Let's take a closer look, shall we?

I thought I would share a few closeups from "The Countdown". The snowman is one of my favorites.

Did I mention I like the gingerbread man? I like the stocking, too.

The mitten took on a vintage look. I love blue and brown together.

Let it snow, on the weekend or after I have all my Christmas shopping finished. Who am I kidding? I am usually out getting something on Christmas Eve.

I really enjoyed making this. It is not a hard project, just takes a little time. I have one more to finish before Wednesday. This one should go a little faster, I am going to use the same images. I am in a crafty mood! Must be all the fun Christmas ideas I put in my favorites. Hopefully, I will be making a lot of things this week.

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Countdown!

I am not sure if you remember that I have been working on a few "Christmas Countdown Cookie Sheets". I settled on painting the background bright red. It was a difficult decision. I also loved the blue and green paint colors, but red is what I chose. I made all the little countdown numbers yesterday. Let me just say, it took me hours to make all the little paper creations. I would love to give more details, but that would most likely bore you.

I have a lot to do today. I worked on Christmas projects yesterday which means all things pertaining to cleaning were put on hold. I have to put all the fall decorations away. Clean out all the leftovers from Thanksgiving! I have to do all this and more before I can sit down and make another "Christmas Countdown Cookie Sheet". I also have to make sure the person that is getting this one, receives it before December 1st. That is when all the fun starts, the countdown starts there!

Thanks for visiting!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Do we really have a Christmas wreath on our front door? Yes, we do! I am looking forward to seeing how the house looks this year. The yellow color looked great in the fall. I hope it looks just as nice when the yard is covered with snow.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Thanksgiving

Last week my daughter and I were out doing a little shopping. Not a "Breaking News Moment" it is what mothers and daughters do. We went into Williams Sonoma to see if they had anything cute for the holidays. This is how I ended up making a pumpkin bread cornucopia. The Nordic Ware pan was on sale for $9.99. That is a big savings from the original price of $34.99. I figured for that price there had to be an issue with it. Maybe they had received bad reviews on it,and had to decided we should dump them now. Have I ever told you I have spent most of my life being a pessimist, I am the glass half empty type. Well, two pumpkin bread mixes, a little oil to grease the pan and look what I made. A perfect pumpkin bread cornucopia centerpiece. The pan was so easy to clean. I am not sure why this was such a bargain. But, I am now leaning towards seeing that glass half full. Maybe with some eggnog!

It is time to chop some vegetables, do a few dishes and get ready for the big meal!

Thanks for visiting!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Time to make the placecards

This year I thought I would use Whitman Samplers for our place cards. Let me just say we are not that fancy a family, I just love place cards. They have become a tradition in our family. I think they would be missed if they were not made.

I love using brown wrapping paper. Mom, that's me!

I think the raffia makes a great trim for the brown paper.

I love the colors of fall.

I am very happy with the results. I like when that happens, it is not always the case when I make something.

The table is starting to take shape. All it needs is flatware and a candle or two. It won't look like this for long soon it will be covered with a turkey and all the fantastic trimmings. My favorite side dish is Memphis Corn Pudding!

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Countdown Cookie Sheet

I am working on a Christmas Countdown Cookie Sheet or is it a Cookie Sheet Countdown to Christmas? Whatever it is called I am working on it. The first step is complete I sprayed the cookie sheet red. I decided on red because last year I made two, one green and one blue. Now comes the fun part, decorating it. I hope to have it done by the weekend. Right now, I am in full Thanksgiving preparation mode. My grocery list has been made and I need to do a little "decluttering of the kitchen", so the day will run smoothly.

Thanks for visiting!

It's that time of year, again!

When the mailbox if full of holiday catalogs and magazines. The festive covers make you want to tear right into them and see what you like, but just can't afford! Some of the prices in the catalogs are just plain crazy. But, I like to look anyway and sometimes the price is right.

The pages usually do not disappoint me, they are beautiful images.

I could send someone a fragrant pine wreath from Vermont! There is nothing like a simple pine wreath on your front door. Unless you have a pretty artificial wreath that has blinking lights, I like them all!

I wonder why they only show one glove? Is the other glove lost already? They are beautiful. However I buy only black gloves. When I lose one, I just go in the drawer and take out another one, it works for me. I do have a pretty set of olive green gloves. They have lasted three seasons.

I do want to learn how to paint. I have been saying that for years. This looks like a nice gift.

Block Island is a small island off the Rhode Island coast. It sounds like a nice way to spend the weekend. It is about a 40 minute ferry ride. I will have to think about this some more. I can not imagine having to take the ferry on a bad winter day.

A cashmere hot water bottle cover, I think I need this. At least that is what the catalog tells me.

This is just adorable. Does the pink coat come in my size?

