The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Merry Christmas! We have already opened presents and are vegging out at this house. The kids are enjoying new Wii games, while I am preparing my new gift into my sewing room. I'm so excited! It pays to have a hubby who can handle power tools. I knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas. I put in my request and hubby found some bookshelves at a fairly good price. Here's mine at the moment.

Yippee Skippee!!! Mine is not screwed together yet (so no, it's not crooked) because he wanted to wait until I got it where I wanted it. He said the store had two black shelves and one white so, surprise! Mine is black! Plus he used floor tiles on the top which makes it slick. I love it. I'm currently making attempts to clean up my sewing area so I can fit it in there. Mine was also scaled down because I don't have as much room available, but it will definitely be loads of room for me! Hopefully I can keep things straight with this and the bookshelf. Storage!!!

In case you wonder, I got the idea from this Ikeahackers version.

I will post better pics when I get it in place. I also finished a quilt from my To Do list and will post about it tomorrow. For now, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

Christmastime...

I love Christmastime! We finally got our tree decorated and there's just something about the tree that just clinches it for me...

I love it! The kids went crazy putting their ornaments on this year. I keep boxes for each of them where they keep all of their ornaments. That way they have their own ornaments to take for their own trees when they grow up. My mom always got us a new ornament each year in our stocking so that is definitely a tradition we continue to do. Where's the tree skirt? Well,...I had a quilted one I bought about 14 years ago and it just looked awful. So I decided to take this Christmas quilt top...

and turn it into a tree skirt. So far I took off two rows from the long side to make it about 45" square. I think I'm going to just keep it square and whip it up. I've got some fabric I purchased a long time ago that will be perfect for the backing. That's my plan for tomorrow; to get it pinned and quilted. I doubt I'll have time to get the hole cut and get it bound but I'll try!
This week is going to be crazy at the theater. I don't remember if I mentioned this but I'm doing Annie and this week we are there every night from Monday to Sunday. We have dress rehearsal Monday thru Wednesday and opening night is Thursday night. Sold out!! I'm excited but a bit nervous cause the gave us this past week off so I'm scared that we're going to be a bit frantic over the next three days trying to remember everything we're supposed to do as well as getting used to the costume changes. I'm just in the ensemble and a Boylan sister for the radio show and I have to change clothes 6 times!!! Luckily sometimes I'm just throwing a coat on over a servant's outfit so hopefully that will be a quick change. If you're anywhere near Georgia, come see it! I think it's going to be really cute!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope you all had a fabulous day! We went to my parents' home and came back yesterday. Since we had to come back the day of Christmas, mom chose to cook Christmas dinner the day before. This was great cause we had leftovers while we were there, but when we got home there was nothing for dinner. I picked up Chinese. I totally felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story! We just needed a crazy relative to give my son a pink bunny costume!

Everyone was pleased with their haul and it was nice to see my family. We do have a couple of returns (hubby's George Foreman grill had a big crack in the top when we took it out of the box, and my pj's don't fit) but otherwise most everything went over well. There are some cards to spend, and my aunt who passed away recently left each of us a little money. I almost hated to take it cause I know my other aunts could use it but I also know there was no arguing about it. So now I will think of something cool to get with it that I wouldn't have bought myself otherwise.

So what did Santa get you for Christmas? I got a new rice cooker (my other one was disgusting because we used it so much), an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, some pj's, slippers, boots, and a cute set of measuring cups in the image of Matroykshka dolls. How cute are these?

I hope Santa was kind to you all and that your holidays are wonderful. I hope to get back in the sewing room tomorrow. I'm currently working on post Christmas laundry and taking down some Christmas decorations, then I'm off to pick up a black printer cartridge so I can print the return paperwork for the grill. Pretty sad when you don't even have enough ink in your printer to send something back!
Happy Holidays!

Off For the Holidays!

And we're off to my parents to spend Christmas. Hopefully when I get back I will be more than motivated to get back into my quilting. I'm doing my best to OD on crochet right now so that I'm sick of it and will want something different to do when I get back. My plan is to work diligently to finish my Carpenter Wheel quilt so I have something for my bed!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

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.

Did You Do It? Did You Dare?

Did you brave the insanity of Black Friday? It was crazy out there people! I was completely happy and comfortable sitting here in my home in front of the computer doing my shopping, thank you very much! Caught a couple of deals on Amazon's lightning deals so I did okay. We went to my MIL's for Thanksgiving and I thought I would throw a picture out there of how she decorated her bedroom with my Bottled Rainbows quilt. I'm always interested to see how people use their quilts in real situations. I love how this looks at her house!

The kids decorated the tree and I did the house tonight so it has officially changed from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season! I have actually done some sewing as crocheting as well but I'll post that later.

Hope you're starting the season off right!

Just Because You Make it Out of Boy Fabric...

I was on a roll with ideas on how to organize my children with fabric bags and baskets until hubby finally gave me the look. You know the one; where they look like, "I'm going to tell you this because you obviously don't appear to be grasping this point." His 'point' was, "Just because you stick some racecars or some tools on it doesn't mean it's not still a purse!" I was only asking if I could make a drawstring bag for Little Man's BeyBlades! I guess it does kind of look like a purse, huh?

I made this one out of some fabric the kids gave me for Christmas. They gave me two fat quarter packs. This one...

and this one.

They also got me some other sewing goodies.

And hubby got me a new sewing machine.

I had a very basic Kenmore and we're keeping that one for my daughter to learn on. This brand was recommended by someone in the AMQG when Mitzi and I attended one of their meetings.

Speaking of Mitzi and those wonderful drawstring bags, have you seen these she made? She did a couple of sets for Christmas gifts (I think) where they are in graduating sizes. I want measurements Mitzi!

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas holiday! I am with my family so I sneakily pre-posted this but I wanted to tell you all that I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and that your hearts are full of joy and love.

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?

.

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!

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!

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!

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!