Recycled Christmas Card Globes

Instead of putting them in the recycling bin, or worse yet throwing them in the trashcan.. here is something fun and pretty you can make with all those Christmas cards you received this year.

I found this tutorial the other day on Cathie Filian 's blog. Not hard.. you could even set the children down at the table with scissors, ruler, pencil and glue stick.. let them make some to decorate their rooms.

This awesome stack of fabric scraps came from one of my good friends for Christmas. I said "here is my next scrappy quilt!" I don't even think you can see all of the prints in the picture.. the stack was so tall it fell over.

Also in the package was this quilt and fabric book by Barbara Brackman. I was thrilled because I didn't have it.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but did start looking.. and I'm up to the 1930's.. probably my favorite era in fabrics.. next to the 1960's/70's. Or maybe the 40's.

My kids are all still here, the boys go back to their own homes tomorrow. I have three grown children, our daughter who lives here, then two boys who live in Columbus Ohio and Macon Georgia. And we just don't get to see them as much as I'd like. So when they come to visit, we all have such a good time, and it goes too fast. This year they brought a new board game called "Settlers of Catan", and it is so much fun. But I'm just learning it, and get beat pretty bad every time. Tonight they went to visit some of their friends, but they promised they'd get up early enough tomorrow to play at least one more game with me before they have to leave.

Soon it will be back to normal. Hitty Club is the 10th, and I have something in mind for that.. my next real project. Then I can start on Jackie's Black & White Challenge!

Now I better go clean up my card scraps..

Merry Christmas Day..

Christmas eve came and went.. and what was I thinking? We needed new stockings to hang by the fireplace. So I did a little reorganization of my list and made some time to sew these up. They go along with my Dr Seuss tripod. I first saw some really cute little ones here that Christina made.. which led me to the tutorial and the template at A Fanciful Twist. I scrounged up all the colorful felt I could find.. enlarged the pattern by 130%, then also made them a little longer to hold the stuff. They were a hit with the family.. and my children are all adults.

And look what almost bloomed today!

It was such a Merry Christmas this year. I am so thankful for my family, and that I either visited or had phone calls from all of my brothers and dad, and all my kids got home safe. We are enjoying not having to get ready and go anywhere and just lazing around all evening. Santa brought me a tripod! So no more boxes stacked up. ☺

I don't know if I will get around to visit everyone before tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to hearing about your Christmas Day.

And looking forward to some quilting... ☺

Yo-yos & a Dr Seuss Tripod

I don't think I've showed this here yet. But it's the whole tree.. except for the very tip top of the angel.. she got cut off. I found her a few weeks ago at that big rummage sale I was telling you about in November. See that Christmas Cactus up there on the left? It actually has two buds, and I'm hoping at least one of them will be open for Christmas. That would be sweet.

You can see why I have to have a skinny tree. There is hardly any room for it in this cluttered small house, but it fits perfectly between the TV thing and the old piano. I was thinking I might get rid of that ugly upright piano, but then I started thinking where would I set my doll house and stuff?.. so I am toying with the idea of painting it white-ish...? maybe someday.

Below is my current tripod. It has helped me tremendously in taking pictures without the flash so as to get a nice pretty glow of the tree lights. And I'm getting better at it..I can tell it myself. My friend Helen told me it looks like a Dr Seuss tripod. ☺

Ok. It is coming down to the wire. I've been giving my little groovy jingle owls and feedsack turtle doves to friends.. and even had to make some for Mr. Attic and the kids..(they are not little kids either). But I still needed some more so I've been working on them yesterday and today. My friend Karen said that the yo-yos should be made first.. that way you can see how many owls you really need to make. Good idea.. but here all this time I've been doing it backwards. It is easy to whip up the owl bodies.. and sew on the bells and beaks. FUN actually. Then you discovered that if you are going to make three owls.. which seem to go together.. then you need to make six tiny yo-yos. I have a long ways to go to finish that stack..

On and on.. sewing little circles with buttons on them.. tooo many are needed. Somebody had a brilliant idea when I showed this guy a couple weeks ago. They said he just needs a winking eye.. (was that you T?). Sounds good to me!

And oops.. I got a little punch silly here. Definitely NOT going to happen... I don't care what anybody says..

(as a side note.. that garland?.. is over 30 years old. I made it the first year we were married, out of rolled wallpaper strips and foil. We can maybe talk about that later on..)

Anyways.. here is what I actually got done today...

The only ones staying here though are Mr. Winky, and my single little golden turtle dove down there at the bottom. He was my practice bird. The doves are a lot of fun to make.. and you can get the free pattern over at Spool Sewing. I reduced mine in size just a little, and made the tails flip up instead of down.. and added the bells for the feet.

