Ta-Da! The Cookies............and a story.

We had so much fun - made a huge mess - ate lots of cookies and frosting - and wound up with some very cute cookies. My little one sure has come a long way in her cookie baking skills. One little Gingie (gingerbread man), broke a leg - it was mended.....just mended backwards! Oh well, he still tasted goooood.

I've been getting messages lately I believe from the good Lord above - one received last night - "SLOW DOWN!" Wanna know how this message was delivered?

Well....thinking that I was taking a little shortcut, I ordered a pizza to be delivered (online nonetheless) - decided that it would be very smart of me to use my Pampered Chef Pizza Stone - which I never use - so I put it in the oven to be nice and hot (hot being a key word here) for when the pizza arrived. I also decided to use the handy metal carrying thingy. Children are crying...."when are we gonna eat Momma??? waaaaaah!!!" Door bell rings - hot pizza delivered - pizza goes on the counter - I get hot pads from the drawer (still "waaaaaaah" Momma, I'm hungry!) - get pizza stone out of the oven and carry it to the kitchen table - oops - it's sitting cockeyed, better straighten it up......bad idea (well, the bad idea was that I skipped a step - I forgot to grab my hot pads again) - Yes......, I grabbed the metal carrying thingy with my bare hand - and Yes....it hurt like a you know what! I think I got a little faint and nauseous.....

Oh well, alls well that ends well. I just wrapped a dish cloth with ice around it all night (all night...as in I slept with it) - and viola! The only damage is I now have no feeling in my left fingertips. That's not necessary, is it? At least now I'll have matching scars on my fingertips to match the scar on my pinky where I sat my steaming iron on it a few weeks ago!

And I AM trying to slow down - but wow, its hard to do this time of year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

1 Week to Go~~

Can you say 1 week to Christmas???!! I am NOT ready. Guess I never would be completely ready though come to think of it. Still have some elf work to do for both of my little sugar plums. Tonight we are baking and decorating cookies with some much adored family members. I'm calling the pizza guy - no cooking tonight! I'll post some pictures of the cookies tomorrow - I'm sure they will be very original considering the input of my 5 year old!

What do you have left to do on your list?

Here's what I've got so far - and the list just keeps getting added to as the count down continues.

*Bake Cookies (check. at least after tonight)

*Elf work for both little ones (when is this gonna get done??? May need to call a babysitter!)

*Freeze breakfast casserole for company

*Freeze several dinners for company

*Freeze the dressing for Christmas dinner

*Wrap presents, wrap presents, wrap presents

*Pray for looooonnngggg naps from my children

*Christmas Cards (they ARE ordered, just not here yet. the recipients might receive them around Christmas day if we're lucky)

*Clean my house for company

*Order a gift for my nephew (better get on that one pronto!)

*Grocery Store - (that was going to get accomplished today, but the little darlings took such a loonnnggg nap, we ran out of time this afternoon! Be careful what you wish for as they say!)

Guess that's all I can come up with right now.

Here are some pictures from our household you might enjoy!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Oh - and this is a picture of a little Christmas apron I made for one of my daughter's friends for her birthday

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

These little elves are some of my absolute favorite Christmas decorations. Ok, they ARE my favorite Christmas decorations - well, I love, love the Shiny Brites behind them also. These little elves are from my mother's collection. They used to come out every year when I was a child. I can remember seeing them perched around the house thinking that the elves really WERE watching to see if I'd been a good girl! If you like Hot Chocolate, then you have to try this. It is the absolute best - it's sooo rich and Yes, Indulgent. So, I feel that I need a cup every night. I'm choosing not to look at the calorie count until after Christmas. I AM adding milk - gotta get that calcium ya know. Besides, drinking hot chocolate fools me into thinking it's actually cold enough outside to feel like the holidays. Being in Texas, sometimes I need those little tricks. I was thinking of heading to the craft store to pick up a bag of fake snow to sprinkle all around the inside of my house. Have my fuzzy slippers and snuggly sweater handy too. Now I just need to turn up that air conditioning.

What a Fun Time!

Saturday turned out to be loads of fun! Here is a picture of what my little corner ended up looking like. The shutters against the wall were perfect - unfortunately they're not mine - I think I need to find some. Thanks Kim and Josh! We had a great turnout of festival goers and what fun to see so many friends out and about. Of course, I had to to a bit of shopping too - so I spent some of my hard earned money on a gorgeous necklace which I purchased from the ladies next to me. I'll have to post a picture of that later.


Speaking of pictures - I'm sick, sick, sick.....my external hard drive has crashed. Thinking I was being careful, I put ALL of my family photos on the external hard drive, thinking that if my computer crashed, my pictures would be safe. Duh...guess you have to back up the external hard drive too. It's a job keeping up with pictures, don't you think?? I'm cringing to think of what it is going to cost to recover those pictures - and of course, we have no choice. My list of things to do today involves digging out some CDs and backing up everything else on my computer. What a pain, a neccessary one though I suppose.


I'm off to start working on my to-do list while the little guy is sleeping peacefully!

Christmas Tyme in Little Town, Texas

I've been getting geared up for the past several weeks, sewing like mad to get ready for the little Christmas festival here in the little town I live in. I'll be setting up shop near the "town square" - all of a handfull of shops - in a photography studio. I'm praying for no rain - (50% chance as of right now) - and a decent turnout (football playoffs are in full swing!). Oh well, regardless, it's a great time for the kids and adults alike and... if I don't sell much, at least my etsy shop will be well stocked!

