Seams of Life

two trees

We could barely wait until Thanksgiving was done and we could begin decorating for Christmas. On Thanksgiving day we bought our first real tree from here.

 

And this weekend the girls and I set to decorating it.

 
 All the handmade ornaments that the kids have given me through out the years filled almost every branch. This made my mama heart happy. 

I also put up another tree. I made this one a few weeks ago while following Sarah London's mystery crochet project.

 
 I didn't turn it into an Advent calender as Sarah's tutorial suggested. I just couldn't crank out my granny squares fast enough. It's unfortunate too because now I need to buy or make an Advent calender since my girls are constantly asking how many days it is until Christmas. I really would like to get more creative than the standard paper ring chain we usually do. Maybe it's possible to make my short tree work somehow. Hmmm... we'll see.

 
 

our grateful tree

 
I seen a few of these "grateful trees" on some other blogs and thought it would be a great way to remind my children what Thanksgiving is about. Our tree is quite full which makes my heart swell with joy. The children thought hard about all the blessings they have in their life. Even though towards the end of the project they named superficial things like video games and basketball ( I even threw in coffee for fun), the first thing they all wrote down was family.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the blessings in your life.

the birds have landed...

 

...right here on this tiny pillow cover on my sofa. And Comet was eager to curl up next to them for a nap. You may remember these birds I crocheted a while ago. The pattern is from the book Crochet Adorned. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a long time and this weekend I finally got busy making it.

For the tree branch I attempted to "draw with the thread" like Beki did here. It was fun, a little like quilting with no rules.

 
For the back I used some plaid flannel from my stash. Have I ever mentioned my love of plaid? Well, I have a major crush on plaid. And corduroy. I'm such a nerd.

This turned out to be one of my favorite things I've made thus far. I love the idea of mixing different crafts in one projects.
 

simple crafts :: acorns

Acorns are another one of nature’s abundant gifts in fall. To me, they bring a bit of natural whimsy into any fall décor. They can be used in many craft projects or just serve as inspiration for a project.

 Acorn Garland

 
This project was inspired by the acorn necklace tutorial over at A Foothill Home Companion.

To crochet the acorn garland:

• Chain the desired length and tie off.

For the acorn caps:

• first, decide the distance between each acorn ( I did six inches )
• slip stitch in the chosen chain and chain 5, then join with a slip stitch
• single crochet in each chain ( 5 sc in the first round )
• single crochet twice in each chain ( 10 sc in second round )
• single crochet in each chain ( 10 sc in third round )
• continue until you reach the desired length
• slip stitch to finish and weave in the ends
• hot glue your acorn to the cap

You may need to adjust the number of single crochets in each round according to the size of your acorn. By the way, did you know that weevil larvae live inside of acorns? I only discovered this after seeing little worms crawling around the container that held my acorns.Interesting and gross at the same time. You might want to leave the acorns outside for a few days before using them in any projects.

Felted Acorns

This was my first experience with wool felting and I have to admit, its addicting. I found this project on the Lion Brand Yarnwebsite. The instructions are free although you do have to sign up for access to the free projects. The body of the acorn begins as a pom pom made with wool yarn. You can buy a pom pom maker but I found an easy tutorial here.

:: more simple acorn crafts ::

acorn people

crochet covered acorn necklace

acorn wreath

checking in

I'm at home today with the beginnings of a nasty chest cold. I really don't like to be sick (not that anyone does). The doctor gave me a hefty dose of antibiotics so hopefully this cold won't hang around for long. Much like the beautiful fall leaves. Already they are falling, leaving barren trees and blanketing roads and driveways in gorgeous autumn colors.

 I'll be back soon with another simple craft post. In the meantime, the sweet and lovely Jodi of The Jolly Bee interviewed me for her November "a blog worth reading" series. She did a great job so please go check it out along with her other interviews.