Well I guess that's enough for today. It's going to be a really hustling-bustling next few days for everyone. I hope you all stay safe, and have fun! I'll be around to visit you tomorrow sometime.

Christmas Stockings ~VTT~

I haven't played Vintage Thingies Thursdays for a while. I'm usually gone on Thursday mornings.. but ha-ha.. I'm wrote this yesterday and scheduled it for today.
To see lots more Vintage things today.. visit Colorado Lady and find the links.

Here in the US we hang big huge stockings on our mantels on Christmas Eve so Santa can fill them with goodies. When I was little, I would stare at these pages in this story book for a long time imagining finding these things in mine and my two little brothers' stockings on Christmas morning.. (if you can't read the poems.. I think you can click them bigger)..

I never did get that little Tea Set inside the Green Apple. Wouldn't that have been a treasure? And I can't remember ever getting a baby doll or a locket in there either. My mother told us that only very spoiled little children got so many toys in their stockings. Ours were filled with very practical things.. like a new toothbrush, a brush and comb, and some Chapstick. And oh.. usually a Silly Putty egg.. remember that stuff?

What did you get in your stocking?? It would be fun to hear.

Here are some very cute stockings made by Christina... she found the template on A Fanciful Twist.. I think these would make adorable little ornaments.

What I Like About Christmas

This is the Nativity set we had when I was girl. It's in pretty bad shape really. My dad patched it with some sort of plaster stuff, and the one wise man and baby Jesus are from another set because when I got it the baby was totally dissolved somehow and there were only two wisemen. I don't actually think all the pieces we had when I was little were all from the same set either, because there are different names on the bottoms of them. Some are marked Germany and some Italy. But from a distance and with soft glowy lights.. it still gives you the idea. I played with these pieces a lot, and it was always "my job" to set it up for as long as I can remember. Mom packed it away in an ice skates box when she got a nice new one, and wrote my name on it...
So one of the things I like most about Christmas are all the lovely memories I'm lucky enough to have. Because I know not everyone does.

This badge came to me from Ulla, Suzie, Melanie. Thank you girls ☺

Here are the rules for the Christmas award. You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award. The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas. You must link back to the person who gave you the award. You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going! Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

5 things I love about Christmas:

1. That it is the time of year when you hear songs of Christ's birth just about everywhere you go.

2. Thinking about the people I'm buying or making gifts for.

3. Plugging in the Christmas tree when I get up in the morning.

4. Watching the little children's Christmas Play on Sunday afternoon.

5. Having all my big children come home for a few days.. eating, shopping, laughing, watching movies, playing games, drinking fine coffee, and hanging out.

I'm going to award this to T at Purple&Paisley. She has the most darling grandbabies, pictures of them with Santa, and her house is decorated wonderfully for the Christmas season. I know she is creating a lot of memories.

Not So Flashy

This came from my friend Helen the other day, but this morning was the first chance I've had to open it. I like to do things a lot more ceremoniously ever since I started blogging. But she told me I needed to open it right now because there were things in there for the tree. It is the cutest little bag all stuffed with tiny treasures in every pocket.. and garnished with generous handfuls of ribbons and sparkle. I love that little magnet there that says "clean your room". Helen knows me pretty good. She also sent me this link about taking pictures of Christmas trees...

So that picture above was taken this morning.. and I am just thrilled to figure out how to take pictures of the tree so that the lights are twinkly and everything looks glowy. I set my my old Olympus camera on "automatic" but then turned off the flash. There is a lamp on in the room and the light on the ceiling fan.. that's it. But I think the trick is using a tripod.

Anyways, last week (before I knew about the no-flash thing).. I opened something from Ulla who lives in Finland. I adore Ulla.. and we had such a wonderful time this past summer putting the Summer Stash Quilt Challenge together. Her box was so pretty.. it came in the mail just like this:
There was a present for Hitty! so they all gathered round to see what it could be..

Some fabric for dresses! And believe me.. this is not just any old ordinary fabric. I about flipped when I saw that vintage novelty organdy.. that itself would have been way more than enough to send me for Christmas. Ulla told me it was from a piece that her mother made pinafores for her as a little girl. I can't think of ANYthing more precious. And I have never seen anything like it before.

But then of course there were goodies for me. This little sewing kit and angel all handmade by Ulla...

Pin cushion, zipper case to keep things, and a needle book.. complete with a needle that looks exactly like my favorite needle I have here and use all the time. Now I have two!

And these adorable die cuts from Germany.. aren't these terrific?
An Ulla-made card.. AND one of those amazing Finnish straw wreaths..

