More Of The Same

I've still been in the mood to make the "My Stocking Ornament(s)" so I've been whipping them right out. I made these on the 3rd, 4th, and 6th.

These 3 colors are samples for Small T.  The colors (from the left) are Buff, Paddy Green, and Cafe Latte. She thinks that I need to make a few stockings that can be used in a primitive decorating scheme, which is what she leaned toward when we decorated our house for Christmas this year.

I haven't made any stockings since I finished these though.  I think I need a break from them. They are getting boring and once I get bored, I'm done.

A Little Experimenting

Yes, Christmas is over.  But, I'm trying to "think ahead" with a few projects for next time. One of those projects is "stocking making".  We're in need of a few smaller ones, but I wasn't sure what style I liked. So I went through my patterns, chose 4 potential stockings, and set about making one of each to see which ones appealed to me.

I think I'm a traditionalist or at least a bit of a conservative, because I like the 2 solid red, white trimmed ones the best. I'm already planning some embellishments for them. I did like the size of the striped stocking on the left, just not the construction of it. I might have to do some more experimenting and see what I can come up with.

The patterns I used are (from the left):

"Waiting for Santa Stockings" at www.redheart.com

"Little Christmas Socks" at www.lemondedesucrette.com

"Mini Stocking Pop!" at www.joann.com/projects/

"My Stocking Ornament" at www.suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com

Inspiration

I've been taking photos on my phone of a few things that have been inspiring me towards decorating for Christmas next year. Here are some of them:

 Big Daddy could make this frame for me.

 I love the simplicity of this look.

 These would look cute in our house.

I love this look too! Pine cones and twigs decorated with icicles, or even a few small ornaments.

Christmas Vacation - In The Kitchen

 I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen during Christmas vacation. Some of it, simply out of sheer boredom. I'm so used to things being hectic lately that I didn't know what to do with myself and all that spare time on my hands. So I baked.  A LOT.

 It started with a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.  And a week later, another double batch.

 Then it went to a double batch of oatmeal scotchies.

 I tried something new to our house too.

 Holiday Ritz crackers.

 They were really good!  I ended up making 3 batches of these over the course of 2 weeks.  Medium J loved them!

 Another new thing I made was sugar cookies.  I've never taken the time to make them because of the whole "rolling out and cutting them" process.  I was surprised to see that it wasn't nearly that time consuming (or messy).

 I chose to sprinkle sugar on the top instead of icing them. I got a little too much sugar, I think.  lol

I don't have any photos, but I also made peanut butter cookies and peanut blossom cookies (which are my favorite).

I also made puppy chow (for my uncle and a friend's family too) and soda cracker candy (for my uncle).

 A friend shared a recipe for Cheese Logs.  I didn't make them, but I might next year. I'm not exactly sure what a cheese log is though.

 I also made cinnamon ornaments (for the first time).

 Little Miss E wanted to help.  She loved helping in the kitchen and I had to keep some cookie dough in the refrigerator for when she came by because she always asked to bake something.

 She did a great job cutting them out with the cookie cutter!

 And I chose to dry them over the course of a couple of days instead of baking them.  I love the way they looked when they were done.  I tried painting them, but didn't like it at all.

Family and Our Christmas Tree

One of the best things of the holiday season this year was...

 the arrival of my nephew, Dakota, his wife, Rose, and...

 my great-niece, Little Miss E, from Texas. Dakota is in the military and has recently arrived home from Afghanistan. Rose and Little Miss E spent the summer with us, then moved to Texas when Dakota got back.  I've missed them all immensely.

 Small T and Little Miss E missed each other a lot and I swear, they were up to no good, as you can tell by this photo. At the time this was taken, we had our tree up, but not decorated, and Little Miss E wanted Small T to help her put the ornaments on.  So that's what they did.

 Small T, as usual, insisted on being the one to put the angel on the top of the tree.  She had to have some help though, in the form of a chair, to reach it.

Little Miss E loved putting the ornaments on, and by the time she was done, every ornament (except the balls) we owned was on the tree. I think it looks great!

Christmas Decorations

I wasn't much for decorating this year for Christmas, but my family stepped in and did a fabulous job!

 Big Daddy took care of the outside, as usual.  He added the trees (on the left) this year. They are 3 metal trees in varying sizes that Small T picked up (for free) from a former employer that was getting rid of them. He added the lights and came up with a super decoration for the yard.

