Almost Midnight

I've got the black-eyed peas soaking, the cabbage is ready to cook and I'm waiting for 2011 to arrive.  I'm doing what I love right now and that is sewing for some little princesses.  I've been sewing a lot the last couple of days.  There are several special babies coming soon and I'm busy sewing for them. I will share some of those things later but I'm waiting on my daughter to announce the name of her little girl that's coming soon.  I don't want to share her name before her parents tell everyone.  So I can't show you anything for her.  However, I can share a birthday apron for Kalina.  Mandy, a loyal customer, orders aprons for her daughter to give for birthday presents.  I try to match personalities with their aprons.  Mandy says Kalina loves the whole Disney Princess theme.  So we went with pinks and purples and a princess crown. Kalina will be a little birthday princess.

I pray all of you have a safe, healthy and super new year! 

Happy 2011 and Love to all!

Ooh la la .... Breakfast with Santa

 Breakfast with Santa by Tobi Fairley

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I know I surely did.  I also know everyone is probably taking down the Christmas decorations or planning to very soon.  However, I just had to show you this beautiful breakfast table scape by Interior Decorator Tobi Fairley.  I think it is absolutely the cutest table design I've seen.  Of course I'm partial to Eiffel Towers and French words and maybe that's why I like it soooo much.  I'm planning to have one very much like it next year.  Check out Tobi's blog and see her other ideas and work.  She is located in Little Rock, Arkansas so she's a Southern girl. 

tobifairley.com/blog

 Aren't these the greatest chair back covers?

Joyeux Noel until next year!

Merry Christmas

Logs are on the fire, gumbo is on the stove, dips and chips are out and we are just waiting for our first wave of family to arrive.  I will use this time to wish all of you a very merry, merry Christmas.  To my blogging buddies, you are the greatest and to friends and family...you are loved dearly.  May you have a wonderful weekend with you loved ones and may all your days be merry and bright.
Merry Christmas from my family to yours
Karen and Asa

Christmas Fun!

I know everyone is busy finishing up shopping, wrapping gifts, baking and getting your homes ready for company. But I thought it would be fun to having a little questionnaire about Christmas. So let us hear from you.

1. What is your favorite Christmas song/carol?

2. What is your favorite holiday activity?

3. What was your favorite childhood Christmas?

4. Who gives the most gifts in your family?

5. How old were you when you baked your 1st turkey?

6. Where will you be on Christmas Day this year?

I guess I'll start:

1. It's hard to narrow it down to one song because I love music and especially Christmas music. I guess "O Holy Night" would have to be my favorite followed by "Silent Night", "Rudolph", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

2. Besides being with my family during the holiday my single most favorite activity is going to the Candle Light Service on Christmas Eve at my church.

3. My favorite childhood Christmas was the year my parents put up an aluminum tree with the rotating light wheel. We didn't see it until the next morning and I still think it was the most beautiful tree ever. That year I got a set of Barbie and Ken records, a baton (every little girl back then wanted to be a majorette :), and a stuffed poodle. It was a magical Christmas.

4. It's close but it would have to be my husband.....he loves to give to others and then I'm close behind him.

5. I was probably in my 40's. Cooking a turkey is so intimidating to me. I still prefer to get someone else to do it. It's hard to make a turkey really tasty.

6. I'll be at home

Thank You Gifts

I needed to thank several people for their help throughout the year and what better way than with homemade goodies. For me the packaging is as much fun as preparing whats inside. That's when I pull out the ribbons. I try to keep lots of ribbons, cellophane and tags on hand so it makes it easy to be creative with packaging. I used my friends Chocolate Chip Cake recipe....oh it's so yummy. I've shared it before. It's not too late to make it if someone needs a delicious dessert.

I baked the cakes in small disposable pans and then wrapped them in cellophane. Added some ribbon and a candy cane. My mail-lady, housekeepers, newpaper delivery people and neighbors will receive a little cake.


This peppermint bark went into plastic canisters with vinyl initials and ribbon.

Merry, Merry Wednesday!

Peace, Love......

A friend asked me to make two shirts at the last minute for her granddaughters. When she asked them what they wanted her to get them for Christmas .....all they wanted was a shirt that says, "I love Gran Gran". Ok so I said I would stitch them but how do you just put that on a shirt? That's when I started looking for some inspiration :)) You all know how popular the Peace, Love, Cheering or Peace, Love, Soccer etc. is right now. So I thought I could make that fit...I love GranGran.

I went to PlanetApplique and bought the design that says Peace, Love, Presents. I removed the presents and added GranGran. I think they are the right ages to like the Peace sign and heart and of course GranGran.

I was able to use the 6x10 size design on each one. It is nice and large. GranGran likes it so I'm hoping the girls are happy, too!
Tomorrow Christmas Fun...stay tuned :))

My Favorite Christmas Decorations

My Christmas decorations will never be featured in Southern Living or Martha Stewart but I really don't care because they represent me and my family. As I was putting the final decorations out today I realized most of the ones that I really love are vintage ( sounds better than old). I wanted to share some of them with you.

Speaking of Southern Living, this happens to be my Nativity that I got from Southern Living. I have it in my kitchen and it reminds me of the real meaning of Christmas.

I have this thing for Gingerbread people and red wagons. Just happen to have the two together in this picture.

