It's beginning to look a lot like...

Now I am not someone who shops on Black Friday (don't even talk to me about Black Thanksgiving), but I do craft long before December 1st. Once the boys take their Halloween costumes off, I'm planning for Christmas! Christmas carols have been playing around here since the end of October at least when my husband isn't home. He is passionately against anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

My oldest son on the other hand loves to start Christmas planning with me. This year I want to have a lot of handmade ornaments on our tree especially ones the littles help me make. I saw this tutorial to make a Gingerbread man Christmas ornament that teaches children a "safe" way to needle felt. I thought it would be the perfect craft to do with Hurst. He had such a great time and listened to his mother so he wouldn't get poked by the needle. I wish I had taken my own advice and gone a little slower because I did get stuck and boy are those felting needles sharp!

 We made four ornaments so far, but I think his favorite was the gingerbread man. It is pretty cute!

These won't be the only needle felted ornaments we make this year. If you are looking for a fun craft give it a try! I got the Felting board and needle from Michael's and the roving yarn from Purl Soho.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US! I can't wait to see what everyone is making this year for Christmas!

WIP Wednesday

It has been a long time since I've posted to WIP Wednesday, but never fear, I have been sewing. I'm trying to finish up my Going Coastal picnic quilt. In a couple of weeks we are going to Maine for a week and I really want to take it with us! I think it will be the perfect quilt for the beach!

Right now I'm doing one of my least favorite parts of quilting: squaring up the blocks!

I'm so tempted to skip this part, but in the long run it will make the process of sewing the rows together so much easier. It just takes so much time! I'm really loving it though. It is just a simple patchwork quilt that shows off the prints in the line perfectly. I can't wait to take it to the beach and on picnics with the family.

To see what everyone else has been up to this week, head on over to Lee's for WIP Wednesday!

Graham's Stocking--Finished!

I am so thrilled that to have finished the stitching on Graham's stocking! I can't believe that my children will finally have stockings this year. Gorgeous, handmade stockings even (if I do say so myself). I still need to attach the beads and buttons to the stocking and actually sew it together, but the time consuming part is finished.

I absolutely loved stitching these! If only had more children to sew stockings for. I can't wait for Santa to fill them with toys!

I'm going to take a little break from Christmas sewing for a bit. I wanted to make sure these were finished in time for Christmas this year and I'm pretty pleased with myself that they are almost finished and it's still summer. I can't wait to start my next cross stitch project, a Halloween Sampler. It's so cute!

The pattern is Thomas Stocking by Shepherd's Bush. If you'd like to see what Hurst's looks like, click here.

I can't wait for Christmas this year!

July Ornament

I have another small finish to share with you. I'm becoming addicted to these ornaments. I can't wait to decorate the tree this year!

This is French Country Ice Skate from JBW Designs. I think this will be so cute on the tree with the Alphabet Snowman.

I will hopefully be back soon to share some of the projects I've been working on recently. I've made good progress on Graham's Christmas stocking and our picnic quilt, I just haven't gotten around to taking pictures yet. Hopefully this weekend!

A Small Finish

I am pleased to show off my latest finish. It is a Christmas ornament that I just finished last night. It's called Alphabet Snowman. It is in the mini book called "A Winter Sampler" by JBW Designs. I'm still learning how to do the finishing, but I'm pretty pleased with it!

My goal is to make an ornament every month for the rest of the year. I've recently joined a new blog where a group of us blog our progress every month. I'll be updating my progress here and over there every month. It's going to be a fun year.

Never fear, I'm still quilting. It is just easier for me to stitch while I'm doing my mommy thing during the day. I'll post an update soon of my progress on my Going Coastal picnic quilt.

Have a great week!

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Hurst's Christmas Stocking

I know, I know, it's hotter than blue blazes and I'm writing a post about Christmas. Please just understand that it takes me forever to finish projects! If I'm ever going to have the handmade Christmas I've dreamed of since I was a little girl I have to keep Christmas projects in the rotation all through the year.

I am pleased to say I have finished the cross stitching portion of my son's Christmas stocking. I would also like to point out the it's not even Memorial Day yet. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that my children will actually have stockings to stuff this year!

Of course I was able to make such good progress because H was constantly reminding me to work on it. Not just when he saw me working on other sewing or craft projects, but anything. If he caught me on Pinterest or blogs, he'd ask me "Mommy, could you work on my stocking, please?" Of course how could I say no to such a sweet, polite request especially when he was always so excited to see each section appear on the cloth! I'm so happy that I am raising him to appreciate things that are made by hand.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that whenever we had company over he would show this to them and say that I was making it for him because I loved him and that he was going to keep it forever and ever.

And of course, he is absolutely right! I did make this for him because I love him and every time he sees it, I want him to remember that, even when he's big!
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!