 Small T used her florist skills and made 3 arrangements for the table. I was amazed at what she was able to do with 3 wire baskets and some poinsettia groupings that she bought and cut apart.

She decided to take the arrangements off the table and add them to the mantle instead.  She bought the snowman wall hanging for $20 (a steal) and decorated the mantle to her liking. I think she did a good job of it.

Other than stringing a few strands of snowman, Tinkerbell, and purple fairy lights through the rest of the house, this was all the decorating we did, other than the tree, which I'll show in a later post.

Memorial Day

Today is the day to remember and honor those who served in the military and fought for our freedom.

Happy Memorial Day Dad!

I love you and miss you.

My Valentine

I almost forgot to post about Big Daddy and the Valentine I made him.  That just wouldn't do!  Big Daddy is the kind of guy that loves all that cheesy, sappy, holiday stuff.  The cheesier the better!  So instead of my usual store-bought card and box of assorted chocolates, I made Big Daddy this huge "card".  I found the idea on Pinterest.  Sometimes, I thank God for Pinterest, and this is one of them.

Big Daddy absolutely loved the card and he insisted that I take a photo of him holding it and put it on my blog.  So that's what I'm doing.

The card reads:

Happy Valentine's Day!

To my (Sweet Tart)..you are so

aaah (M&M's) zing!  When I'm 

with you, I feel like I'm on the 

(Milky Way) or just won (100 Grand)!

I don't mind if people (Snickers) because

I love you to (Reese's Pieces)!  What did I do

to (Skor) a (Sugar Babies)

like you?

Hugs and Kisses, Shelly

Inspired...

Even though Christmas is barely over, I'm inspired today (by several things) to capture the Spirit of the Season all year long in 2014.  I'm already thinking of my Christmas Tree for the next holiday season, along with the multitude of decorations and ornaments that I would love to make.  To see some of the things that are inspiring me today, please visit:

Caught on a Whim to take a look at the Crochet Spiral Christmas Tree Pattern
http://www.caughtonawhim.com/2013/12/lets-crochet-christmas-tree-ornament.html

Cherry Heart to view her beautifully decorated Christmas trees and colorful tree skirt
http://sandra-cherryheart.blogspot.com/

Bunny Mummy to see the little birds she made during the last year.  I would love to make some of these to put on my Christmas tree next year.
http://bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.com/

Gifts...

 My favorite Christmas gift this year ... I love the colors and pattern.

I felt bad when Small T said she will never know what it's like to get "sister" stuff since she doesn't have a sister.  Geez.  I felt so bad.  She doesn't talk much about her twin dying, but every now and then it surfaces.  Her cousin Z will have to buy her sister stuff, and vice versa.

I ended up getting a lot of stuff...none of which I thought I was getting.  I got books.  Lots of books.  I love books, can you tell?  I also got a foot bath and a massaging pillow.  And an 8 piece set of purple dishes.  And jewelry.  And a huge black trash bag full of yarn.  And a movie.  And the list goes on.  I was so blessed.  I thank each and every person that blessed me with a gift.  :)  

Christmas

 Christmas morning 2013 (before kids).

 Small T opening her big gift from her dad.

 She loves her guitar.

 Big C tearing into the wrapping paper.

 Medium J getting involved with the gifts before he had to leave.

 Little Ty and his mom.

Z (Little Ty's sister).  She's best buds with Small T.  They are the same age and as close as sisters.

Christmas List

Does anyone still make a Christmas list as an adult?  My family is always urging me to make one so this is what my list said this year:

a pair of house slippers (I need some new ones)
a necklace from my favorite store here in town
2 books :  Deadlocked and Dead Ever After (the last two books of the Sookie Stackhouse series)
a dress shirt/t-shirt from Wal-Mart

then of course, I always ask for a new purse and I'm always told "I know" because I ask for one each and every year.  lol

So...if you make a list...what did you ask for?

Preparations...

We were a little late with getting things started for Christmas, but we finally took an evening after the kids went to bed, and started in on the wrapping of the gifts.

 In the process, Annie, Big Daddy and I, trashed the living room.  lol  It looks like a tornado hit!

