I must be a glutton for self-punishment.  Honestly.  Not only is it the holidays, but I have also committed myself to an art show that is being displayed at the school that I work at in January and also, I have just signed on to participate in The Sketchbook Project being put on by the Art House Co-Op which is due in February.  I’m so excited about all of it, but now that I’m sitting back and thinking of everything that needs done, I’ve concluded that I’m slightly insane for not considering this all before hand.  Oh well.

I finally got my Christmas decorations up, after a lot of whining and complaining.  I was tempted to just leave them in the attic this year.  Had it not been for the kids, the decorations would have stayed up there.  However, I can’t deprive those sweet stepkids of mine of Christmas cheer.  So here are a few snapshots that Tommie Rae and I took the other night of our favorite ornaments and decorations.

Hello World,

I had an extreme case of guilt this evening because I haven’t posted in a short forever. It’s hard to force myself to sit in front of the computer when I’m not at work, even though I treasure this blogging world so much. My brother and his fiance came to town for the Steeler’s game today, so we spent most of the past 3 days with them. Yesterday we went to the National Aviary and then dined at The Georgetown Inn. We ended the evening driving through Hartwood Acres and enjoying the Celebration of Lights. It was most definitely a wonderful weekend.

Here are a few pictures documenting my family adventures.

These are called “Owlets”

My soon-to-be Sis-in-law, Jen, and a Parrot disrobing her.

Bald Eagle

The Georgetown Inn - Mt. Washington, PA

Hartwood Acres, Celebration of Lights

In the middle of all this chaos, I was able to finish one stuffie for my sis-in-law, Lindi, for Christmas. Here’s a sneak-peak…

I’ve also been working for hours and hours on a drawing/painting for my brother. Over the summer we had an encounter with some peacocks and he made the oh-so-simple request of a peacock painting. He just had to pick the most intricate and detailed bird of all birds on the planet for me to draw for him. Chances are, this won’t be finished by Christmas, but I’m trying! So here’s a sneak-peak of the peacock..

Anyway, the holidays are right around the corner. I hope everyone is enjoying the festivities, the family, the friends… I know I am.

Merry Christmas!

I overloaded myself with Christmas decorations that I wanted to make myself this year. 

My list consisted of:

Merry Christmas Banner
Felt Trees for dining room table center piece
Needle felted peppermint ornaments
Crocheted scarves for my fuzzy little owls

I decided that instead of taking down all my year-round decorations, I’d attempt to incorporate them into the Christmas theme.  (Hence the crocheted scarves for my owls.)

Those are the felt trees I made for the dining room table, also.  Those were a huge pain in the rear to make, but I’m so pleased with the outcome.

The Merry Christmas Banner

This took me hours and hours to make, but again, I’m very happy with the results.  I’ll have this for years, so the time spent was well worth it. 

Peppermint Ornament

I used wool felt to make these (12 of them) and used Martha Stewart’s holiday red and white baker’s twine to stitch them together.  I think I’m going to adorn gifts with these as a little special something with the wrapping.  ((I think I’m addicted to needle felting now… I’m looking for things to stab with those little needles just because I can.))

Now all I’m working on is cleaning and Christmas gifts.  I had the genious idea to host a Pampered Chef party 2 weeks before Christmas.  What was I thinking???  I’m planning a wedding, a shower, a pampered chef party and have 3 holidays coming up.  I think I’m a glutton for self-punishment.

So I’ve finally gotten off my toosh and uploaded the enormous amount of photos patiently waiting on my camera to my lonely and neglected macbook. I only have a few more holiday projects to finish (for myself) and the rest are gifts to be completed. It’s satisfying to actually check things off my task list. **A note about myself, I’m almost OCD when it comes to lists. I love lists.

This is the little project I started and finished just tonight. Ever since I was a little girl, every Thanksgiving it was my duty to make the place cards for the big family dinner. We normally had around 20 people there, so pre-arranged seating was a must. I’m 26 now and the tradition still lives strong. Tonight I got to work and made the place cards for dinner this year. Let me just say thank you to Martha Stewart for creating her stamps.

That’s all for now. I’ll post my holiday project pics another time. Goodnight!

I was rifling through a box of photos that my mom gave to me and I found these snapshots of past Halloweens.  I found  them incredibly amusing and they bring back such fond memories.

Me as a bunny, Ryen as an elephant, and Patrick as an astronaut.  Not too sure how old we are here.  Perhaps 11, 9 and 7…

We didn’t celebrate Halloween often.  Normally we would dress up as an indecipherable Bible character and head to church for the Hallelujiah Party.  All of the kids would be adorned in burlap and cotton sashes with a given name of Daniel or Gabriel for the boys and the girls would often be Sarah or Ruth.  My mother, always having to stretch the limits just a smidge, one year dressed my brother in white thermal from head-to-toe and saftey pinned felt fig leaves on the front and back of the pants.  Let’s guess who he was… yes, a 4 year old Adam.  Too bad I don’t have a picture of that.

To repay my parents for the years of humiliating costumes (that I loved at the time), here is a picture of them en masquerade.

Potipher and his wife

This wasn’t actually for Halloween.  For my mom’s 50th Birthday bash, we threw her a masquerade.  Our home was overrun with 60 adults wearing the costumes they wish they had when they were 7 years old.  It’s amazing what happens to grown-ups when given the chance to alter their identity for one evening (while accompanied with a karaoke machine).

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!