Christmas Stress Countdown...

Are you finished with your shopping? Me? Uh, no. Not even close. I've got some things for my daughter but nothing for my son yet, and one thing for hubby. ARRGGGHHH! I don't like being this behind! I haven't even sent out Christmas cards yet! Every year I plan on doing the picture Christmas cards and it never pans out. The closest I've come is sticking a picture of the kids in with the cards. But the elves have still been busy.
Some acrobatics with a stuffed duck...

Hanging out with a snowman...Jingles is a little scared of heights.

They got in a bit of trouble for feeding the snake candy...one had to write lines while the other rubbed his tummy to make him feel better.

And today they were found in my kitchen yucking it up from some joke cards they brought with them.

Do you have an elf on the shelf at your house? Do they like jokes? (Need something to stretch things out?) Check out these great printable joke cards.
Gotta do some shopping today but hopefully will get some sewing done as well!

WiP Wedn..., What? It's Thursday?

(Don't forget to check out my last minute giveaway for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day here!)

It has been VERY hectic around my household lately. The play I'm in (Madeline's Christmas) opens this weekend so it is tech week. That means I have practice almost every night this week (off today, thank goodness cause I'm EXHAUSTED!). I have actually gotten a bit of sewing done, though not nearly what I should have. So let's take a look at the week so far, shall we?
Block number 8 (?? I think) for Carpenter's Wheel...

I did a last minute revamp to my son's Diddy Kong Halloween costume to turn it into a costume for the organ grinder's monkey in the play...

the elves have been VERY busy...

and my daughter got to walk in the local Christmas parade Sunday as one of the Madeline girls for the theater because not all of the girls could be there. She had a blast. She has walked as a Girl Scout before and always enjoys giving out candy to the kids. She's actually giving some to her brother and my neighbor's daughter here.

When we got back to the theater, she was goofing around with one of the other costumes.

Does this mean she would be Madolph or Rudeline?

Elf Invasion

Well, it's that time again! The elves are back so I thought I'd let you in on their escapades. They actually came back a little early (hubby's hiding place was not that great!) but I didn't think to post those pictures. Yesterday they were found hanging out with some of the nutcrackers in my daughter's collection.

One appeared to be "carried away" by the Rat King...

while the other appeared to have accepted a piggy back ride from the drummer.
They had been hanging in the stairway garland the other day but my son sent them off with a letter to Santa so they stayed gone a few days.

Home for the Holidays

We will be spending the holidays with my parents this year for the first time ever. Hubby's new job restricted when we could be where for Thanksgiving and Christmas so it ended up being better to switch this year. We went to his mom's for Thanksgiving and are going to mine for Christmas. My sister and her family will be there as well. There is always the possiblity that my grandmother will come too, so it will definitely be a house full!

I finished my niece's quilt this morning...finally!

Sorry for the inside pic but it's been raining all day here.

I did the back in a stripe. It's hard to tell in these pics but I just did a diamond crosshatch type quilting on this one.

Here's a close-up of the back.

I also picked up my goodies I won from the LQS. I won three charm packs of Jovial by Moda.

I'm excited to have something to make another Christmas quilt for next year! This one will be bigger.

I guess that's it. OH! Except for the elves. Yeah, they've been on high silly alert.

They got into the Operation game yesterday. Then my son was not paying attention (walking backward) and bumped Elphie with his foot. I warned him that she would not move the next day but I don't think he believed me. Jingles even looked a little concerned about her this morning.

All I Want for Christmas...

Is to finish this quilt! I finally finished the top. I have posted pictures of this quilt before but it was never big enough. It is now an odd 45x55 but that's as big as it's going to get. I'm done! Now I have to get it quilted and bound by Friday. Ach!!!

I also found out this morning that I won another pattern through the Blog Hop Party! This is the Floating Stars pattern over at Heather Spence Designs. Isn't this pretty?

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And the elves. Oh my, the elves! They have been up to more mischief.  They were so pooped out the other night from their shenanigans that they had to take a rest.

They were found with a tiny note that read:

too busy

needed rest

see you

later.

This morning they were back to their regular chaos having raided the kids' toys.



They were racing a truck with a  remote control dinosaur. Looks like prehistoric skill outweighs modern day know-how, huh?

I also wanted to end with picture of our tree. I have never been able to get a good picture of our tree while it was lit until I came across this recent tutorial. I can't say that I have a fabulous comprehension of shutter speed and aperture yet but I at least got a fairly decent picture of the tree (though not as great as Emilie's!).

