Santa Claus is Coming....

I have a new addition to my little Santa collection:

A large print of the Jolly 'Ol Guy:

I have a few Possible Dreams Santas:

A santa I made in 1991:

with a face I created myself:

Ho Ho Ho!

Sharing with

Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Open House Thursday @ No Minimalist Here
Hooking Up @ HoH

Hand made Stocking

I decided to make a pair of funky Christmas stocking for John and I, so I gathered some fabric, trim, and ribbons. For my inspiration I used the MacKenzie-Childs catalog (of course!!).

And this is how the first one turned out:

Off to complete the second one!

Sharing with Met Monday

A Wonderful weekend in Ohio...

We just spent the last 4 days with this little guy - we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas in Ohio

We played all day, every day and had lots of laughs, hugs and kisses!

And we ate enough "fake food" to feed the world!

And after he went to bed, we drank wine!!

Where were the guys? Daddy and Grandpa played football,watched the games on TV, logged in many hours of hide and seek and watched The Lion King too many times to count!

We already miss them!

Making Peppermint Soap

I decided to try something new - making soap! I followed Martha Stewart's directions and I purchased some soap and peppermint oil. It DID NOT GO AS PLANNED!

I decided I wanted the soap to be red and white, but I could only get the soap colored pink because it was white to begin with...so pink and white striped sounded just as good to me. I melted the soap in the microwave (only once did it boil over and make a mess on the microwave tray!

I used a bread pan and as I layered each layer of white and pink, I "scored" the hardened layer as the directions stated - THIS MUST BE WHERE THE MISTAKES BEGAN!

As I popped the set soap out of the pan, I was quite pleased with the results

(OH, JUST WAIT!)

I sliced the soap into bars...and guess what happened.....

Apparently I didn't SCORE each layer well enough:

VERY DISAPPOINTING, YES, VERY DISAPPOINTING.....

So, I threw all of the pieces into a ziploc bag and I will deal with this in the spring when I attempt to make pink bunny soap!

Lessons learned:

Martha isn't always right.

Martha doesn't always write clear directions.

Soap is inexpensive to buy, so why make it?

Sharing with Hope Studios and Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

A few quick ways to wrap food for gift giving...

There are lots of ways to reuse containers for wrapping Christmas presents.

One of my favorite ways is to spray paint a large can:

Drill holes on each side to thread ribbon or cording through:

Paint a cute snowman or santa, or you can even buy a pre-painted one at the craft store, and glue it on the front:

I tied a ribbon through the holes and knotted it on the inside:

Here it is, all ready to be filled with some home made Christmas cookies:

Here is a smaller can, wrapped with scrapbook paper and a ribbon tied around the top:

This one is a "Pringles" can covered with scrapbook paper with a floral pick tied onto it with ribbon:

The ideas are endless for reusing cans!

Sharing these ideas with Met Monday

Winner of stockings

I am happy to announce that one of my first blogging buddies, from when I first started writing this blog, is the winner of the burlap stockings:

Jeanine from OkioB Designs!

She is extremely talented and creative - if you haven't been over to meet her, head on over there right now!

Dinner for 4

I don't have a defined dining room in my home, it only has 2 walls. The antique dining table that is centered in this area does not have chairs around it, giving the illusion of more space. I just bring in chairs when using the room to dine!

Friends came for Sunday dinner and the menu was simple:

Garden Salad, Stuffed Shells and Garlic Bread.

I was excited to use my new Pottery Barn tablecloth and Waverly napkin rings with the napkins I bought in the Caribbean a few years ago:

The dishes are from Marshall's:

The flatware is Spode:

And here are the Lenox stemware I got over 31 years ago as a wedding present:

Sharing with Tablescape Thursdays at Between Naps on the Porch

Burlap Rice Bag Stocking, a Giveaway and a winner

Here is one of the stockings I made from the leftover pieces of the burlap rice bag after making the pillow:

I began with a rice bag:

and just the same way I made the pillow, I used 2 pieces of fabric to stabilize the burlap:

I am giving away 2 of these burlap stockings, which measure about 10" long:

Just perfect for a gift card, a small gift or even candy:

If you would like to have a chance to win two stocking, leave a comment telling me that you follow and/or brag about it on your blog or FB and I will pick a winner next friday.

The winner of the rice bag pillow is:

Donna from One Simple Country Girl

Burlap Rice Bag Tutorial and Giveaway

I bought this burlap rice bag at the flea market a few months ago and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

One thing I did was make a pillow. Because burlap needs some stability when you are sewing with it, I cut out 2 pieces of muslin to match the piece I cut from the burlap. I sewed all 3 pieces together with the burlap sandwiched in between the muslin. The corners are clipped so that there is no bulk in the corners when turned right-side-out:

An opening was left in the bottom center. Never leave an opening anywhere else, this way the hand sewn seam will be on the bottom of the pillow as it is displayed and not noticeable.

I love the description on this bag:

I then topstitched it to help keep it in shape:

So here is is! And I would like to give it away!!

Because I appreciate all of my readers, and I love reading my daily comments and emails. I am celebrating my followers.

To enter, please be a follower - new or old - leave a message, and I will pick a winner on Friday

Next week I will be giving away 4 Christmas stockings I made from the rest of this bag!!

Sharing with:

WhisperWood Cottage for Burlap Week

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Christmas Craft Tutorial Party @ The Project Queen