Snowman in a Jar

i'm getting my creative mojo back FINALLY!!!



for my quilt class today, i made them "snowman in a jar"
i used "snow" (mica flakes), the ends of skewers painted orange, buttons for his buttons, beads for his eyes, i cut a hat out of black felt, masyn and i picked small (tiny) twigs for his arms, and i added some fake holly for some color.



i stained some tags with instant coffee and a small amount of water. dipped 'um in, string and all, and set them in the sun. i made pam's almond joy cookies and they were DELICIOUS!!! head on over to pam's blog, she has great recipes!



and don't you LOVE the red twine! i got it at anna's shop. yep thimbleanna has a shop.



she posted the great idea of putting it in the sugar jars that you can get at dollar tree! so stinkin' cute!!!

have a happy day!

The Month of the Snowman

monday & tuesday have been sunny and 80 degrees and i decided it was high-time i took my christmas stuff down.
so this morning as the sun was shining, i started to take the wreaths & garland down.
to my joy, within 30 minutes the blue skies turned white and the temperatures dropped drastically...
i was once again in the "wintery" spirit that had previously consumed me and i decided to keep my snowmen up and embrace january as it should be. the month of the snowman! it didn't take long for me to realize that my quilts were not meeting the snowman requirement and i went searching the internet for quilts that i can make for the januarys to come.

here are some of my finds...



this one i found at tickled primitive, they have a bunch of primitive patterns

this is cheri's



and so is this one...

and if want some great redwork patterns or the more vintage look, you MUST check out shabby fabrics! they have a GREAT assortment of the fabulous cold men!

i think i'm good...now i just need to get my sewing room put back together!

January is over

and that brings an end to the month long snowman posts. (thank goodness) i must admit, towards the end, it got a bit difficult. i really wanted to take the kids to the snow and build our own chilly guy, but we never found the time. i loved the snowman party and i look forward to next years (i have lots of great ideas!) the snowman family night was the family favorite and i can't wait to make some of the projects that i found. i hope you were in some way inspired and i would love to see and hear some of your snowman ideas.

How Fun!

years ago, i bought this angel ornament at a craft show and i've treasured it.

i've always wanted more but didn't think i'd find any.

well look what i found...

the pattern and it comes with the instructions to make the snowman and the santa!

yeah, i can't wait to get it!

Well, I'm a Bit Sad

i just found out that one of my favorite collections are all being retired. bummer. if you haven't seen the august moon figures you should check them out before you can't get them anymore. here's a link to a retailer that still has a pretty good selection.

i know this is a snowman post, but i have to say...i love the halloween figures!

If You Need a Good Laugh

("Do you think he sees me?")
you have to check out this blog.
thanks fudgie for sending me to her. hystrerical!!!
also in honor of the chilly fella, check out this post. cute and funny!
have a great day!

I Heart a Yummy Cookie

and these sound (and look) good.

originally from a japanese cook book,

this recipe will surely be a hit.

A Christmas Eve Tradition

in our family is to give new christmas jammies to the kids every year.

the kids love it.

i know a lot of people share the same tradition.

i love after christmas sales, because i can usually find great deals on cute pajamas.

here's a great deal on some snowman pajamas for the whole family.

I Had to

order this pattern. i love it.

have you ever made a "make-do"? they are pretty easy to make.

if your interested in getting this pattern, go here.

I don't know why

i was so surprised to find this.

i guess if you want a "perfect" snowman you would consider getting something like this.

He is pretty handsome.
click here if you would like to order the "perfect" snowman in a box kit.

Be Merry

is the name of this paper kit that i found here.
i recently ran across this post that had the best advent idea.
the little princess LOVES paper crafts (crafts of any kind really)
and this was a great way to get her involved.

so i've been collecting different christmas paper so that this year we, too, can have our own advent tags. it's a really neat idea go check it out.

oh...i almost forgot...jen from tatertots and jello ( if you didn't get a chance to check out her blog yet, head on over) asked me what projects i am currently working on. well jen, to be honest other than collecting paper for the advent tags, i'm leaving the paper crafts to my talented sister and focusing on getting my quilts done. i have promised myself that i would not start one more new project without getting an old one done first. so far, so good.

I'm sorry

i couldn't resist this one.

hope it makes you smile.

have a great day!!!

A Melted Snowman

cupcake, how clever!!!

go here for a tutorial and the recipe. What fun!

Do You Cross Stitch

i haven't in a while, but after seeing this,

i'm thinking i need to start again. how cute!

i was surprised to find some great primitive patterns.

click here to find this pattern and many others.

Are you a

snowman collector???

i am and i just found my all time favorite designer!

have you heard of nancy malay?

click here to view a sampling of her snowmen.

amazingly talented.

a snowman explanation

if your new to my blog you might be wondering what the heck is up with all the snowman posts.

i'll recap.

january is the month of the snowman and to honor the chilly guy, i decided to dedicate a post a day to the wintery fella.

hope you've enjoyed the first half of the months' posts...

A Snowman Party

was my attempt at a belated christmas party for my quilt class.
for one reason or another i could not find a night, in december, to hold a christmas party so i came up with this idea.
i would hold a snowman party in january and exchange snowman gifts, make a snowman gift, and have snowman decorations.

well...i was able to set the tables with snowman paper goods.

i couldn't find a cute snowman gift to make so we made these sweet mini dresden plate blocks and framed them.

i actually liked this project. everyone was able to get it done and that is success.

i wanted to make these out of rice krispy treats , but i didn't have the time.

i made this snowman purse that i posted earlier for my gift exchange and the gift i ended up with is a set of large stinkin' cute mugs and dish towels.

i had so many other ideas that i just wasn't able to pull together. but...i must say it was a hit and will be our class tradition for now on.

Here's my

snowman gift for our snowman quilt party.

i'll post the info and pictures about that later. this cute purse was really easy to make. the best part was that i've had this kit for probably 5 years. so i've made a gift that didn't cost me anything and i've made one more of my many unfinished projects that are taking over my sewing room.

killed 2 birds with one stone.

...only i don't know why i even used that saying because i wouldn't kill a bird i love them.

(random thinking)

While searching

the internet to inspire all of you and

to honor the little chilly guy this month,

i ran across this post.

anthropologie had this cute guy in one of their window displays.

using recylced white sweaters and buttons, you too could make one for your home.

Garland, Garland, Garland

don't we all love garlands?

this one is PERFECT for family night

(hmmm, this is where i got the idea)

Click here for the tutorial.

I love talented people who share with all of us!