My Christmas Village

Many years ago, I had some energy . . . . and I spent a few long hours hand painting a ceramic Christmas village.  I hadn't put it up since before my boys were born.  And we finally decided to pull it out of the deep recesses of the garage this year and put it up.  We've loved having it on our mantle and I've loved seeing it all again.  It's an animal village with lots of extra animals and trees that I didn't include in the pictures. 

 

Here are the pieces:

#1 - Mr. Squirrel's Pine Tree Inn.  This one is an old pine log that they've made a house out of.

 #2 - Beaver Tree Farm.  This one is an old stump that the beavers chewed down.

 

#3 - the Barn.  This piece isn't actually part of the set, but it was the right size and pretty darn cute, so I included it anyway.

 

#4 - Mrs. Mouse's Bed and Breakfast.  I love this one - a B&B made out of a teapot.

 

#5 - Rabbit Seed Farm.  I also love this one with the water wheel.  The house is an old terracotta plant pot. 

I actually love them all!  I spent so much time on them and it's great to have them up.  The artist who created the molds put lots of wonderful details in to them.

Last Minute Halloween Projects

I always seem to have a stack of projects waiting to be done.  You know how it is!  You see something cute, a project, a pattern or a kit that just calls your name . . . and you know "it will only take a few minutes" so you buy it and add it to the ever-growing stack.  Well I finally finished a couple of items in the Halloween project stack this week.  Even if the project is completed on the day of the holiday, it still counts doesn't it? 
Sharing time:

1 - I love creative people who think up all these cute wood projects.  And even more, I love going to a craft store/specialty shop and being able to purchase ALL the things I need to do those cute wood projects all at one time.  It really does make the project quick and easy!  There are certain icons of every holiday that I seem to be attracted to - one of those icons for Halloween are cute little bottles of unknown, dangerous potions.  These wooden bottles just called my name.  I need a piece of cute  ribbon to go around the taller one - it's final addition - that will happen next year!

2 - This little bat was sweet and super quick.  Enough said!

 3 - I saw these adorable spooky crystal balls over at Flamingo Toes.  I HAD to make them!  I gathered all my supplies and brought them home.  The first thing to do is to put some smoke inside the clear GLASS balls.  Well - the key word here is g.l.a.s.s.  Somehow (I think it was the cheap in me) I ended up with plastic balls.  After melting a bit of the opening to one of the balls, I realized I either needed to run out and spend the money on the glass ones or figure out a different way to put some "smoke" in the balls.  Husband suggested some tempura paint and it worked as well as I could have hoped.  Not quite the smoke Flamingo Toes created, but good enough.  And some days, I'm ok with "good enough". 

 Each one of these crystal balls still needs some spooky ribbon around the joint between the candlestick and the ball, but again . . . next year!

We choose the skull . . . .

and the bat. 

And as we were putting away Halloween decorations yesterday I saw one of my favorite decorations sitting on the table.  Who can resist a cute Frankenstein.  But even better - one with a bowl full of eyeballs.  Eyeballs are another of those icons of Halloween I just love!  I painted each one of these many years ago.  Love them!

And finally - I got to go help at son #1's class Halloween party at school on Thursday.  He wanted me to do a craft.  So we got looking online and came across this cute idea for some Frankenstein Stained Glass Window Art at Mrs. T's First Grade Class Blog.  I had to do all the prep work myself ahead of time since I only had a few minutes with each group, but we worked fast and they each got their Franky done and ready to go home. 

 


I do love Halloween decorations!  I don't love dressing up, but I love the decorations and always will!


 

Witchy Gams

I've been meaning to make time to make something Halloweenie - before Halloween passes me by.  I finally got around to making this cute little craft - - A Witch Leg or as I like to call it - - Witchy Gams.  The pattern is actually called Glinda's Gams and it was a really quick, easy project.

 This particular witch leg was taken to our good friend who had us over for dinner tonight.  My own witchy gam is part-way finished and will soon be hanging up ready to celebrate a little Halloween with us. 

I had just a tiny piece of this super cute spider/pom pom trim left over from a Halloween craft a few years back.  It was just the right size to add to this witch leg. 

The rest of my good intentioned Halloween projects will probably go on hold until next year.  I'm having a bit of trouble getting my son's new quilt actually quilted.  Plan B, C, and D are being invoked.  More to follow.

A Quilt for My Little Camper

Well son #2 had to grow up, at least a little bit, some time.  This summer we finally took the leap and got him out of his toddler bed into a "big boy" bed. And I've struggled.  Not with the big boy bed part, but with the "how to decorate his room" part.  Son #2 is not picky . . . at all.  Son #1 was a tad bit picky but luckily he went a long with my insightful guidance and agreed to decorate his room in an outdoors/wildlife theme.  We found the most amazing bedding that really inspired the theme at Target quite a while ago.  And knowing that son #2 would someday need his room to be more grown up, I've been on the lookout for something just as cute for him ever since.  Though Target discontinued carrying the bedding line I got for son #1, I was able to find various sets on eBay and I thought about just getting son #2 matching bedding - since there was really absolutely nothing else nearly as cute.  But as cute as it was, I couldn't talk myself into giving them matching bedrooms.  They are completely different people and I want them to each have their own identify.  I wouldn't want son #2 to feel like he is just a miniature son #1.