This little dress gets hung up every year because it was my baby girl's first real Christmas dress. I went looking for the perfect dress that year and when I saw this in a sewing shop I knew it was the one. It still is perfect and just the cutest dress ever.

My vintage stockings. I did not monogram them. They are a bit yellowed from the years of being hung on our fireplace but they still hold a special place in my heart. There is a story why Dad's is different from everyone else but I'll save that for later.

My Willow Tree nativity set my husband added to every year until it was complete. I love my nativities. I read a devotion this morning about a little girl who kept rearranging her family nativity set. I think I'll change mine around a couple of times.

My family tree where we all gather on Christmas Eve. We sit on the carpet in from of the tree and spend Christmas together. Someone plays Santa and we laugh, have fun and open our presents.

Not only do I have a thing for Gingerbread people but for Raggedy Ann and Andy, too. How could anyone not love these dolls? And a couple of Snowden Snowmen. There's a story about them, too.

This wooden bear is probably 27 years old. The pattern was in the Southern Living Christmas Book that year and I had a good friend to make us one. He's brings back lots of good memories.

My kitchen tree for Grayson (and me). Since I spend so much time in the kitchen I enjoy having it there.

A few of the cups and mugs I've been given over the years. I love to bring them out and try to remember who gave them to me :) and actually use them for coffee and hot chocolate.

Vintage Santa pictures...remember that special dress. That's it in the picture. And new picture of Grayson peaking from behind mixed with old. Santa lost one of his eyes but he's still cute.

More Santa pictures. My kids are going to be upset with me for sharing these :) Santa liked silver eye shadow for some reason.

And last but not least....some of the Santa's given to me by my wonderful students throughout the years. Some of them probably came from the Dollar Store but they are priceless to me. I write their names on the bottom and remember them each year when I put the Santas out.

Thanks for letting me share some of my home with you. My favorite decorations are the things that make me smile and bring me lots of good memories.

5 Days til Christmas!

Market Basket

I have been wanting to try a Market Basket for awhile. They are such a hot item right now but I didn't know how they would monogram. Well they are very easy to monogram. They slide off the frame and are easy peasy to stitch. I can share what size needle I used and stabilizer. I can also give a couple of hints to make it easier.Market Baskets can be find in many online stores. I ordered these from All About Blanks. These are a very good quality. They also carry the mini Market Baskets which would be a great size, too. The color is a vivid lime green...it just doesn't show up that well in the picture. Merry Christmas to my sister-in-law! She rarely looks here so her gift should be safe with us. I'm wrapping up my family gifts that I am sewing. I really could use more time to sew everything I would like but I can still get a lot finished this week.

Clint's Blanket

It's not often that I monogram for my son because... well he's a guy and they just don't see the need to have their name or initials on their things. However, I found this soft masculine blanket at Target and I thought it looked like something he'd like especially when he's curled up watching sports. And of course he needs his initials on it so he knows it's his blanket. I used Typewriter font from Jolson's. It's nice and masculine, too. I wanted a little different monogram so I stacked his first and middle initials and then stitched his last one in about a 4 inch size. The thread is a light gold. I think it looks like a gift he'll enjoy.

Santa Hats

I found these Santa Hat chair covers and couldn't resist them! I love Santa and Santa hats so all my special little people are getting one this year. The hats came from "All About Blanks". They have the prettiest blanks to embroider.....I can't resist their things.

I used "Sherry" font from 8Claws on most of them.

I did Grayson's hat first and wanted a pretty script font. I still have one to do for Alex.
I used "Fudge" font for Cole. His name is short and I had room for a nice and thick font. I will have to do a matching one next Christmas for his baby sister who is coming any day. I will also have to one for Grayson's little sister who is coming in February.
I wanted their bags to be very fun and cute! I did their names on the Cricut and added red ribbons and bells.
I was awake until 1:00 this morning getting everything finished and just perfect for these little folks. I love Christmas and making special gifts for children. Gotta go finish a few ornaments and a yummy sweet......Oreo Truffles. Will share those tomorrow! I may be up until 1:00 this moring :))

Have a Merry Merry Friday December 17

Christmas Weekend with Grayson

As most of you know, we had our adorable 2 year old grandson for the weekend. He is such a joy to have around....don't I sound like a typical grandmother? We did as many fun things as you can do with a little one. One of my favorite things to do when he comes is to take a long ride in the golf cart. He loves to do that and is in awe of everything we see in our neighbor. We see squirrels, dogs, ducks, horses, trucks, motorcycles and everything we adults take for granted. He makes me notice and enjoy the small things. This picture was taken at the Christmas Parade in our quaint downtown. It had everything he loves......anything with wheels...firetrucks, trucks of all kinds, golf carts, motorcycles and bands. He broke out dancing a couple of times and had everyone in stitches around us.
He wore his cute hat for all of 30 seconds before jerking it off and throwing it to the ground. Sorry mommy.....I tried to keep the wind and cold out of his ears.

This was Saturday morning after our long ride through the neighborhood. He can spot an airplane a mile away and hear a train 3 miles away!

I was trying to get a great picture in front of Mickey and Minnie for Mommy and Daddy but he had other important things on his mind (trains, planes and automobiles) rather than posing for me. My dear friend makes me the most wonderful yard ornaments for Grayson. She's the greatest. Can't wait for you to come visit again Grayson!