weekend snapshot

We had a magical Christmas and hope you did too! This is as close as the Little Miss got to Santa Claus but he still granted half of her (my) Christmas wish and gave her one front tooth! I just noticed its appearance yesterday but I am sure she woke up with it on Christmas morning as her first present. So now she has her lower front left tooth and her upper front right tooth - it looks a little off kilter but cute as can be!

merry christmas!

I wanted to take pictures outside with real snowflakes falling and beautiful scenery as our backdrop but sometimes in life you take what you can get... in this instance a snapshot at Husbands grandmother's birthday bash earlier this month in front of a black curtain.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday. I am planning on wearing pajamas as much as possible, sleeping in whenever I get the chance, and spending lots of quality time with loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

thrifty gifts

I had planned to make the Little Miss quite a few simple handmade gifts for Christmas, but my schedule has been much fuller than I anticipated this month and I am not the type to stay up late, lose sleep, and stress myself out - I know she will love the few toys we bought her from the store.

So I felt especially lucky when I found some great handmade toys that creative mothers of Christmases past did have the time to make. My sanity is saved and I still get to gift some handmade goodies that are more fun and creative than what I would have made anyway - win-win! They just needed a little washing and mending to give them new life and now they are ready to be loved by another sweet little girl.


The mouse house is probably my favorite. I stalked the worker who was putting it out when I spotted it on her cart and grabbed it immediately before I even knew what was in it. To my delight it was an adorable mouse family complete with a bed and couch! There was some writing in marker on the roof so I covered it with the address Husband thought up - '1234 Hole in the Wall St.' They live in the financial district of Squeakville USA and I am sure they will have many adventures with us for years to come.


The Little Miss is actually the one who found Charlotte Piggybottom (more than once she has grabbed something off the shelf that we end up taking home with us - she has a good eye already)! Charlotte needed some of her stuffing put back in and after about 75 stitches she was good as new and healed up quite nicely.


And finally, this basket of vegetable softies has already proven to be a big hit. I haven't been able to wrap them up because the Little Miss carries the basket around on her arm all day putting them in and out, in and out - she has always loved her vegetables!

button calendar

I love the look of this fabric button calendar from I Love Patchwork. Only problem - it wouldn't help with the whole 'I usually always forget birthdays' syndrome I suffer from since I couldn't write on it... and yes I know that is neither a real syndrome nor correct word usage.

christmas traditions

I've been thinking a lot about family holiday traditions. Husband and I have decided on a few to start in our own little family which I am excited about! We are opening pj's and a new game to play on Christmas Eve, making aebleskivers on Christmas morning, and doing some kind of service during the holiday season. As far as the perfect Christmas dinner goes the jury is still out (Husband thinks ham but I'm not totally convinced).

I would love for you to share with me your family Christmas traditions! What does your family do to celebrate the holidays together?

(image)

choices

I was already having a hard time deciding between these for the Little Miss...





...when I spotted these! Help!

all she wants for christmas...

...are her two front teeth (and any others that want to join the party).

dear mantel,

Someday you will be adorned with a magical bottle brush tree forest.

-xo

dear christmas tree,

Someday you will get pretty things like these to wear.

- xo

fabric find {hope valley}

Denyse Schmidt never fails to make fabric that I need to cut into and Hope Valley is by far my favorite yet. I just love everything about it. And after seeing the collection along with her inspiration - this old postcard - I think I love it even more. It speaks to me of simpler times, fresh air, and new beginnings. What would you make with it?







(photo credit)

weekend snapshot

We put up what few Christmas decorations we own this weekend. Husband has dubbed this area 'Christmas Corner' since we only have enough decor for this one spot, but it makes our home merry and bright and I am definitely getting into the Christmas spirit! The beautiful falling snow today helped with that too.



How About Orange posted a link to this free download-able advent calendar last week. At first I just taped it up on the wall but I thought it looked sad and unfinished so I whipped up a little home for it. I used an old frame I had and a fat quarter of Christmas fabric. All I did was staple the fabric to the back of the frame and then taped the advent calendar on, cutting the corners to match. It's amazing what a difference it made!