crafty christmas

i've been quiet crafty this year, more so than other years. i think it's because i actually have time. i get my craft and art drive from both of my grandma's, one was an excellent quilter and embroiderer and the other is still a very good crafter, enjoying sewing and cross stich and painting. 2 years ago i handcrafted a christmas blub cone tree, which turned out adorable. this year having my hands on a sewing machine, i've been trying to use up all sorts of fabric laying around. i had fleece in green, red and white left over from a scarf and hat i made my sister many years ago (christmas colors are our high school colors...so festive!), and needing a new tree skirt but not wanting to pay $50 for one, i decided to handcraft my own...and it turned out really well! i was pretty surprised with the out come of it and how cute and simple it was. i will eventually have to re-sew the green and red layers together as the machine decided to loosley sew the bobbin thread on the bottom, but i was in such a hurry to lay it out, that i figured that could wait until later. i got the idea from here, but didn't follow the directions at all as i just put it together like a fleece blanket.



this morning at work, i've been searching for my next christmas decoration project. some of my favorites so far:

-these cute little jeweled christmas trees...i have some copper wire laying around...hmmmm

-this christmas bulb window tree...if only i had a window. maybe it can go on a wall?

-i love these chair covers. and i have cute little bar chairs that the covers would spruce them up! maybe with snowmen or snowflakes on the backs?

-i want to line my coffee table with these votives and a table runner.

-and i think handmade christmas ornaments would make great friend gifts this year.

-i also have extra pillow stuffing and think a cute holiday pillow should be made. however, i more partial to christmas trees, snowmen, and snowflakes than santa clauses.

-these little napkins made me think of julie and her embroidering :)

-i may have to paper mache these...however, not knowing how good my macheing skills are, i'm fearful they won't turn out anywhere near this cute.

-snowmen luminaries!

-i made sock snowmen like these in elementarty school and they turned out no where near this cute. maybe i need to try again? because these are pretty darn adorable.

so much to craft and probably not enough time. i'll have to pick and choose. now that i have more time at nights and on weekends, i've noticed i've been doing a lot of crafting, and part of the reason i think is to take care of all of these projects i've started and are now just sitting in boxes or on the floor, taking up more space that usual. one project i started but had to put away due to guests is my Eurospring scrapbook. i have boxes full of memories that can be cleared out and put all into one book. i guess with the possibility of moving in the future, the less clutter i have, the easier to move (a good eighth to a fourth of my possessions are crafts, projects or art stuff), as that is a good possibility for this next year.

i'm also finishing knitting projects i started about 5 years ago. haha. i'll let you know how it all goes...



-my decorated bar table