Productive Day

Annagrace took a long nap today, so I took full advantage and finally made the Taggie blanket and all of the "to do" fleece blankets!! I'm pretty excited about them. I don't know if it satisfied or intensified my crafting urge?!?

I decided to only put ribbons on two sides, I thought it might me a little too busy with them on all four sides. I probably would have done all four sides if I had put fewer ribbons on each side. But I'm happy with it. I made it from fleece so I wouldn't have to sew it on the reverse, flip, blah, blah, blah. I just placed the ribbons between the two pieces of fleece as I was sewing them together. That's the beauty of fleece - no hemming!

I just folded the one yard of fleece in half width wise and did a blanket stitch, by hand around the edge.

This one I folded in half again, but with the reverse sides together and sewed on the sewing machine, turned right side out and stitched up the hole. This one is made out of the softest fleece I have ever felt. Hopefully Annagrace will enjoy these! They are my homemade Christmas present for her. I want to make that a tradition every year: at least one homemade gift.

I can check them off of my list!!!

Ward Christmas Party

COMPLETE!

I successfully planned a party for 100 people for under $150. The big SECRET: I already had the decorations and it was a pot luck! So, I purchased three hams (had three different ladies cook them for me) and purchased plates, napkins, and cups. I also purchased a bag of party favors at Walmart (32 items for $4.50) along with pencils and candy canes. And then had a friend stuff goodie bags with one of each of the three goodies and put them all in a basket for Santa to hand out to the kids. I used left over wrapping paper as disposable table cloths and draped garland on the doorway, stage, and piano. The table centerpieces were garland wrapped mason jars that I normally line my side walk with. (They are super easy to make!)

Jar instructions: Use 12 quart size Mason Jars. Fill each with about 2 cups of play sand. Cover sand with a single layer of red plastic beads (the more faceted the better!). Then center a tea-light in the beads. Cut garland and wire into a ring to fit snugly around base of the jar. (I'll have to get a picture later)

Dwindling List

Check out my "To Do Soon" list!!! It's disappearing!!! I love lists. It helps me to not get to overwhelmed. If I can make a list, room by room for cleaning, it makes the task not so daunting. I can just work on one room at a time or one task at a time. And the BEST part of a list . . . crossing though what I have completed. I got my list obsession from my Mother. She also has a love of crossing out her completed tasks. (But, secretly, I think she has the memory of a gold fish and lists are the only way she will ever get anything done.)

Cards

Well, thanks to my friend Jenn, I've gotten a little addicted to card making. The addiction has some what subsided since Jenn left for Utah. But during my "non-bow making" time today I made some cards. I'm giving sets of them as Christmas gifts, so it wasn't completely "for fun" it was on my to-do list. Added bonus - I got to use a new stamp!! Yippeee.

These are four of my favorites:

Christmas Decorating

Mom's 10 ft ceilings deserved a 9 ft tree and all of the trimmings. I will post more picture of the rest of the house when the decorations are complete. I should post pictures of the entire house without the Christmas Decor. Her house was my biggest project (besides my own). And like my own, it is never really complete - an interior ALWAYS evolves.

Mom's Project

Also at "Christmas Made in the South," they had adorable simple A-line dresses and pant suits (at $50+ each). Mom took on the project of copying them. We found the pattern and all of the fabric (50% off) at Hancock Fabrics. She also took the time to make the dresses reversable (double duty - gotta love it!) I did however ruin the reversable feature when I took two of the dresses to a local gift shop and had them monogramed (on a buy one-get one free day). I think one of the two dresses might still be reversable - I only put an A on it and it still looks decent when I reverse it.

Annagrace's tree

I found the cutest ornaments at "Christmas Made in the South." They were pieces of candy in bright vivid colors (the color scheme for Annagrace's tree). However they were $10 a piece - out of my budget for her small tree, plus they were a little too big and out of scale . I took a gander at them and realized they were just thin wood circles, painted with swirls, glittered, with ribbon attached to the back to give the appearance of the wrapper ends. So I headed to the handy-dandy Michael's and bought 8 wood circles at 25 cents a piece the three larger ones at 79 cents each. My kitchen table was consumed with paint and glitter for a few days but the results are not too shabby! While I was at it - I also painted some for the outside, at the end of our driveway. (I picked up the wood yard stakes at the after Halloween sale for 1.99 at Michael's.)

I found this cute little gem at a local boutique. But I think this could easily be replicated!

First

Well, I've decided I want a separate blog for my crafty projects and redecorating adventures. Most of my crafts I steal from other people, but hey . . . they posted 'em, so I'm takin' em