am I crazy?

To be thinking about Christmas '08 already?

I really enjoyed doing a partially handmade Christmas last year, and I am thinking I want to bump it up a bit this year. But in order to actually accomplish this goal I'm going to have to work on it through out the year.

Here's what's mulling around in my mind at the moment...

*Matching PJs for DH and DS (gotta wait on this one until the new xmas fabric comes out in the fall)

*Homemade Lemoncello for FIL, stepdad, stepmom, brother and maybe some friends.

*Hats/Scarves for my 3 half-brothers

*Crochet throw for my bro (bought the yarn a year ago)

*Handbag w/ tissue holder for MIL

*Evening Clutch w/ tissue holder for Mom

*Amigurimi Nativity for Peanut-boy

Where to begin???

HandCrafted Holidays Meme: Traditions

What is your favorite family holiday tradition?
Getting up early and snacking on candy from my stocking.

Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?
A big Christmas Eve dinner and then going to Church as a family after dinner. I also like to watch White Christmas on Thanksgiving after dinner to kick off the holiday season.

What do you love most about the holiday season?
The decorations! Oh and the movies and music too.

What do you like least about the holiday season?
The crowds. I refuse to go near a mall anywhere near xmas.

Anyone close to your heart that you’ll be missing this year?
My Gram lives many miles away. I miss her every year, but ironically don't ever remember spending an xmas with her.


What is your favorite holiday food?
Turkey and mashed potatoes I think. I'm also partial to xmas cookies.

This is part two of the Handcrafted Holidays Meme.

HandCrafted Holidays Meme: Gifts

Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?

Throughout the year, I love gift basket or bundles of that adhere to a "theme" This Christmas I was really into the aprons though.

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If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making?

Aprons, bath salts and a doll for my son.

Here's an apron I made for a "secret santa" gift, bath salts and my progress on the doll:

ETA: Here's a photo of the finished dolly. Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?
This year my friends and I decided to do a handcrafted or thrifted Christmas gift exchange. It is a fun way to not spend a bunch of money, but still spend time thinking of the other person.

Here's one of those gifts:

Do you have any great gift compilation ideas?

Everyone loves consumable gifts! I like a tea theme for most women. You can get cute cup/saucer sets at the thrift store and add some fancy teas (from BigLots) and homemade or store bought cookies and sweets.

Name one thing on your personal wish list.
A guest room/sewing room/craft room makeover! But more realistically I'd like a copy of Bend the Rules Sewing.

Do you make and sell things that would make fantastic gifts?

Why yes I do, but I think we are getting past the standard shipping deadline. I make sock monkeys and tie dye that I sell as Mama K Creations. I also sell great kids items on Non-Toxic Tots, but they are not handmade. :)

This is part one of the Handcrafted Holidays Meme. I posted my answers to part 2 here.

10 days to go!

The count down is on people! Can you believe that xmas is a mere 10 days away? I can't. I am so behind on the whole deal this year that I am not even close to the end of my to-dos. I'm afraid that many of them will simple not get done. I am not going to stress though. I have been feeling sick and uninspired lately and I am just going to try and enjoy the season regardless.

Here's what I still have to do:
1) Finish BFFs Apron and creative wrapping idea.
2) Finish and Order photo calendar for Stepmom (deadline is tomorrow!!)
3) Think of 7 surprises for the Hubs. I am doing a "best week of your life" thing this year featuring things like cooking his favorite meal, cleaning out the garage, etc. Each night he will come home to a just-for-him surprise.
Gettin' a little creative and I just hope that I can keep up with it.
4) Sew the Peanut's xmas doll. (I am thinking that this one might have to wait for his bday. hmmm)
5) Finish shopping and wrapping for pretty much everyone.
6) Order new years cards because I'm not going to make the xmas deadline.

Is it too ambitious to start planning my xmas gifts for next year already? hehe
I am thinking that maybe if I plan ahead well in advance, I will have time to make this yummy moonshine and grow these in my garden this upcoming summer.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I couldn't find a V-day T for the Peanut so I made my own...

Ok so I just found an image I liked and Sharpie-ed it onto a white t-shirt.

*No babies were actually fed candy during this photo shoot. Any implication of sugar consumption is, in fact, fictional. : )

The 2 Year Un-Christmas Scarf

Remember THIS ? Well I actually finished it... on Christmas Eve. DH really liked it. The yarn is super soft. And it only took me over 2 years! hahaha

You can sort of see him modeling it Christmas morning:
Guess I better update my WIPs!

Just Made It...

I am a bad, bad crochet gifter. I wound up finishing bro #2's blanket at my dad's house in front of bro. Kinda ruins the suprise. There was also a bit of talk between my competitive brothers about how bro #3's blanket was bigger. I told them it took me one month to make the first blanket, but 4 months to make the smaller blanket. It also was a sc zig-zag pattern which is a bit more time consuming and also thicker than a plain dc blanket. However, I know they don't understand that. Regardless, I think they liked them. I love love love the way the zig-zag one turned out. (Double strand on Q-hook, SC zig-zag, 4 row stripe of black, 2 row stripes in grey and soft white.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

an actual FO!

Here is the fun hat I made for my littlest bro for xmas. He's 9 and his fav color is red. He also likes the red/green combo for some reason so I went with it. Matching scarf is in the works! I based it on the hat in Crochet Today. But I used worsted instead of bulky, made bigger earflaps and changed the pom-poms. It was made with Red Heart SS in Red and a lime green worsted I bought in an "mill ends" pack.

My 14 yo bro saw this one and wants me to make him one too. I already made him a big afghan so I don't think I'll have time to make him something else. A couple years ago I made bro #2 (16yo) a scarf and he still wears it. It's nice that they appreciate my creations since it's sooo hard to shop for teenagers! I really wanted to make a nice afghan for my 23yo bro who just bought his first place.

The clock is ticking!!!

crochet today review

So I went back to AC Moore for this mag. They were even giving out 50% off coupons so I got it for $2.50. yay! There are so many great gifts in this one. One of the gifts in there I had planned on making for a few friends. I was going to use a pattern I found on-line, but I liked the one in here better. Of course I cannot reveal said pattern or I'd ruin the surprise.
Title: crochet today
Issue: oct/nov '06
Highlight(s): Learn to crochet w/ Beads tutorial, cute little gift ideas, and I love how the last page of this mag is a list of all the projects in the issue w/ pictures and page numbers.
Are you kidding? Another crochet skirt that looks like a tablecloth on p. 78
But that's really the only pattern in here I object to.
I'd love to make... so many nifty-giftys in this one! I've already started on the ear-flap hat on p. 36 for my littlest bro. I think I need to make Peanut one of those little monkeys with santa hats (p.42) for his stocking.

Happy Halloween!

A big

to all of you in blogland!

Commence candy bingeing now.

ps Did ya notice I added a flickr badge in my side bar?

Now I have to find all my old FO and get the pictures up.