Christmas Under Construction

You should be impressed. I've used remarkable self-restraint and no winter-themed decor has made it out of the attic thus far. Thank you to J and J for both writing that they too were entranced by visions of sugarplums and eagerly counting down the days until snowflakes, nativities, and the big man himself can make an appearance in their homes.

I have been working on a winter themed craft project for my children's playroom and thought I would share a quick pic of my progress. I cannot claim that the inspiration for this project was all my own - I did find outside inspiration in the form of a Land of Nod catalog - but I am thrilled to announce that no new crafting materials were purchased for the construction of this project.

Each of the mittens and trees is approximately 5" tall and constructed from felt, with hand stitched details using embroidery floss. The pieces are deliberately 'rustic' in their finishing. I plan to affix them to black grosgrain ribbon at 5-6" intervals and then string the garland somewhere in the playroom. Accompanying the garland will be two 25' strands of multi-colored ceramic C7 lights, as well as paper chains in coordinating colors. My vision is for something primary, colorful, and playful for my little boys. If it all goes well, I'll post pictures of our winter wonderland. If it doesn't go well, we will never speak of it again ;)

PHD Rears Its Glorious Head

I am pleased to announce that I have stayed true to my pledge to repress my Christmas compulsion and my family's 15 massive boxes of Christmas decor remain safely tucked away in my attic. Similarly, I have exhibited immense willpower with regard to shopping for Christmas decor and/or gifts, and purchased nothing. Although I will confess, I did have a weak moment a week and a half ago and began the design work and initial construction on a mitten and tree garland for my children's playroom, BUT used materials I already had on hand. And then, today, I walked through the doors of my local Target.
I realized this afternoon that Halloween is tomorrow...Friday...and 1 big bag of candy from Costco is not going to be nearly enough. After unsuccessfully navigating the parking lot version of Frogger at Costco, I decided to pop into my favorite one-stop-shop, Target, for a couple bags of candy. As I walked to the back corner of the store, I sensed something different. Was that....Could it be...YES! The faint strains of Christmas music playing in the background. I started walking faster until I rounded the corner and there it was: Five halfway completed aisles of Target Christmasy delights. My mood was instantly lifted and I wandered in a happy haze through those five aisles for a solid 15 minutes. What's new? What's different? What are their design themes going to be this year? Did I purchase anything? No! Did I want to? Absolutely YES!
I couldn't help smiling as I slowly wandered away from the Christmas aisles, on to my more urgent candy buying task...I even found myself merrily humming a Christmas tune. Three hours later I still feel cheerful and a little giddy inside, with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. And I ask you, is that so bad?