Decking the halls

Whew!  Why does it always seem like time moves faster the closer you get to Christmas?  And as you get older for that matter....

First things first.  The giveaway winner is number #233 - Carrie, who said, 

          "I love the Heather Ross variety you have here! Thank you for the giveaway.  My wish list consists of a Barnes & Noble giftcard (to load my nook) and anything handmade...I asked my dad to carve me a wooden gnome!"

Congratulations Carrie!  Your package is going in the mail tomorrow.

So yay for Christmas decorating!  I'm a huge fan and have been known to sneak them up before Thanksgiving at times, so it was really difficult to hold off for so long this year while we finished up moving, unpacking, painting, etc.

Some of my Christmas stuff still seems to be hiding somewhere, so I whipped up some new decorations in the meantime.

I'm just loving these large felt hearts that I picked up at Target for only $1 each!  And the garland is simply pom pons strung on some yarn that I made after finally breaking down and buying this, which turns out to be my current favorite craft gadget.

I made these garlands out of paint chips using this tutorial.  And yes, the ceiling is still currently pink.

My small collection of putz houses.  The large one is a knockoff I got at Target last year, but the small ones were picked up at an estate sale over the summer where I paid a mere $3 for the whole lot!

All of our stockings were made using those felt kits you can find at Joanns.  I have one at my parents house that my mom made before I was even born, and she then made two more for RJ and I when we got married and moved out.  I made Phoebe's last year for her first Christmas.  The three little ones on the end are for our cats :)

Pardon the mess.  And that little corner in the back is my makeshift sewing area.  I'm hoping Santa will leave me some flooring for my studio so I can start moving in!

These six point snowflakes were all cut out individually, and then I taped them together all Tord-like.

Doilies that have been soaked in fabric stiffener.

Maybe next year I'll get around to sewing a tree skirt.