And so, here we are...

I've been baking and sewing and working a whole lot harder than I intended do this past week. An assignment at work kept me running around a lot, so I’m a little bit behind here. Lots of getting home past dark with no time for photos…

Yesterday, Mr. Bunny Slippers and I wrapped what seemed like a mountain of presents. Every time I thought I’d made a dent in the pile, I’d find five or so more presents I’d completely forgotten about. We ran out of wrapping paper at around 5 and had to make a couple of mad dashes to Target. (You remember that all of our wrapping paper has to match, right?)

There was some miscommunication over the Christmas tags (he wanted squares - I insisted on circles), but we both liked the way they turned out. {Nudge, nudge} – you DID like the way they turned out, didn’t you Mr. Slippers?

Ok, to be honest, they’re not quite finished yet. We still need to add the eyelets. The presents are waiting patiently with little yellow post-it notes on them (the dangers of matching wrapping paper = forgetting which present is which).

Um, right. The more I type, the more I realize I have to do today. Cookies are in the oven, and all I want to do is sew more trees. The photo up top are of the trees before the bottoms have been attached. My mom was less than supportive of the miniature tree farm. (Don’t they need ornaments or something? What are you going to DO with these?) I’m absolutely smitten, but she has a point. What am I going to do with them? I don’t think anyone likes them nearly as much as I do. I was going to give out little sets of them, but now I’m having serious doubts. Mr. Bunny Slippers has been very indulgent, but even he has reached his tolerance level. (Um, don’t you think we have enough now? Can you STOP with the TREES already?! We need to WRAP PRESENTS!) Ok, ok. I get it. Back to work.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Whatever you’re doing – take lots of breaks for hot chocolate or hot apple cider. That’s my plan at least. Merry Christmas!

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last year about this time, I was running around clutching not only my Christmas to-do list but also this clipping from the Pottery Barn catalog.

You can see it’s all creased and faded in the scan.

Love, love the hanging ornaments. They had these throughout last year’s holiday catalog -- some were hanging from chandeliers and others from bed posts. It seemed very easy and relaxed, but with the right amount of Christmas sparkle.

Sometimes I’m ok with being a copycat. A few strips of silver ribbon, some sparkly but inexpensive ornaments, and a little bit of thread later, I was in business. I used that top photo as my inspiration, and I have to say - the whole thing took about 20 minutes.

Hanging these up last night felt easy, but festive. Hmm… then again, maybe that’s because I didn’t have to climb on the chair to do any of the hanging.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I can’t tell if it’s cold in here or if it’s just that I’ve been reading too much about first snow sightings and chilly weather. I think the low tonight can hardly be classified as cold (43 degrees F), but I’ll use any excuse to stay inside and have some hot apple cider.

I’m on a full time mission right now to round up Christmas hints and organize my shopping expeditions. I try to come up with ideas unaided, but sometimes you need a little push in the right direction. So far, my sister is the only one who has helped much in that department. I’m getting the impression that she’s been divvying up hints across the family so as not to get any duplicate gifts. It’s pretty impressive, really.

The only thing I have organized so far is the wrapping paper. This will now be the third year that I’ve stuck with one wrapping paper/gift tag theme. It’s so wonderful. I mean, it’s horribly obsessive-compulsive, but it makes things so much easier. The wrapping part is very calming that way, and I find it incredibly satisfying to see a growing stack of monochromatic presents. I’m sure this wouldn’t work for everyone, but I do enjoy seeing everything match like that. I also splurge on fabric ribbons. I had one to many run-ins with the curling ribbon and scissors.

These pictures are from last year, and I used the same circle punch/eyelet setter combo as I did to make my numbered stocking tags. The circle design was heavily inspired by the alphabet garland I saw over here at The Small Object. For my version, each one was labeled with a person’s initial and name... as in "K is for Kristen."

