CSN Giveaway Winner!

And now, the moment some of you have been waiting for--the winner of the CSN Stores $35 giveaway.

Let's do this official-like--drum roll please!!

28 official entries, plugged into the Random Number Generator, and the winner is:

...and that would be the Domestic Diva who said "Lovely! Thanks for the chance!" Well Diva, you're very welcome for the chance, and I'll be in touch with the details.

Here's hoping you're all warm and cozy--if any of you have some extra snow send it this way!

Sweet Bee: International Paper Crafter of Mystery

Hello, dearies. I've been neglectful in posting this week, but I haven't had much going on. I've gotten a touch of the holiday lazies--much of my to-do list has been crossed off and I've been taking advantage of this to do not much of anything. HowEVER--I saw something online the other day that made me whip out my scissors and ruler and hop to.

First up: some woven paper baskets known as Swedish hearts (or--if you're Swedish--jhartkorgar). 

Traditionally they are done in red and white, but I had some green I wanted to use.

My dad has a bit of Swedish in him, so I thought these would be one of those cute "connect with your heritage" projects. I'd rather connect with my mom's heritage and eat lotsa ravioli, but paper-weaving it is. I couldn't remember where I had seen them so I had to scout for a few tutorials--I ended up using this one. If you give these a whirl one thing you need to know is that the rectangular part needs to be more than twice the width (or else you end up with some not-so-neat edges or edges that don't snug up at all). Usually handles are hung on these and they are filled with small treats--but I was a bit frustrated and disinterested so I am just letting them be.

Then, while I was perusing Allsorts I saw some sweet German Christmas paper stars (also known as a Froebel star--you didn't know you were signing up for language lessons, didja?). My dad is half German, so I'm claiming this as another heritage craft. Using this tutorial, I sat myself on the couch and trimmed and folded for a few cozy evenings.

This was my first one. The paper got a little smashed and torn but I kept going just to get the hang of it. 

It took me about forty minutes to make this happen. After a few more I was down to about ten minutes, start to finish. Not too bad for something that looks intricate and scary (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

 These are a small fraction of what I made--I got a little bit carried away. Some of the papers were double-sided so those ended up looking really cute. They aren't very large--they come out to be about 2ish inches.

On a few of them the parts that make them look a bit 3-D tore, so I have a few that are flat stars. I didn't want to just toss them away where they'd feel neglected and unloved (yes, I do that thing where I personify silly paper stars and other non-human things--I get it from my mother), so they're sitting in the bowl with the others right now (yeah....I sat long enough to fill a bowl with these).

Then I thought "I wonder if I could make these out of ribbon!" I had some wired ribbon I thought would work but it was too smooshy looking, so I pulled the wire out and remade it. It's much larger (about 7 inches) but it's not as cute:

Eh.

So then, because I have this personality quirk where I just HAVE to make it work (which translates nicely into having to have the last word) I used some other ribbon I had and it came out much cuter:

It holds the shape surprisingly well for ribbon and has a nice puffy look to it. 

Here's the side view:

These are supposed to be much more 3-D than they are, but try as I might I could just not get those points to happen. I like them the way they are though--kind of flat, but not really. Maybe I could call them German-American stars...y'know...to differentiate a bit...or something.

Here's one more closeup of a paper star:

And here's the side:

Those little loopy parts are supposed to be very pointy, but every time I tried to shape them it would tear or wrinkle and just not look good, so I left them how they seemed to want to be.

Now I just have to figure how I want to string them up. I think the paper ones would be really cute as a kitchen garland. I am for sure making a few more of the ribbon stars, though. I think that one's my favorite. 

Have a happy Friday!

My CSN giveaway ends tomorrow--see the entry post for a chance to win! I'll be announcing the winner sometime on Saturday.

Oh slinkles and trinkles of joy!!

One of my favorite stories when I was little was "Eloise at Christmas." It was in this huge green Christmas book we had, full of crafts, recipes, Christmas lore and stories. The only story I could read on my own and understand at the time was that of Eloise at the Plaza Hotel at Christmas. Now when I read it I'm reminded a bit of Dr. Seuss as it's a bit nonsensical. But there is one phrase that I remember from it - in the story Nana would always say things like "Oh slinkles! Oh trinkles!" I have no idea what they are, but I do know when I found this fabric a few weeks ago that's the exact phrase that popped into my head:

I can think of no better words to describe this than slinkles and trinkles...can you?

It has yet to be made into anything, as do most of the Christmas fabrics I bought. I just never came across that perfect project for any of them...there's still time so we'll see.