 

So when we took out the toddler bed and brought in the beautiful, gently used, Pine bed that I found in the local online classifieds, it was time to get serious.  Son #2 and I spent hours looking online at all the bedding options that would steer his new room theme.  Nothing worked.  OK, remember he's not all that picky - so let's just say it - nothing worked for me. 

 

Then, a started seeing a vision.  We are all about the outdoors and wildlife around here.  And some of the wall decorations that will stay in his room are of that same genre.  I remembered a cute line of boy fabric that had been out but wasn't sure if I could still find it.  I could and I managed to put together various cuts from all across the internet.  I drew out a quilt for my little guy along with a pieced backing and a matching curtain - thank you to whomever invented graph paper.  Quilting math is truly far more difficult that Calculus - and I would know, I took two years of Calculus! 

 

Anyway, the fabric arrived, I triple checked my quilt math, and finally I started cutting all the pieces.  It always makes me laugh just a little when I'm piecing a quilt - you buy this great fabric, then you cut it up into little pieces and sew it all back together again.  Fortunately, my mom happened to be in town over Labor day weekend and I talked her in to manning the ironing board.  I sewed and pieced and threw chunks of fabric upstairs for her to iron.  We had the top pieced in under 24 hours.  I had done the curtain a few weeks ago, just to see if I liked it.  I finally finished the pieced back this weekend and now, it's all ready to take to the long-arm quilter.  Son #2's camping quilt is just about ready to go into his camping themed room.

 

I know the pictures are awful - at night, in the house.  But at least you can get the idea.  The cotton fabric is all Fox Trails from Riley Blake.  It's an adorable line that I just love.  Husband kept saying it was a little girly for his tastes . . . until I got the lightweight corduroy and lightweight denim borders added.  That helped "man it up!"  The colors are light blues, light greens, creams, and tans.  It really is great fabric!

 This is a little better view of the top.  The coordinating fabrics includes some plaids, argyles, stars, and dots. 

And here's a shot of the back.  It's more of the denim and corduroy with some strips of cotton pieced in.  

 

I'll drop it at the quilter's soon and after I get it back and get it bound, I'll show the finished product.  There's starting to be a nip in the night air so it will be finished just in time to keep my little camper warm.

Nectarine Raspberry Freezer Jam

It's been more than a few years since I did any kind of canning or preserving.  But oh how I love this time of year when everything is being harvested and tastes so yummy. 

 

I had seen this recipe a few months ago and filed it away for just this occasion.  This occasion turned out to be a timely stop at a local farmer's market.  Not only did I find some perfect nectarines and raspberries straight from the fields, I also ran in to a very old student of mine from many years ago who selected and sold these luscious bits of fruit to me.  (Makes me feel older than the "29" years that I am - and I continue to hold at "29" for the foreseeable future!)

 

The boys and I got out the food processor and the sieve and whipped up a double batch of Nectarine Raspberry Freezer Jam.  Here is my final product from breakfast this morning.

And since I'm no food blogger or food photographer, I'll use the picture from the site that inspired all this yummy goodness - Simple Bites.  Click on over for the full recipe - super quick, super easy, and really no fail.  I even added slightly less sugar than the recipe called for (and then read the Pectin instructions that said "Don't skimp on the sugar or your jam might not set up correctly" - - - but I live dangerously and it came out perfectly!) 

Source: Simple Bites

 

We've got a few pints in our freezer for the future, and shared a few pints with some friends. 

Hum - I'm dreaming of toast and this jam right this minute.

Baby Girl Headbands

I'm not really a girly girl and I'm actually quite glad that I only have boys because I wouldn't have known what to do if I had had a girly girl.  Bows and ribbons and flowers and sparkly things usually aren't my thing.  And quite frankly, I have never been a big fan of the flowery, feathery headbands that moms put on their baby girls.

But I finally broke down and decided to whip a few up to add to some baby gifts that were headed out from my house.  I think I could have placed a small, fairly conservative headband on a baby girl if I had gotten the opportunity.  And these couldn't have been simpler to make!!!

Let's take a closer look at these - you can buy fold over elastic in all kinds of colors and patterns.  It's so soft!

I wanted the headbands to be interchangeable so that you weren't just limited to one flower per headband.  Really easy to do!  I found this You Tube video and wanted to have it for the future if I ever decide to make these again.  

More Baby Blankets

Tis the season for babies it seems, and lots of girl babies at that.  I've been keeping busy making blankets - I think every new baby deserves their very own blankets to cuddle up in. 

This one is for the lone baby boy of the summer (at least that we know).  Son #1's best friend from school is having a baby brother over the summer and he wanted to give the family a gift.  I came across this super soft cuddle fabric and used it for a blanket. 

 At the same fabric store, I found this beautiful lime green and gray cuddle fabric.  I wanted something non-traditional for husband's niece's new baby girl and got this blanket finished this morning - - just in time for the party.

This blanket is for another of husband's nephews.  He and his wife are having #6.  This is soft flannel with a crocheted edging around it.

And one of my cousins is having twin girls this summer so I whipped up these two ric-rack baby blankets in coordinating fabrics.  I can always, always, always count on the ric-rack blankets to turn out cute!