This year, everything is getting wrapped in a silver/white motif. Mr. Bunny Slippers is in charge of designing our new gift tags which I’ll share here when they’re done. Now we just need to get stuff to put inside. Oh.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s grey out today which is very nice for things like cozying up the house and pulling out the Christmas decorations – and not as great for things like taking pictures for one’s blog.

So I’m pulling a couple of pictures out from my stash.

Like a number of people I can think of last year, I got completely caught up in the Advent stocking frenzy (see posts here, here, here, and here). I am a total sucker for Advent calendars and have always kept an eye out for unique ways to mark the count down. Even now, I don’t think I’ve ever quite lost the here-comes-Christmas anticipation. My sister and I shared one as children that was a small felt tapestry with Velcro ornaments that you placed on the tree each day (kind of like this, but cuter). Oh man, when it was time to pull that thing out and hang it on my bedroom door, I knew Christmas was coming. At some point, almost all of the Velcro wore off of the backs of the ornaments, but I was still quite devout about trying to get all of the pieces to their proper spot.

Last year’s holiday season was very special as it was the first Christmas I spent with Mr. Bunny Slippers. Looking back, I know I really over did it – planning everything down to the last possible second and creating a spirit that was more manic than festive. Working on that. Really. Working. I promise.

We haven’t started putting up the décor this year (please see above where I promise not to over-plan everything and force holiday spirit upon others). However, I am REALLY looking forward to pulling out the decorations and just enjoying them. And top of the list for me are these stockings which I just loved making, but were also quite a source of stress at the time.

They are so warm and cuddly looking – all store bought, but different textures, sizes, and colors. All lined up, they make this side of the living room feel deliciously cozy. The numbers were printed on card-stock in different fonts and colors. I used my beloved eyelet setter and circle punch to make numbered tags for each. Although if you had the time and the inclination, I think the beautiful appliquéd ones that others made would be lovely (and probably longer-lasting).

I think I spent the better part of last November trying to figure out what 24 items to put inside. There are some great lists circulating now with ideas for children, but I had a much harder time adapting these ideas for adults. Being young at heart, this sort of dilemma seems to creep up quite a lot (which may be a clue that I need to grow up a bit!). I ended up surprising him with an assortment of chocolates, practical items, the occasional trinket, and a handful of notes directing him to the fridge where a favorite snack or dessert would be waiting. All in all, it was a pretty good time. I figured out by the end of the month that all he really wanted were the chocolates anyway, so I think I’ll be simplifying this year. Feels good.

[For those not cutting back on new projects this year, here are some more ideas: here, here, here, and the one I will eventually try here. Above are photos from two of my all time favorites from Pottery Barn.)

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I finally got a chance to properly photograph my Christmas present to my mom. I made her a basket bag (inspired by the ones Hillary makes at wee wonderfuls) along with a knitting needle/crochet hook case.

To be honest, there were some close calls with this one.

In the weeks before Christmas, I quickly had a meltdown as I realized how much I still needed to accomplish despite my best efforts at planning ahead and starting early. My mom kept offering to help me finish up my Christmas projects not knowing that it was hers that was hanging in the balance. It’s safe to say that this was a stretch of my sewing ability, but I’m beyond happy with how the whole package turned out. My boyfriend, trying to be supportive, offered me what he thought was reassurance: "You can really tell it's handmade because the lines aren't straight." Right.

My favorite part was the silver love bird charm stiched onto the needle case. Just a little something extra...

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:23 PM | Permalink

I’m celebrating Christmas with my family tomorrow, so Christmas day is no break from the madness of preparation.

I enlisted my boyfriend’s help to finish up one last present for my mom. I made her a pincushion inspired by one I saw at http://www.craftapalooza.com/ and wanted to include some shrinky-dink pins. So we sat down with some coloring pencils and shrinky-dinks. I drew what I thought were some cute designs – a leaf, a flower, a little bird. Then I look over at my boyfriend who is drawing a detailed replica of the outfit he’s planning to wear the next day along with some bunny slippers. I am starting to feel really uncreative.

