Snowy Family Fun

We headed to some local mountains today, for an afternoon of sledding and snowman buildiing.

Hubby said he thought I only went so that I'd have something to blog about. We did take the camera along and someone had to take photos. Right? And there hasn't been any crafting going on around here lately, so of course I have to share such cute photos......

Nathan and Daddy heading to the slope.

Nathan hitching a ride.

Faster than a speeding bullet....

Looking a bit wobbly....

And then, the bail out.

He was having so much fun that he wasn't entirely happy

about stopping to pose for a photo.

Warm and dry again, he slept like a baby.

A Merry Christmas to all.....

The tree and presents before the mayhem.

Nathan with a favorite toy.

A mini air hockey game that lights up and sounds like an arcade!

The aftermath.....

Exhausted. Glassy eyed. Surrounded by trains.

My Christmas Helpers

Elf Nathan decorating the Christmas tree.



George the Cat.....Chief Gift Bag Inspector.

(She fell asleep and was in there for hours!)

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The big reveal

Last week, I posted this tiny sneak peek for my Sweet Swap Sister Cindy...


(The photo is actually upside down, to make it more of a mystery!)

Cindy received her package yesterday, so now I can reveal the finished item in it's entirety.


Cindy posted a photo from the Anthropologie catgalog a while back. It was of two stockings and she said that she LOVED one of them. Stockings are one of my favorite things at Chirstmas, so I decided to copy the Anthro stocking and fill it with goodies for my Sweet Swap Sister. I had a ball going through my stash searching for just the right fabric and trim and button to put it all together.

I'm so pleased with the stocking and so happy that Cindy loved it! Thanks Cindy for making these swaps so much fun. Cindy is crazy talented when it comes to crafting. If you ever get a chance to swap with her, I highly recommend it!

You can see the rest of what I sent Cindy here.

And finally, a BIG thank you to The Goodness Girls, Rebecca and Lucy, for organizing this series of swaps. You girls rock!

My evening.....

Thirteen dozen Lemon Crisps.

What did you do tonight?

A tiny sneak peek and lotsa Swap Goodness

I mailed the last of my Sweet Goodness Sister Swap packages yesterday. I have neglected to torture Cindy with sneak peeks for this last swap. So I thought I'd make up for it and give the tiniest of sneak peeks now.

This is a very small part of one of the handmade items I included in Cindy's last package. Any ideas Cindy????? (Hee, hee, hee! Or should it be Ho, Ho, Ho?)

I was very lucky to have Cindy as a swap partner for these swaps. She is very crafty and creative. She's made some wonderful things for me. And she included goodies for Nathan with every swap package. It means so much to have a friend who is so generous to my son! Thank you, Cindy!


Here's Nathan's loot. A "Dear Santa" notepad. A robot pencil holder (he's already sharpened all 12 of the pencils), Reindeer Pez dispenser and stickers. And a darling set of dinosaur cookie cutters.


Here's the start of my loot. Some great vintage craft books, which I can't wait to sit down and peruse. A cute snowman box that was filled with a bag of Rolos (one of my favs) and a recipe for Poor Man's Turtles (using Rolos). Somehow, Nathan got it into his head that we'd be sharing the Rolos. He is SO wrong!


Vintage (?) elf ornaments and some lovely crocheted snowflake ornaments. Bead garland, chenille stems and Let It Snow letters to make a garland. There were about 10 more of the little crocheted ornaments, but Nathan was quick to claim them and hang them on the tree. They look very pretty among our other ornaments.


And wonderful handmade goodies! A necktie daisy and snowman pendant made by Miss Crafty herself. I can't wait to wear the daisy on my winter coat.


Finally, an incredible bag made from felted wool sweaters, embellished with fabric patches and buttons. There are lots of pockets inside too!


The back of the incredible bag.

Thank you so much Cindy! You've put so much thought and effort into my packages. I truly appreciate all you've done and admire you're creativity.

