Yarn Wrapped Wreaths

By now most of my Christmas gifts have been delivered so now it is safe to share what I have been up to.  I love pinterest but it just enables my crazy Martha Stewart tendencies that come out around the holidays. I have been a big fan of yarn wrapped wreaths but they always looked like a lot of work until I saw this post on Pinterest to crochet thick yarn instead of wrapping. Each stage of the project was easy and quick and something I could do in front of the tv with the cat on my lap BUT when you make 19 the work really adds up. It was totally worth all the work. It was so much fun to play with all the different color combinations of yarn and felt.

Lewis Ginter Lights

Pictures from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Festival of Lights. So Much fun. Giant light up peacock, glowing veggie gardens, TWO rooms full of trains and lots of beautiful Christmas trees! Hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree

I have been getting lots of festive holiday crafting inspiration from Pinterest. It is fun to add a little something new each year and I really wanted to have some lights outside. Light up decorations can be really expensive so when I saw this idea for light up trees using upside down tomato cages as the base I thought that is something I can actually pull off! So I grabbed a few cages from the back yard and picked up a string of led lights for each tree. I used wire based garlands to swirl around the cages. They were very quick and easy to set up. You can just use the branches like a twist tie to anchor it to the cage in a few spots. Then just string the lights through the garland and fluff out the branches. I also learned the hard way to weight them down with a brick. We had a crazy storm front come through the other day and actually ripped the lights right out of the socket.

Christmas DIY

I usually make a handmade ornament for everyone but this year I let myself down. I did make two of the crochet snowflakes but they still need some fine tuning. Maybe if I got started now they would be ready next year. Lots more handmade holiday inspiration here.

My Handmade Holiday Wish List

 Little Blue Studio/The Book Worm

 Pink Kiss Studio

 Thief and Bandit

Wolfie + the Sneak

Tis tradition around here that I share my wish list for the Craft Mafia sales. Did you know you can get a sneak peak of all the goodies that will be available at Handmade Holiday? It's a big show this year. So big they had to move the Holiday show to the big Plant Zero building in Manchester. It can be a little overwhelming especially when you have that list of family and friends you need to find the perfect gift for so start planning now. 

Tis the Season

It's Craft Show season! And I am not ready. I have a lot of work to do. I just had a last minute acceptance to the Ashland show. I am excited to do it. It is in a really nice space right next to the train tracks in my home town Ashland Va. I am hoping the cute little town will get everyone in the holiday shopping mood.

Handmade Hoilday in Manchester

Ashland Trunk Show Nov. 18th 9-6 

Christmas Wreaths on Esty

One of a kind wreaths to help you stand out from your neighbors.
1&2:Knock Knocking
3:My so called junky life
4:la bella sera
5:Red Marionette

Christmas Hearts

These woven hearts make great handmade containers for little treats. I made them several years ago and put holiday teas inside as gifts for coworkers. But mine were nowhere near as fancy as these from Apartment Therapy.

Christmas Trees

Tired of using the same Christmas decorations year after year. Maybe I need to mix it up with one of these "fashion" trees from Target. Red, black, purple, blue, green, or pink? I kinda want the pink one.