We Need a Little Christmas: Decorations!

The Christmas season can go by fast and furious! I hate to admit that there were a few years when I didn't really embrace the season, didn't decorate and did all my shopping on line-I was taking the easy way out. And those years, it didn't really seem like Christmas. So, in that spirit, here's one of my favorite Christmas decorations...my feather wreath! If you want to make your own, all you need are a couple of feather boas, a wire wreath form (may need to paint it white) and a bunch of coordinating ornaments. Deck your halls!

The House that Jack Built

The minute I arrived at my sister's house, for the holiday, my 4 year old nephew (who is relentless) asked if we could make a gingerbread house. So, one night after bedtime, I snuck out and bought a kit. Thanksgiving morning, Jack and I put it together. One of his twin sister's helped, the other one ate the candy.

Here's our proud home builder! I think it's a new tradition!

Thankful for Family

Preparing for Winter or It's Really Hard to Take a Picture of a Scarf

Winter is fast approaching, not that we would know it from the weather we've had in Maryland this week, it's been in the 60's recently (thankfully) but we are only 11 days to Thanksgiving, and we all know what comes after that-December, which kicks off my least favorite season, Winter. Given my dislike for Winter, I try to have things around me that 1.) will keep me warm and 2.) are pretty. Enter this Gathered Flannel Scarf from Make it and Love it. I went shopping for flannel at Joann's today and sadly didn't find any solids. All they had were prints (kid's pajamas) most of the prints were very juvenile. I was just about to give up when I came across this cheery pink with black circle print and decided that this just might be the thing to keep me warm and give a little color to my usual black sweater wardrobe. I bought exactly one yard of fabric and used almost all of it. I mostly followed the tutorial, but I had only bought one yard, so I ended up having the put in a center back seam to get the needed length. If you want to avoid the seam, then you'll need to buy 2 yards, to get to something around 60". Other than the fact that I forgot to buy matching thread to handsew the opening closed, and had to return to Joann's the next day to pick this up to finish, this was a very quick, probably put together in a little over an hour. It was also incredibly affordable, the flannel was on sale for only $2.99 a yard! I apologize for the really terrible picture, but it's hard to photograph a rectangle of fabric!

I'm blogging about...umm...Pot Holders

This may truly be the height of mundane things that I have made, but I needed some new pot holders, had some scrap canvas, an old towel and this handy tutorial. Unfortunately, I didn't have an fun embellishments to add, but this Ikea fabric is one of my favorites and I'm happy to find a use for the scraps. Perfect for my winter cooking. And just might have to make some "prettier" ones as Christmas gifts.

Oh, Deer...

This weekend, I decided to try some freezer paper stenciling. You can find the basic instructions here. Turns out that I don't have an x-acto knife (hard to believe, I know) and am pretty adept with scissors, so that worked out fine for me. I also didn't buy specific fabric paint, I bought a textile medium and mixed it with very inexpensive craft paints (2/$1), which was far less expensive than buying fabric paints. However, I did end having to do about three coats of paint. Let it dry overnight, then peel off the paper. My outcome was, well, ok. Does it look homemade, definitely. It was my first attempt, so perhaps my technique will improve next time. I had a little bleeding beyond the stencil. I think I'll try next time with fabric paint, perhaps it will end up less runny? Think that I'll use one of these for a lunch tote. I have about a million of these little totes, bought for practically nothing, so you'll probably see more of this in the future.