We like to play Scrabble in our house. I think games are great Christmas gifts.

I just thought this was an interesting way to sell a pair of boots. It did get my attention and that is what they want to do.

I have made biscotti, it is not really that difficult. I like the little white heart ornament. I also like the simple red and white packaging.

Soft and cozy beyond believe! I would love a set of flannel sheets!

This is a great idea for a family gift.

It is nice to sit down with a cup of coffee and look through all the holiday magazines that come to our house. I always mark my favorite pages. Hopefully, I have the time to try a new recipe. There is always a new decorating idea or two. To be truthful I hardly ever buy from the catalogs, but they can be full of creative ideas. I am still not sure about the sheep in the boots, but I will admit it was creative!

Thanks for visiting!

Thinking of Ideas for Thanksgiving Place Cards

These are the place cards I made last year. A few of my friends save their wine corks and give them to me. I never thought I would use them for place cards.

This is a place card from Thanksgiving 2008. It is a peanut butter chocolate turkey.
I wonder if I still have the mold?

I like place cards. I am not sure when we started making them. In the early years they were made from paper and crayons. I know we still have a few tucked in a drawer somewhere in the house. I have even seen them make an appearance at my parents house during Thanksgiving.

What will this year's place cards look like? I am giving that some thought today.

Have a nice day!
Thanks for visiting!

Cake Bingo

The bazaar is this weekend and I volunteered to make a few cakes. It was fun! I wanted to make more, but there were still things to do at the church. Next year I will do it again and I really want to make ten cakes and I think I can do it!

These cakes will be used for a cake bingo! I have never heard of cake bingo. I guess it is as easy as it sounds. You win and you pick the cake you like.

Even though it is a Christmas bazaar I thought I would make "fall looking" cakes. They have lots of things that are not Christmas related. And my friend who is in charge said it was fine. It is nice to have friends in high places!

The story behind this cake being two colors is simple. I ran out of chocolate frosting and had extra vanilla. I like it!


Thanks for visiting!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Let the papering begin

Let the papering begin! A few years ago I would of never thought of papering these. I would of found my brushes, sat down and painted them. I am so happy that I covered these with paper. I do not have to wait for the paint to dry! And I can just imagine all the time I would of spent with the detailing. I love paper!

A little beige colored edging where the white rik-rak would go and a few red hearts, just for fun.

Next, I added blue buttons for the eyes. I did not really care for the red hearts, they were too matchy matchy with the red lips. They were replaced with multi colored paper hearts. I like them so much more.

Next, I replaced the blue buttons with orange buttons. The dark color made the gingerbread man look a little mean. Yes, this version is much friendlier.

All it needed was a the red ribbon and he is ready to be put on a Christmas package.

Putting him up against a green plant, makes me think I will make a few for ornaments, too.
I was able to get six more gingerbread men today. They ended up costing just 59 cents a piece, I love a bargain!

Thanks for visiting!

Gingerbread Men Gift Tags

I found these at Jo Ann's yesterday. I thought they would make cute gift tags rather than ornaments. They could always be put on a tree later, but for now they will be gift tags. I will be

making these right after I post this. I am feeling a little festive this week. I usually don't like to think about Christmas too far in advance but the stores are full of everything Christmas! There is a local radio station that is playing Christmas music 24 hours a day. I can remember when you enjoyed Thanksgiving and then thought about Christmas. Ah, the good old days! Well, this is the year 2010 and this is how it is done. Maybe someday there really will be Christmas in July. I will draw the line there!

Thanks for visiting!

Snowmen

I bought these cute ready to finish ornaments at Michael's. They were $1.49 with an additional 40% off!

I painted them white and topped that with a little clear glitter.

I wrapped the tree with a small piece of green pipe cleaner. I like how the banner turned out,I may have to use that on another ornament.

That is a piece of red printed paper wrapped around the blue base.

A friend told me how to make the pipe cleaner candy canes. I would of never thought of it.

It was getting close to supper time and I needed another idea. A simple heart would have to do. I think I bought the last four of these unfinished ornaments. I will take a ride to Michael's and see if they have anymore. They were fun to do, but they did take some time to make. I need quite a few ornamnents for my tree this year. I lost most of them when the basement flooded in the spring.

Thanks for visiting!

Really?

This is what I woke up to this morning! Really? Snow on November 8th, is this really necessary? It did make me look for a box of unfinished wood ornaments I have been wanting to decorate for Christmas.

I must admit I did find the box very quickly.

I know owls are not the first thing you think about when you think Christmas, but what the heck. It was 8:00 in the morning and I did use Christmas colors.

This is the finished ornament. You can put a picture in the middle. I now know it can use a little white glitter to make it more festive! I will do that right now. I wonder who will end up being in the middle of the ornament?

Thanks for visiting!

And get those snow shovels out for the season!