Then, we had to get the tree up and decorated so we could put the gifts around it.  This year, Big Daddy surprised me with a purple tree.  That meant that we needed some new decorations.  What a treat!  I had fun shopping for some white and silver things to put on it.  Small T threw a huge fit over a purple tree and said she wasn't going to participate in the holiday if we put it up, but when it was time to start decorating, she changed her mind.  In fact, she said she's taking it to college with her when it's time for her to go.  Imagine that!  She must like it after all!

Snow...and Lights...

Big Daddy finally put up a few Christmas lights outside on the porch about a week ago.  I told him it wasn't necessary this year as he's not been feeling well, but he did a few anyway on the last decent weather day we've had.

 I particularly enjoy the lights he strung around the base of the bird house.  The red rope lights are looking good!

I also like the multi-colored lights that he hung up.  In fact, I just enjoy lights in general.  :)

I wasn't really planning to take any light photos tonight but I did it anyway as I wanted to show the beginnings of the snow that's falling (on top of the entire day of freezing rain).  We've had another sticking snow this month, but this one is supposed to land us with up to 6" of the wet stuff instead of they dry powdery kind we had the last time.

Halloween

Here are a few Halloween highlights:

 The front of my house.  Complete with graveyard.

 Pattycake (on left) and Sassy (on right).

 Max...asleep in the tomato plant pot.  Most kids thought he was dead.  lol

Spock.  He won 1st place in the costume contest for his grade.  Imagine that!  And Small T had begged me and begged me to make him NOT be Spock because it was "nerdy".

Busy...

As always, it's been busy around here.

 Last Thursday found us road-tripping to a college visit for Small T.  This was a fairly big trip.  4 hours of driving each way.  But, we were able to stop and visit with my Mom and my sister Lea and her family for a bit, so it was even better.

 I finished up the Simply Soft Chocolate wrist warmers.  This is the first Christmas gift I've made this year.  I'm behind.

 On Saturday, Big Daddy and I took my sister Annie to the Boo...z Bash here in town.  $15 got you 12 different vendor stops of beer tasting.  Think a good sized shot glass of each one and there were 2 to 4 beers at each stop.  Everyone was taking "selfies" so we took one too.  Big Daddy was clowning around.  lol  By the way...in addition to being the Boo...z Bash it was also Annie's birthday.

 After the Boo...z Bash, we hit one of the local bars for the Halloween party and costume contest...."Diaper Guy" won.  That's him and I in the photo.  I think the person that took the photo must have been seeing funny since the photo is blurry.  lol  Only problem is...I can't remember who took the photo.  geez.

 While at the bar for the Halloween party, we were tipsy enough that we sang "A LOT" of karoke.  This is my sisters Dea and Annie.  I couldn't get in the photo as I was taking it.  lol

 All evening at the Boo...z Bash everyone was taking their photo with the Big Pecan.  So on the walk home from the bar, we took our photo with it too.  lol  Drunken ladies!!!

 The next day found us all hung-over from the previous night's escapades, so ... we had a belated birthday party for Annie.

 I quickly made a cute little hat and slipper set for a friend here in town to send to a 9 year old girl with stage 3 cancer.  I'll have to find out the patterns so I can post the links.  I used Simply Soft yarn in Soft Pink (I think).
***Edited to add....The pattern I used for the hat is called Pretty As A Package and you can find the pattern by clicking here .***
****The pattern for the slippers is called Women's Crochet Ballet Slippers and the pattern can be found by clicking here .  I altered it just a bit to fit a smaller sized foot.****

 I've been carving pumpkins.

 And gourds of some type.

 And more of each.

 And this is what my front steps look like now.

I have more carved pumpkins on the porch that I'll light up on Halloween.

 I brought out the Scrap Afghan that I had been working on and finished up all the inner circles and even hooked a few more together.

 I've added 16 or more rows to the pink camo knitted baby blanket.

 I road-tripped with my sister Annie this morning in the wee hours to her General Manager meeting about 2 1/2 hours away from where we live.  I enjoyed the Fall like scenery though.

 I started another set of wrist warmers.  This time in Simply Soft Grey Heather.  These are another Christmas gift in the making.

And I broke out the 13 bags of Halloween candy a bit ago so Small T could have a piece of chocolate.  I'm ready for trick or treating now.  I live in a prime spot so I'll most likely run out of candy pretty quick.  I normally have about 15 bags of candy and end up running out for more.  But I've put them on a candy diet this year.  lol  13 bags.  That's it.

So...that's pretty much my week in a nutshell other than ball games, working at the farm, and so on.