More Christmas Decorations

Hello, Friends!

I’ve taken a few more photos of the Christmas decorations on the main floor of the house. This part is pretty much finished, I think!

This corner is one side of the fireplace.

I moved the gossip stand to that side and placed a quilt over it. The Santa gourd was painted by a neighbor in Florida many years ago.

And I made the snowman wearing the navy scarf when my son was in kindergarten.  He is now 33...you can do the math...it hurts my heart!

On the opposite side of the room from the snowman corner, is the tiered shelving unit my Mom got me for Christmas last year.

The dining table is missing charger plates. I'm telling you...we are missing so many things from the move. Everything from kitchen items to craft projects. I can't imagine how this happens.

This piece of furniture is the bottom of my china cabinet and is where I display a nativity scene and other Lenox items. The top of the cabinet is wrapped in quilted blankets and stored in the garage. We do not have enough wall space (lots of windows, though!) to assemble it. I'm thinking of moving it downstairs where there is plenty of space. But then I think about it, wouldn't it be strange to have it separate from the dining set?

Between the fireplace and the dining room is all about Santa Claus.

My husband found this sleigh on one of our antiquing trips. It isn't really antique but it fits the decor.

On the opposite side of the kitchen from the Hoosier cabinet is a sideboard that I've attempted to decorate with prim items.

My favorite store in town has the cutest snowmen. I've collected a few over the last couple of years.

This is my latest acquisition. This fella is wearing a tuxedo coat...super cute!

That is all I have to share today. I will continue to post holiday decorations over the next week or so...more for my own record, but I hope you get some enjoyment from them as well.

Wednesday will be Witching Hour Wednesday where I will share stitchers' progress from the SAL. I hope you will return then.

Enjoy your day!

A Few Christmas Decorations

Happy Friday, Friends.

I have decorated the house for the holidays and want to share just a few photos with you today.

I bought these stockings years ago when I first got my embroidery machine. I had ordered extra, expecting my family would grow.

The stocking holders are Santas from House of Lloyd’s Christmas Around the World. I purchased these many years ago at a home party…can’t recall who hosted. We were a family of four, at the time, but I bought a few extra...again, expecting my family would grow.

Our main tree is the live one we got at the tree farm after Thanksgiving. The others will be mentioned in a future post.

The thing I’m enjoying most is the Hoosier cabinet. I had no idea when I got it how fun it was going to be decorating this piece for each season.

It is a chocolate / cocoa bar this year.

The snowman runner was made by my friend Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting. She does amazing work and sells her handmade items on Etsy. You can find her shop here. 

You may have spied the runner's matching topper in a previous post.

I am not, by any means, a professional decorator. However, I do enjoy surrounding myself with things I love, especially at Christmas.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

A Weekend with My BFF

Hello Friends!

My best friend from Florida visited over the weekend. We mostly hung out and chatted but did get out and about a little bit.

Our local leatherworks shop was hosting a toy drive Friday night so we dropped off toys and stamped our own leather ornaments.

We spent Saturday afternoon antiquing with my mom and hubby. We got a little silly at the ice cream shop in Maggie Valley.

My hubby suggested we treat my friend to the Candlelight Tour at the Biltmore Estate. This is our third year attending and it never gets old.

The Chihuly blown glass exhibit is on display at the Biltmore until February 2^nd. They have a few pieces scattered across the property, probably as a teaser so visitors purchase tickets to see the large exhibit. We hope to do that before it ends.

This piece was in one of the courtyards in front of the main house.

I literally take hundreds of photos each time we visit the Biltmore. My favorite thing to see at Christmas is the gingerbread house.

Biltmore Gingerbread House Front

Biltmore Gingerbread House Back

Of course, the big tree display in the center of the front lawn is always fun, too!

We were up and out early Sunday morning for coffee at one of our favorite places, Panacea. As I was enjoying my Chai latte, I realized I hadn’t shown you the quilt they have hanging on one of the walls. Each block represents something about the Frog Level district, which is where the coffee shop is located.

Once we returned home, my friend and I started cutting t-shirts.

These will be for my husband’s DAD quilt.  We planned the layout and I prepared the shirts with interfacing.  

