Christmas — Page 58

Surprises

December 14, 2012 at 9:10 am by Claudia

I often get requests for a custom scarf order. One of these, from a reader in Texas, was for a scarf in the deep purple silk and bamboo yarn I’ve used in the past. I had some on hand but, as it turns out, not enough, so the scarf I was crocheting ended up being half again as long as it should be. Off I went to the yarn store to buy some more of the luscious yarn in a new dye lot and that scarf was completed and sent off the other day.

What to do with the short version? An idea.

A head band. A unexpected surprise.

There. You can see it a bit better in this photo – taken by me with my iPhone, which always ends up being a somewhat surreal experience.

I think I might make some more. I wore it all day long and it took me right back to my childhood, where a stretchy cotton headband was worn daily. I’ll find a photo someday and show you. Or not.

On another note, I have been spoiled lately. I’ve received a couple of surprises in the mail. Remember Judy’s giveaway? In that post, I said I’d had my eye on one of Judy’s pillows for a long time. Look what arrived on my doorstep:

The pillow I’d had my eye on, that sweet green pillow with the piece of vintage embroidery, was sent to my by Gail, a longtime reader of the blog. Gail is a Veterinarian with a kind and loving heart.

Isn’t it lovely? I was delighted with Gail’s lovely surprise. Thank you, Gail. (I’ve sent you an email.) It looks so pretty here in the living room. And thank you, Judy, for your beautiful creation.

My friend Sheila told me to look for a box that was coming in the mail.

In it was this adorable sheep. Handmade out of wool. Oh my. You know I love sheep. I have a couple of Putz sheep in my studio (one of which is in this blog’s header) and this one is a perfect addition to my sheep ‘family.’

Isn’t it amazing? A name will be forthcoming. Thank you, Sheila!

The salt shaker snow globe came in the same box as the pillow. From ever generous Judy. She also included an adorable wooden angel made from a domino and a key.

You can see it hanging from my Miss Keyboard’s School sign – over there on the right. Thank you, Judy!

Such wonderful surprises.

Of course, if I had been a bit more patient and a lot wiser, I would have waited to open these until my solo Christmas morning. Oh well! I will gaze upon all these things which embody the goodness and generosity of my dear friends and be very thankful, indeed.

I will be back at 8:00 est for A Favorite Thing. See you then.

Happy Friday.

A Tree for the Dollhouse

December 13, 2012 at 9:04 am by Claudia

I wanted a Christmas tree for the dollhouse. But I didn’t want to spend any money on one. What to do?

I had some bottlebrush trees from our Dickens Village days that I had thrown in my wrapping paper bits/fabric Easter Eggs/ ribbon drawer in the den. I pulled out the tallest tree and pondered bleaching it. I googled ‘bleaching bottlebrush trees’ and what should come up first? My friend Terri’s video! Thank you Terri, it was extremely helpful!

Bleaching it took a while. I get impatient. I probably should have gone even lighter, but what the heck, I was just playing around. I looked through all my little bits for decorations I could glue on the tree. Here’s the finished product:

That’s a bit of French silk ribbon winding its way around the tree. Plus some little beads and sparklies I had in my studio.

The wider view. It wasn’t quite tall enough so I put it on a stand. I’m not sure I’m happy with that little crochet skirt but it will do for now. Or at least until I start obsessing about some other possibility.

The den just got a touch of Christmas – the red ribbon wreath on top of the blue armoire. Less is more.

There’s still so much to do in the dollhouse: moldings, more wallpapering, more wooden floors, finishing touches and more furniture! Winter always seems to be the perfect time for work on the dollhouse. I’m starting to get that ‘itch.’

Another new scarf in the Etsy shop:

I have two more coming up in the next few days and I want to assure you that if you place a timely order, I will get it out to you in time for Christmas. The shop link is in the menu above and on my sidebar.

Happy Thursday.

Simple & Heartfelt Christmas Decorating

December 12, 2012 at 8:49 am by Claudia

My little white tree is the cottage’s Official Christmas Tree this year. I wonder how it feels? Usually, the little white tree is the runner-up; loved, of course, but slightly overshadowed by a bigger, green and fragrant tree in the den.

This year? It’s a whole new world.

(Note tip of Scout’s ear in lower left hand corner.)

I’ve really only decorated one room, the living room. The den has been left as is. So has the kitchen.

(Again, the ear. This time, two of them.)

This has been an interesting experiment. What is the bare minimum I can use to decorate for Christmas?

A wreath for the door. Check.

Lights on the porch. Check.

My bottlebrush wreaths because I love them so. Three of them are hanging in the living room windows. The fourth is hanging above the piano. Check.

My little white tree. Check.

Some of my bottlebrush ornaments. Check.

My Necco Snow Globe. It’s on display year round. Check.

The lights on top of the big white cabinet in the living room. (They are there year round, too.) Check.

And the dollhouse, of course. Check.

That’s it.

I find I’m liking it.

If Don was going to be here, of course we’d have a big tree in the den. I’m a fan of real, green, fragrant trees. So is Don. But he’s not going to be here and a large tree just seems like a lot of work. I have a lot of ornaments and decorations in my bins. Lots and lots of vintage Shiny Brites. And I love them all. But, surprisingly, I’m not missing them this year.

Normally, I have about ten of these large bottlebrush ornaments on the tree. This year, I hung three of them on the chimney. I have to fight the urge to hang even more. I think three is enough.

I bought this tree from Michael’s a few years back because I won a beautiful handmade mini tree skirt in a giveaway. So I had to have a tree to go with it. I’m so very glad I bought it.

The bottlebrush wreaths were first glimpsed on Dawn’s blog a few years back, where she shared the fact that she found them at Big Lots. Off I went to Big Lots, where I somehow managed to dig through everything and find 4 of them.

The bottlebrush ornaments were accumulated over time from Heidi’s shop.

Can you tell I like all things bottlebrush?

Back to the tree. No special ornaments were used, just tiny glass balls and some glass garlands that I’ve had for a long time.

I don’t like a lot of clutter and in a small house like this one, clutter is an ongoing problem. My usual amount of Christmas decorating, though lovely, can add to that. A bit of cozy clutter? That’s fine. Lots of stuff? Not so fine.

For this year, at this time, this seems like the perfect level of decorating.

Simple. Heartfelt. And – surprisingly – more effective.

Happy Wednesday.

Surprises

A Tree for the Dollhouse

Simple & Heartfelt Christmas Decorating

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives