Teeny Tiny Tree!

I had to knit a teeny, tiny Christmas tree hat for my Lady Lawyer Lane bestie's sweet little baby boy! He wasn't supposed to be here yet so it was a last minute project added to my to-do list, but it came out SO CUTE! It's so small it really only took a few hours, and the pom-poms were from my kiddie craft stash so I just had to sew them on.

Twas The Night Before Christmas Socks

My Christmas Eve cast-on socks are finished! My Mom had the great idea to highlight the tree design by adding little star buttons (that we found in Jo-Ann Fabrics)...and I think it really makes the trees pop! I'll have to take a photo when I'm wearing them, but for now...look at the little trees!

Christmas Eve Cast-On 2017

I've really grown to love casting-on socks for the Little Bobbins Christmas Eve cast-on.  I think this cast-on is the third year I've done it, and I love coming up with a pattern and yarn and looking at all the projects being knit around the world. This year Little Bobbins kept it easy...she designed the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' socks that have trees knit into the fabric. I stopped by a local yarn store and picked up some yarn that will hopefully do the pattern justice and now I'm all ready with a fun holiday movie, my Christmas bag, DPN holder, stitchmarker, AND When Figs Fly port from a local winery. What a festive way to spend Christmas Eve...and that doesn't even include my birthday cake! Merry Christmas!

Christmas with the Knit Nuts 2017

At one of our recent knitting afternoons a member of the Knit Nuts mentioned that she had never seen the movie 'It's A Wonderful Life'. As a HUGE fan of the movie I decided to see if the ladies would like to come over and have a Christmas get-together at my house and watch the movie.

The ladies were excited and carpooled to my home, and I had pasta bake, salad, a grape and cheese tray and a festive nonalcoholic drink ready to enjoy.

The drink had cranberry seeds, pomegranate seeds, halved green grapes and diced green apples and then sparkling grape juice poured over the fruit. It was so pretty and festive!

We ate and chatted and exchanged our treats...

And then it was off to the movie room to watch the movie and knit.

And at the end, surrounded by friends, when Clarence leaves the message that no man is a failure who has friends....I felt so moved and grateful!

Christmas Cards on Display

 Someone had asked me how I display the Christmas cards we receive...and I couldn't take a photo until after we had gotten back because we had a lot of cards come later than usual so the display looked pretty empty. The photo below is our foyer. The garlands twisted up the railing light up at night, and we hang the cards here where we can enjoy looking at them. It's a pretty laid back way to hang them!

2016 Christmas Crafting

Last year's craft was cute, but I think it was a little intense for the boys. With hundreds of pins and punching paper (and running out of pins twice) they were pretty to look at, but not the fastest projects to finish. In fact, my nephews didn't get to finish theirs! So this year I ordered more pins so they could finish, and I found a new project that wouldn't be as much work. We tackled this year's crafts first....wreath ornaments made with mason jar lid rings and pipe cleaners.

The assembly was pretty simple and everyone had fun decorating their wreaths to make them special.

My Mom went with a red pipe cleaner bow and red pompom ornaments.

My nephew made his Harry Potter-themed with pipe cleaners the colors of the Gryffindor house and a lightening bolt decoration.

My little nephew went full Doc Octopus with pipe cleaners sticking out.

Little Man did a striped base and a reindeer sticker in the middle.

My husband used a star and pompoms....with help from my brother's girlfriend making the star.

And I used paper branches and a red bow.

Then my nephew finished his tree.

And Little Man finished his 2nd tree.

Look at all the gorgeous Christmas crafting we did!

2016 Christmas Eve Sock Cast-On

Last year, right before the holidays, I was on Instagram when I read about Little Bobbins Knits Christmas Eve cast-on tradition.  I had such a fun time, I decided to do it again this year. Sipping some wine, watching a Christmas movie, and knitting cozy socks is an awesome way to wind down from my birthday...and a little bit of calm before the crazy of Christmas the next morning.

I'm trying to watch my craft spending...so I decided to use red for accent and this inexpensive yarn from Michaels for the main sock.  The pattern has a lacy look to it, so these socks will be so different from what I made last year. I cannot believe how much I've come to enjoy knitting socks!!

Wonder Woman Tin

Good grief making this Wonder Woman tin was rough! I first tried printing the image...but then I Mod Podged the printed image and the inks ran. So, I decided to cut each color out of cardstock and then glue the layers together. The image looked great like that...but then it was time to apply the resin. I poured enough resin onto the design to fully cover all of the layers...but then the resin ran...and there was no fixing it. There was a huge resin mess. And I had to start over...SIGH. BUT, the last try was a success! Just in time for Christmas!

A Finished Tin

So I messed up the first flamenco tin I attempted and had a hell of a time getting another image printed (thank you so much Conicuts for letting me print at your house) since my printer decided to die right in the middle of making Christmas projects!

Here's the second try before the resin.  It was Mod Podged onto the top of the tin.

Here's the tin with the resin applied.

See the rounded clear top?

What went into the tins? More than you'd think! Antibacterial wipes, a pack of Excedrin tablets, breath drops,band-aids, mini laser pointer/flashlight,emery board,nail clippers, toothpicks, and two sizes of safety pins.

