A visit to the Christmas Loft

 

A Saturday seems like a good day to post about a staycation day we took back in January.  It was the day after my birthday, and we had gone out to lunch here: Lincoln Diner.  I failed to take any pictures while there, but here is their logo (I love  how it resembles a White Mountain National Forest sign:

After lunch, we decided to visit The Christmas Loft in the next town.  We were hoping for some after-Christmas bargains, but there really weren't any.  Still it's an enchanting shop and well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Snagged this image from their website.  It's nicer than my Kindle photo at top.

A whimsical welcome sign greeted us and I love the snowflake ribbon on the wreath.

Below are some images from the various themed trees in this shop.

From a tree featuring cardinals.  Isn't it beautiful?

This tree has a gingerbread/baking theme -- this photo is a close-up of the tree below.

A little more of the gingerbread/baking tree.

Pretty tree with ornaments and all white lights

A peppermint themed tree

This one seemed to have a snow sports theme.  Note the skis as the tree topper!  It also had snowflakes, snowballs and frosty pine cones.

We really enjoyed seeing all of the festively themed trees, and there are also many, many scenes set up with various villages.  We didn't find a lot that we needed or could afford, but we wanted to get a little something as a memory of the day.  

So what we ended up with was an ornament but it is not at all Christmasy.  Below is a scan of it.

 

This sweet bit of decor is living permanently at our little cottage, Lakeview Lodge.  One of the kitchen cabinet doors is the perfect place for it.  Our daughter had painted the cabinets in 2020 with a gray chalk paint as part of the renovations.  Over time the paint has crazed a bit and I actually love the look.  The sweet glass cabinet knobs are original.

What a fun way to celebrate my birthday!  And we have a special year-round ornament at our little cottage to remind us of our visit to the Christmas Loft!

A sock full of gifts -- a fun vintage pattern

 

 Here's a real blast from the past -- a vintage sewing pattern for a sock full of gifts!  This Simplicity pattern 1803, with loads of gifts to sew for little girls, is from the 1950s.  Billed as a "Sock-Full-of-Gifts", it includes patterns for a felt Christmas stocking, a kitty-cat apron, a detached scalloped collar to wear with a plain shirt or sweater, a girls' cap and matching tote bag,  and a cuddly sock doll.  

I love the stocking in particular. I've always liked those fancy felt stockings from years gone by.  I found this pattern in a stash of sewing materials in my childhood home, and even though the envelope was a bit battered the pattern had never been cut out or used.  Originally priced at 50¢, this sweet pattern sold for $20 in my Etsy shop a couple of years ago.  

What a fun idea this would be -- make up a felt stocking for a child in your life and stuff it with handmade gifts!

A crafty gift to make now and squirrel away for Christmas!

 

 I love stationery and I happen to think that it's still very important to write personal letters and cards.  I've had this idea for a stationery kit saved for a long time, and wouldn't summer be the perfect time to sew up a few of these?  

The stationery kit tutorial is by Heidi of Fabric Mutt.  She notes that the kit could be used to hold other things as well -- like recipe cards, embroidery projects or supplies, or anything else that you'd like to keep safe in a very decorative way.  Essentially the kit is a soft quilted folder with pockets and an envelope inside.  

 

Photo by Heidi of Fabric Mutt

Photo by Heidi of Fabric Mutt

I'm thinking these would be wonderful gifts for some of my granddaughters who like to write letters.  I could also tuck some stamps in along with the stationery and other goodies.  It would be fun to personalize each kit with fabrics relative to their personal interests.

What about you?  Who could you make one of these for and what would you put in it?

A cheesy snack to bake and give

 If you've been reading either of my blogs long, you know that kitchen gifts are among my favorite things to make and give.  I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to kitchen gifts.  From fudge to cookies to gift breads to drink mixes to frozen casseroles, this is a type of gift I always enjoy sharing.  Snack mixes are especially nice.

In addition, I've been thinking lately that I'd like to learn to make crackers.  Most of the crackers available in stores are the epitome of processed food.  Highly processed food, at that.

I recently went looking through my list of links to use in Christmas in July posts and found this one:  Cheesy Pizza Crackers.  These crackers are made with tomato paste, two kinds of cheese, and all sorts of pizza-y flavorings like oregano and garlic powder.  The dough is rolled out 1/8 inch thick and cut into one-inch squares, then baked  at 400º for 16 minutes or so.  They sound so delicious, and I'm thinking a tin of these would make a great kitchen gift for more than one person on my Christmas list.  What do you think? 

I just ordered my Christmas stamps!

 

And you might consider doing the same!  The cost of a first-class stamp is going up to 82¢ on July 12, so I was happy to get my Christmas stamps ordered ahead of time while they are still "only" 78¢.  I know many people are giving up on sending Christmas cards in the mail, but I am not one of them.  I will continue to send them out by snail mail (new meaning to that term too, these days...) as long as we can afford to do so.

Here are the stamps I ordered:

 

Winter Woodland

Holiday Cheer

Holiday Joy

Consider this your public service announcement to get your Christmas stamps in the next few days!

Christmas fabric focus week 1

 Hopefully each Monday throughout July I will focus on a new-to-me Christmas fabric I'd love to add to my stash.  (If I love it, I imagine other Christmas fabric enthusiasts will too!). My selection for today is Snowtop Mountain flannel by Bonnie Sullivan for Maywood Studio.  

The Big Plaid comes in numerous colors.  This is the Green.

Big Plaid in Red

This is Greenery in the Aqua color.

Look at this gorgeous quilt panel!

Isn't this a fun and versatile fabric?  I love the idea of having some flannel Christmas fabric in my stash! 

A vintage Christmas card to share

 

 On Sundays each week of July, I plan to post a vintage Christmas card, probably those including a church in their illustration.  For today, I've chosen this one from Famous Artists Studios.

The inside of the card informs us that the artist is Frank White.

I tried looking him up but was unsuccessful, as the Frank Whites I found were photographers and baseball players.

There is a very faint scroll like edging around the artist information as well as the message, accented with holly.  It would be very pretty if it was a little bit more distinct.  Here is the message:

It's quite faded, so the message reads:

 "Wishing you a
Blessed Christmas
and a New Year
filled with
happiness."

I loved this image, especially the sparkles and ornaments on the outdoor Christmas tree, and the lighted windows of the church.

This pretty vintage card will be going in my Etsy shop soon!