On the Sixth Day of Christmas. . .

. . . we doubled our fun.  

We started the day with a church Christmas breakfast and craft activity.  The girls had a great time making ornaments and count down chains and count down candles.  

And they helped tie a quilt they had made blocks for in primary.

Plus I put together and passed out Advent books.  They had a story a day all December with songs and scriptures that went with them.

In the evening we went to the annual Festival of the Nativities.  They have hundreds of nativity sets on display.  A large portion were sets from other countries.  dozens of different cultures were represented.  To make it fun you get a list of things to find in the nativities, like the nativity in a gold globe, or a tear, or Jesus in a swing.  We only found about half the things on the list before the girls were ready to move on.  

Here is a set from Alaksa.

  

They had musical numbers in the chapel, and harp players on the stage, as well as a live nativity.  We sat in on an a capella group that was really good.  

Then we were off to the children's rooms.  They had a dress up area where you could be Mary or Joseph or any number of other characters.  Once you were dressed you could pose and take pictures in a stable.  The girls looked so cute.

And finally we were off to Joseph's workshop were the girls watched a man whittle wood figures and they got to make paper manger scenes. 

 

It was an action packed day filled with fun and creativity. And now we are all going to bed early. Yay! 

Here's What I do . . . .

Let me start things off by posting a few things I have done. . . .

Sewing Projects:

I have a friend who is constantly making things for her home, but whenever she needs something sewn she calls me for either help or the use of my machine. For this project she simply paid me to make covers for her mother's antique chairs.

After I sewed the covers she took them to an embroiderer and had her last initial sewn onto them.

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I have sewn enough dressups to outfit an army of 3 - 8 year olds. I have two girls who love their dressups. Here are a few I have made over the years. . . . .

Many, many dressups were for friends, neighbors and cousins. We had little princesses running rampant.

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Along with the dressups, the little princesses and fairies and ballerinas needed a place to call home, so "Santa" made them a house. . . . .

Pottery barn holds nothing on me. This little domicile cost a mere $50. . . . .and at least two weeks of my life!

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Over the years I have made a good share of bedding items. I have the curse of getting a very specific idea of what I want in my head and then, of course, I can't find it anywhere. So, I tend to just make it. Here are a few. . . . .

For the girls' room I made the comforter, shams, throw pillows, step stool cover & chest cushion. I loved the coral pink. Particularly because it was not the main color in the room!

The next blanket is Signe's (my youngest daughter) baby blanket. I embroidered the squares while I was waiting at the doctor's office throughout my pregnancy. I had a lot of time on my hands. I often wondered what people thought while I sat there like a housewife from a bygone era, wielding my needle and thread and gripping my embroidery hoop! But I found it soothing and relaxing. Plus it made the endless wait go by quicker.

I also made the trim that edges the quilt. . . .and matching bumpers and bedskirt.

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After I had Signe I decided we needed new Christmas Stockings so the family would match. I couldn't find any I liked so I made some. I also made the tree skirt to match. Here are Signe's and Hannah's, but Rob and I had matching ones too. The snowflakes were all different on each stocking. . . .

I am sure I have made much more. . . curtains, shower curtains. . . .but the pictures are alluding me.

Now . . . . . .

Construction Projects:

We became known in our neighborhood as the family that did projects on the holidays instead of going out of town, camping, relaxing, etc. Some were major, we finished our basement in the last house, built a deck--two actually, ours and our neighbors--remodeled a laundry room, helped a friend update their whole house before they moved in. Some were small, decorative items and furniture. Here are a few. . . . .

When we did the girls' room I couldn't find any beds I loved that were not a fortune, so I designed these. I literally drew the lines where to cut and had Rob cut them out for me (As a small child I saw my sister cut her hands horribly in a table saw, so I don't do large bladed machinery!). The center part is actually MDF, as is the crown piece on top. The side pieces are rough pine lumber I sanded. The finials are actually curtain rod finials. The initials are a raised plaster stencil. I then painted it cream and applied an antiquing stain over the top. Total price: $35 per headboard. You might have noticed the walls in the earlier photos of this room, we put the molding up when we did the room. I loved it. At the time it was my favorite room in my house. Now that we moved the girls' rooms have loads of potential, but need a lot of work.

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On a more decorative level, we have made a few shelves in our day. . .

In our last house we made the white shelves, but when we moved they did not fit between the windows in our living room so we made new ones. They are a lot like the Pottery Barn shelves, but cheaper and longer. I love them. I also love taking pictures, as you might have noticed.

I made these fabric filled frames as a backdrop to hang frames above my piano to fill a big blank wall. The one on the right shows how I decorate with them at Christmas time. They are slightly batted so they look kind of soft. I actually used baseboard and then did a plaster stencil dot line on the inside edge of the frame and wiped it with bronze rub.