Happiness is . . .

going to get the mail this time of the year!  I just love all of the Christmas cards with hand written messages.  And what fun to see the smiling faces of far away loved ones on photo cards.  It is just so much fun!

Happiness is also my boys reenacting the Christmas story.  Here they are the "3 wise men bearing gifts from afar."

Happiness is also them placing their crowns on "baby Jesus" and my youngest's desire to do it over and over again because it was so much fun. (I have guilt over not having the time to oblige him.)

Happiness is spools of new ribbon!  I just love these colors and it is pure eye candy for me (with zero calories I might add!)  Happiness is also my back-up Bernina machine (thanks Mom!) to use when my newer machine couldn't handle all of the sewing I was doing for Christmas gifts.  It was such a relief to have a working machine to keep plugging away at my gifts.  The cute Scottie dog also makes me very happy thanks to Jenny B Harris.  She was incredibly generous in releasing the pattern through a Creative Commons Attribution License.  See this.  I hope this inspires others to do the same.  Now, you can make these cute dogs, too.  She has a wonderful website full of inspiration if you have time to take a look.  She is so creative!  I love the colors she works with.  They are so cheery!

 I made these Scotties for some special people in my life who have been such a support to me and my business this year.  It has really been a sweet ending to 2010. 

Tomorrow begins our journey to Minnesota to spend Christmas with our families.  My prayer for you is to have a very joyful and peaceful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. 

I am looking forward to what God has in store in 2011! 

Until next year!

Busy Hands

My hands have been busy sewing doll clothes for my nieces this Christmas and it has been a lot of fun picking out the different fabrics and seeing the tiny clothes come together.  These clothes will fit their American Dolls.  

A sweet flannel nightgown with cute dogs and blue bones!

A Christmas flannel nightgown.

Fun flannel pajamas with a cupcake applique.

Pink heart flannel pajamas with a heart applique.

A polka-dot party dress!

A sweet flannel  nightgown with dogs and pink bones.

Jeans and a knit t-shirt.  These jeans were a lot of fun to make with pink double stitching.

A fleece vest, scarf and hat.  Perfect for a Minnesota doll.

"All Dolled Up"

This is the pattern book I used for all of the clothes.  It is written by Joan Hinds and it was wonderful!  I can just imagine the hours of play my nieces will have dressing their dolls up. 

Blessings on your Christmas preparations today!

Christmas Pretties

After Thanksgiving it seems I have been busy nonstop.  Thus, the reason for not posting!! But, decorating the house for Christmas always follows Thanksgiving for me.  I especially had a lot of fun decorating my dining room.  This is only our 2nd Christmas in our new home so I did a fair amount of experimentation with the decorations until I got things just right.  I thought it would be fun to share some pictures with you.  I love my table because it combines things both sets of parents have given or made for me.  My dad made the advent wreath and my mother-in-law the table runner.  They both have this blueish green in them that looks perfect together.
 

I am really enjoying my "girlie" tree with pink tinsel.  Living in a house with all males I need my pink!

 I bought this stocking at a craft sale in St. Peters, Missouri.  The lady who made it had so many beautiful hand made items.  I envied her ability to crochet tiny doilies and lacework.  She shared with me how this stocking was made from old quilt scraps.  Isn't it lovely all dressed with pearl buttons  and trim?

Today will be another day full of sewing for me.  I will be sharing in the days to come, so stop on back!

Blessings!

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

 If you have a moment this is so worth reading and reflecting on . .

nationaldayofprayer.org/thanksgiving-proclamation/

Blessings in Him.

Getting Ready!

I am really looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with our parents in a couple of days.  We are so thankful they are coming and look forward to a wonderful time with them.  Along with doing the shopping and cleaning the past few days I fit in a little sewing out of necessity for my son.  He took a slide on our floors on Sunday and ripped a fairly large size hole in the knee of his pants! 

I had this cute construction truck fabric that was just perfect for covering up the hole. 

Just a little cutting, ironing and sewing solved the problem (at least until the next slide!)

There is so much to be thankful for in our lives and I love that we get to set aside this time of year just to focus on thankfulness.  I am so thankful for God's grace and His provision of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for my family and friends, home, food and clothing.  God has richly blessed us in every way. 

I pray you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!
Blessings!

Sunday Scripture

Photo courtesy of snapdragonflorist

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over."

Psalm 23:5

Words to live by

Photo courtesy of bigphoto.com

"Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

in everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

(I Thessalonians 5:16)