My sewing machine and I can now rest

I always get stressed before Christmas because I make so many of my gifts. It is usually Janae that I make the most for because she really appreciates the things I make. This year she talked about buying handmade stockings for all her animals and I talked her out of it. It would be so expensive and that is something I could do. Oh, what a job it was!

Now that they are done I am so happy I did it. Janae loves them and that makes it all worth it.

The dogs are all named after a "thing"--so the dogs got their "thing" on their stocking.

Lace for lacie, Bells for Bella, Lillies for Lilly and a matchbox Bentley car for Bentley.

For the cats and Bunny Fufu they got pink for the girls and blue/green for the boys.

The pictures I printed on a iron on paper that I got from Walmart.

I made larger stockings for Janae and her long time boyfriend Sidney. The larger stockings were actually easier for me to make than the smaller ones thanks to my arthritis.

I made the stocking just the perfect size as they fit across Janae and Sidney's mantle. No more room or anymore fur kids though! Someday I am hoping to make some human Grandbaby stockings though :)

I also made a pillow of the furbabies with the Rachel Ashwell Simply Chic sheet fabric that looks so perfect on their bed.

I figured she needed a replacement for the Santa pillow.

Now for some heat therapy for my hands and some rest for my sewing machine and I.

There is surprising news around the Brown household as Chantel has recently become very interested in Guinea pigs...2 girls, Penelope and Paisley. They are really cute and fun.

The surprising part is that turns out after having them for a couple weeks we realized we got more than we were planning for. The longhaired girl (Paisley) is with piglet...or probably several piglets. (Baby Guinea pigs are actually called pups but piglet sounds cuter!) You can feel the little ones moving around in her belly so we assume she is close. So now we are on guinea pig birth alert. Wyatt is pretty excited because he wanted a guinea pig too. I guess it was meant to be.

If you have never been around Guinea pigs before they are surprisingly adorable. They purr and coo. It is so cute! They say the babies are running around about an hour after birth and have a third of their full size by 1 week old.

Now I am working on taking down Christmas and dreaming about spring....

Thanks for visiting!

Merry Christmas!

Sitting here on Christmas eve...feeling content that my presents are made and wrapped...and thinking of all my blogging friends who add so much to my life.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope your day is filled with Christmas joy :)

Christmas time at our house

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year! I keep trying to remind myself of that as I stress over having money for the holidays and getting all the presents made that I need to make. Every now and then I just have to take a deep breath and tell myself I will get everything done!

I thought I would share some photos from around our house.

I have seen some people saying on Facebook that they have lost their joy this year. I know the stress of the holidays can cause this to happen. So many people struggling in this awful economy makes the holidays harder than they used to be. Several years ago I decided to just believe what is suppose to happen will happen and though everyone gets down once in awhile I thank God for all the joy I have in my life.

Decorating for Christmas makes me happy--though I will be ready to take them down when the holidays are over. :)

Love this painting of Santa my Grandmother painted.

 

I even decorated my car this year. Meet my Cruizer the red nosed reindeer--Chantel thinks it is so embarrassing.  As a Mother, embarrassing my kids is my job. I picked Chantel and a couple of her friends up at school today and I said, "All abroad the reindeer express". :) Chantel did not seem amused :)

Sending all my blogging friends many Merry Christmas wishes and hoping you are all finding joy in the season!

Thanks for visiting!

Our Tree Full of Memories

Living in Oregon I always like to get a real tree. There is a tree farm on every corner here it seems. I am pretty pleased with the very full tree that Wyatt and I cut this year for $27.

 

Again this year I did all white decorations..this year the tree is so full I didn't add my feather boas.

It was quite a job to decorate this huge tree.

I once again added photos in white frames to our tree...and I added a few more. It is fun to look at the tree and it is all about our family.

 

If you look close in the below picture you can see the tree is tied to the ceiling. A certain cat named Fez thought it would be a good idea to climb the tree. I yelled at him like a crazy woman and he has been too terrified to do it again. Just in case Jerry tied the tree to the ceiling. 

The tree looks so pretty I have been enjoying it...especially in the evenings.

When working on sewing Christmas gifts it makes me happy to look through the pretty Christmas decorated house.

I made my goal and I am still on schedule...so now sewing Christmas gifts has begun. I have so much to make! Wish me luck in getting it done.

It is so cold outside--in the 20's during the day and the teens at night. I am so happy to be sewing gifts at home rather than braving the cold to go to the mall! 

I hope this finds everyone with their holiday preparations going well!

Thanks for visiting!

Our Christmas Mantle

This is my week to get the holiday decorating done. The holidays are not suppose to be stressful but so many of us, myself included, put stress on ourselves trying to make the Christmas season perfect. My plan this year is that I have things mapped out day by day of what I have to have done. The decorating has to be done by tomorrow or I will be off schedule--so wish me luck :)

The mantle is the first place I decorated--and I am pleased with how it turned out.

It is similar to what I have done in previous years but this year I put my houses on it and I am really pleased with the look. I love those little houses and now that they are in a place of honor I feel like I see them more. They make me happy!

Rather than hanging the stockings from decorative hangers that sit on the mantle I hung them by clear Command strip hooks underneath. That left more room on the mantle. I am a fan of Command products...love how you can just remove them after Christmas and no damage done. :)

This display is kind of like my little fantasy neighborhood. I want to live in that pink house and drive that blue truck.

I would love to attend that little white church and Janae could live in the blue house. How fun :)

It has been so cold here! I went out tonight to pick up a pizza for dinner (no time to cook when you're decorating!) and my car said it was 25 degrees. Through the night it has gotten much colder. Makes me happy to have a warm place for my family and I.

I will be sharing the rest of my decorating soon. My tree this year is a big one!

Remember to enjoy the holidays and try not to stress too much!

Thanks for visiting!

Thanksgiving at our home

The cooking is done. Our stomachs are full. The dishwasher is running (for the third time) and everyone is heading to bed. Another thanksgiving is now a memory..and a nice memory it is!

My favorite part of preparing for thanksgiving is setting the table..I have never been one to love cooking. But I do love to set the table!

My Dad , Mother, my sister, and my father in law were among our guests...along with the 6 of us.

Well, we can't forget the furry family...while getting ready I noticed the cats seated themselves at the table in the livingroom.

They were in luck because Janae bought a turkey breast just for the pets that we cooked along side our family turkey.

We had a really lovely dinner. I am very thankful for that.

I couldn't believe Papa ate the whole plate!

There were 10 people and 7 dogs at our thanksgiving celebration.

Everyone had a full tummy--even the cats got to have some turkey.

Now that thanksgiving is over you know what that means...time to decorate!

I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving...

Thanks for visiting!