Tuesday, October 31, 2017

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!

Monday, October 30, 2017

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!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

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!