Rudolph Day for August

Rudolph Day fell on a Sunday this month and I really did nothing Christmasy on that day, being busy with other pursuits like church in the morning and a  hike to a lake in the afternoon.

But I have been working on a few Christmas gifts as Shutterfly free offers come along.  I can't say much about what I am making, but I will say I've made a few items similar to this:

A couple more Shutterfly packages arrived on Saturday, so I'm calling that my Rudolph day. 

It was a bit low-key this month, but I am thankful to have quite a bit of my Christmas shopping already taken care of!

A Christmasy surprise in August!

How much fun is this?  A few days ago I picked up the mail and was intrigued to see a large manila envelope from my blog friend Arlene.  Arlene blogs at Nanaland.  Among other subjects, Arlene writes about cross stitching, decorating, books, grandchildren, and her little getaway place in Georgia.  She is one of those bloggers I hope to meet in real life one of these days.

What had Arlene sent me?  It was a project-filled magazine called Annie's Christmas, the 2015 edition.  It seems that Arlene had won this magazine at a cross stitchers' group she attends.  Kindly, she thought of me and my Christmas blog and decided to send it on to me.  She enclosed a note:

What a nice surprise!  This thick magazine contains many projects to knit, crochet, sew, cross stitch, quilt, or paper craft.  Although obviously I will not make every project, I do already see a few that I would like to try.  My eye is drawn especially to the sewing projects like the kitchen set pictured below.  It's a set of place mats and hot pads with a sweet vintage look.  I think that I would make the hot pads and use them as mug rugs.  This project would be perfect for using up narrow scraps of Christmas fabric.  I'm not much of a quilter at all, but I think I could manage this beginner-level project.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Arlene!  It was like Christmas in August!

A beach-themed Christmas ornament to craft this summer

Photo by Wendi at H20Bungalow

 While browsing the internet for ideas for my Christmas in July posts, I found this fun project I thought would be perfect to share in August: Beach Themed Christmas Ornament.  Isn't it fun?  It's by Wendi at H20Bungalow.

The project requires a large round clear plastic ornament.  Then sand, shells, and driftwood are added.  (If you visit a beach this month, scoop up a few little found objects to bring home and plan to make one or more of these ornaments.) 

To make the ornament even more fun, Wendi constructed a little sign out of paper, paint, and a wooden skewer.  She gives tips for making sure the sign will stand upright in the ornament.

The finishing touch was to paint the ornament cap in a beachy color and then add a raffia bow. 

I fell in love with this ornament and will probably try to make at least one, at some point.  Using summer souvenirs to make a keepsake ornament is such a fabulous idea, don't you think?