I'll have to let you know tomorrow what I won at the LQS. I'm going to run by and pick it up today!

A Tunic and a Word

I won a tunic pattern from April at Kool Beenz for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

I'm excited because you can make a size 0 to a size 3X with this! So I could pretty much make one for anybody! I'll have to look at it and figure out some pretty fabric to make it out of. Maybe by the time I get around to it, it'll be spring time and I can wear it!

I was also at my LQS yesterday where she was having an Open House. They were drawing names for prizes while I was there. When I left I jokingly said, "Just call me to let me know what I won!" She laughed. Then she called about 2 hours later! I don't know what I won but I won something! I have to wait until Tuesday to pick it up because she's not open on Mondays.

Also I noticed while checking out blogs that Sharon from Dancing Thru Threads came up with a word for herself for 2012. Hers is FOCUS. I thought this was such a cool idea so I came up with my own word for 2012. I tend to throw all my energies toward one thing and neglect others, so I thought my word for the year should be BALANCE. We'll see how that works out for me.

I made some more progress on the string quilt but I still don't think it's big enough. I also worked on drawstring bags for teachers last night. I gave away the four I had so now I need more. Two down (still need drawstrings), many to go before Wednesday!

As far as the elves go, they were playing hide and seek last night. There was a suggestion that they take baths after the skunk stink but I couldn't figure out how to do that and still allow us to shower in the morning, so ...

Jingles was counting with his eyes closed while on the counter above the sink.

Elphie was later found hiding in the pantry. Hmmm, I sure hope elves don't need air holes. Maybe I should pop the top a bit...

Christmas is Coming, Christmas is Coming!

I'm really trying to get on the ball since Christmas is right around the corner. I baked cookies last night (Mexican wedding cookies) and I finished the top of my Fiesta dishes wall hanging!

I think it's going to be so cute! Here's what I'm putting on the back.

Now I have a dire question...how in the world do I quilt this thing?  Usually I can stand back and look at my projects and get an idea of what to do, but not this time. I originally thought of using a colored thread and pretending I was creating a wallpaper design on the white, but the dishes are going to have to be quilted as well. I'm just not sure how I want to do it.

I received a correction from my daughter regarding the elves rapelling yesterday. She told her dad that they had accidentally gotten locked out and were attempting to get back inside the house. I had said they were escaping. I stand corrected!
This morning they ventured farther out and were found in my car. It took the kids forever to find them and I think they were getting a bit concerned.

Of course, I don't think the elves thought this out. The one on the steering wheel brushes the top of my legs when I turn, so we made an executive decision that it was okay to touch clothing, just not skin.

Video from Santa and more Elphie News

My MIL sent me the link to this website, portable north pole. You can go there and plug in information about your little one (nothing too revealing). You can also add pictures of them. They have Santa create a video to your child discussing whether they have been nice or naughty, and he will even mention a specific item from your child's wish list. Kind of cool. I did one for my son under the pretext that he had been nice. We let him watch it last night and it was unreal watching his face. He spoke to Santa through the computer and had this wicked grin on his face the whole time!  When it was done, Santa is waving goodbye and my little man was just waving and saying "Bye Santa!" So cute! Of course, Thing 1 kept cutting her eyes at me about it. I was telling another commenter yesterday that she sneaked up to me the other night wanting to stay up late and help move the elves. Excuse me? I just told her I didn't know what she was talking about and sent her to bed.

As far s those elves go, did I tell you the kids named them? Yes, ours are Elphie (short for Elpheba; we like Wicked around here) and Jingles. This morning the kids had a much harder time locating them because it was dark outside. Why should that matter, you say?

They got outside and were rapelling down the door to the deck!

Calgon, Take me Away!

I am so tired! I feel like I have spent the last week on the computer! And I sort of have. First I entered about 180-200 contests on Quilting Gallery's Giveaway Day list. Then I started entering contests on Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day Monday. I am officially done with the ones I'm entering and I'm pooped! I sure hope I win something to make all this typing worthwhile! But I will say, it has been great fun finding new blogs I didn't know about. And I like when blogs ask you to answer specific questions in their comments. Now, most blogs are asking Christmas type questions (favorite movie, favorite Christmas song or treat) but I have come across some different ones. "Given the chance would you become a vampire?" That was definitely different. I also came across a game someone did in their comments which I thought was very cute. I'll have to remember that one next time I do a giveaway!