Here are some sneak peaks at what I've been working on........

If you don't live nearby and are interested in something you see - you can always check out my etsy shop next week.

Now I've got to get packing! Happy Weekend!

This Little Piggy Went to Market............

I decided to take a clue from a friend - I decided to jump out of bed the minute my eyes opened this morning, just to see what I could get done before the rest of my family was up and requiring my attention. It was nice to have that cup of coffee before the rooster crowed.

Here's what I've gotten done so far today as of 10:15am:

-emptied the dish washer
-1 load of laundry washed and folded

-fixed breakfast and actually cleaned up afterwards

-dropped #1 off at PreSchool

-played with #2

-dropped hubby's shirts off at the dry cleaner

-made a phone call to a friend

-took a shower! (and mangaged to apply a little powder and mascara!) - granted this was after dropping #1 off at school - I don't want to scare her teachers twice in one day!

-checked on mail delivery for a customer

-and now I'm headed to my sewing room for some much needed time "creating".

I'm excited because in my small town we have a Christmas Tyme festival in December - it's coming up soon and I've been blessed by being asked to display some of my wares in a photo studio which sits on the square. It'll be so much fun seeing the whole town out having fun and enjoying the season. Which I cannot believe is actually here already! I've got to have something to actually sell....so......

Got to go sew!!!!

And - as of 8:50pm I have:

-finished a child's apron AND a pillowcase dress AND started another pillowcase dress

-managed a phone call with my sister

-made a doctor's appointment

-grocery shopping with both kids

-groceries are actually put away!

-dinner in 2 little tummies

-fed the dog

-attended a church function this evening

-checked e-mail and actually read and/or responded to most

-and now - both are in bed sleeping peacfully!

Ahh.....I'll pat myself on the back for a job well done today. (I'm not going to mention the underwear on the floor and toys strewn throughout the house - that can wait until tomorrow - I'm going to go work on the pillowcase dress a little longer.)

It's Done! And I'm in love!

I'm thinking that the brown material for this apron came from a pioneer dress that my mom made for me when I was a little girl. All I know for sure is that I've seen this fabric for a long, long time in my mom's stash. I'm so glad it's seeing the light of day again! This little apron came together so beautifully. The sides are 2 hankies, the bottom is a vintage pillowcase, the larger pocket is a hankie that was just waiting to be placed on this exact apron. The blue doily is also a little pocket.
This apron makes me proud because of the fact that I've been taking care of two little munchkins who have both been in various degrees of sick - just yuck sick - not vomit sick, thank goodness...I'm knocking on wood - but coughing, runny noses sick. but I did manage to create this piece while maintaining a household. Granted, I hear one crying at the moment, so I suppose this post will come to an end shortly. He's decided to skip his morning nap entirely and seems to have an opinion on his afternoon nap! We're at the stage where I know the end of morning naps is near, so our daily routine is getting a little topsy turvey. You know what I mean - you count on those morning naps to get this and that done and when that doesn't happen it can throw off your entire day! So, I suppose I won't be headed into the sewing room for some piece and quiet afterall. We're headed to town later today for a big boy haircut! I'm praying for a little boy that sits still - I've got the M&M's ready for a bribe!

This was the inspiration........

This is the end result, still in progress. I'm planning on a child's apron in this same style also.

More Aprons!

I'm really excited about these two little numbers! The adult one has this gorgeous crochet work on it that came from a pillowcase that I've had in my stash for a looonnngg time. It's been waiting patiently for me to make just this apron.

The colors turned out so bright and cheerful. Look for these to be posted soon on my etsy store.

Yes, my daughter took the picture of me here also. She's my #1 little helper for sure! What I haven't published are the pictures of #2 hanging off of my leg and the dog (rather LARGE dog)...running through the picture. I instructed her to take a picture from "behind"....well, that's never really a good idea, because how often do you see your "behind" like your child sees your "behind"?! I don't recommend it! Needless to say, what I think is comfortable for chasing children and slobbery dog around all day doesn't translate well into what actually looks good! I think there will be significant cropping in those pictures because I did want to show the cute bow in the back.

I think I'm requesting a few hours for shopping this weekend for myself and by myself from my sweet husband!

Aprons, Aprons, Aprons....I LOVE EM!

This...is what I've been working on lately. This one and a little gir's to match. I'm so excited, because I personally think it's adorable! Don't you??

It's made from 90% vintage material. The sort of graphic design was a feed sack/flour sack...the floral print was from something my mom found for me - we think it could've been a skirt at some point. The lace and doily are old too, I'm not sure of their origin. The only new piece is the little tea cup print, which is a reprodution. I fell in love with it when I saw it and had to have it.

I should have this and the child's apron posted on etsy soon!

Don't we make cute models? My #1 actually took the picture of me! A budding photographer, I'm sure!

Ok, now we're rolling...I finally figured out how to post a picture. Things are looking up!

Baby Steps

Ok, my first launch into the world of Blogs. I'm hoping this will be a great experience since I've been absolutely addicted to reading the Blogs of some of my favorite people. Currently I'm experiencing some difficulty navigating around this thing and not much is making sense.
Ultimately, I hope this will become a place for me to chronicle my sewing experiences as well as serve a as a place for my family and friends to stay up to date on my life - which is Oh So Exciting! With a busy life keeping up with my two little munchkins, my husband and all that life entails, I hope I can get this thing off the ground. Wish me luck!!