I cut one block but then decided to wait on the others until I find sashing and border fabrics. I am short on both by a bit ☹

We went out for Sunday dinner and then enjoyed some downtown Christmas lights.

The weekend passed way too quickly but we all had a great time.

I have some Christmas decorations to show you, so I’ll be back on Friday with those.  My book club meets Thursday night, and guess what?!? I haven’t started the book yet! I’ll do that right after work.

Hope you are having a lovely week…see you soon 😊

 

Witching Hour Wednesday – SAL Progress

Witching Hour by Keslyns
A stitch along by friends of the GaRon Tottenbags Facebook Group.

A few more stitchers have caught up and submitted photos to share for this week’s assignment. We’ve completed letters G, H and I.

Connie S

Katie C

Lisa K

Loretta M

Lynne D

Margaret D

Sandi L

Sheila N

Tara B

Tywanna J

Lastly, Me

Here are links to previous Witching Hour posts:

 

November 1^st

 

November 6^th

 

November 20^th

 

The next assignment is to complete the letters J, K and L, and it is due by 10:00 pm eastern time on Sunday, December 15^th. The next Witching Hour Wednesday – SAL Progress blog post will be December 18^th.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your week. I'll see you back here on Monday for a regular update.

Stats, Holiday Planning, Unexpected Guests and More

Hello Friends!

I neglected to share October’s cross stitch progress during November, so I’ll include it here.

I stitched 6,540 stitches on three projects:

-        Give Thanks

-        Well Rounded Autumn Quilt

-        Started Witching Hour

Clicking the names above will take you to the October post regarding that project.

On the sewing front, I finished the blocks for the Scrappiness Is Happiness quilt. And I finished sewing the top together in November.

Also in November, I stitched 4,700 stitches on three projects:

-        Ann Harper 1839 (no picture yet)

-        Witching Hour – come back tomorrow, Dec. 4^th for an update on this project

-        Started stitching Cocoa Quilt (no picture yet)

Much of my crafting came to a halt the week before Thanksgiving because I started getting ready for Christmas.

Each year I put together a folder of checklists for the holiday season. They include November and December calendars, menus, ingredients for each dish and shopping list for items needed, gift list, gift receipts, etc.

With my folder organized, I then wrote my holiday cards and got them ready to be mailed during the first week of December. I do not send nearly as many cards as I used to. Do you write and mail holiday cards?

I may have enjoyed a nice slice of pound cake with caramel frosting while I worked on the cards.

I mentioned in a previous post we are expecting house guests every weekend in December, except for one. The plan was to spend Thanksgiving week doing a deep clean of the house, get the tree and have all Christmas decorating finished by the Saturday night after Thanksgiving.

As I was cleaning on Thanksgiving morning, my daughter called to say she received a notification that three packages were delivered to my house, and I need to check the front door. I wondered who would deliver on Thanksgiving Day. Well, I opened the door to find my daughter, her boyfriend and their dog standing there. They had driven all night from Orlando to surprise me. Apparently, they had been planning this with my husband and mom for quite some time. We spent the weekend celebrating my birthday as well as the Thanksgiving holiday.

The only task that was successfully completed was visiting the tree farm on Friday and getting the tree. Now, mind you, it is still standing naked in the living room…but, at least we got it.

This was my daughter’s first time visiting Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm.

These were the cutest trees. Ours was a bit larger.

We paid for the tree inside of a large tent. The tent contained several tables with various items for purchase. I love that each table was covered in a quilt.

Mom, Myself and My Daughter

Since the real tree needed to sit a couple of days for the limbs to open, I managed to start decorating one small fake pencil tree in our bedroom.

We woke up to some frigid temperatures on Saturday morning.

It was also 17 degrees Fahrenheit when the kids young adults left to return to Florida Sunday morning.

We had the best weekend and I look forward to their return at Christmas.

You may remember I was supposed to run the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. Well, as predicted, it was cold and still damp from an early morning rain. I decided to stay home!

Our next guest arrives this Friday. My best friend from Florida is coming for the weekend. I'm spending this week cleaning again and decorating. Not sure how far I'll get but I'll share photos when everything is done.

Please come back tomorrow for Witching Hour Wednesday. The stitchers have some fun progress to share.

I hope this wasn't too long. And, I hope those who celebrated had a great Thanksgiving holiday.