A New Simon’s Cat…

My Thanksgiving Mantle…

Little Miss M and I decorated our fireplace mantle the other day and I thought I would show it to you!

It’s kind of hard to see how pretty the pumpkins are.  They are covered in beads and so the camera doesn’t really like taking pictures of them! I crocheted the turkey a couple of years ago and have since lost the link to the pattern, sorry!

The welcome autumn banner is a really nice freebie offered by Gwen from Gwenny Penny. It was a super easy, fun and quick project for the Divine Little Miss M and I to do together.

Can you believe that Christmas is only 5 weeks away! It’s coming up WAY to fast for me!  I don’t have anything done (let alone started) that I was planning on making!  Guess I better get crackin’!!!

A Giveaway…

Over at Retro Mummy!

She’s giving away a fat quarter of each of the pictured fabrics!  14 fat quarter’s in all!  How awesome is that…and I absolutely love this fabric!  Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming…

To tell you about something awesome! Have you ever been over to Meyer Imports? They have the most gorgeous German glass glitter as well as some other lovelies. Their glass glitter is so vibrant! They also have this really cool product line called “Earth Flakes. The Earth Flakes are little bits of cork, pebbles, grasses and wood shavings you can use to embellish your little bits! I can see where these would come in handy if you were a miniature enthusiast.

Well, Meyer Imports is running a special deal this month! Any order placed during the month of November get’s these little cuties included, for free, with their order! How awesome is that? The people over at Meyer Imports decided to take it one step further! Anyone who blogs about their offer and shoots them off an email with the link to the post provided gets to have these little darlings for free!!!

Well, I love free…and my Mama didn’t raise no dummy! Go on over and check these guys out! You will be amazed by their products and I have read on more than one blog, from people who have ordered from them, that they are efficient and really nice people too!

Christmas Ornaments…

I have been planning for a while now to try my hand at making some round “quilted” Christmas ornaments. I first saw one of these round ornaments on the Graceful Designs blog, which sadly, hasn’t been active all year. This is the image she used that caught my breath:

Isn’t this a lovely springtime Easter-y ornament?She offered this link (uses three different fabrics) to directions. After trolling around, I have found one that is illustrated over at Crafter without a Cat (uses two different fabrics).

More trolling and here are some pictures of my favorites around the web. If you like one, click the picture to be taken to the designer. If you don’t want to make one of your own, you can find instructions on how to purchase them on the websites. There are also a bunch available on etsy. Have fun!!!

Just Spoolin’ Around…

So, I’ve had these little spools forever! They originally belonged to my Dad’s…Uncle’s…Wife. I’ve kept them in my box, in my bead cabinet for years knowing that SOMEDAY I would find a use for the stinkin’ cute little things!

The other day, while trolling around on the internet (I’m very good at wasting my day trolling on the internet), I came across this:

Eureka! A spool advent calendar! I now have a good use for my spools! I am always looking for a simple project to do on Thanksgiving Day with my Mom and Daughter. This fits the bill perfectly!

Of course I had to try one out to see how it would fit. I printed the free “labels” at half size to accommodate the smaller spools, trimmed the length of the paper about 1/2” and it worked like a charm!

Now I just have to find the perfect beads and some cording to finish them off. I might use a little gold paint on the edges too…that would finish them off nicely!

If you too want to see all the great spool advent calendar ideas over at “Just Something I Made” and make your own click “HERE!”

***update***

Cathe has updated her project from last year and suggests that you can make them into kits to give away! Check out her new post with new downloadable graphics HERE!

Let Them Eat Cake…

If this had been the cake Marie Antoinette was talking about, well, she never would have lost her head!

It’s everything good about Thanksgiving dinner! Here’s the link to the recipe:  CHOW