sneak peek: holiday knitting
big man in a red suit…
…little girl in a red Husker hat.
blizzard of 2009
Did you know that blizzard conditions are because of high winds and not total amounts of snow? I didn’t until I moved to Nebraska. Those Old Nebraska winds were kicking it up this week and made some really beautiful snow drifts.
The last picture is Bella’s artistic interpretation of a snow drift.
Overall, we probably only got about 14 inches of snow. As you can tell, the wind blew drifts much higher. It also blew right down to the grass in some areas. You’ve gotta love Nebraska weather. It can be so beautiful!
fabric beach balls!
These are great balls for playing indoors. I’ve made one for my daughter and a few for her friends. Everyone seems to love them. This one was a bit of a challenge when I realized that I didn’t have a lot of eight-year-old-boy-ish fabric in my stash. I grabbed a few men’s shirt sleeves that I had in my upcycle bin and I really like how the colors and patterns work together.
recycle: Remember all of the pillows I was making with men’s shirts? This was a great way to use the sleeves! Pattern is from the Purl Bee.
my creative space
Today my creative space is filled with finishing gifts. I can show you this one because I don’t think my daughter’s teachers read the blog. I just took the “apple for teacher” gift a little further and added a cozy. This idea is brilliant for those who throw a piece of fruit in their bag for a snack. The cozy keeps it from getting bruised. I really want to make one for myself, but not until after holiday gifts are finished.
Creative spaces are going on holiday until 2010. Head over to Kirsty’s blog for your end-of-year fix.
pattern notes: I had to add a few rows for it to cover my apple. Adorable Apple Cozy is available as a free ravelry download.
how to keep kids away from tree ornaments
Give them felt shapes!
It’s getting more and more difficult to keep my three-year-old away from the ornaments on the tree. Being cooped up inside with no preschool or swimming lesson this week has not helped. This morning I decided she needed her own trees. I grabbed a big pile of felt and cut lots of circles and triangles.
Check out that strong snowman. He’s carrying all four trees with his stick arms!
past project: Here’s my original felt board post.
how to make a snow angel indoors
The weather outside is seriously frightful and tonight we’ll be under a blizzard warning. What do you do when your child wants to go outside and play, but it’s windy and below freezing? Play with indoor snow!
I grabbed a bag of cotton balls, a bucket and shovel and we made a snow angel, snowman, snow dog, snow cat and snow tree. We also had a snowball battle!
indoor snow tip: Lay a “picnic blanket” down on the floor first, especially if you are close to a holiday tree or you’ll get needles stuck in your “snow”!
thrifty finds: advent calendar
I’ve also been kicking it into high gear for the holidays. Unfortunately, that means it’s hard to show you work-in-progress pictures. I’ve knitted quite a few gifts over the past year and spent yesterday weaving in ends, soaking them in wool wash and blocking.
I’m also trying to play catch-up for Advent. Two summers ago I found this wooden L.L. Bean Advent calendar at Goodwill. I couldn’t help noticing how cute it was—especially for $4.99. Then the Goodwill lady told me everything in housewares was 50% off, so I bought it.
It’s pretty much in mint condition except for a bit of double-sticky foam tape in a few boxes that needs to be removed. Here’s what it looks like when you open the little door.
It came with a little bag of holiday trinkets. Most of them are ornaments with the strings removed. I guess they stuck them in the boxes with the sticky tape.
I’m going to re-glue the thread loops and turn them back into ornaments. My daughter has a little tree in the kitchen and each day we’ll take an ornament out to decorate her tree. We even have a Joseph, Mary and little baby Jesus for December 25th!
I know I am late getting started, so I’d really like to get it finished this weekend. It will be my second project using hot glue. Wish me luck!
thrifting: Sometimes I can’t believe the little gems I find at the thrift store. I think I even like it better than the one they sell now.
sew, mama, sew december giveaway day!
After much deliberation, and not much sewing over the weekend because of a sick little girl, I’m giving away one of my remote control pillow covers for Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day.
You get to pick whichever one you want. You can even pick the decorative pillow cover, even though it doesn’t have a pocket. That’s cool with me!
Just know that whichever one you choose, I’m only giving away the cover, not the inside cushion. It will keep down shipping costs and allow me to ship internationally.
Here’s how you enter: Leave a comment on this post.
Bonus entry: Become a fan on my Facebook page. If you do, leave a second comment on this post.
You have until midnight, December 6th to enter. I will choose a winner with a random number generator. After you leave a comment, check out Sew, Mama, Sew for more fabulous giveaways!
Anything else? Oh, did you know I wrote a tutorial on how to make one of these pillows? Check it out!
loving this little zippy wallet
Making this super cute wallet was lots of fun. I tucked in a gift card to Starbucks and sent it off to a friend for her birthday. If you’re thinking this fabric looks familiar, you’re right! I had some bits left over from this bag. It’s the perfect project for those who can’t part with their scraps!
reuse and recycle: Purple fabric from my scrap box. Black fabric from a pair of cotton twill pants. Ring from keyring I never used. Zipper was thrifted.
pattern review: I used Anna’s Zippy Wallet Tutorial and found it very easy to follow. My only modification was to add a keyring. These would make great holiday gifts, don’t you think?