Christmas before Thanksgiving

I can't believe it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Everywhere I go is Christmas music and decorations and "SAVE BIG NOW!" sales. There are some fabulous deals to be had so I have done a bit of shopping. Yesterday I went to Joann's for no good reason--I came home with some cute fabric, wrapping paper, and some ribbons and bows. It was all on crazy sale so it wasn't too extravagant. I'm very into the non-traditional Christmas colors this year (the turquoise, the lime green, the purples and pinks) so I'm drawn towards those things. Everyone around me will just have to suffer.

On the way home from there I decided that, since my sister was coming over for the afternoon, we (my mumsy and us girls) should have a Christmas tea. I stopped by the grocery store and got some Christmassy teas and some not-too-naughty cookies. I got out my Christmas tea set that I've never used and set a cute little table. We had a nice time, just sitting and chatting. Who knows if we'll have time when December gets here...but if we DO I'll be sure to take some pictures for you.

And y'know those fabric books that have been around for aaaages? The ones where you cut out the pages and sew them all together with quilt batting and make a little book? I always zoom right past--they're cute, and would be a neat quick project, but I've never had a practical use for them. This time the cuteness part of my brain won the fight with the logic part, and so I bought a panel. It was designed by Mary Engelbreit (whose designs I adore), and is so delightfully Christmasy and lovely--check out some of these "pages":

I love the peppermint striped edge--it surrounds each page.

Can't you just feel the Christmas cozy in this one? The grandma sweater, the little mouse snow suit, the hot chocolate and cookies...makes me want to jump right in.

When I was a wee 'un and my mom was reading to me I always wanted to live with the animals in their little tree homes with their cute little doors. Nowadays I'd like to live with the Keebler Elves in their tree because hey--free cookies.

 

I love the little candy cane windowsill--if you've been reading this blog for a while you may remember that I wanted to live in a gingerbread house when I was little.

It doesn't have the delicious scent of a real book but the pages are a lot cuter.

That's pretty much all I've managed to eke out this week. Next week I'll be getting ready for Thanksgiving and that's a production and a half around here...I'm not looking forward to it--I have to clear out my sewing area. Boo to that.