The stockings were hung....

I absolutely L-O-V-E Christmastime. I'm not sure if it's the happiness that buzzes in the air, the insane amount of shopping, redecorating my house, twinkling lights, the smell of real Christmas trees, warm fires, that special feeling that only comes this time of year, listening to Christmas songs on the radio and being reminded of my fondest childhood memories, creating new memories with my family, or maybe it's that whole getting presents thing.... lol. I just love Christmas and everything that comes with it.

We just finished decorating our house and I just love it. We don't have anything new (yet), but the same ole stuff still brings about a certain magic. Especially my Christmas tree ornaments. I started out with an awesome purple and blue getup that my dad won at Target. He had his choice of any of the pre-decorated tree displays. He picked the purple tree because it is my favorite color. When I moved out on my own, he gave it to me. Tons of lights, ornaments, even an angel and ribbon. I used it for a couple of years. As much as I absolutely loved it, hubby HATED it. Plus it didn't suit our decor nor my personal tastes as an adult. So... I slowly started to buy burgundy and gold decorations. We've accumulated what I think is an acceptable amount. I just love gobs and gobs of ornaments. Some folks like just a handful of ornaments.... I want an ornament every 6" or so.

I'm holding out on the big reveal until the end.... (not like you can't just scroll down anyway lol)

Here are some of my fave ornaments/decorations...

Here are some pics of the process... DH and DD are too cute....

Nutcrackers are creepy and go on the back of the tree....

This tree goes above the door in a window....

Here... (it fits... it's a squeeze, but it fits... and it looks nice from the road)(admire the new floors)

And alas.... the big reveal....

Here she is....

Hannah... I mean Kaytlin's Halloween

I finally got to sew something! My life has been incredibly busy lately... and what's strange is I haven't taken on any additional responsibilities, work any more hours, etc. Hubby started back in school for the fall and his classes have been HARD to say the least. I've had to pick up all of the housework. So.... no crafting =(

Until this.... The best Hannah Montana costume. I made the top, chopped up a denim jacket from goodwill, and paired it with a pair of cute jeans she already had, some bold accessories, and a Hannah Montana wig that K already had. I also made the headscarf and her trick or treat bag. I really wish I had better pictures to share. The sparkly didn't photograph well regardless of lighting.

You can't tell from the pictures, but it's a cowl neckline... the look was inspired by the shirt she's wearing in this picture. This pose is plastered all over HM memorabilia.

I used one of Kaytlin's t shirts as a template for the base of the shirt, then cut a rectangle of fabric and sewed it to the front top of the shoulders section. I didn't have time to use a pattern.

Jackpot! As if I needed another hobby....

I dropped one of my new (well, new to me) sergers off at the repair shop to get a tune up. I wanted to go to the quilt shop down the road while I was in the area but I didn't have time and traffic was bad, so I went to the goodwill next door. Check out my serious score for $8!! Tons of embroidery floss, lots of yarn and whatever the skinny yarn is called, and two pairs of knitting needles.

My mom came down to my house this weekend and she showed me how to knit.... but knitting is NOT my thing. It took me HOURS... literally like 5+ hours over the weekend (looong car ride) to get this far....


So I went on youtube and watched a tutorial on how to make a scarf. It's a series of several videos by this gal named Alyssa. She was an excellent instructor. Very clear. If you click "Watch in high quality" you can see everything in the video very clearly (I never noticed the little link for higher quality videos lol... I just thought youtube compressed the vids or something). Here are the links to the tutorials. I've put them in order and everything (because it took a little work to dig through the thousands of vids put on youtube by expertvilliage to get all of the ones in the series.

Introduction

Chain Stitch

Single Stitch

The Next Row

Double Stitch

Triple Stitch

Finishing Stitch

Adding Fringe

Another one on fringe

Extra: Specialty Chain Combo part 1

Specialty Chain Combo part 2

I watched several videos on youtube and she really explains it the best. See... look what I've done so far! PS- sorry for the horrible pics, I took these late last night so there was no good lighting. My scarf looks kinda crappy (yeah, I can be honest with myself) but oh well, it's my first project! It started out as like 15 stitches across the bottom, and I've lost so many I think I'm down to like 9 and don't know how to add them back in. LOL Oh well, this is just for practice. Kaytlin can use it for dressup or something.

We just decided when we're going to Myrtle Beach, mid August (it's a lot cheaper!). So now I'm all motivated to get busy on some beachy stuff for the kiddo!