Crafty Advent Countdown Finale

I know!  I am still stuck on Christmas and it is mid-January already!  Enough!

Well, not enough yet.  I never shared my newly-received Christmas craft from my Mom.  This Christmas, it was a snowman, as presented by Elena (Go Irish!)

!

She wants to show you his snowflake charm,

and his cute buttons,

and wants you to know that he BELONGS TO HER!

“help me!”

Thanks for coming along and seeing the Christmas crafts!  As I put them away, I figured out what year some where made (the years were written on some of their boxes), so I’ll be updating my earlier posts with dates for the few I know.  Really just for my own records.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope you all are having a great Christmas day!  I trust I am!  (um, yeah, wrote this a couple days ago!)

For your Christmas enjoyment, one last Santa to share.

This is my elegant Santa, by my Mom in the late 1990s. She even went totally out of her normal crafting zone and molded and painted his face.  Isn’t it fantastic?!

She also chose Santa’s accessories based on the person to whom she was giving the Santa.  Mine therefore has some very girly paraphernalia, such as the doll and roses and pearl accents, and of course a mini quilting book.

Each robe was different.  Some were red velvet with fox fur trim, some had all black robings, etc.  I think mine was the only Santa clothed in cream robes.  As you can kind of see from the following back shot, his robe is crazy quilted:

Such a great Santa, I saved him for last.

Again, Merry Christmas!  And I’m sure I’ll show up again soon to show what I received this year.  It’s sitting under the tree teasing me now!

Crafty Advent Countdown: 1 Day

Okay, I have been through all my pictures and I have *more* than enough to make it through the countdown.  SO, today you’ll get 3 crafts for the price of one, and on Christmas Day I have the most elegant Santa of all to share.  (don’t worry, I’ll be busy opening presents — really am scheduling this to appear properly this time around and y’all can find it when you hit some ‘me’ time coming up!)

First, a little stocking made by Knit One Quilt Too!  A couple years ago I won a giveaway of hers by properly guessing her childrens’ Christmas-y middle names!  (And by the way, I *so* wanted to give Julia the middle name Noelle in honor of her December birthday, but didn’t win that battle.)  I was blogless at the time I won, so never shared with the great Internet.  I don’t knit, so this little stocking is cherished.  And isn’t it cute?

Next, a little snowman quilt made by a quilt guild buddy.  Several years ago at a guild auction (a fundraiser for the guild), I tried to buy a snowman quilt just like this.  I lost the bid, but the lady knew how much I wanted it and surprised me with one she made just for me!  Yay!

And finally, a wallhanging by my Mom.  It has not been on the wall, but instead on back of the couch, because I can’t find it’s stick.  Oops!

Hee — I like my helper’s legs sticking out!

Crafty Advent Countdown: 3 Days

This next guy, made by my Mom, is one of two bedtime Santas she’s made.  I like Santas in their bedtime clothes.

Well, at least his hat looks like he’s ready for bed, but I’m not sure if the greenery lends itself to “I’m about to go to sleep.”  Very pretty grouping though — I really admire my mom’s successful search for Santa doodads.

Whether he’s going to bed or not, he hangs outside my girls’ bedroom doors.

Crafty Advent Countdown: 5 Days

Alright, I’m just going to have to get this one out of the way.

My mom made this guy.  And I don’t like him.  I told her that this year, so I’ve already outed myself.

But still, a lot of work went into this not-so-cute guy!

He also carries a sign, but the sign was confiscated and put away because it became too much of a weapon with the girls.

If you can’t tell, he is *very* large.  Like, bigger than my girls large.  Is it just me, or do his eyes look a little spooked that I confessed my non-love for him?

Poor guy is also hard to store, although I found a lamp box that fits him perfectly and holds the tall rolls of Christmas wrap in the off-season too!  My mom said I don’t have to bring him out, but I needed the box down anyway so out he is.  and the girls seem to like him fine!  He is not prominently displayed though.

Crafty Advent Countdown: 6 Days

I thought I scheduled this to appear over the weekend, but here it still is in my drafts — oops!

Here is another snowman craft:

This little wallhanging was a complete surprise!  My sister went to Houston Quilt Festival with my mom last year b/c I had a does-not-take-a-bottle baby at the time and didn’t want to have a baby at Festival.  Lo and behold, my sister bought a pattern (my sister does *not* sew), and put it together just for me!  Isn’t it cute?

Crafty Advent Countdown: 7 Days

And here’s my favorite of my stuffed snowmen, also from my sister-in-law L (and I believe the one I’ve had the longest of the snowmen):

I  just think the fabric choices for this snowman is great — he is very classy & elegant with his shiny gold shirt and patterned pants.

Crafty Advent Countdown: 8 Days

Another year, another snowman from my sister-in-law L!  Isn’t he a cutie?

I must say the only thing that I don’t like about this one is that she wrote “white winter” on the sign instead of “white Christmas.”  Afterward L admitted she wanted to say Christmas, but felt pressured by the pattern that had the winter!

Crafty Advent Countdown: 9 Days

Shoot, I still have some Christmas shopping to do, and we are in single digits!  Thinking it is time to have my mother-in-law over tomorrow so I can hit the stores without the girls!

Now that my panic is addressed, here’s my next craft – another snowman!

My mom made him for me for my birthday one year.  (Since I am a late November birthday girl, I often get Christmas stuff for my day.)  I had to take the picture from up above him because…

He’s melting!  He’s MELTING!

See?  A straight-on picture just doesn’t do him justice!  Poor sad little snowman.

Crafty Advent Countdown: 10 Days

I just took pictures of the remaining crafts in my house, and I have enough to finish my countdown!  And that’s without getting into handmade ornaments, so you might be able to guess what I’ll feature next year! (but I definitely do NOT have 25 of those!)

This next craft was made for me by my sister-in-law L.  She drew my name for gifts a couple different years, and knew I liked snowmen, and therefore made me some.

How sad is it that I don’t think I ever really noticed the ladybug on the snowman’s head until I was looking at this next picture on the full screen?  It caught me off guard and I at first thought I had an intruding bug in on the photoshoot!