Merry Christmas to you!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your families.  This is truly a season to be thankful for all our blessings and give the glory to God.

Be careful in your travels and I’ll chit chat with you all after the time spent with family.

Christmas Village Views

Many, many moons ago……I began to collect these little house ornaments.  I started the series and here it is 27 years later and the collection is still building.

This little house is the first one to create this monster of a collection.

I love all the little details.

Along the way I have added a few items that weren’t part of the official collection but lent a special touch to the village.  The green tree is actually a pinecone painted green and brushed with white for a snowy effect.

These three little figures are about an inch tall, if even that much.  I painted them one year and they have hung out here every year since.

A glimpse of the jolly St. Nick himself as he flies in over the village to deliver his gifts.

The beauty of collecting this village as ornaments is the size.  I am not overrun with large boxes that require a complete storage building for the houses alone.  These guys have their own plastic storage tub and still fit within it’s confines.  Although, I do think I may need to keep an eye out for another one soon with just a bit more space.  I’d love to see what villages y’all have in your homes.  Just leave a comment and we’ll just stop in for a tour.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

Sweat Shop Specials

I have been especially blessed this past month to create window treatments for friends and therefore less time to piddle on the pc.  It’s catch up time here and I’ll give you a little sneak peek into my projects.

This  one was an oriental theme.  The obi idea took shape and there was the most luscious silk chinese toile and red silk to work with ……. yummy stuff!

My friend has a tassel fetish that we often joke about, but her tassels were perfect to finish off these panels and the rod.

Then there is the guest room.  I love these inverted pleats to give fullness without gathers and ruffles.

These panels were hung from amber glass knobs and were perfect for this room full of antiques.  A few more adjustments to flatten the rod of sheers will be the final touch.

There are two more windows to take pics of and I’ll get them posted soon.  The Sweet One will get a new room ensemble and redo in her little room right after Christmas.  WooHoo, another sewing project!

Today, I’ll take some pics of the Christmas décor around the house and share AsAp. 

Spread some smiles around this HOLYday season. 

Small Tokens of Art

It’s been all a tizzy around here and I am starting to catch up to myself finally.  I must share my latest ATC trades with you all.  If you enjoy creating ATC’s, go check out Blissful Art Swap.  It is a great venue to get your creativity on.

This one was a November gift.  The theme was our choice and I love the mom cooking up goodies. It was created by Sonya.

The month of December is all about angels.  This is my adorable angel sent by Courtney. 

I finally got around to sending Courtney her card.

I find it hard to stay in the ATC parameters.  It seems I am always outside the boundaries so often and I was always the one to color INSIDE the lines as a child….go figur!  I just couldn’t find it in myself to clip her little wings at all.

I also have a wonderful group of ladies that I gifted with these little tokens of appreciation.  Using my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s ‘ear bobs’,  I created refrigerator magnets.  I removed the clips and used E-6000 to bond them with the magnet disc.  I used some of my vintage buttons with a few of them to give them a better look.

Here is a sample of one of them in the finished presentation.  I actually became a little obsessed over the packaging presentation.  I was able to tuck in a little mint also. 

Here is a side view of the little package.  I used a 3/4” hole punch and it held the magnet portion perfectly.  It took a little cyphering to get the measurements to work out, but it wasn’t brainiac stuff.

They turned out to be the perfect size to put on the place setting.

I have photos of more draperies installed to come soon.  I am just really trying to get caught up on LIFE around here.  Christmas is around the corner and the blessed children and Sweet One arrive in a couple of days.  Then the Fun begins!!

When the Grinch's are out and about, just spoil their meanness with a smile and a kind word….even if you are really just gritting your teeth really tight.

Take care Y’all.