Cutest Snowman ever!!

Somewhere online, I don't even know where, I saw a tutorial for snowman earrings. I didn't click on it, or anything, it was pretty self-explanatory, but I knew that I had to try it.

I had several pearls leftover from my crochet angel bells. I gathered them up with my jewelry tools, some head pins, a toothpick, paint, and some crochet thread.

In what seemed like no time at all, I had the cutest snowmen for necklaces!
The earrings were cute, but I really liked the idea of the necklace instead. Besides, this way I could also make one for my mom, who I knew would love it as much as I did.
I had no idea these would be such a hit! My sister saw my mom wearing her necklace and went home and made some for herself and her daughter, adding little hats. Then, on Sunday, the little girls in the primary class that my mom subbed all said that they were going to go home and make some also! This is such a simple and fun project. It will bring lasting joy for years to come.

Snowflake Garland

As I was unpacking my Christmas decorations, I discovered that I had an abundance of extra snowflakes from previous years. Far too many for my tree. Sad that they were just sitting, unused, I decided to string them together and make snowflake garland.

I cut bits of white ribbon and tied each snowflake together. Super simple and so pretty!

I still had a few left over, so I strung them up with fishing line and hung them in my window. Oddly enough, considering that I live in N. Utah, it's only really snowed here once this season. Thanks to my snowflakes, I'll enjoy snow all December long!

Crafter's treasures

One of the fun things about crafting is doing trade with other crafters, especially when they have a skill/ talent that you don't. I haven't done very much of this kind of trade, but as I was unpacking my Christmas deco, I came across a treasure from two years ago, my first trade.

I don't even remember what I made, but a friend of my sisters' asked if I would do some trade with her. She works with wood and told me she could make whatever I wanted (within reason of course). I knew exactly what I wanted and described it to her. She thought it was a bit unusual, but they came out exactly as I imagined. I love my squarish snowman family and think about them all year, looking forward to bringing them out.

The only change I made was to add little scarves. As I said, I don't remember what I made for her, but whatever it was, I came out ahead! I love my little snowman family!

Christmas Cards

I start planning my Christmas cards in August. In spite of that, however, they rarely end up looking anything like what I planned. This year was no different. Still, I'm always pleased with the results. Also thrilled that I actually had them done the day before Thanksgiving! That's a first!

I love iris folding! It can be tricky finding the right combination of papers to use together, as I quickly discovered, but the final results can be so pretty!

Iris folding, with all of its' beauty, is also very time consuming. After a dozen or so of them, I decided to try something new. I'm so glad I did.

Simple, but so incredibly cute!!

Angel Bells

I was looking for something special to do for the women I go Visiting Teaching to for Christmas when I stumbled across a pattern for Angel Bells. They were so sweet and small, I couldn't pass them by. I sat down right away with needle and thread, and the next thing I knew, I had a handful of them made and couldn't wait to make more!

Due to their dainty nature, I wanted a small gift box for them. Each Angel will be delivered in her own little box. These were so fun to make!

Snowflakes of Christmas Past

I don't know about your family, but I like to put up my Christmas tree as soon as Thanksgiving is over. This is my very favorite time of the year and one month just isn't long enough to celebrate it! The music, the lights, the decorations, but most of all, the feelings that come with this most precious time of year.

I wasn't able to decorate my tree as soon as I would have liked to this year. So, I started dreaming about all of my beautiful ornaments, still tucked away in boxes. I love them so much that I thought I would share some of them with you! These ornaments came about many years ago thanks to a special order from a friend of my sisters'. I had never tried anything like this before. I fell in love right away, and the passion for such items has never gone away. I'm hoping to find time to make some all new ones this year! Until then, please enjoy these Snowflakes of Christmases past!

The next one has always been my favorite! There's just something so special about it!Of course, I couldn't just stick with flat snowflakes! I was inspired! I came across patterns where you could crochet a cover for your bulbs. I took it one step further and starched them on water balloons. So delicate!Of course, who could leave out the bells?

Or the snowmen (last years' project)? Love these guys!!

And last, but certainly not least:

My most favorite Christmas decoration of all has to be these angels. What could be prettier?

Thanks for taking this stroll down memory lane with me!

Peacock embellishment

Sometimes things just pop into my head, at the weirdest times, in the weirdest ways. The other morning, as I was trying to coerce myself out of bed, I found myself thinking about the Christmas gift that I had started for my mother-in-law the night before. I closed my eyes as I was rolling out of bed, and suddenly, out of nowhere, I had an image flash in front of me, so crystal clear, I couldn't believe it. It was something that I had been thinking of days before, but try as I might, I couldn't find a way to make it work. Suddenly, here it was.

Quickly, I grabbed my needle and crochet thread and set to work.

I'm not going to lie and say it was easy. I walked away from it twice, and it took two days and several attempts to get it right. But, here it is, almost exactly as I pictured it.

A peacock embellishment for my niece for her birthday. It will start out here:
On her Birthday card. From there, I will let her decide what she wants to do with it, whether we frame it, make it into a hair clip, stitch it to a purse or a shirt... Whatever she decides!