The Lead Up to Christmas . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I hope the lead up to Christmas Day is going well for you & you are remembering to give yourself some grace.  

Verse courtesy of  simply_anxious on Instagram

After achieving so much in November & moving through projects at a rapid pace, December has found me moving more like a turtle, slow & steady ...... & some days not achieving much at all.  I have tossed the "to do list" in the bin & whatever I get done will be just fine & what I don't get done - will be just fine too.  

 Todays pickings, before the winds came ... Alstromeria Christmas Red, & white Penstemons 🤍

These wooden stockings were purchased last Christmas, put in the cupboard & promptly forgotten about.  I got them out last week & painted them both in Vintage White chalkpaint.  I painted some grainsack stripes on the largest one using Forrest Green chalkpaint.

Some oddments of festive transfers got applied to the large one & the smaller size one got some pretty decoupage paper mod-podged to it.  I've used every single scrap of this lovely paper & just adore it 🎄

I get a little giddy with excitement when The Mr brings home junk treasures from the old sheds on the farm & this violin was no exception.  It was covered in bird droppings, this is clean above, compared to what it originally looked like.  Nothing that a good scrub won't remedy & a dry in the sun.

Again two coats of Vintage White & then some more Christmas transfers applied.  I love it sitting here by my cabinet full of red/white china & I can look directly at it when I'm sitting on the couch.  I just love how this turned out even though every single person that I show it to says "It's got No strings" (!!) (I don't actually plan to play it !!!)

When I had the red velvet curtain out to make the Santa's LongJohns in my last post, I decided to make a simple Santa Hat for the mohair bear that sits in my room.

  I made this bear 22 years ago now for Mum, on the first anniversary of my Dad's passing. The pattern is Old Boy as that is what Mum always called Dad (affectionately).   I made a large pom pom using a remnant of teddy bear fur that I gathered up & stuffed.  I think it suits him.  The silver letters around his neck, "Snow" was my Dads nickname as he had snowy white hair & everyone called him Snow, although his real name was Hector (!!) 

After I'd made Old Boy a hat I remembered that I had this gorgeous length of fabric in my stash that I'd thrifted - I'm pretty sure this is a Sanderson remnant.  So I made a stocking using the velvet curtain as a cuff & the beaded trim is leftover from my sewing room lightshade.  I love how this looks sitting in a corner of my bedroom - just simple & pretty 💗

My dear friend Shirley gave me her favorite candle jars & asked me to please refill them for her.  I made up the 4 of them last week using the very last of my soy wax.   The fragrances are Fireside - Lime, Basil, Mandarin & Black Rose Oud.  My sewing room smelt SOooo good while they were hardening.  

I've finished the Christmas Baking that I gift & it's all been packaged up & delivered to various friends.  I even came across these cute stickers that said Baked With Love & an oven glove on them.  

When I revamped the cradle for Juno & Sadie in *this post*, I put it in my sleepout with a large sheet over it.  

After I'd finished their stockings in *this post*, I bought the cot inside as I had a vision in my head of it sitting under the tree with the girls stockings sitting beside it, filled with their gifts & the cradle to be shared between them both.

This is what happened to that vision dear friends .   .   .   .

First night - top left - she's sitting in the cradle, on top of both stockings.  

Second night above right, The Mr removed the stockings & tossed a cuddly in there on top of the bedding to protect it.

Third night above ... she's moved in permanently - thinks "how wonderful that Mum made this especially for me"  & there are two cuddly's in there for her!!!       

After night 3 I had a wobbly, removed cot back to the sleepout, washed bedding & vacuumed pillow & it can stay there until the wee girls visit this weekend  😠😟😖😬😣😑  Lord give me strength Please !!

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

I hope to be back for a final festive post before the 25th,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

A November Sewing Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers & Welcome to December 🎄 

(warning - a photo heavy post - I've tried to condense my pics as much as I can)

November was a really busy month in which I tried to get a lot done so I would not feel so pressured once December rolled around.  I am slower these days & need to factor in that creating takes me so much longer now. 

I made up the little kit of the "Ted in Bed" that I purchased at the Quilt Show as it came with everything required.  It was a sweet & simple project to whip up.  I then decided to make my Grandsons & my step-grandaughters one each for Christmas.

I used some wool blanket offcuts for the girls "beds", lined with Tilda fabrics, & contrasting felt for the Teds.  I enlarged the pattern slightly for the boys & made theirs using Minecraft fabric offcuts.  I made their Teds in bright flouro colours & then knitted them a scarf each.  These are going in their Christmas stockings.

I completed an order for 16 lavender sachets for my friend Sally using muslin that she provided.  I ran out of satin ribbon but Sally said to leave the others as she had ample herself.  These were made using last seasons homegrown lavender.

