all turns out I may even make Microwave Peanut Brittle too. (That one requires littles to be in bed.)

Bass Pro Shops put on a great Winter Wonderland. My boy did good with Santa (as expected since the kid has never met a stranger). His favorite part of the display was the train. He also loved the giant catfish in the tank. I think this was the first time we have been to Bass Pro that he has responded to the fish. He was really telling them what for. Thanks Granny for going with us. We had a great time.

I have wanted to try my hand at knitting for a while. I decided to take the plunge. While I am no where near the end of my first project, a gray wool scarf, I am pleased with the progress I am making. I certainly think this is another piece to the Liz puzzle.

Aside from the above we have been fighting off the tail end of the illness. I am happy to report that I am feeling better and the Boy is on the mend as well. Guess that means we need to get back to the usual tomorrow. I have a date with the bathroom and the mop. Good times.

In the spirit of the holiday

Today our friends came over and we made:
I got the recipe here. This is a wonderful gingerbread if you like less spice and lots of good flavor. They are okay when eaten without icing but so much better with it. This icing was very runny so we used a TON of sugar to make it thicker. We also set the icing in the freezer for 10 minutes or so to firm up as well.

This one is my favorite:
We didn't get to ice all of them so we will be doing more tomorrow.

Here is a picture taken my Hubs. We all laughed hard when we saw it.

Did I miss it?

How on earth did I ever get to 100 posts? I knew it would happen but I figured it would take me FOR.EV.ER! since I am not a regular poster. Ah, well, here we are. Cool.

Moving On. I have a teaser shot for you from my decorations. I would have shared more tonight BUT my camera battery died. (Part of me did the happy dance because I am just not sure about the BIG decoration project yet. More on that tomorrow.) So here is what you do get to see.


Red, Silver & Blue is not my theme. I am using what I had along with a few bits from the dollar store. I think it is going to be arranged in a way that the blue & white goes into the bedrooms and the red & silver stay in the living room/kitchen. We'll see what happens.

Moving On again. The theme for NaBloPoMo (NBPM) is Thanks. So in the spirit of that I am feeling thankful for my Hubs today. He makes me smile LOTS. He also is a really fantastic Daddy. I can't imagine my life without this amazing man.

Our last topic for today is: My Oh-crap-christmas-is-just-around-the-corner-and-I-have-to-make-a-million-presents list.
I have really pared down my initally planned list to the following:
Hubs - Another hat? Who knows what I'll make.
Bug - A finished quilt
Papasan - Several photos of the kidlets framed. Some from our childhood too.
Sisterness - a skirt of our design
Mr Kitty - blanket
Princess - blanket
Gomer - blanket
Bestest Aunt & Uncle - that embroidered bit I finished forever ago.
BFF - that darned handbag that I have set aside for weeks
BFF's Hubby - wool beanie & scarf
GG (also known as The First Gilrfriend) - The doll that is already done.

The rest will be duplicate gifts: Silhouettes, banana bread, jam, and homemade candies & cookies.

Send me to bed before the weirdness that was this post infects the rest.

O Christmas Tree To Be, Part 3

Can I just gush about my ornament project? I love them. They are certainly talking a bit to do but are well worth it. What do you think?
Do you have a favorite ornament? I'd love to see them.

O Christmas Tree To Be, Part 2

Last night I finally sat down to my sewing machine and got the felt for the tree sewn. It did not take long so I wonder why I was procrastinating about it?
Today I stuffed the 4 boughs. I used embroidery floss and a blanket stitch to close them up and add a little character. They are currently safety pinned together for pictures but I want to come up with a kid friendly method of putting them together. Velcro seems to be the first choice but what keeps kiddos from completely tearing apart the tree instead of just re-arranging the ornaments? Safety pins may work out once it is attached to the wall.


Next step is adding the trunk. Once that is attached and installed on the wall then we can begin to decorate. (Although I will not be putting the tree up until after Thanksgiving. There is just something that irks me about too much christmas too soon. It's one thing to have a few songs or a little decor early but when the mall looks like Santa is there the day after Halloween I get a little cranky.)

Also, seeing this finished size I think I may be making too many ornaments. What am I going to do with the extras you ask. Why, I am going to make them into a garland for the space between the kitchen and living room of course.

Sorry about the lack of process pictures. It seems that if I don't format my card semi regularly then my card eats my images. GRRR!

I love the idea of fabric bags.

SimpleMom is having a giveaway that I am excited about. She and 6 companies are giving away 17 bags, a reusable bottle and a lunchbag. So go check it out and enter to win.
I am using fabric bags to wrap christmas presents in this year. If you (or I) don't win the giveaway then we can always get the red ones from Target. They are selling the envelope bags for 2/$1.00 this week. I picked up 6 yesterday and will probably go back for more before the end of the week.

3 Little Snow People

Felt Tree Update:
The material has been cut (for 3 days). All that is left to do is sew and stuff the tree.
Ornaments Update:
I have completed 1 set (3) ornaments with only 10 more sets to go. Want to see what I have done?


I am quite giddy over these little artworks. (Ok, so maybe I am exagerating by calling them artwork but I really love them.) I think this is a must have for every family. Next year I am going to make an ornament for each family in the extended fam.

I am falling asleep at the keyboard so it is bedtime. Night.

O Christmas Tree To Be, Part 1

Today I decided on making our christmas tree. Since we don't have a lot of room in our rental I threw out the old tree when the baby was on his way. So out with the old and in with the new. We still don't have much room (haven't moved yet) so I must do something small or 2-D.
After much searching of Flickr & Google images I found my pattern. My mind has transitioned through many internal rough drafts in a short time. Quite exhausting work ya know.
I am thinking the tree should be about 4' tall and no more than 3' wide. It will be made of either felt or fleece. I will also be making ornaments with velcro on the back so Little can rearrange them at will.

I think I am going to try to take photos along the way and share the trials and outcome with you. For now though I am on my way to bed. An early trip to WalMart or Hobby Lobby requires it.

Planning for a homemade holiday

I have decided since we are getting close I need a plan of attack on this home made holiday.
Things I need to get in RED
Things I already have in YELLOW
Next Actions in GREEN

DH - wool beanie, if I still have time I may make a lap quilt Need material. Lots of material.
Little Man - rag quilt, (crayon roll, colored pencil roll, marker roll) if time permits I will do these (we are also going to get him a big boy bed so the quilt will need to be more substantial than I was going to make.) Need material: 2 yds x 3 colors, batting, thread. Need TIME!

Sister - handbag (3 compartment, small, black, zipper and snap) I have the material for this. Pattern Complete. Cut material.
Princess V - rag quilt need material: 1.5 yds x 2 colors, batting
Jay Bug - rag quilt need material: 1.5 yds x 2 colors, batting

Uncle Doug & Aunt Phyllis - Embroidered napkins (4-6) Done!

Crystal - handbag I have the material for this. Cut material.

The Mama - apron Need Emmeline pattern.

Scarlett - tutu Need material, 3 yds tulle, elastic, silk flowers. Need waist measurement.

Susan - apron & hipslinger if time allows Need Emmeline pattern.
Linda - hipslinger if I have time

Matt - wool beanie & scarf, , Need 3 skeins wool in grey.
Colleen - handbag IN PROGRESS!
GG - Doll

Logan - rag quilt Need material: 1 yd x 2 colors.

Silhouette Ornaments- get paper for background and black
Jam - (11)
Banana Bread - (18) Find my recipe. Thaw bananas.