Soft, warm and VERY GREEN!

Ta-da! Another finished project.

Nathan has a new jacket that is soft and warm and yes, very, very green. Sort of a Grinch green. It doesn't look as vibrant in the photo as it is in real life.

During a quick trip to Joann's sometime before Halloween, I bought a pattern for this jacket and let Nathan pick out the fleece. He picked out the Grinch green, neon orange and purple. Luckily, I was able to negotiate the choices down to just the green, with white contrast in the zipper. (There will also be a hat someday that will be green and white.)

Nathan forgot his regular jacket at school on Friday and it was pretty chilly over the weekend. I pulled out his heavy winter coat and was a bit dismayed to see it is a size 4T. Nathan's wearing at least a 6 now and said the coat hurt his armpits. So, I did the reasonable thing and offered to take him shopping for a new coat.

Let's just say he was less than receptive to the idea of going shopping. No matter what we were shopping for.

I really had no choice but to make the fleece jacket for him. The fabric had spent it's fair share of time sitting in some random stack with umpteen other pieces of fabric. It did take more time than I expected, but overall, I'm quite happy with how it came out.

And after a rocky start on Monday morning, ("I don't want a new jacket!) Nathan's thrilled with it!

Yes, I still sew

And here's a finished project to prove it!

I was able to use scraps from a baby shower gift I made back in August to piece the top and a larger piece of the alphabet print for the back. I cut all the strips 6" wide, in various lengths, then tried to arrange them randomly. The arranging randomly was the hardest part for me. I don't do random very well. I'm more of an "everything in it's place" kind of girl.

The blanket was made as a Christmas gift for a baby girl who's just a few weeks old. It is part of my contribution to "Project Santa", which is a great giving opportunity for our family. For the past few years, a local online group I belong to has put together this Project Santa. There are about 50 kids signed up to receive gifts. All of the gifts will be donated by other group members. I'm always surprised when things like baby blankets and underwear appear on the wish lists. It makes me stop and think about how fortunate we are to have so much. I like doing this because it is a little less anonymous than other toy donations. I've gotten to know some of the families online and am glad I can help out.

And of course, I couldn't stop at just one blanket for this little girl.

Again, I used what I have and put together a couple pieces of flannel into a warm and cozy blanket. A nice floral print on the front and tiny pink rosebuds on the back. Neither of the blankets is anything fancy, but they'll help keep baby warm.

I did finish another project last night. But we were running late for school this morning and Nathan was out the door, wearing the finished project before I could snap a photo. Hopefully I can get him to pose in it this afternoon.

So, how are you Christmas projects going?

A word of advice....

When making 30 dozen or so cookies...

For other people...

Stick with cookies that you like.

Recipes that you trust.

Recipes that will be attractive to the eye, as well as the palate.

Don't try something new.

They may come out looking like.....






Reindeer droppings.

Normal Craziness

Yes, it seems my life is back to it's normal craziness this week.

Slightly more manageable than last week's extreme craziness.....sick kid, medicine battles, sick cat, new vet, exhausting search for an appropriate 80's costume, and co-hosting a Totally 80's Karaoke Christmas Party for 20. (I haven't seen that many pairs of black leggings in one room since.....well, the 80's!)


On Saturday, Nathan and I started our Christmas baking.

He only wanted to make sugar cookies. And he only wanted to make them because he wanted to put sprinkles on them. That kid would put sprinkles on everything if I let him. And yes, he had to use every container of sprinkles we have, including the Halloween variety.

I'm planning to make cookie trays for the employees at hubby's plant again this year. Of course, I have to make enough for each person to have 3 or 4 cookies. That means 300 - 4oo cookies! Some of the cookies from the batch above did make it into freezer bags, but it's not a great start.

I'm also going to make these (without the ice cream), Pfeffernuesse, Gingerbread men, more Sugar Cooki es and possibly some Italian Spice Cookies. Any other suggestions? What Christmas goodies are you baking?