There's a tree in the house!

What have you people gone and done now?!?



 

This just might be more than he can stand.

With high hopes of the novelty wearing off we went ahead and decorated.

I always have a terrible time getting a decent picture of the tree.  I think it's the windows in the background. 

The jury is still out on the new tree topper.  Our old topper was just so old and tattered.

 

11 days.

 

Pam



Another finish.

I have finished another one of my projects that was stowed away in a box taking up precious space.  Recently I showed this one on the design wall after finishing the blocks.

Primitive Gathering's '45 & Life To Go".

Here it is on the wall. 

 

I've assembled the blocks, added the borders, quilted and bound this cute little quilt.

 

Those squares are tiny!

I like the center arrangement.

Matches Cooper!  I'm not sure I'll be leaving it around for him to sleep on, though.  He's a little kitty so you can see how small the blocks are.

We have left the teens behind and have just 12 days left! 

Pam

Decorating.

I have not had my usual zest for decorating this year.  Although, it's not over yet so maybe there will be an explosion one of these days.

I did put together one of my favorite decorations the other day. 

This sits on the counter at our breakfast bar so I can enjoy it from the kitchen sink area.

I found an old flour sifter at an antique store and filled it with clippings from our cedar tree.  I also made a few applesauce cinnamon ornaments that have stood the test of time. 

I filled a little bowl with cranberries...fresh out of the freezer so they frosted up for a minute...along with a votive candle and another cinnamon-applesauce ornament.



As a place mat I made one block from a quilt pattern using primitive looking fabrics and washed it to make it all crinkled.

Progress.  And, so far, the cats aren't interested.  

13 days....

Pam

  

A little baking.

I love to bake but seldom do it.  With just two of us home there isn't a lot of call for an entire cake or a batch of cookies.  

However, part of the fun of holiday prep is baking our family favorites.  I will probably have to make two batches of Hershey Kiss cookies and I always bake spritz cookies. Only green Christmas trees but I'll wait until the girls are around so they can do the decorating.  

Yesterday I was looking for a pumpkin cookie recipe when I saw one called Cranberry Drop Cookies.  I found it in this book....

Since cranberries are one of my favorite fall ingredients I gave the recipe a try this morning.  

My cranberries came from the freezer so it sounded like I was chopping up marbles when I put them in the food processor.  

 

I have 5 trays so I can almost scoop an entire batch and just pull pans in and out of the oven.

 

They sure look festive with the bright red cranberries.   They are so tasty, too, and not real sweet.

 

The recipe made about 8 dozen.  I will certainly highlight this recipe for future use.

Only 14 days...

Pam

A finish and a first.

I am writing a post for the first time (with pictures and everything) on my new computer.  All my presets in Blogger and my photo editing needed reset but I think it's working out alright.

Anyhow, the march towards Christmas continues.  

Yesterday I spent most of the day driving from place to place doing errands and shopping.  I don't think many of us can ever say we're finished Christmas shopping but I'm darn close.  

One important stop was at the shop where I get my cross stitch framed.  

Happy birthday to me!  'January' by Waxing Moon Designs is home.  

The rustic blue frame is just perfect.

Today we are having a day that could lead to this exact situation.  Up to a foot of snow is predicted.

I am waiting to hear about a meeting I'm supposed to attend tonight.  Knock on wood that it will be canceled then I can head to my sewing room and wait it out.  

My college kids will be arriving home starting today.  I am working on decorating a bit more. It's time the house started looking festive.

Only 15 more days....

Pam

Crafty and Creative? Not so much.

I am not sure we're exactly as creative with our craftiness as we'd like to be.  Mostly we just have fun and leave the creativity to other folks.

As evidenced by your second annual day-after-Thanksgiving gingerbread house decorating.  We put forth some effort but don't have a lot of experience to draw from. 

We buy our houses in kits.  See that curved piece?  That will prove to be a flaw we almost couldn't over come.

After a cave in or two I took over and used more glue/icing than normally called for.  My fingers messed up the decorations on the front so the end result was a pretty slap-dash looking job. 

The others looked way more inviting.

They still look festive and...surprise...the cats don't seem the least bit interested.  Knock on wood.

16 days....

Pam

I made it!

I finished enough of Bonnie Hunter's second clue in the Grand Illusions mystery to create a post and link up to her blog.  Check out everyone's progress here.    I always enjoy seeing how other blocks turn out.  Not everyone uses the color choices suggested by Bonnie. 

First I had to thoroughly read the directions.  There were a few options for making this unit.  

I almost never opt for the option that uses templates...although this one felt more like a road map or reminder for where to place the Easy Angle ruler on the fabric.

 Cut 200 diamonds.

Then combine them with 200 pink triangles and 200 black triangles. 

I don't know the name of that candy...the kind that is pink, white, and black and tastes of coconut but that's what these remind me of.


My thread eating kitty wondered in and thought he could get away with nibbling the thread on the sewing machine.

Alright then, I'll check your fabric for loose ends.

Pairing up units will be the 'fun' part.  Matching points that are formed with seams on an angle is always a challenge for me.

 

10 done.  90 to go. 

My other helper cat found an unattended quilt.
 

Looking forward to the next step on Friday.

17 days....

Pam