artsy-crafty babe

It's December what?

Holy Cow!  Christmas is only 2.5 weeks away!  How can that be?  I'm starting to panic.  As of now, the only gifts I have are a few for the kids.  We've pretty much cut out gift giving to the adults in our families, but I still have numerous nieces, nephews, and godchildren to buy for.  I was going to make a few gifts for them, but I'm starting to rethink that.  Just so you have an idea, here is the list of handmade gifts that I thought about making:

• bags for Lily's teachers (2)
• bag for an 8 yr old
• drawing cases (3)
• fairy princess skirts (2)
• appliqued onesie (1)
• some kind of food gifts which may require some appliqued kitchen towels(thinking chocolate covered pretzels)
• maybe some bath products
• top secret project for my peeps at work (still undecided, and I don't really use the term "peeps" in real life)
• and just for good measure, matching jumpers for my girls (with them 5 years apart, my window of matching attire is slim, so I had better take advantage of it now)

Is all this possible?  I'm having my doubts.  Serious doubts.  I thought I'd be able to fit in a little work in the evening after the kids went to bed, but the boy and baby girl have decided that they don't want to sleep.  They'd rather wear us down until we can go no more, then all crash in a heap on mom & dad's bed.  Matt said that he'd take the kids away for a few hours on Saturday, which will help, but I have a feeling I'm going to be cutting some projects from my list.  Ill probably be making the mad mall dash next weekend to fill in the gaps. Hello, Master Card!

Since today is Thursday, designated "Corners of my Home" day, here is a corner:

This is a corner of my mantle decorated for Christmas.  It's fairly simple, but I like it.   I like the sparkle of the shiny beads, the colors in the stockings, the glitter on the trees, and the contrast of red & green between the olive jar and poinsettias.  I'm going to be a little sad when it's time to put all of this away.

A corner and a special new pillow

Here is a corner in the girls room.  I really do love this room.  I think I like it so much because it is the room I never had growing up.  Hmm, I guess I always have had a thing for decorating and creating my own space.  Anyway, the think I want to talk about is what's IN this corner.  See that little black and pink pillow there?  It's a tooth fairy pillow.

Yep, the Tooth Fairy will be visiting our house for the first time very soon.  Lily is driving me crazy with that darned loose tooth.  I can only stick my finger in her mouth to feel her loose tooth so many times.  I think it's pretty gross, actually.

I whipped this pillow up last night while the kidlets were in the tub.  It was a collaborative effort between Lily and I.  I had in mind how the pillow should look, she picked out all the fabrics.  She also drew me an assortment of teeth to choose for the applique.  I then sewed it up.  I think we did a pretty good job!  In case you didn't know, that little pink patch on the front is actually a pocket, a place to put the tooth so that the Tooth Fairy can find it easier.  It's also a nice place for the Tooth Fairy to put the moolah!

I'm glad I got that pillow done in time as I just got news that the tooth is hanging by a thread.  Yuck!

***UPDATE**** It's out!!!

Corner of my home

It's been ages since I've done one of these, but here it is, a corner of my home.  A real corner, reflective of our living.  This is one of the first pieces of furniture we bought when we got married.  We bought it unfinished, stained it ourselves.  I don't know what I was thinking staining it that dark, but now it matches the hand-me-down table and chairs from my grandma.  It was intended to display our wedding china because at the time we were living in an old bungalow in Baton Rouge's Garden District that had no storage space at all.  Today I display my colorful pottery and my chickens.  Much happier (and prettier) than my boring old china.

Yes, that's my sewing paraphernalia on the top shelf.  Even though I have a sewing room studio, I prefer to sew at my kitchen counter, in the hub of activity.  I have to keep the non-kid friendly stuff up there, out of the reach of little hands.  Those pumpkins used to be on the table, but they kept flying across the room so they needed to be put out of reach.  And that bottom shelf, that's reserved for whatever needs to be put away at the moment.  Sometimes it holds my sewing machine, or the flower arrangement from the center of my table, or a box holding my current sewing projects (seen on the table right now).  It's multipurpose.  Today it's holding the canvases Lily and I worked on last night.  That's also a great hiding space for little people, just as long as they don't bump too much.  I like this corner, it makes me happy.