Red Velvet Art Ornament Swap

I forgot that MadRetz asked if I would post the ornaments I received from the Red Velvet Art ornament swap. As I always say, better late than never!!!

So, here they are! Very cool!!!

We should do this next year...A Nudge-Nudge Ornament Exchange...Draw names maybe??? I'll try to remember to bring it up in October or November. Or sooner, yeah! A Nudge-Nudge Valentine Swap???

ChAiN sTitcH

Sitting here with my Dad, watching Kill Bill Vol. 2 and teaching myself how to crochet flowers. (Okay, if that isn't incongruous!) Definitely addictive, this crochet thing. I'm all ready to rush out and buy some more hooks and colorful thread. If you're interested in trying these easy flowers, here are the two patterns I used...

FlowerPower and Flower Brooch

smash cakes

My friends' twins turn 1 today! I made their smash cakes for them (a.k.a.-the cake just for the birthday boy/girl to smash into). They are just the small 6" cakes. They aren't that great seeing as I had JUST enough frosting, so I had no leftover frosting to correct goofs. But they aren't completely horrible either. The twins' invitation reads, "All the kings horses and all the kings men invite you to celebrate Prince Andrew and Princess Annabella's birthdays with them!" The invitation had a picture of humpty dumpty on the wall on it. So on Andrew's cake I made a brick wall around the edges. And I tried to make Annabella's sort of look like a castle. The dark blue areas on Andrew's cake are where I accidentally dropped too much shimmer dust. (something I would have corrected if I had more frosting. oops.) You can't really tell in these pictures, but the tops of the cakes are shimmery.

What I've been up to

Hey there...so I figured since I outed myself in the comments of the roll call post, I would out myself even further in the name of shameless bragging.

Some of you know that I lost my job at 8:30 in the morning the day my husband and I returned from our honeymoon this past September. It is a long, frustrating story that could be titled, "101 Reasons Not To Blog at or About Work". But we have moved past it and are getting on with our lives.

Losing my job was a huge blow, but I was able to turn lemons into lemonade...or limoncello if you will...by starting a new business all on my own, aptly titled: LimoncelloSTYLE. LimoncelloSTYLE is a company specializing in Custom Cards, Custom Invitation Suites and DIY Rescue, which I have defined here.

I have been developing my website for the past month or so and I finally went live on December 7, the day I walked into the Boston City Clerk's office and filed my Doing-Business-As certificate.
I hope you will come by to my site and check it out. My website is http://www.limoncellostyle.com/ and my blog is http://limoncello-style.blogspot.com/. It truly is a labor of love and I am really glad to have this chance to make a dream a reality.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

--Miriam aka Girl

quickie x-mas tags!

How many days until X-mas?! I'm so ready to rip open presents!!!

Some quickie gift tags. I didn't measure or anything, just cut the colored cardstock and lil ornaments out of old dictionary pages.

Click on the photo to see it up close and personal! : .)

Church Baby

This is the second portion of my crafty endeavor. It's a church baby for Bitsy's stocking. Princess got one for HT at a craft fair last spring & I thought it was adorable. I found the instructions on line at: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/churchbaby.html



She's made from red flannel scraps & Mary Englebright cherry scraps. I think I may name her Charlotte after Laura's doll in the Little House books. Her head could look better...but I doubt my 5 month old will mind.

I have to say, I love projects made entirely with scrap fabric.
(I'm having problems with the picture. If you can't see it, let me know.)

Head Bands

Saturday I was over come by the spirit of craftiness. These are a portion of the fruits of my labor. They're head bands for my sister, Princess, for Christmas. I saw them at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago & figured I could make them myself instead.I tried it and it didn't turn out quite the way I'd like, so I went back & bought one (the black & white hounds tooth is from Wal-Mart). I used that one to make a pattern, dug out all my scrap fabric, and cranked out the other four. I hope she likes them. I wear mine constantly!



And in case you're wondering, no, the two purple ones are not made from dupioni silk. They're actually polyester made to look like silk. Left overs from my bridesmaid dress from my best friend's wedding last spring (you may remember it if you read my blog). The one with flames matches a blanket I made Princess when she was pregnant with my nephew, and the Elvis band (green polka-dotted) matches the diaper bag Art had made for her. The Elvis band is reversible. If anyone wants instructions, let me know & I'll post them.

Getting a little crafty. . .

I was so very inspired by Madretz's button tree. My version using vintage buttons is included here.

Somewhere on the internet, I spied a mobile/wind chime made using an embroidery hoop and cookie cutters. This is my take on it. I used embroidered ribbon, star cookie cutters, an inexpensive hoop and a ring at the top.

I suspect these are the only non-knitted items I have posted here.

A little Christmas Twinkle, anyone?

I only wish I'd made this myself. It was a gift from my dad's co-worker. He and his wife make them. It's a glass block (the kind you get at the home improvement stores for remodeling bathrooms) with a hole drilled in the back. White twinkle lights are strung through the back (I think it's a short strand) and the bow is made with wired ribbon so you can re-fluff it every year.

Christmas Card

I suppose that since most of our cards are sent out, I can share our Christmas Card pic now (with last name blotted out).

Birthday Cake

Edited to change out the old pics for better pics.
Here is Juliana's birthday cake for her party tomorrow. The green didn't turn out as limey as I wanted... I forgot that the fondant color gets darker in the fridge. The cake and fondant caused their problems, but decorations will cover a multitude of errors :)

Button Tree

Here's another fun crafting project that I just finished today. I originally saw the idea here, which led me to this post that gives amazing instructions and an amazing photo of her tree. Go there if you really want to be inspired to make one. It took about 400+ buttons, 400+ pins and about 1.5 hours while watching tv. This is our only Christmas tree this year, small but I love it. And so does the husband.

Peppermint Patty Ornaments

Here's a real quick and easy ornament:It's a treat and an ornament all in one.

This is what you'll need:blue and white paper. some small peppermint patties. a glue stick. ribbon, about 5" per patty. a snowflake punch (or snowflake stickers). a 2" scallop circle punch. Substitute whatever supplies you have to make it work for you. Do red circles and green trees. Make birthday favors with cakes or flowers.

Put glue on the peppermint patty wrapper, stick on the ribbon, stick on the circle. Repeat on the other side. Glue on the snowflake.
Make s slew of 'em and attach them to your christmas packages. Or hand them out at parties. Or give them to your kid's class. Feeling motivated? Make 'em next year for Halloween. A great project for kids, too.

PS: the local crafters mall was selling these for $1.99 each.