Welcome Sydni ~

We welcomed a sweet little grand daughter into our family today. Her name is Sydni Aspen. She was 6 pounds, and 20 inches. Just a tiny, perfect little sweetheart. Here are a couple of pictures we took today when we took Kymber to meet her new little sister.

Just so you know ~

Just wanted you to know that my craft room is torn up and getting a new wood floor. It will be wonderful when it is done, but in the mean time I miss my space. Well, I get to see all of my stuff since it is spread out between Kristine's bedroom, my walk in closet (which you can't walk in any more), and there are piles on both sides of my room and at the bottom of the bed. While we were moving everything, Rod kept saying, "You sure have a lot of stuff", over and over. Yeah, I don't think he knew what was in there, but I think things will go pretty fast getting it done. And I will have time this week to go through things and get rid of, or figure out how to store them better. "The girls", (Cassidy and Candie) were such good helpers. While I was pulling up staples and nails they were right there on my lap trying to help. This is when I am so glad that they are 35 pounds a piece and not the 50 to 60 pounds that some Basset Hounds get to be.

Here are a couple of cute pictures from this past week.

Twist Container Instructions ~

I am teaching a class Thursday night on making a Christmas Countdown with these Twist Containers full of treats to count down each day of December until Christmas Day. What started out as a paper sheet of sketched instructions ended up being a picture tutorial. I hope you enjoy these and find the time to make your own Countdown to Christmas.

1~ Cut your patterned papers into 4 x 6 inch pieces. I used the Holiday Treasures papers from Stampin' Up! (One package of their designer series paper will do three 24 day countdowns.) Add strips of Sticky Strip tape as shown in the photo. One 4 " piece along the short end and a 1 3/4 inch piece in about 1/2" from the first piece, along the top. (It takes about 5 yards of Sticky Strip to do 24, but you have to keep it to 7 and 1/2 inches per container. I know this seems odd, but this way you can keep costs down and kit making much easier.)




2~ Remove the tape backing and roll the paper into a tube. Seal the edge. I over lapped the edge about 1/2 inch.



3~ Remove the backing from the short piece and press the edges together.


4~ Use a paper crimper to seal the end.


5~ Fill the container with candy. You can fit almost 1/4" cup of m&ms in each one, or a few kisses or small candy bars.


6~ Twist the container and put another 1 3/4" piece of sticky strip at the open end. Remove the backing and seal to close.


7~ Crimp the end closed.

8~ Now you can add tags or labels to your containers. Here are a couple of ideas. I used red twine from Stampin' Up! or you can use matching ribbon. For the class I have printed out numbers to be punched out and decorated.

9~ Put all of your twist containers in a basket and make a tag. You could label it with a child's or family name: "Kymber's Countdown to Christmas" or "Haws Family Countdown to Christmas:

Wouldn't a basket like this make a great neighbor gift. These also work great as Baby Shower or Wedding favors.

Quiltin from the heart ~

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to Quiltin from the heart, since I seem to be doing a lot of quilting lately. Maybe it is a change of seasons thing or maybe because I am a Grandma with another grandbaby due in less than two weeks. My Mom always made a new quilt for each of my babies when they were born. But she had to have both a blue one and a pink one ready, because that was back in the day when we didn't know for sure what we were having. It's fun to carry on the tradition.

Whatever the reason, I have enjoyed pulling out the sewing machine and getting back into quilting. Half of my Craft Room is sewing stuff and the other half is Stamping & Paper Crafting. Anyway, I thought I would put up some pictures of what I have been working on lately.

This is a quilt I started thinking it would be a pretty little girl baby quilt. My girls told me it looked more like a grandma quilt. So I finished it anyway and we'll just have to wait and see where it ends up.

This is the real baby girl quilt. The top is done, finally. And the baby will be here in 13 days. I don't know if it will be done to wrap the new little one up in to go home, but we're working on it. I have made a cute Diaper and Wipes Caddy and a Binky Bag that match the quilt. And I have fabric for a Diaper Bag. By the time that they are feeling good enough to go out, they should be ready to go.
This next quilt isn't mine, it is Kristine's. She has been working on this and the top is done and ready to tie. Which of course we have a deadline to try and meet. She wants to show it at Young Women in Excellence that is in 12 days. She has done such a good job and it was so fun to have a projects to work on together.

On to more fun quilting news. I found a fun quilt blog give away. Stop at Simplify by Camille Roskelley and see her fun new patterns. She is originally from our area and is a young mom with two little boys. Pretty cute stuff.

Enjoy your day,

Wendy

More Halloween ~

Look at this cute little Kitty Cat. This was Kymber at the grandkids halloween party.

And this is the family dressed up for the costume party that night. Such a cute little family!

Kissing Candie ~

Don't you love this picture. We are watching Kymber tonight while Michelle and Alex have a well deserved night out. This most patient puppy has put up with A LOT tonight. This was one of the cutest pictures. I love how she is puckering up to kiss the dog. It was fun to learn about eyes, ears and noses when Candies are so big.

Look at this card ~

Isn't this cute!! I got this from a Magnolia Secret Angel so I don't know who to give the credit to. But I love it. There are so many cute details on this. And this is a picture of our latest project. No it isn't cutesy or stamped, but we sure love how it turned out. We still need to change out lighting and add a glass door. It's good to check something else off of the need to remodel list. I think the bathrooms are next.