Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!! from our house to yours.

Here's a few craft projects I worked on this month. A quilting friend placed an order for the mice below to give as Christmas gifts. The pattern is from Country Stitches and it makes the cutest pincushion. I made 3 different mice and three different tomatoes. They were made out of wool.

Mice are holding corsage pins. The pins look cute and very vintage.

The label that I made for each mouse. Remember, details people, it's all in the details. My absolute fav is detailing everything. Just love it!!

These are some clothespin dolls that i made for D#2's preschool teachers, music teacher and preschool director. I can't take credit for the dolls, they have been around for many years and I did see some similar to these somewhere on the Internet, but I can't find out where. I have looked and looked. Saw them back in the summer sometime. The arms are just pipe cleaners with thread wrapped around them. I did this technique back years ago when I was making Wee Folks dolls for ornaments. I will have to post a picture of the ornaments before they are stored away for next year's Christmas. I made the apples from small wooden beads, felt leaves and leather stem. Sheet music is actual sheet music that I scaled down. It is of "Away in a Manger". The book was a large wooden book that I had DH cut in half and the peppermint is just polymer clay. I loved the hairbows, D#2 always, always  has one in her hair and plus the cloth dolls that I make always have to have one also, so I thought it fitting that the clothespin dolls should wear one too :)

Close up of director's doll and teacher's doll.

Doll for D#1's art teacher. I made her a little artist's smock, with paint smudges of course, paint brush made from toothpick and real bristles on the end. An artist's beret and a palette. I am calling these dolls "Just Like Me", because I love to customize them to fit the recipient's image.

Have a very Merry Christmas, with love,

Holly

Decking the Halls....

There's alot of things going on here at the old homestead. Baking, crafting, decorating, shivering and shopping. Haven't done very much baking. Dear hubby made some sugar cookie dough last weekend and we decorated them. The pictures are in my other camera, so I'll share them as soon as I figure out how to transfer them over to this computer.
The decorating is going well, I should be finished on Christmas Day or the day after. Here's a few pictures of what I have done. Poor dear hubby hasn't been able to help this year, he had surgery on his foot Dec 1 and is still recovering. He had an allergic reaction to the material used in the stitches and this set him back some.

Put some garland on the chandelier in the dining room and added alot of vintage glass ornaments to it. Many of them were my Mama Marcinak's. I just love the red one with the mushrooms.

The hoosier displays my Byers Choice carolers and mini tree with lights. It also had a colander full of vintage cookie cutters.

Close up of display on hoosier. Notice the cute little mixer on the stove.

Vintage cookie cutters. I just love them!

This display is on the piesafe in my kitchen. This vintage hoosier jar is filled with more vintage cookie cutters. I love the bell shaped one on the left side of the picture.

Sorry, you are going to have to turn the computer sideways. This is my front door. I haven't finished, I still have to put out something else on the left of the front door, it looks so plain. Maybe some large boxes wrapped up to look like presents.

Love these Santas and reindeer. My mom gave me the two vintage santas one year before Christmas. The reindeer was a gift from my middle sister. He is very cute and vintagey. The picture is of me when I was about 2 or 3 struggling to get away from Santa. This display is on top of my antique sewing machine.

This garland has red and white lights, red and white ribbon, red and white crochet snowflakes and tiny red and white crochet dresses. The dresses are just darling.

My Mama Marcinak's Gurley Candles. They are a little dirty, but I love them anyway. I remember playing with them as a child. They are in pretty good shape except for the girl in the back row on the right. Her poor backside was totally eaten away by a mouse years ago. No, we do not have mice, it happened at Mama's house when it was empty, except for the mice. She looks pretty good from the front.

Pie safe in kitchen, notice the little copper cookie cutters on the wall. I keep them up year round. My mom had some like this when we were little and I was so happy to find some like hers. The tree on the left hosts all of my gingerbread ornaments. I *heart* that tree. I also have lited garland around my pantry doors. They are decorated with gingerbread ornaments an tiny kitchen utensils.

Close up of some ornaments. See the cutie pie sock monkey, bought him this year when my mom and I went shopping at Thanksgiving.

I will share more as soon as I clean a little. Tune in later for my post "40 Gifts For A Very Special 40 Year Old".