Jane and the ducks

Heavenly Smell

The girls made these at a friend's Christmas workshop. They are wonderful and I have them right next to my desk... lovely! Merci Florence!

Cookies & Spice

We bake the same cookies every year... the Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies from Martha Stewart! These are simple and delicious! For a change this year, I had tried a sugar cookie recipe with plans of decorating them with the girls but frankly, they tasted awful;-) So they became squirrel food and we are much happier with these;-) Hope the neighbors are too!

Last Minute Stocking Stuffers

Fleece + Liberty Scarf

Instructions:

Cut a 5 1/2 " wide piece of fleece from selvedge to selvedge (54"). Cut a piece the same size of the Liberty fabric. Iron on low, wrong sides together. Pin in place. Sew all around the edges with a 1/2" seam allowance leaving a 5" opening on one of the long sides. Turn the scarf inside out, sew the opening by hand or by machine. Iron again on low, roll and stuff the stocking!

 

Rice Bags for everyone!

A recent back ache prompted me to make rice bags for everyone;-) When I was pregnant with Lily, a friend gave me one and I had no idea what to do with it until my back started to hurt... and what a relief it was to have one! If you want to sew last minute gifts, cut a piece of white fabric about 10"x10", sew the sides to form a rectangle, leave an opening, fill with rice (1 1/2 cup), close the opening (of course;-). Then make a small pillow cover for it (cut a piece of fabric a bit bigger 11"x11").

   

Cards have arrived!

Now that our Christmas cards have reached their destinations, I can show them to you too! I took this picture while the girls were on the swing and I took about 40 before getting a clear one with both of them looking at me;-) Things should improve soon on the picture-taking front with the Nikon D90 soon arriving here from the North Pole. Yeah!

The Gingerbread House(s)

All done! The girls version (big house, colourful) and my version (little house with what was left of the candy). I am sewing a lot of gifts and wrapping them these days... In fact, I have already wrapped aprons, skirts, bags and scarves without taking pictures first. The weather was so gray last week that it would not have looked good anyways;-) There is a lot of Christmas parties to go to and this afternoon, we are going to a workshop where we will make ornaments, peppermint bark and Christmas cards. It should be a lot of fun for Lily and Manon (and me too, I will be at the ornaments table, teaching little girls how to hand-sew;-) 

  

   

A pillow for Nathalie

One of my plans is to start a sewing workshop and have let's say 4 or 5 people come once a week and work on a specific project. I was going to do a test run (a pillow workshop) with a few friends but we never managed to find the right date... I am having lunch with them today and I thought I would make the pillow myself as a gift for the hostess;-)

Mon echarpe argentee...

Slowly, the little birds are leaving the tree. Lily chose the first three for her dance teacher and I think she loved them;-) Thank you for your nice comments, I think I will make many more for everyone! Because we all need a little sparkle, here are some scarves I made for my nieces... I wonder how I will get everything done in time this year. I have not shopped at all yet, just sewn!

 

Count the birds...

Little birds making their debut! Makes me happy watching them hanging on these branches like that. They are made from many prints and stuffed with extra soft wool from Maryland. They wear little scarves for the coming winter. They are all different and they will need names when they get to their new homes!