Seashell Wind Chimes

The kids are still on winter break here for another week. There's no snow on the ground, no snow angels, or snowmen, or icicles to draw with, it's just plain cold with a wind chill of -5. What to do? Play with new toys, of course! Not theirs, mine! I now have a 72 piece dremel kit! Today's craft was making seashell wind chimes and learning to use a few of the attachments!

The Art of Gift Wrapping!

The art of wrapping a gift! 

These remind me of little flower pods.

Inside is a little box with a gift for a very special person.

I used wider strips of paper for the second one,

and a few more leaves.

~.~
Another project in the works..

It's not how much we give, but how much LOVE we put into giving.

~Mother Theresa

O' Christmas Tree

It's so cold outside! Can we just hibernate until Spring?!

 The heater in my craft room has gone kaput on me, so no new bags just yet. I miss being out there. In the meantime I've been decorating and keeping occupied with little crafts. The kids have only had one snow day so far, we made it a day of playing video games and wrapping all the gifts!

Thankful for all my little helpers! The tree is up and covered with handmade ornaments, and so many ornaments from my beautiful friend in Alaska.

It wouldn't be complete without a wizard, right?

We even have our very own angel tree.

Years ago my Grandma gifted me with a box of gold ornaments. They have never actually made it to the tree, to me they're special and each one reminds me of a memory and how thankful I am for family.

From Our Family, to Yours
Merry Christmas!

A week of projects!

Experimenting with a smaller size hook and lighter weight yarn ...

I might just end up with a different color kerchief for every day!

~.~

Crocheted Drawstring Bag

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Our weekend adventure of making salt dough ornaments.
I was inspired by the sophisticated look of Annalea's and the recipe was perfect!

 

 

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Hand Sewn Dahlia Pin

Inspired by Megan Reardon. I used the pattern, just not the glue.

Crocheted Kerchief

Inspired again, or maybe I just always am? I came across a pattern for a crocheted kerchief. The first one I tried was very easy. The second one not so much, even with being able to read a pattern by someone else the directions would have given me a result I wasn't looking for. I still have to write it all out for the next time, but I changed both so they worked for me. They are all crocheted with Caron Simply Soft yarn. They are comfy, soft and light weight!

My results...

From Autumn to Winter

My first owl bag is not quite done yet, but I had to share anyway. 

Inspired by all the falling leaves of course!

~.~

With the craft room becoming cold enough to turn the heater on, the thoughts of snow began. Thankfully we haven't had any yet. I finished my first ever Whimsical Christmas painting this past weekend.

The Best Pumpkin Pie Ever!

On our adventure at the Great Pumpkin Patch I found a blue pumpkin. My hubby says it's a squash and I say it's a pumpkin. It's a Jarrendale Pumpkin. It's super thick and probably not the best choice for carving since it took me two days with my hand cramping.

I carved Cinderella's Carriage and the fairy god mother into it and added some gold glitter for fairy dust. Then dropped it off at Daisy Lane for the pumpkin decorating contest.

I also dropped off my kiddo's pumpkin since it was AWESOME too! The Pumpkin Peanut Pirate Ship complete with peanuts as pirates and carrots for cannons.

Oh and two days after dropping them off I got a call saying that we had won 1st and 2nd place!

 Back to the Jarrendale....
I saved the seeds for planting next year and most of the insides for pie! I have to say it makes the best pumpkin pie! After hunting through different recipes to use I ended up using this recipe, with premade crust and a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk instead of just milk, 3 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of 2, and a pinch of cinnamon (because I love cinnamon when baking!) I covered the crust with foil and Oh My Yum! My very first ever home made pumpkin pies were created!

Covered Bridge Festival

Sunday we were up before the sun and off to Indiana for the Covered Bridge Festival. We stopped in Rockville and found the best chocolate cream horns and cranberry orange bread made by Bowman Bakery Inc. The best find in Rockville was The Man Cave. It's mostly a boutique filled with women's clothing, so the look on the hubby's face when he walked in was priceless since it was his idea to go check it out. In the back of the little store we found 3 more metal Jack Daniel's signs to add to our collection.

Luckily we were given a map! We headed toward Bridgeton and found a few covered bridges along the way. I can happily say my christmas shopping is almost done!
 

 

The Fairy

This is my first fairy creation. I almost forgot to get a before picture. I was ready to just start painting!