I have been doing some serious hooking, though. I bought some one pound bags of mill ends a few years ago--and they've been sitting in my closet ever since. I finally decided to just start making the long-planned afghan with it. And after I had laid it out to take a picture for you I noticed how it slightly (and unintentionally) resembles the fabric above:

OK, it's a stretch and it's not an exact match but you can see where I'm coming from (I hope).

This is kind of a spaghetti blanket--the more I stitch the more I seem to need to go. But I've finished my "obligation sewing" and can now do just whatever the heck I feel like (at the mo that means watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and eating candy canes).

It's coming along exactly as it looks in my head (and that almost never happens).

I forgot to take advantage of the morning light and didn't take these pics until the afternoon. We've been so busy here--shopping, doing some wrapping, sewing, playing Super Mario Brothers 3 on Wii (we like to kick it old school)...eating homemade chocolate chip cookies...melting candy canes in hot chocolate (yum!)...very important stuff, ya know. It's all coming up so fast I can hardly believe it. And then it's gone like whoosh!!

Have a marvelous Monday! And don't forget about my CSN Stores giveaway!

CSN Stores Giveaway!!!

Hello, lovelies!

CSN Stores contacted me about doing a little giveaway here on the old blog, and of course I jumped at the chance. They have so much variety that you are sure to find something you didn't know you needed but suddenly do. Look at the things you can buy for your home:

Yep, a corner TV stand. I have a friend who paid a crazy amount of money to have one made because she couldn't find one. If I had known about CSN Stores then I'd have waggled my finger and said "I know where you can go!"

Or this:

I think that light blue and white is one of the prettiest color combinations out there and they make a bathroom feel instantly fresh and clean. Plus? Love that tub peeking out. My great grandma used to have a tub like that.

Or, maybe you don't want decor. Maybe you want stuff for your kids. This brought back some memories:

I had one of these when I was little, and we kept it forEVer!! I wanted to buy this and hold onto it just in case one day they go away for good.

And look at this:

Come. On. that is insanely adorable. Especially the front-load washer.

I could keep going for a while. They have everything you can think of--take a look.

So if you see something you like and would like a shot at winning a $35 promo code to use at any of the 200 plus CSN stores, here's what you have to know:

• This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only (sorreee--you know I'd include everyone if I could).
• Leave a comment on this post--make sure I'm able to contact you if you win. Otherwise you've got to make sure you check back for the winning announcement.
• Comments close Friday, December 10th at 11:59 pm EST. I'll announce the winner the next day-ish.

Good luck!

The Christmas Story of Grumpy McMiserable

Once upon a time there was a girl (she was really more of a woman, but she had an active inner child so girl is more appropriate as a descriptive term) who loved Christmas. She would have been pleased for the calendar to skip straight from Halloween into Christmas, but then she would have missed out on her mumsy's stuffing at Thanksgiving, so such a holiday pit stop was necessary. She started looking for snow in November, and didn't mind the October Christmas carols (even though she was willing to admit it was a touch early). Christmas was the happiest time of the year for sure, and the happiest people of all must be those that worked in the happiest trade of all--retail.

One day, the girl and her mother took a trip in the wind and cold to the most delightful of places--Michael's Arts and Crafts. It was a Christmas wonderland inside--lights, sparkly ornaments, spicy minty smelling candles, and a 60% off custom framing sale (haha--they have those every week--they should just mark them down permanently). After gathering up armloads of artificial poinsettias to add some holiday cheer to the already over-decorated home, they walked casually by the aisle with all of the artificial Christmas trees. 'GASP!' said the girl. 'Look at those! I want those in my life! All three of them! And they're on sale for $11.99! Down from $19.99!' Quickly the girl and her mother began rooting through the stack of boxes looking for one of each. But alas, they could only find one. 

Overcome with excitement, the girl loped over to Tony, Store Associate. She said (in her sweetest voice, mind you) "Excuse me? These trees...only one of them has a box. Can I buy the other two from the display?" Tony, failing to absorb this Christmas cheer, sighed audibly (and rudely!) and said "Fiiiiiine." The girl looked at him expectantly, waiting for the store employee to unhook the wires, but such was not to be. She quietly whispered to herself "Really dude?" And then she and her mother proceeded to unhook the necessary cords. Her mother felt like leaving all of the other cords unplugged just to show him, but they decided this would not be fair to other shoppers who needed some Christmas cheer. And so they made their way to the front of the store.

