From the October archives here in the Christmas kitchen ..

In both of my blogs, I've been trying to do a couple posts from the archives each month.  In the process of trying to do so for October,  I've found that there were some Octobers when I didn't post here at all.  Shame on me!  The only excuse I can come up with is that October tends to be a busy month for us and a time when we often have traveled somewhere.  For whatever reason, there's a scarcity of posts in the October archives.

As a result, I only have a few links to share today.  Here goes:

From 2007, Easy Patchwork Coasters are a project I've made many times and referred to many times on both blogs.  They're not really patchwork, but look that way as a result of folding, stitching, and turning.  A project I highly recommend for using up smallish scraps of Christmas fabric!

This Advent Countdown project is one I did some years ago from a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book.  I actually made three of these.  It took some time but was a very rewarding project.

This post on Baking, Beverage, and Seasoning Mixes shares a link to a long list of such mixes.  I love giving these as part of a gift basket!

A fun little gift for a 1-year-old is fabric alphabet letters to play with and, as they get older, to spell out words.

And lastly, I blogged about a favorite kids' book from my own childhood: The Animals’ Merry Christmas!

Hope you've enjoyed this quick browse through the archives!

October Rudolph Day (lakeside edition!)

 Obviously, October 25 would have been Rudolph Day for this month.  I was pretty busy that day (Wednesday) and decided to postpone any Christmas-related activities until the weekend when things would be quieter.

And they were indeed much quieter!  Although Mr. T and I were off on a brief getaway to our favorite northern lake, I did manage a little Christmas crafting time on Saturday.

The day was glorious.  Simply glorious.  Sunny, bright, and warm.  Even though it was the end of October, Mr. T and I had prayed for good weather -- sun, and temperatures warm enough to allow sitting on the dock.  God certainly answered our prayers.  Friday had some temps warm enough for dock-sitting too, but it was extremely breezy and not a day to try and do any crafting out there.

But Saturday ... now, that was definitely a day for outdoor crafting.  First, I sat on the dock for awhile and worked on this cross-stitched cardinal Christmas ornament.

Then I decided to put some time into my cross-stitched "Snow Angels" which is a UFO of many years' standing.  This project is done on 18-count Aida, not a favorite of my aging eyes.  Although not technically a Christmas project, the brilliant sunlight there on the dock was perfect for working on this challenging scene.

This is one of those projects that I work on so seldom, I have to figure out where I am each time.  There is so much shading in here that I find it really difficult.  Even though I try and mark my place with washi tape -- and that seemed to work very well for awhile -- I still struggle to figure out how to pick up where I left off. 

Took the Snow Angels photos back at home.  Sorry this is so blurry.

This time, after a few frustrating minutes, I decided to work on the sky, which is done with fairly large amounts of the color I had threaded in the needle already.  That worked very well and I was able to accomplish quite a bit.  It's the very pale sky blue that you can barely see.

It actually got too warm sitting there in the sun after awhile.  I ended up moving to a nearby picnic table which was still sunny, but not too hot, and still in view of the glorious sights and sounds of the lake.  What a beautiful place to stitch!

Although I didn't accomplish a large amount of crafting on this Rudolph Day, I must say it was one of my favorite Rudolph Days this year.  So thankful to be stitching beside the lake on this gorgeous October Saturday!

A little vintage Christmas gift!

As many of my readers know, I've been cleaning out a house.  One thing I've been finding is lots of decorative tins full of odds and ends. 

A really fun find in one such tin was a net scrubby -- I think it was probably intended to be enclosed in a Christmas card.  Or, it may just have been a bazaar item.  It's a rectangle of red netting -- it looks like about four layers, cut 5-1/4 inches by  3-1/4 inches -- sewed together with green thread.  Up in one corner is a little embroidered evergreen sprig.

And attached to the scrubby was this little mimeographed poem:

This Christmas card of nylon net
Will help you most when it is wet.
It's extra good for pots and pans;
Eliminates most dishpan hands. 
So for my year-long Christmas wishes,
Use it when you do the dishes.

Cute, don't you think?  I may make up a few of these to tuck into special Christmas cards!