Well, even though I've spent most of my time typing, I have tried to work on some things. My MIL's stack of fiesta ware dishes is getting closer to done. I kind of got a kick in the pants today when I looked at my dashboard and noticed that M-R over at Quilt Matters made a comment about how there are only 10 days left until Christmas. Holy bells and whistles Batman! How did that happen? I've been working through a bit of a sluggish period but now is the time to get it in gear! So here's where the dishes stand right now:

I'm working on getting each row done before I sew them together but I think it's looking cute. The colors are a bit brighter than I intended to use but I checked the fiesta ware website before doing it!

Oh, and if you're wondering about those silly elves...

one day we caught them coloring pictures of Rudolph and Santa...

and yesterday they took pictures with my camera which we found next to them (hard to take a picture of a camera on the shelf when you're using it to take the picture). They had their hands over their mouths giggling. When I showed the kids the pictures, I accidentally knocked one of the elves off the shelf. Too bad! They don't move the next day if you tough them (a break for me!).  All the pictures they took were low to the ground, though one was of an elf hanging from the shower curtain rod (though it looked to be taken from the floor!).

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Christmas time is always so busy. I still have to find stocking stuffers for hubby and I need to finish the two quilty gifts for MIL and my niece. Things to do and not enough time to do them!
And when you get busy, you tend to make mistakes. Lindsay, don't worry about the dress. I messed up one of the bags. You know, the Sunbonnet Sue bags? Yeah, I put a pocket in upside down! That was interesting to fix. I couldn't turn the liner upside down because I'd already cut where I boxed the corners and there were holes where the magnetic clasps went. But I did it!
The elves have been busy as well; getting into silliness!

They got into the kid's Halloween candy...

were found snuggled in a Santa hat reading "The Grinch"...

and this morning seemed to be taking a marshmallow bubble bath! They know not to touch the elves (they won't move anymore if you touch them) but I think some kiddos sneaked some marshmallow snackage this a.m.! Hope your family is loving getting ready for Christmas!

Giveaways and Mischief!

First off, check out Giveaway Day over at Sew Mama Sew. This is going to be December 12 and will only involve giveaways on blogs. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I'm participating with a giveaway. I just had a few and I'm not sure I have anything to send out! We'll see.

Finally, the elves are getting into a bit more mischief.

This is how they were found this morning. One found my daughter's DS, and the other couldn't find my son's so he got a Buzz Lightyear game to play with. Something tells me they're going to get into more stuff as it gets closer to Christmas! And this is how they will be found tomorrow.

Looks like they think they're King Kong in the Christmas village!

An Elf Education

Okay, so I had a few people not know who the Elf on the Shelf was. Undoubtedly this originated here in Georgia but it seems to have stretched out to other areas because they sell them at Barnes and Noble. The idea is that this woman's mom used to put an elf out on the shelf when she was a child. Her mom told her that the elf kept tabs on her behavior for Santa. I'm not crazy about the little videos and we don't use the book. We also have our own versions of the elves. The fun part is that the elves are playful and like to be silly. They 'hide' all over the house and when the kids awake in the morning, they never know where they will find them. Last year the elves just sat out in different places but, now that there are so many ideas out on there on the internet, I think there might be some more inventive things happening with our elves. I will try to include a picture each day of what silly mischieviousness our elves are up to.
Here is where the elves will be found tomorrow...

The silliness is only just beginning. Hubby told me not to use up all the good stuff this week so I'm starting small and getting big!

Christmas is Coming...and There Are Elves at my House!

I don't know how many of you do 'Elf on the Shelf' but it was new to us as of last year. My daughter, who is 10 and knows by the way, insisted on one for the past two years. Last year at the Christmas auction for my quilting guild, I was able to pick up 2 elves, albeit not actual Elf on the Shelf elves. From what I understand, they are actually some sort of collectible elves called Annalee elves (not that I collect them; I just got them really cheap!). Anyway, we played the game last year but it sort of wasn't all that much fun for me after a week of it because it became tedious trying to come up with ideas. Well, today I took Little Man to a birthday party and two of the moms (who also happen to be sisters) were discussing all the fun things they were doing with their elves.
"Where are you getting all these great ideas?" I eagerly asked.
"Pinterest!" was the reply.
Why had it not occurred to me to look there? And you know what? There are a ton of ideas and I got great tips for what I want to do already. So I started a new 'Elf on the Shelf ideas" board. Check it out if you like. I have been lazy about even starting it yet but they are arriving tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak!

I really wanted to do a little Poltergeist homage with "We're baa-aack!" but I couldn't figure out how to do the apostrophe and exclamation point! they wouldn't get it anyway!