The girl explained to Cashier Joan "The gentleman in Seasonal said we could buy these two from the display because there weren't any left." Joan said sweetly "Is that him?" The girl nodded, and Joan called out "Tony? You ok'd the sale of the display trees, right?" To which Tony, still with the surliest of surly expressions on his face, audibly sucked his teeth and said "What. Everrrr. That's fine." Cashier Joan said "OK, then." She proceeded to scan the tree that was in a box--it rang up for $9.99. "Woot!" the girl yelled, as her mother said "Well that's a nice surprise!" Store Associate Tony looked over with a twisty, miserable face full of humbug as though he wished he could have made them more expensive. But the girl didn't care. She had her treasures. She gave Tony the sweetest bite-me smile she could muster as she sauntered out of the store into the wind and cold with her mother, and headed to Best Buy.

And that is the story of how these came to live in the girl's dining room:

The end.

If you made it this far, I sincerely thank you for your perseverance, and I reward you with more photos of delicious eye candy:

Gingerbread Christmas Wreath

Seriously? Less than a month until Christmas? Come. On. And the past four days blew by in such a blur I now have a headache. But the house is decorated and smelling good, a huge bit of my shopping is done, and I can now chillax a bit. I've been so excited to decorate because I wanted to hang up my latest craft--it's absolutely nothing new, but I have been wanting to make one of these since I saw one last Christmas:

 

I found a gold wire hoop at the craft store that I really don't know what you'd use it for, but it worked perfectly for this. I took my Christmas scrap bag and my rotary cutter and cut a bunch of strips about an inch a half by eight inches. And then I made a bunch of knots. Then a bunch more. Then I smooshed them all together and made more until there wasn't a lick of space left no matter how hard I smooshed. It looks like it would be heavy but it is surprisingly lightweight. It still needed a little something so I tied a gingerbread man in the center and ta-da!
 

There was something oddly satisfying about tying all of these strips together and ending up with something kind of cute. And I think it goes great on the corner kitchen hutch:

  What's that you say? What's that awesome blue jar on the shelf? Sure, I'll zoom in.

It's from Belgium, that's all I know. And it cost me $2 at a church flea market. The opening isn't large enough for much, but I adore the color. It's the most perfectest shade of blue.

I've started crocheting a blanket so I'll get some pics going to share it with you--out of everyone who's seen it so far I'm the only one who likes the colors, but as it's for me I'm the only one who has to like them, right?

Have a happy week!

Homestyle Sewing

I spent my Friday lunch break last week at the Barnes and Noble near work. I get jealous of the people who get to work in such a cozy, wonderful place, surrounded by the aroma of books and cappuccino. It's a place I could linger and not spend a dime, but let's be real--my wallet never gets out alive. This trip I was looking at the craft magazines. I had my mitts on a few and was trying to decide if I wanted knitting, quilting, or sewing. The cover of the sewing mag won out:

 This is one of those lovely UK publications that gives you stuff with the magazine--this one had some cute fabric, some felt, ribbons and buttons, and a large pattern sheet.

I checked out the other magazines that were packaged similarly and they're all from the UK. This (the free stuff--well...not entirely free...this wasn't cheap) made them infinitely more appealing to me. This one had projects in it that I can see myself making. A lot of the time I think "Hey, that's cute" and that's that. This one has stuff I want to make--a LOT of stuff--the hard part is deciding where to start. Check out some of the yum:

This is what did it for me--I adore these dolls that are all over right now. And they're red! 'Nuff said.

 
This cute little door-stop might need to be in my life. But I don't know why. I don't have a door that needs stopping--they pretty much stay put. I do see door-stops a lot on the UK blogs I follow, so maybe it's a regional thing. But it's too cute not to make.

 
I am having a love-fest lately with the red and white Nordic (?) inspired stuff I'm seeing, and this stocking is no exception. I just adore the clean simplicity of it (again with the red--'tis me favorite color).




How homespun and cozy? Seriously! I have plenty of red and white polka dot fabric to make more of these than anyone would ever need (but maybe not as many as they'd want).

 
This one is just cute. But it makes me think of Valentine's crafting. We can't have that yet--I'm still doing Christmas!

 
This issue also has an interview with Lisa Lam, founder of u-handbag and author of 'The Bag Making Bible.' One of the patterns from her book, as well as some other tasty tips, are included, along with the pattern piece necessary.

Even though this cost more than what I would spend on a book, much less a magazine, I think it's a better value as I'm actually going to sew what's in it. This is only the second issue--I'd love to get the first but I haven't been able to find it (except on eBay at a nice little markup). Anyhoodle, I'll share once I make something.

Toodles!