Catching Up

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I know I’m a little late with my New Year wishes. I've had a lazy and laid back holiday. It’s been great. The kids all came home for Christmas. It was great having a little guy here. He got much more excited than the big guys. And I have to say, it warmed my heart to hear him call me Nana. :)

Let me play catch up for a minute. I never showed you our Thanksgiving feast. 

And I want to make sure they’re in my blog before we get too far into the new year!

We had dinner inside again this year because it was too cold and windy.

You can see years past here, here and here.

My sister found these planters that looked like bark. I brought some potted mums which we cut up and put them in oasis. Then we mixed in some other cut flowers and greens from the yard.   

I think they turned out beautiful.

 

The manly men and their manly tools cut some large logs into discs about 3 inches thick. 

They made a great base for the candles and hurricane globes.

Remember the little place card holders I made? Okay, so I had help. 

They went together with the planters so well.

And last was the abundance of desserts! Oh my, it was all so good.

But it’s time to say good by to all those sweets.

New Years Eve was quiet around here. And now that #3 son is back at college and the house is once again quiet I need to start working on a few things.

I won’t call them resolutions. Too much pressure. But definitely I have things I want to accomplish.

Those are just some of the things that come to mind at the moment.

• sew curtains for the kitchen
• post my kitchen reveal (I did not forget)
• paint the upstairs bathroom
• restock my etsy shop
• redo my cane chairs
• paint some furniture
• redo #3’s bedroom
• tend to my garden (have I told you about the stinkhorns I have? ICK!)
• paint the front door and all interior doors
• shop for a new chair for the living room
• lose weight (see above dessert table)

How about you? What’s on your list?

Hope you are having a great start to your new year.

Recycled Wool Ornament

The other day I showed you those cute little advent calendar bags I recently made.

So I thought I’d also show you what I stuck in one of the bags.

My oldest and his family just bought their first house. I can’t wait to go see it!

I couldn't find a First Home ornament so I thought I’d sew one up.

I just used some of the scrap pieces of felt wool that I have. The windows and doors were needle felted.

Then on the back I printed out Our First Home on some transfer paper and ironed it on some cotton fabric.

  Then machine stitched it on the back. The rest was hand stitched.

It’s not a Hallmark but it’s a cute remembrance of their first home together.

Can you guess what the roof is made from?

Linking up with:

Primitive & Proper
Coastal Charm

Advent Calendar

Gosh, time is flying by!

How are you? Are you freaking out yet?

Hmmm, maybe it’s just me.

I still haven’t shown you my pictures from Thanksgiving and now I’m rushing to show you this advent calendar I made the other day. I was late getting it out in the mail to a little special someone, so he’ll have to play catch up on a few days.

I saw a bunch of little advent bags on Pinterest. I had planned to order some plain bags but of course time got away from me and so I decided to just make the bags.

Here’s what I did.

I wanted bags about 4x6 so I cut my fabric 5x16. That gave me extra length to make the casing.

Fold the fabric lengthwise and mark the top 2 inches.

Sew each side up to that 2” mark. I ended up just putting some tape on my machine to show me where to stop stitching. It made the process go faster not having to pin them all.

To make the casing you fold in the side seam on the upper 2 inches that were not stitched together.

Then fold down the top 1/4 inch,

Then fold again down to where you stopped stitching the side seam.

It will look like this. The bottom pin is just to show where the side seam stops. Stitch across one end and then the other. I top stitched in a green thread for some contrast.

When you stitch one end it will look like this.

Then turn them right side out.

Now you’re ready to put the numbers on! Print out your numbers on some iron on printer paper and set it to flipped or reverse on your printer. So when you iron them on they will look right. I found these numbers on Pinterest. You can google, printable advent numbers, and a bunch will come up.

The bags go much faster than it seems. You find your own rhythm and what’s easier for you.

You’ll need to cut two lengths of twine and thread in one direction and then in the other direction. Then knot the two ends together on each side. You’ll then be able to pull each knot out and the bag will close. 

I hope that made sense.

Last but not least, I used some Washi tape to cover these little clothespins.

I think they came out pretty darn cute!

And they’re reusable. Just fill them up each year. I put in little toys and candies. 

But you can put in whatever your think your little special someone might like.

OH!

One more thing. Remember this little guy? I made him two years ago out of pumpkins.

Well, he’s making an appearance over at Huffpost Home getting his 15 minutes of fame! There are some other great holiday decorating ideas there too. So hop on over and check it out.

Let me know what you think of my little advent bags. They are super easy to make. And if you don’t want to made an advent calendar they would make cute gift bags in any size and you can decorate them any way you like.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with:
My Repurposed Life
French Country Cottage
Primitive & Proper

Cyber Shopping!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! 

I am not one to go out to all the stores on Black Friday. Are you?

I’d much rather sit back in my pj’s and shop with the click of my mouse.

No crowds, no wasting gas, no whiny children. Just a cup of coffee and some fuzzy slipper. 

Okay, I can’t guarantee your kids won’t be whiny.

What would make shopping online even better? 

Why yes, Baileys in my coffee would make it better.

What else?

A SALE!

Skyland Drive is having it’s very first sale.

Just enter the code CYBERSALE at checkout for 15% off!!

It will run from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. 

So you will have all weekend to pick out your special treasures.

But don’t wait too long. 

You never know when someone else will fall in love with the very same thing you've had your eye on.

Did you know that if you follow Skyland Drive on Facebook you’ll get to see right away when I list a new item? So stop by for a visit on Facebook. I’d love to see you over there.

I’ll occasionally post specials on my facebook page just for all of the lovely folks that like my page. And remember if you add your favorite pages to an interest list, it helps them show up in your news feed.

So go, shop and save!

Use CYBERSALE for 15% off