Tag Archives: Christmas

Day 27: Magic Dishes

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There’s a special dish that’s part of every holiday meal. You can see it in the food photo from our Christmas meal on the left and Thanksgiving on the right.

 

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Here’s what it looks like empty. What is it? It’s a large platter that I decorated and had guests sign on our wedding day. I have the guest book from my parents’ wedding. It’s pretty and interesting and…. sits inside a box. Our dish gets used 3-4 times every year and is on display the rest of the time.

weddingguestbook

Why is it magic? Because of all the love that went into making it. I started at one of those stores where you can paint ceramics. They’ll fire them in the kiln and you come back to a finished glazed piece. This time I wanted it sign-able so I did most of the decorating in-store. Then I borrowed a black glaze pen and had wedding guests sign with it at our reception. Returned the platter to the store and picked up our finished piece post-honeymoon. Cool, huh?

 

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Day 26: My Secret Santa gave me…

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Each year at Christmas my dad’s side of the family does a Secret Santa gift exchange. The idea is to do something creative and hand make a thoughtful gift for one person. Another person gets you and this counts as your gift from the whole family.

The gift I made this year didn’t make it there on time before my person went away for the holidays. It should be waiting when he returns so I’ll blog about it then. No need to ruin the surprise!

Kacee was my Santa. She made me cupcakes! Sorta. They’re pieces of fabric folded and set in cupcake wrappers to look like sweets. How cool is that! The colors she chose are from the state flag of Colorado, which we’re moving to soon. Creative, thoughtful, fun, and useful. It’s the start of my next quilt! Thank you Kacee I love it.

cupcakesitsfilledwithfabrics

Day 9: Repurposing Mom’s Tree Skirt

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A #31dayblogchallenge post.

It’s a little embarrassing that I’ve got a blanket wrapped around my Christmas tree stand, Linus style.

linusblanketaroundtree

Thing is, the tree skirt my mom made didn’t survive the wash. It was smelly when I took it out of the ornament box so I tossed it in the wash.

momstreeskirt

I knew it might fall apart because of the materials she chose to use at that stage of her quilting journey. Plus the ties weren’t close enough together. Mom’s later quilts were better but this skirt is beloved and has been used under my tree for years. Well, it got all lumpy in the wash.

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All is not lost. I’m redoing my childhood reading quilt and I can do something similar with the fabrics from this tree skirt. So I cut it apart and set the fabrics aside to repurpose into a couch throw later. They’re a little threadbare but with the right interfacing it won’t be a problem. For now they’re in a UFO box next to the reading blocks.

cuttinguptreeskirt    christmasskirtprints

Will you please help? The turtles quilt still needs more pieced tree blocks for the final border. Click here for more information and here for the tutorial.

Day 3: Setting Up The Christmas Tree

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It’s December 3rd which means we’re on day 3 of the #31dayblogchallenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com.

My husband surprised me yesterday with a trip to the Christmas tree lot. It’s one of those where you can cut a tree down for yourself, but we ended up going with a precut one to save $30. It’s nice to have a truck for times like this. No tie-downs necessary!
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First things first. Let’s get the camera out to take some photos for the blog. Well, my husband wasn’t having it. This is the best shot I got of the goof. Can you see him in there?

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We hosed the tree down. This is a good step to get loose needles and dirt off before it comes in the house. And bugs. No bugs in the house please! After a few hours drying in the front yard (with the trunk in a bucket of water) we lobbed the bottom off and brought it in.

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Here it is all pretty. It’s mostly decorated as is the mantle above our fireplace. Tree skirt’s in the wash and bubble wrap for the ornaments is all over the floor. The cats are going after that for now but I’m sure there will be sparkly ornament casualties soon.

decoratingtree

Everything’s 30% off Sale and News

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Hello everyone. We’re putting moving soon and looking forward to our next adventure. Wish us luck and buy my stuff! LOL seriously though, this is good news for you. In an effort to have less things to pack up in boxes and move I’m discounting all of my items for sale in the etsy shop. They’re now 30% off. No coupon code is needed as I’ve adjusted the price of each individually on the listings. I’ll be adding items to the shop over the next few days so check back for more cool stuff, all 30% off their original prices.

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I had a great time recently having a booth at the Purrs and Paws Holiday Boutique. My friend Adva surprised me with a visit (yay!) and took this photo. I learned a lot and did a bit of networking too. I’ll tell you all about it in another blog post.

mybooth

Blog  post, you say? They’ve been few and far between for a few months now but that’s about to change. Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com will be blogging every day in December. She’s invited other writers to join her and I’ve decided to participate. So buckle up everybody and find your reading glasses ’cause there’s going to be much more action on this site soon.

Come See Me at the Purrs and Paws Holiday Boutique!

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Come see me this weekend at the Purrs and Paws Holiday Boutique! I will be shutting down the etsy shop  and opening an in-person booth on Saturday, November 7th 2015 from 8:30am to 3:00pm. Admission and parking are free at the middle school location in Ventura, CA. Bring cash or check to buy handmade art from me. Boutique benefits the local no-kill animal shelter.

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Here’s the details for the Purrs and Paws Holiday Boutique.

  • November 7th, 2015. 8:30am-3:00pm
  • Balboa Middle School – 247 S. Hill Rd., Ventura, CA 93003
  • Benefits the Humane Society of Ventura County, a no-kill shelter
  • Meet Megan. Buy stuff with cash or check. Hugs included! 🙂
  • Over 30 other vendors.

This is sure to be a fun event. I’ve been busy the past few weeks making some new things. Here are some of them. (For sale in the shop until Friday, then whatever doesn’t sell will be relisted after this weekend.) More are available at my booth that have yet to be photographed.

handquiltedbatikfrontandback selvageheartornaments starcrumbcornamentsstarcrumbpillow

I hope to see you there!

It’s Tree Skirt Season!

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It’s time to sew some Christmas tree skirts and get ’em up in my etsy shop. After Halloween, which is in just over two weeks, the focus changes to the winter holidays. For Christians, that means Christmas shopping. Want a cute tree skirt? There are three medium sized ones up in my shop. Check ’em out! Click the photos to get to their listings.

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redflowersskirt1

Tree skirt for sale 70

I have six more in-progress. Fabrics range from traditional Christmas to animals and patriotic motifs. They’re medium and large sizes for now. I’ll be adding small ones for tabletop trees too.

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The horses are getting basted to the backing and ready for quilting. This one already has batting. I re-purposed the panels from a bag I meant to make several years ago. There’s one unfinished project fewer and a cute winter horses skirt on its way.

horsesskirtbacking I’m pinning the binding on this one as I watch TV tonight. It’ll be listed in the shop soon. Binding’s the last step! Well, technically I need to photograph it once it’s finished too.
skirtbindingAs always, I love custom orders. Sheri L. ordered a skirt last year with her choice of fabrics and was thrilled with the result. These treasures are machine washable and super-durable for years of enjoyment.

I will also have Hannukah items in my shop this year. Perhaps winter solstice, new years’ and other holidays’ too.