December in Review

Well the month is almost over and so is this year.  I'll not be sad to see it go, not because it was an especially bad month or year but because it is better to look forward than to wallow in the past.

Anyway . . .

It has been a busy month.  The week before Christmas being the busiest of all as I'm sure many of you can attest too.  All in all it was a good Christmas, a good month.

The boys had fun running all over the christmas tree lot, "helping" us pick out the perfect tree.  HT  really wanted one like Charlie Brown's.

I found these two cars in the fridge one morning.

 Then I found this one the following day hiding in the stable.  Even Italian race cars worship the King.

HT had his Winter Program at pre-school.  Lasted a whole 7 minutes.  I know, right?!

 He sure was cute though and did his Mama proud.

 We came home and decorated Snoopy's doghouse . . . 4 times, thank you very much.

 Some of us are having fun.

Do I look like I'm having fun, or does that face say, "If you ever buy these again Auntie, you are doing the decorating, NOT me!"?

I've mentioned here before how this boy does love a bucket.  They do make the most fashionable head gear . . . for a two year old.

 

The Christmas eve service at church with the "impromptu" live nativity was really enjoyable and the kids had fun acting out the parts.

HT could hardly wait to dive into the presents on Christmas morning.

The boys got everything they could have asked for and more.  The only specific request made was for a treasure map.  So Papa sat down and drew one for HT and he had fun following it and finding where X marked the spot.  His treasure was a boxed set of Roald Dahl books and we have been reading James and the Giant Peach and he is loving it.

EM was content to play with his "marmol machine" as he calls it. For those of you who don't speak toddler, "marmol" means marble.  He also got several dump trucks or "dumb frucks" as he calls them, which can be quite amusing, unless you are walking into the store as he sees one and he starts telling you all about it in the loudest possible voice. "Wook mama, dumb fruck!"

And finally we feasted on roast lamb for Christmas dinner with my brother and his family.

Merry belated Christmas to you all and I pray that God will bless you and yours in the coming New Year!

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 

Amen."

Revelations 22:21

Tissue Holder Tutorial

I was going to link up this post with Sew and Tell Friday over at Amy's, but it's not friday, so you can decide if I'm really early for next friday or late for last friday.

Anyhoo. . .

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't written much of anything lately.  I've kinda been in a fog.  My house is a mess, we've eaten lots of junk food and I sometimes find myself wishing for the day to end.

Usually I find solace when I can be creative.  But even that has been hampered due to my limitations since the surgery.  I did however make these.

They were super simple and I have made more than a dozen and have sold some and given some away.  I wrote a pattern and made up over 60 kits to sell at one of our local quilt shops and was very pleased that all of the kits sold in less then a week.  They did so well in fact that they sold my samples too.

For all you fabric aficionados I used Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda, the denim weight cotton for the exterior and regular for the lining.

And for all you who would like to make one . . .

cut 1  6" x 7 1/2" denim weight cotton for exterior
cut 1  6" x 7 1/2" for lining
cut 2  6" pieces of decorative trim

1.  Lay fabric pieces right sides together and using 1/4" seam allowance stitch together short sides, remembering to back stitch at beginning and ending point.

2.  Turn right sides out, then press.

3.  Using matching thread, add decorative trim along sewn pressed edge.

4.  Mark the center of long sides.

5.  With lining face down, fold sewn edges toward center point, meeting in the middle.

6.  With a 1/4" seam allowance stitch in place, remembering to backstitch and beginning and ending point.

7.  Zig zag raw edges to finish.

8.  Turn right side out, insert tissues.

This makes a great little gift for a mom, a grandmother, an aunt, a sister, a friend or anyone else you can think of who might like one.

If you don't sew and would like to have one e-mail me and we can work something out.

Have a God blessed day!