crocheting away.......

I've been busy making hats for little people...

girlie hats.....one with a scarf


one with a petal brim and ladybug


boy hats....one with a cute roll up brim


and one beanie

I love checking things off my list...now to wrap them!

getting into the spirit...

Remember these?


Well, it is time for our family to start dropping them off all over the area!
I made 37 and we are going to drop them all month until December 25th.

Thanks to Linsday-Ann for sharing the little mangers with me!



If you are interested in making some for your own family to drop, the tutorial to make them (not that you need one) is on this post.

And if you'd like to know how this all began, read this article.

getting ready

I start decorating for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving.

While I was working away, someone realized there was a new Christmas story that had been overlooked in last year's frenzy. Nothing screams "read me!" like a new book.

Dean and Matt decided that "Crackhead Santa" and "Pipe Smoking Rudy" were beyond saving.

I mean, that antler pretty much says it all!

I bought it for 3 dollars 10 years ago. I can safely say I got my money's worth.

We suffered just one casualty...but it was a vintage ornament from my parent's tree....really made me sad. I'm not even going to throw it away...maybe I can do "something" with it????


Decorating is hard work....at least for some of us.....others were.....



asleep!

Beep and Boop

two more gifts done.......



I over-stuffed their little robot arms on purpose, I know that with use they'll get bendy fairly quickly!

Everywhere I go I see people using the Kindle or the Nook........but I'm not ready to give up actual books. I love the feel of them, the smell of them. I love everything about them. I love to swap them, to put them on my shelf and pull them down to reread later...

Besides, if I didn't have an actual book, I wouldn't need to make these:



I can't resist a pretty bookmark....especially one that has been handmade.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ironcraft and Dessert of the Month

This week's challenge at ironcraft was to make something for the table...as in the Thanksgiving or other holiday table.
I combined that with Dean's dessert of the month. He had wanted me to make some dumplings he saw in a Williams-Sonoma catalog.

So...I got the recipe and made them:

They are called Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings and are wonderful! If you want to try them out yourself, here is the link to the recipe.

We all thought they were a bit too salty so I'm am cutting the salt in half when I make them for Christmas dinner....but oh my gosh they are good..especially with the whipped cream and caramel sauce on top!