Me: “You’re drawing clothes?”
Him: “Yeah. This pin cushion is supposed to be for sewing, right?”
Me: “Right.”
Him: “Well, it seems we should draw things a person might actually sew.”

So out of my league.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:05 PM | Permalink

I made it! Here are the finished scarves for my two best friends. They were photographed just moments before being wrapped up and carried off to our annual Christmas get together. This photo is all blurry, and I think my purple couch is trying to steal the show! Of course, I didn’t realize just how bad this picture was (for the scarves, not the couch) until after they were given away, and there were no more re-takes to be had. I wish I had had this advice or these tips then.

I think the colors were much prettier in person (which is good given the ridiculous number of hours I debated yarn choices at the store). Everyone knows what an indecisive shopper I am. I think I picked up and put back the bluish-green yarn on at least 8 separate trips to Michael’s. When Kristen put it on, it made her eyes light up. This is no credit to the scarf. Kristen’s eyes are just really cool like that.) Now there is just one more scarf to give…

And yes, I probably owe one for my grandmother. Hello, and welcome to my 2006 To Do List.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:01 AM | Permalink

As promised, I made an apron this weekend.

My sister is quite the chef and really loves preparing meals for her family. I wanted her to have something a little special for the kitchen so I made her this set of potholders and an apron.

I will admit that while sewing the potholders I felt pretty stupid. When I was a kid, I had one of those looms where you weave little loops to make a potholder. I couldn’t help but feel like I was 6 again making a present for my grandmother. My sister is cool! She’s cooler than a potholder loom!

I have to say, though, that putting anything into a “set” instantly makes it better. The more pieces I made, the more the potholders started to make sense. They also started to look a whole lot better after my mom patiently sewed on the bias tape for me (evil bias tape!).

I’m not sure how practical the oven mitt is going to be for her. This was my first attempt at quilting something. Maybe this will be her “for show” oven mitt when company comes over. Do people have oven mitts for show?

I had wanted the apron to have a little tulip shaped pocket, but that was a total disaster. Maybe next time after more sewing practice…

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:41 PM | Permalink

My mom really loves nativity scenes so we had a lot of them in our house during Christmas. Ok, to be honest, it wasn’t just at Christmas. She started keeping up some of them year round. In fact, my mom has a lot of little traditions like putting Baby Jesus in a drawer and waiting until Christmas morning to add Him to the nativity scene. One Christmas morning, half-way through unwrapping presents – she exclaimed “I left Baby Jesus in a drawer!” We stopped while she ran around the house placing the many little Jesus(es) in their rightful locations.

The one pictured above was my favorite. The little wood pieces were kid-friendly, and I liked playing with and rearranging the animals. Except that the one in the picture above isn’t really the set I played with as a child. My mom sent that one to me when I was in college, and I gave it away or lost it somehow. I was careless then.

This year I was slightly (ok, seriously) obsessed with Christmas decorating, and I wanted a nativity scene – but not just any nativity scene, my nativity scene. The one I had played with as a child. The one my mother had carefully wrapped up and sent to me. I harassed her with all sorts of questions about where it had come from and how I could find a replacement, but in the end, it was E-bay to the rescue.

It’s embarrassing, but I got so emotional about the whole thing that I ended up in a bidding war and spent WAY too much money on this thing. It was very sweet and lovely to have again, but there was no way that it was worth the $50 I spent. I swallowed hard and waited for it to arrive.

Yes, it was the same as the set I had had, but it smelled funny, the donkey didn’t look quite right, the paint was peeling -- and I tried to figure out how in the world I was going to explain to my boyfriend that I’d spent $50 on this thing. I felt SO silly.

But you know what? It stopped smelling funny after awhile, the little animals are still fun to play with, and every time I look at it, it feels a little more like Christmas. To me, that’s $50 well spent.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:50 AM | Permalink