I made each Grandson a Minecraft pillowcase using this simple tutorial Here..  Little One very kindly gave me a lesson in scissor safety seeing as he is such an expert on the subject 😉

Many many years ago (over 10 in fact) I tore this picture (top left) out of an old Country Craft & Decorating Magazine. I'd always loved it & wanted to make my own handmade Christmas Crackers.  

This year I finally gave it a go using toilet roll tubes covered in wadding, all fully reusable, just untie the ribbons at each end. I did put a cracker snap in each one (purely for fun) & filled them with gourmet choccies.  I used double sided cellotape to hold the fabric closed, a yo yo heart & a christmas charm tied on - such a fun project 💗

Last year I purchased the pattern above for Santa's LongJohns from * this etsy store *.  It is called Santa's Union Suit in the pattern.  I decided to make it up as I came across this velvet curtain in my cupboard, purchased for $5 from the Hospice Shop in Mum's town (so quite sometime ago then).  It was a fairly simple project though in hindsight I would've have enlarged it as it's more like a child's size rather than fitting a grown-up Santa.

Sally kindly loaned me her number stamps so I could make the tag that comes with the pattern download.  I had rusty bells in my stash to embellish it & wiped dark wax over a pale wooden coat-hanger to darken it slightly. 

Here it is hanging in my lounge ... Yes dear friends, I Am rapidly running out of wallspace to hang things (!!)

My friend Gail cleared out a lot of her Christmas fabrics & very generously gave me a pile.  I loved these two above & decided to make a stocking each for my step-grandaughters Juno & Sadie.  I used quilted calico for the backs, lined them with fabric & wadding, appliqued their names on & made a little pocket in each stocking. 

I stitched a strip of the complimentary fabric to the top, added some festive braid so I could hand sew some christmas charms along the top.  

The reason I added the pocket is because I planned to make a little felt toy to sit in the pocket of each one.

Using this free molly and mama download I made little felt Angels but I stuffed mine with wadding rather than just having them flat as the pattern calls for.  I found some silver charms in my stash with the girls initials on "J" & "S" so I sewed these to their necks.  I've added a tie to the back of the head in case they want them to be tree decorations. 

When I went hunting in my drawer for the Santa's LongJohns pattern I came across this very old craft magazine - Vol  2, No 3.  I'd made the flat doll Angel in it years ago for an Order so I thought I'd quite like to make myself one.  

I put the finishing touches on her last weekend & have yet to find just-the-right-spot to hang her.  She is so sweet.  Instead of Love Blooms in Christmas Hearts, I stitched Christmas Wishes on my banner.

(When I made her for an Order I'd enlarged the pattern by 200%)

She is meant to have Perle thread for her hair but I'd run out of the right colour so just used some mohair that I had in my stash.  Her wings, arms & dress are all Liberty fabric. 

If you've made it to the end, give yourself a pat on the back! (You may all need a little Lie down now)

Well done & Thank You 💗for reading my waffle ramblings.

Wishing you a great rest-of-the-week dear friends,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Hosting Our Craft Group Christmas Break-Up 🎄

Greetings lovely friends & readers

                                             The very first jug of Hydrangeas picked just this morning 🤍

November was my turn to host our little craft group - we usually have our Christmas Break up this month.  This was one of the reasons I put out my Christmas decorations so early - as I knew I was hosting the ladies & wanted the house to be festive for them.

A week prior, I sat at my table & chalk painted wooden pegs.  I'd decided to make peg snowmen as a simple project at our get-together but I thought if I painted them first it would save time & mess.  I painted them white, then masked half way & did their lower half red.  I also drilled a small hole in each of their "heads".

 

Surprisingly the ladies really embraced this craft actitivity.  We coloured in the ends of bamboo skewers with orange felt tip pen, cut them off & glued them in the holes - these became the snowmen's noses.  It was fun to watch each person put their own individual touch on their snowman.  Here they are all lined up at the end - hard to get a good photograph unfortunately.

Morning Tea                                                 Lunch  

I know I always say this but one thing we never get wrong is the food!  We usually meet at 10, have a shared morning tea, do our craft project & then have lunch together. Everyone brings a plate & we had a wonderful variety of delicious food.  I made pots of Christmas Tea & we enjoyed this with our lunch.

Last month when we met at Gails (& did No activity except eat & drink & chat) she gave us all a christmas paper serviette & our challenge was to bring it along having done something with it.  Here is the serviette top left.  

I decoupaged mine onto tags - it's not showing very well but I added bells & jute twine to the tags & let the ladies each choose one as a gift. 

