1. I printed {this}. Now I just need to decide where to hang it.
2. Our old dining room table got a new life as the craft table downstairs. I stapled a cherry printed oilcloth to the top to add some cheeriness to the room and cover the stained light oak top. The old shelf from the kitchen added some needed storage and a wire curtain rod from Ikea became a fun place to hang kids art work (we just need to go through the art bucket or make some new art). I also found a mug rack at Goodwill for $3 that will get spray painted this spring and become a holder for all the fancy scrapping scissors I have.
3. I have finished the fronts of 2 out of 6 Christmas stockings for next year. In case you are wondering, the 6th is for my mom. :) Every year I think "Oh, yeah. We don't have cute stockings for everyone that match, I should get on that." We've been using cheap $1 stockings for 3 of us for the past 2 years. Since we don't have a mantel to hang them on I didn't really care. Every year I find that October is too late to be starting this project. Ya think? But it's hard (at least for me) to work on Christmas projects in the summer. So this year I'm starting early. Only 4 more to go!
The snowman is mine because it reminds me of the little guy on the tree skirt my mother made years ago. I'm waiting to add names and hanging loops until they are all finished and I decide what to use for a lining. I plan to make all those finishing details match.
The gingerbread house is Allison's. She loves, loves, loves candy!
I had bought our stocking kits last year {search Bucilla on eBay} and then decided that they weren't vintage enough and they had too much navy blue in them. So this year I found even older ones and I'm much happier about their look. I'll share the rest as they are completed.
These are quite simple to make, just time consuming. The snowman took 15 hours and I stopped counting the hours for Allison's after I hit 20 and still had a ways to go. And these aren't even done yet! So if you ever contemplate buying an already completed stocking on Etsy, just know you are getting a good deal. *wink*
4. I made 14 tea towels for Christmas gifts this year (various designs). But this little birdie was one of my faves. She's the first in a set of 7. The rest will be coming to those same friends at other times throughout the next year or two. So that's one of my projects to work on after the stockings are finished.
5. And I love these little birdies carrying the "joy" banner. Inspired by my friend {Amber}, who sent me this word on an adorable mug rug last year. I think these would make cute teacher gifts at the end of the year. I'm going to teach my girls how to embroider this spring.
This one in particular, I made for David's grandma Sofie. It's already made it's way back to me. Just 3 weeks ago she was put on hospice back home in Big Fork (4 hours north of us), only to find that the Dr. had misread her scan. She is now off of hospice and moved to a nursing home down here. But in the meantime her belongings have been sorted/packed and divided and her apartment let go. We hope to visit her again soon, but have all been sick this week (as in no school since Tuesday).
6. I placed my first Matilda Jane order this week. I've only ordered for myself in the past. Now that TaDa! is closed (yep, I'm done for good *sniff*sniff*). I've had a difficult time motivating myself to sew clothing. I'm sure it will come back once these beautiful pieces arrive though. Especially since I found {this} pattern to make some cute coordinating dresses with. Oh and while I'm on the subject of patterns, here are two more seriously cute dresses I may have to invest in quickly since they only go to size 6.
Here are the five pieces we've got coming...
I think those red striped shorties are adorable with that sweet top. The lilac dress is a favorite with both my girls. I have one more dress and a pair of leggings to order with their 2nd launch next month. It will be fun to have adorable clothing this spring and summer, that I didn't have to make. Yay! I'm also thinking that these will last us two years because of their easy fit.
7. We are signing the girls up for both softball and soccer this spring. I think we are a little crazy. We will have games Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat. Oh and dance is still on Tuesdays and church on Wednesday too. Yikes! We'll do it again in the fall and then they need to decide which sport they prefer. It will be an adventure, that's for sure.
8. On a more personal level, my mom and I both joined a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) group and are loving it. I've also been reading through the Bible from front to back. I've never actually done that and I finally figured out why. Until last year I always had a study Bible. Those are much thicker than just the text. And to look at it, it's pretty daunting to think of reading the whole thing. Well, I recently purchased a smaller Bible so I cold have one to fit in my purse to bring to church. I looked at it one day and thought "Hmmm, there's no reason I can't read that one cover to cover." I'm halfway through Judges right now, which is the 7th book in the Old Testament. In the past I've always given up somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd. So, if you've always wanted to but it felt like it was too big a task, just get yourself a smaller bible. It makes a difference! Who knew?
9. I highly recommend the site myfitnesspal.com. I wouldn't track calories any other way. They have a seriously huge database of everything you would ever eat, including restaurants. And if you have a fancy phone it would be even easier for you. Totally free, just need to create a user id and you are good to go. It tells you how many calories to eat to loose weight at the rate you would like. My husband has already lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks. I've only lost 3, but it's a start.
10. David just walked in the door so I'm going to take Nyquil, hibernate under the electric blanket and fall asleep reading. I neeeeeed this sore throat to go away now. Hope you have a great week-end.