I ordered more resin to finish the rest!

Christmas Swag

Good googly moogly! I went to my knitting meet-up's Christmas get-together and I came home with all of this swag! A handmade project bag, DPN holder, notions bag, ornaments...along with yummy edible goodies, a puzzle, a Mr and Mrs Claus salt and pepper shaker...my friends piled me high! And they loved the Christmas tree stitchmarkers!

Our host Conicuts had fun games to play and yummy punch and treats and we all had such a happy time celebrating together.

Christmas 2016 Stitchmarkers

It's become a tradition for me to make holiday stitchmarkers for my knitting group friends. This year I found cute Christmas trees that I used,and then made them "snag free" by gluing a bead over the join of the ring. 

After the stitchmarkers are done I always attach them to a tag. It's just a little holiday treat for my fiber friends!

Holding My Breath Through Step 3!

Alright. So. I Mod Podged the images for two tins. Then I Mod Podged the images onto the tins.

Then it was time to mix the resin with the hardener. The resin I used is from Little Windows.  I looked at a few tutorials because I tried doming (where the resin makes a clear, hard dome over the object) and it didn't work with the premixed resin I picked up. So,this resin awesomely was able to "read" the edges of the image which helped a lot. 

After the resin is applied you have to let the item sit for 12 hours under a protective dome so dust, etc doesn't settle into the resin.

It's exciting to see if they turn out the way I want them to!

Poinsettia Perfection

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...four finished poinsettia box cards...with envelopes!

The cards came out great, and I really love the envelopes! I found a fun double-sided Christmas paper at AC Moore and made two cards of each side as the outside. I love how they turned out!

Poinsettias Galore

I've been making these poinsettia box cards for three years now and they still make me smile when they're put together. This year one will be traveling to Germany and one to Switzerland....and hopefully they'll make their recipients smile. Tonight I've put the base of the cards together and all of the flowers...tomorrow...ASSEMBLY! Watching a Christmas movie while I worked made the time fly by!

Don't remember where I found the SVGs for this project that I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo? SVG Cuts!

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?!?!

So, as it usually starts...I saw a neat project that someone else makes and sells, and wanted one. I didn't want the ones I saw though...I wanted images that spoke to me. What did I see? Tins the size of an Altoid tin with a fun image covered with resin on top and filled with fun knitting notions. I immediately thought of making one with one of my photos from Venice and then making a project bag with the same image. But then...I was on Pinterest when I saw other uses for decorated tins. And decided,without ever having made one before...that I would make one for each of my friends for Christmas. Without knowing if I could really do it. Crazypants!

So, I scoured the internet and couldn't find a tutorial or anything so I had to figure it out as I went. First step? To Mod Podge the images and get them ready for the resin. The Mod Podge seals the paper and makes it resistant to liquid. Stay tuned for more!

Christmas Tree Trimming 2016

It all started innocently enough when Little Man was little. I made hot chocolate cool enough for him to drink and we sipped cocoa while trimming the tree. Then we added music the next year and before I knew it, Hubby and Little Man began anticipating Polar Express Hot Chocolate every year while trimming the tree.  There've been a couple of years where I've been frantic and just wanting to get it done, but I've been able to slow down and make the hot chocolate since it means a lot to them.

This year with our cocoa we also watched the movie "The Polar Express"

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you...the lights on our tree do change colors!

With the mantle and tree decorated it officially feels like the Christmas Season has started!

SOS KAL

Y'all know I love Susan B Anderson. Her knit wear designs are so fun! And she comes up with great techniques! So, when I saw she released a new sock pattern with a great afterthought heel variation AND I've been wanting to tackle an afterthought heel AND there was going to be a knit along...I was in! But what yarn to use? I wanted something where the stripes were really noticeable...so I went with the leftover yarn from my Christmas socks.

Sock 1 went smoothly...I made sure to make it short so that I would have enough yarn (hopefully) for both.

Look at the great way the heel shows off the yarn striping!

Here's the second sock with the gray yarn placed as a holder. You pick up the stitches above and below to work the heel...so fun!

At the end of sock two I played a serious game of yarn chicken! You can see the one on the bottom has different striping on the heel...I ran out of green! But I had enough to finish and they fit perfectly...I look forward to wearing them this Christmas! And to think, I got two pairs of Christmas socks from one skein!

Christmas Eve Socks Finished!

I have officially gotten on the sock bandwagon. I enjoyed making these socks SO much. I used the How I Make My Socks pattern by Susan B Anderson and they could not have been easier. I can't be sure, but I think it was the stripes that really kept me motivated. Every few rows they changed colors like magic. And the yarn felt so good to work with...smooth and squishy.  Definitely want to use more Desert Vista Dyeworks yarn again! And these socks? They'll be in my drawer waiting for next Christmas!!

Paper and Beaded Trees

They came out so great! My nephews have theirs to finish, and Little Man started a second that he wants to finish...but they'll wait until next Christmas because we used up the first 800 pins, then I ordered another 800 pins...and we ran out of those too! 

My Mom with her finished tree!

A close-up of my tree

Little Man's 2nd tree on the left, mine in the middle and his 1st finished tree on the right. I used smaller trees for the boys since I wasn't sure how long the project would keep their attention.