Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had a great holiday. Both of my kids and their spouses were with their in-laws this year so we got together last night to exchange gifts. We did see my son and daughter in law on Christmas Eve as my DIL sang at the Christmas Eve service in their church. It was a beautiful service geared towards all the children there. I reminded my son that next year he'll have a little one on his lap watching Mommy sing, as they are expecting their first child-I think he actually looked a little startled at that statement!

One thing I got was a new camera but been having a trouble getting it to share it's pictures with the computer so it's a work in progress so photos to come soon! In the meantime I hope everyone has a safe New Year and lets hope for a peaceful 2007.

Merry Christmas

Since there is much going on this weekend I wanted wish all my blogging friends a Merry Christmas!

Just One Last Thrifty Find

My daughter has expressed an interest in doing some more sewing but since she doesn't live here anymore and doesn't have access to all the sewing supplies, she asked for some sewing things for Christmas. So I've been gathering them but wanted to put them in something besides a basket or a box. This is what I found at our local consignment shop this morning and I think it is perfect. I have one that is similar that I bought at a yard sale 20 years ago full of buttons and it has come in handy. So Merry Christmas Doodles!

I Know What I Said, But.....

I said recently that I have too many ornaments. But of course while at the thrift store today on another quest I found these. Jen at The Cottage Nest has also confessed to loving the vintage ornaments so I am not alone out here.

I just love the Shiny Brite vintage clear ornaments and there they were for $6 for all of them so they went home with me. I just love them!

Fabric Find!

I was at JoAnn Fabric recently and came across this fabric which I love. It's got that cottage look that I like and it's red which I love. I had a coupon with me to use and because the flowered fabric was the end of the bolt they gave it to me for 75% off!

So I turned it into an apron and I love it. If you live near a JoAnn's be sure to sign up for their flyers for the 40% off coupons that come in the mail every couple of weeks. And even better-sign up for e-mail updates and they will send you 50% off coupons regularly. I never pay full price for anything there. Can you tell from this picture I love red? Those are my Ransburg kitchen canisters that my sister gave me and the polka dot bowls (there are 4 of them) are Fire King.

Admiration

I have been reading on several blogs about everyone's love of Matthew Mead's magazine which I was able to pick up almost as soon as it came out.

I am lucky enough to live in beautiful NH, as does Matthew Mead, so as I was cooking supper last night I caught a commercial with his name mentioned on the tv. I went running to the living room to see what it was about and found that later that evening on the local tv channel's Chronicle show, Matthew was going to be featured! So I watched it and found it fascinating to see how he works and to see how he and his staff came up with some of the ideas in the magazine. Everything was so simple and so beautiful and classy. I'd like to think I could achieve the same for myself but that will probably never happen!

A Productive Weekend

I had a pretty productive weekend without leaving the house. I love those kinds of weekends. I was able to get the rest of the Christmas decorations up including my Santa collection.

Then I put one by the fireplace. You can also get a glimpse of one of the cat's Christmas stocking hanging there. Both cats have their own stockings which people seem to think is nutty but I'd like to hear from those of you with pets as to how many of you out there have stockings for your pets so drop me a note.

And what could be better on a Sunday afternoon than a snack and a nap on a quilt.

Smocked Ornaments

Ranae of Ewe Creek Cottage asked for some closer pictures of the smocked ornaments that my Mom made so here they are. She was a sewing teacher and this is one of the skills that she taught.

I Have Too Many Ornaments

I have been decorating various rooms and trees for Christmas and I have discovered I have too many ornaments! I know some of you would say that isn't possible but I have reached my limit. I tend to look for the old Shiny Brite ornaments at yard sales and antique stores and I am especially fond of the ones without the silvering inside from WWII era. I inherited a lot of my Mom's and I am always looking for others. I loaded our tree up and there is not a spare inch left yet still, there are ornaments with no home. But hopefully this will be a temporary problem. We have plans to turn our one car garage into a two car garage with a family room above so my dream is to have a giant tree where all the ornaments will have a home. Perhaps by next Christmas-stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have put some of the ornaments my Mom made in a red bucket on a little chair that I love. My Mom was a sewing teacher and one of the things she taught was smocking and she made these wonderful smocked balls. The great red bucket I got in Maine this past summer-I think it's Chinese-and the little chair came from a yard sale. I am still on the lookout for more of these child sized chairs. Along with a few more ornaments!

Proof of This Blog Name

If anyone wondered why I chose this title for my blog here is the proof. I didn't take long after getting the tree up for Miss Penny to find the quilted tree skirt and Oscar is on one of his favorite perches where he can observe everything around him and rule like the king he thinks he is.

A Crafty Family

As I gather and sort all the Christmas decorations to put out I seem to come across not only the things I have made over the years but also many things my mother and aunts have made. So here are the Christmas stockings my Aunt Irene made many, many years ago. She not only made them for me but for my Mom and Dad, my sister, our boyfriends, my children and all my cousins. So when my kids got married I was able to pass along my Mom and Dad's stockings, who had passed away, to my son in law and daughter in law with their names stitched on them. My son and daughter in law are expecting their first child, my first grandchild, this Spring so my daughter decided that a stocking for the baby was in order so she went on a quest to find the pattern. My cousins, whose mother was the original creator of the stockings, did not know where the pattern was. She did manage to find the pattern by bringing the stocking to The Elegant Ewe our local knitting store and they had the pattern. So a tradition continues in this crafty family.