My Christmas Decorations- A bit Late

I did not fall off the face of the earth... I was however without internet for FIVE days!!!!!!!!!!

UGGG... they finally got the DSL working properly today.

So better late than never... here are this years Christmas decorations.

Gabby helped me arrange this, she had fun doing it.

The very bottom shelf is all the santa photos I have from everyone in my family.

My vintage ceramic tree colection with a couple of other trees thrown in.

Our Christmas tree. Of course I chose a sunny day to take the photo, it looked so pretty at night.

This is one of my very favorite decorations. It is made out of vintage costume jewelry.

LOVE it!

Close up!

Our stockings hung on our mantle.

Chads, Gwens, Mine, Scarlettes, Gabbys and Grahams.

I got the stocking holders after xmas last year for 2$ each. Nice to have 6 matching ones!

Need to work on the stockings, I made the girls when they were little and now I need to make some new matching ones because this is quite the hodge podge. Chads I knitted and mine is a vintage one made out of a quilt, I love it and scarlettes is one I had used in years past and Grahams I got at a garage sale a few years ago and decided it matched better than the red one I made for him. A project for next year.

My vintage printers box.

My cute little pink tree.


a fun close up.

Hope you enjoyed a peek at our decorations. I had a very hard time decorating for Christmas when we are so not unpacked. I just put up the xmas decor and left the rest in the garage. Operation christmas removal starts tomorrow and then I can continue to unpack and decorate.
And decorate and host Graham's 3rd bday party. Yikes it is in less than two weeks.

Help.

Handmade Gifts & Holiday Decorations

I am sure everyone is sick of Christmas decor, but I am finally posting photos of mine before the dreaded taking it down.

A Shelf in my dinning room.

You can click on any of the pictures to make them larger.

Pink tree in my living room. I am going to use this for V-day and Easter:)

Pretty trees and other pinkish goodies!

Tulle Wreath I made, I will be taking the mercury glass beads off and leaving it up through the spring. May add something red for V-day!

Newspaper tree I made and other fun vintage and vintage inspired goodies.

My beloved vintage jewelry tree. I purchased this on ebay a few years ago and I LOVE IT!. I wish the frame was different. It also has lights that you can plug in so it looks pretty at night too!

About half of my North Pole Villages. Gabby and I set these up and never got around to setting up the rest. Maybe next year. Gabby asked if I would put these in my will for her. TOO Funny.

My kitchen, Darling pink angle on the wall, tine vintage tinsel tree on top of the pie safe. A repro tinsel tree in the corner. Graham knocked this tree down three times and broke about half of the ornaments on this tree. I swear this boy has broken more stuff in his short life than the girls have broken together!

My Vintage Printers box, I love this thing and am going to be sad to take down the Christmas stuff. I need some neeto Valentines goodies~!

One of my trees, this is the traditional colored one. I didn't get a good picture of the pink one this year! There are more here and there in the house, but these are my faves!

Last year my family and I decided to do a handmade gift exchange for the adults. It is so much fun to see all the creative things everyone comes up with. This year I made all gifts with the exception of my kidos gifts. Now I can actually share them.


I made this scarf for my nephew who is an Oregon duck fan. It took me forever because I was not very inspired by the colors!

I knitted these fingerless gloves for my oldest niece, Gabby wanted to keep them!

Neck warmer I made for my aunt.

Neck warmer I made for my Grandma!

Neck Warmer I made for my Mama.

My brother in law is a HUGE NC tarheels fan, so I made him a NC reusable market bag!

I made this for my sweet nephew Eli. It is minky on the back!

Today is the last day to sign ups for the Valentine swap.
I will be assigning partners in the next day or two I will also be announcing the winner of the giveaway!

Holiday Cheer

Here are some photos of the fam from this holiday season.

I know this picture is weird, I forgot to change the white balance before I handed the camera to Chad. We were at the Jamestown Christmas parade, it was a great parade. We were FREEZING!!!!

Kidos with Santa. Gabby looks half dead, she was at a sleep over until Chad picked her up to come to the craft fair to see Santa. Graham was so excited from far away to see Santa,he kept saying ho ho ho. Clearly he was not as happy when the time came to sit on his lap!

Me and the kidos on the hay ride at the Christmas tree farm .

Kidos on the hay ride. Chad does exist, he just hates having his picture taken:)

Just a quick reminder, the last day to sign up for the Valentine Swap is the 29th!

Newspaper Tree

Yesterday I posted a photo of a tree I made, and I had a couple people ask me about it. I got the pattern from Martha Stewart's web site. Bit here is a quick run down. You will need a couple of newspapers, a 10" knitting needle, I used a number 2 needle because I do not use that size much. I used half a foam ball, but Martha suggests you use clay that you bake. You also need spray glue, glitter and something for the tree topper.

Start by cutting 50- 6"x6" Squares from the newspaper
50- 5.5"x5.5" Squares
50- 5"x5" squares
continuing in 1/2" increments until you get down to 1" squares

Cut your foam ball in half, poke the knitting needle through the flat side of the foam so the head of the needle is against the flat part of the foam.

Then take a few of the 6" squares and fold them in half one way and then the other so you can find the center. Then you poke a hole in the center and slide down needle. After they are at the bottom turn them so the points don't line up.
Continue until all of the squares are on the knitting needle
spray with glue
sprinkle with glitter and hot glue topper on the top of the needle.

You can use any kind of paper you have around the house, Martha even showed a aluminum foil tree, you can also make them different sizes with shorter or longer needles.

All Things Pink

Below is a project I finished recently, it is a "Green" project. I had everything I needed for it laying around the house. I got the idea from Martha Stewart living.
Click on the picture to get a closer look. It is made of newspaper, a knitting needle, half a foam ball, spray glue, glitter and some vintage Christmas foils. It would have been a pretty fast project if my paper cutter wasn't broken.

Another lovely hostess gift for Vintage Pink Christmas Swap.
Kana Conger made this darling mitten ornament and journal for me. I love them!

******************** Vintage Pink Christmas Swap*********************

Hope everyone has sent and received their swaps. If anyone is having problems please let me know. I received my lovely package from Priscila, she spoiled me rotten. I have so enjoyed getting to know her, she is super sweet and makes adorable things.
She made this darling box, it was full of goodies which are pictured below!

Christmas Ephemera, I am going to frame the church scene, I love the colors!

Darling Santa banner, he is hanging in my kitchen!

More fun goodies!

YUMMY, vintage pink milk glass for my collection!
I LOVE pink milk glass, it is not very easy to find:(

Darling Christmas cards which are in my kitchen and I will show that picture in a different post of decorations around the house.

More faves, Sewing trims, pink mercury glass garland, and a vintage pink angel.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this darling tree, she made this too, doesn't it look cute near my button tree:)

Pretty decorated spoon!

A close up of the goodies, some of these are in my printer box.
I can not thank Priscila enough for all the wonderful gifts!

I have had a couple people ask if I am planning another swap and the answer is: I am thinking about hosting one in January! So stay tuned.

Hope everyone has sent and received their swaps. If anyone is having problems please let me know. I received my lovely package from Prisilla, she spoiled me rotten.