Last year I only put vintage glass balls on my Christmas tree.. but getting this new wreath made me dig out some of my other straw ornaments that I had purchased a few years ago from Ten Thousand Villages (but I don't see these angels on their site anymore)..
Each one is playing a different musical instrument.

Look how pretty that wreath is..

So now I'm going to go dig into that bag of stuff Helen sent and find places to hang more ornaments on my tree.

Lots of things to share with you yet.. I'll try and get back here tomorrow. But now I'm off to see what all of you are doing....

haven't seen this in a while..

I bet you're thinking.."the table". Or maybe the Christmas decorations that I got out and haven't found a spot for yet. And yes.. both are true. But this morning the sun is shining in the window so magnificently.. I have not seen it in days. ooops. I now see some dust I haven't noticed either.. it's probably been there a while I'm sure. Will have to swoosh that away with a tissue.

All sorts of fun fabrics waiting there to be cut and made into things. And a blog I want to write about decorating and photographing the Christmas tree and opening another gift. But today I have so many errands to run out and get done.. and what a pretty day to do it! I'll have to work on those other things later.

I'll leave you with one more Christmas tree picture. I am so excited that I learned how to take pictures of the lights.

And thanks for all the nice comments about the little Jingle Owls. The tutorial was my Christmas gift to all of you that come here and see what's going on in the attic all the time. I hope if you make some, you let me know so we can come and see them.

Groovy Jingle Owls

I've been getting a lot of requests about how to make these little owls. There are two online places I've found to make owls. This Japanese site and Moonstitches both have tutorials for owls with the fold down top. This is where I learned how to make them last year, only changed them up a bit to give them my own bit of Eileen's Attic cuteness. I'll show you how I made mine in this tutorial.. you might still have time to whip a few up as stocking stuffers or to hang on your own tree.

You will need these supplies: A scrap of thin wool, velvet, or corduroy for the back, cotton print for the front, white cotton for eyes, sewing thread, embroidery floss, small black buttons, 9mm jingle bells, stuffing, scissors, hemostats, stuffing stick, pins and needles.
Make a tear drop shape on a piece of paper and cut it out. You can get an idea from my picture below. My owls are pretty small, about 2"x3".. so my drop measures 4 3/4" high by 3 3/4" across a the fattest point.

Pin your teardrop and cut out one from the wool and one from the floral print. I use scraps and you can see where I've cut some out before.. no waste.

With right sides together, sew all the way around the two pieces without leaving any opening. Snip the tip off and trim the seams a little bit so it lays smooth when turned. Then with very sharp pointed scissors, starting from about 1 1/2" from the top cut a 3/4" slit in JUST the floral piece. Be careful not to cut your wool piece.

You are going to turn the owl through this little slit. I like to use these kinds of hemostats.. they are great for reaching in and grabbing and pulling the fabric through. Be careful not to tear your hole any bigger.

Now put in some stuffing to make him nice and puffy..

Only stuff the bottom.. then turn down the top when it's about right..

Now you're going to make the nose and the feet. Cut about 32" of two strands of embroidery floss, thread your needle and hide your knot in through the slit. Don't worry about closing it.. when the flap is turned down it won't matter.

Satin stitch the nose. Then when you're done don't cut your thread, insert the needle under the beak and come back out down at the bottom of the owl to attach the bells with this same thread..

Sorry this picture is so blurry.. but I hope you get the idea. Sew the bell a couple of time through the hole, then sew on the other bell.

Make a four strand thread out of the piece left on your needle and use that to make the hanging thread at the top.

Now for the eyes. I tried plain buttons, but like to make the little yo-yo's for mine.. they look so cute. If you don't know how to make yo-yo's already.. there are some great tutorials out there. But I'm going to assume that you do.

These are pretty small. I used an almost empty role of tape that was laying around for my pattern because it seemed the right size. So I measured it just for you, and it is about 1 1/2" in diameter.

Generally you are supposed to turn under and press 1/4" all around, and I tried to do that to show you but I find it easier just to turn it under as I go. I'm sure it's smaller than one fourth. You are going to want to make your stitches pretty long.. like 3/8".. so the circle closes all the way tight. If you make your stitches too tiny, the hole is too big to cover with the button.

See how tight it closes? (this is not sewn on yet.. I just found the camera liked to take a picture of the white fabric better if it was laying on the colorful owl for some strange reason)..

Now without cutting your thread, add the button and then sew it to the owl.

Make another yo-yo and sew it on..

Now go hang it on your tree. Or make two more in other colors and wrap them up as a trio for your friends.

Please note.. these are not to be given to little ones.. as the buttons and bells are very small, and you can't really sew them on tight enough that they would not for certain get pulled or chewed off and choked upon.

So I'm off to your house now to see what you've been up to....