Christmas Gifts!

In the above pictures I am modeling this season's garage wear, a 15-year-old ski coat my hubby so graciously let me borrow to stay warm while making Christmas presents.

We basically gave the same gift to everyone in our family this year.  Ethan and I made these adorable welcome signs to put in front of the house.  And because we're brilliant, we started making them one week before Christmas.  Yep, that's right.  I learned to use a power sander and sanded at least 50 pieces of wood.  I also used a radial arm saw . . . whoo-hoo!  But I only used it once (under careful supervision), because as a person who has flooded the bathroom by leaving water running (twice), I can be a little distracted.  Power tools and distracted girls do not a happy pair make. 

What's the verdict? 

Christmas Gifts Revealed

Here are some hair clips I made for my nieces for Christmas. I used the method where you hold the edge of the fabric over a flame. I love they way they turned out even if they were very labor-intensive! Here is a painting I did for the girl who works with Ryan. She has become part of the family so I wanted to make something special for her. I liked the tree before the leaves were added, and so did Ethan, but I finally decided it seemed a little too "Death Valley" for my taste. Hence the leaves. :)

December Happenings

Working on presents. Teaching. Shopping. Creating memories. December has been a blast, but we have been BUSY. That's my excuse for not blogging. Actually, I think we usually are busy with something but there are different kinds of busy. Lately it seems like every spare minute is spent working on crafts of some sort so the computer has hardly been touched.

Here is some of what we have done for our advent activities so far . . .

We made snowflakes. The girls drew some elaborate designs and I tried my best to cut them out. (Luckily the couldn't tell when I chose to make the cutting easier for myself.)

We had a fun trip to the library to pick out some Christmas books.

W made ornaments.

Spunky's ornament (foam ball covered with fabric scraps)

My ornament (foam ball covered with paper rosettes)


I don't think I have fingerprints anymore after two hours with the glue gun!

I love Christmas and am hoping (crossing fingers) to get everything done in time. Sixteen days to go!

New Artwork

My cousin Tina is having her first baby next month and she asked me to create some artwork for the baby's room. She wanted pandas, and music, and the color purple. (I had to clarify on the music part; I wondered if she wanted musical instruments or what. She wanted headphones and that type of look.) So anyway, here's what I came up with for one of the smaller pieces. It's pretty simple. I hope she likes it!

p.s. The color is actually bahama purple, but in this photo it looks blue. :)