Joyce decoupaged hers onto a lidded box that she had thrifted, then did a small festive display inside the box.

Liz cut down wooden garden stakes, painted them & made houses, decoupaging one of the houses with her serviette.

Gail took a platform shoe that was thrown in the bin at the Op-shop where she volunteers,  she decoupaged the serviette onto one side & did a christmas display inside the shoe - it was really adorable.

Maureen covered a polystyrene wreath with her serviette & then decorated it.

I think Sharlaine's project was the one we were all impressed with the most - she had mod-podged her serviette onto fabric & then made a project bag using the panels front & back.  My photo does not do justice to how impressive this was.  

It was great that - for a change - everyone embraced the challenge & took part.  It's getting harder to motivate some of them to do these projects so Gail & I were both really pleased with the outcome.

We had a cold snap a week ago so I made myself a "little nest" on the floor & sat & wrapped all 48 gifts for my Grandsons Advent calendars.  It did not take long for a certain ginger fairy to come along & take over my nest although she was no help whatsoever when it came to the gift wrapping (!!)

The advent trees are all ready for me to deliver this weekend - it is getting harder to find suitable things as the boys get older. 

Tomorrow we farewell November & then it is summer for us here at the bottom of the world.

Wishing you a most wonderful weekend where-ever you are in the world dear friends,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Giveaway Winner & A Revamped (Thrifted) Outdoor Set

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Yesterday lunchtime I cut out squares of paper, wrote out the names of all you lovely folk who took part in my Christmas Giveaway, put them in my old teapot, gave it a good shake & let The Mr draw out a name/number . . . . the winner is Jeanette from the blog " 3 Cats & A Quilter "

 Warmest congratulations to Jeanette - I have already emailed her for her postal address & have the package all ready to post away to Australia first thing on Monday.  Thank You to everyone that took the time to take part & leave me your wonderful comments - as mentioned before I wish I could send a package to each & every one of you!  💗

The gorgeous rose Remember Me - gifted to me when my dear Dad passed away 23 years ago now  🧡

In the middle of last winter while browsing in my local St Johns Op-Shop, the girls mentioned there was an outdoor table/chair set out the back that I may be interested in.  Someone had donated it but because it was so rusty they were unable to sell it.  Although I've forgotten to photograph the set "before" - the chairs were showing rust at the joins & the outside rim of the table was completely worn of paint & very rusty.

I was able to purchase the set for "a donation" so I gave them $20.  There it sat in my carport until a couple of weeks ago when I decided it was time to do something with it.  The rust on the chair joins appeared to be just surface rust & I was able to scrub this off & then treat it with a CRC rust remover product.

 The table however took alot more work & elbow grease.  First I scrubbed it, then I sanded it, then I applied the same rust remover product, & scrubbed again.

You can see above left, the parts where the rust remover has worked & the parts where I've yet to spray it.  It was mainly this outer rim that was the worst as the paint had completely flaked off it. I also treated it with a sealer/primer that I found in The Mr's shed.

I decided to paint the set in the Resene Paddock Green that I am currently so fond of but I was also able to find the spray paint above right called Coastal Green which matched my Paddock paint perfectly & made a much better job on the legs of the table & chairs.  

Unfortunately we had over a week of strong winds & I had to find a tucked-away spot up on my deck, out of the wind to spray paint.  It took me a week to get a coverage that I was finally happy with as I kept finding bits I had missed.  I did a combination of spray painting and brush painting on all three items.

I absolutely LoVe how this set turned out & wish I had take a Before pic to show you the difference.

Once I was happy with it I decided I needed something to sit on it. 💚

This old aluminium kettle was hiding in my sleepout ... it had been used as a plant holder a few years ago & I was able to remove the doilies with a good soak & a scrub, then gave it 2 coats chalk paint in the colour Vintage White before applying some leftover transfer offcuts.

I've sat a potted Impatiens in the kettle rather than planting directly into it as I didn't want to drill holes in the bottom.

I think it will be good to have it sitting up on my deck rather than out in the direct weather & I can keep a close eye on it to ensure no rust spots come back again.  Isn't that colour just so restful dear friends?

I must quickly mention blog comments dear readers ... many of my fellow bloggers appear to be having the same issue as myself.  Your comments are going to my email but are coming in as "no-reply-blogger" which means when I reply to them it is not going back to you.  Once I realised this I have tried to forward comments on to those of you whose email addresses I already have .. but inevitably there are some whose emails I don't have so I shall reply in the comments section below.  Blogger seems very much to have a mind of its own these days. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, its sunny here though chilly but I don't mind as the heat will come soon & then I will really complain  😉

Thank you as always dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,