Football season ends

So, my family is kinda nutty about Super Bowl. As I sit in my recliner watching a pretty horrible football game, I'm grateful for the yummy snacks and rockin' decorations.

Super Bowl Decorations

I make team pennants every year. I started off making the two teams that were playing in the Super Bowl but after the gazillionth time the Giants made it to the Bowl, I started just making other NFL teams.

This year I made the Broncos, Browns, and Chiefs.

I also have the football field pennants. Tutorial here.

I also have my football felt coasters. Maybe someday I'll inflate my vintage football.

Even the top of the piano gets some love. I adore the referee plates.

 

The Food

Since the game is played in New Jersey this year, our food theme is Jersey shore aka boardwalk food.
Tomato pie.

Popcorn (I make it on the stove with olive and coconut oil.)

Taffy and cotton candy (actually it's cotton candy taffy.)

Corndogs

 

Chips and salsa with cream cheese (this is more of a Grow family thing.)

And, orange and blue jell-0 jiggler helmets.

My mum's friend asked what she could bring to the party so I sent her a link to Martha and her chocolately pretzel peanut cookie bars.

 

Oh, and lemonade served in Mason jars which originated in New Jersey.

 

 

Okay, I need to get back to the game. Have a great day. Go team!

Heart Table Runner

I whipped up this table runner to coordinate with the Valentine's Day pennant I made last year. Since I set the goal to create more tutorials this year, I've included pictures and directions.

Heart Table Runner
You'll need:
Heart Pattern (see below)
White felt (sold by the yard)
Red and white fabrics (probably a yard total)
Buttons and ribbon
Sewing Machine
Needle and Thread
Pinking Shears and rotary cutter

First, make your heart pattern. Fold a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper in half and draw this:

Unfold and cut it out along line. Lay pattern on top of two layers of white felt and cut out using scissors or rotary cutter. Repeat until you have 6 white hearts cut out. Now, cut out your red and white fabric hearts.

See, you have 6 white hearts and 6 red/white hearts. Now, place a red/white heart on top of a white heart and pin with the right side facing up. I only do one pin in the middle but you can do a few if that makes you feel more comfortable.

 

Don't stress if the sides don't perfectly match. We'll take care of that later. It's time for some sewing. You can see how the felt is totally wider than my red fabric. So, I'm using my top piece as my guide.

 

 Sew all the way around the heart. I use about a 3/8 inch. Don't go smaller but you can go a little wider. Do this for all 6 of your hearts.

Using your pinking sheers, cut all the way around the outside of your heart. The width from the stitching doesn't matter as long as you don't cut your stitches. Now, let's attach our hearts.

 Using a needle and thread (I used red thread) you are going to connect the hearts with a ribbon on the back and buttons on the front. You'll do this pointy ends (of the heart) together and then rounded ends together.

 I used 3 inch long strips of 1/2 inch ribbon but you can use wider or more narrow ribbon if you like, depending on the size of your buttons. This is a picture of the back.

This is how the rounded edges are attached.

Attach all the hearts and you are done. You can make it longer or shorter. Just remember to do an even number of hearts.

Enjoy! Thanks for visiting my blog today. Thank you Tip Junkie for featuring me. And, welcome Craft Critique Valentine's Day Carnival visitors. Please leave me a comment and say, "hi." You may also enjoy my new pink candy tutorial.

Party Hat Banner

nI made a banner for New Years so my kitchen window wouldn't be naked until Valentine's Day. I was going for the look of party hats. I might add a pom pom on the tops so they look less like Christmas trees.

This one took a little longer than my usual triangle banners. In order to finish my edge, I used ric rack, ribbon and pom pom fringe. Which, I think, added more to the party hat look.I used a bunch of fabric that I had leftover from other projects around the house. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I'm hoping to have lots more fun stuff to share with you this year.

Christmas Open House 2009

Welcome to my Christmas open house. I have pictures of my town followed by some from my home.

First, let's start off in downtown Huntington Beach. This is a pedestrian bridge acrosss Pacific Coast Highway connecting the Huntington Beach Hyatt to the beach. The picture of the lantern is also in front of the Hyatt..  Let's go to my home. For the past several years we have put this painted wooden nativity in front of our home. I love it's simplicity. Nativities are a major part of our Christmas decorations. We have several dozen. We have everything from nativity washcloths to ornaments. Here is a sampling.

Finally, we'll end with a picture of our Christmas tree. We love to pack it full of ornaments. They all have special memories attached.

Thank you so much for visiting my open house.

Countdown to Christmas

I love the Christmas season. Every year our family celebrates the upcoming Christmas holiday with advent calendars. We have several. I'd love to share them with you along with some other ways that you can count down the days to Christmas.

For those of you who do not know, I'll define advent. Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") celebrates the days leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The calendar counts backwards (usually from 24 to 1) or, it fills in the 25 days of December until Christmas.

I made this first calendar for myself with a black cookie sheet, ribbons, scrapbook paper and lots of fun things from my craft box. The calendar starts off with a blank grid and then I put one of the magnetic numbers on every day.
The next calendar is my niece's. It is made of felt, buttons and glitter. Every day she takes a little roll of paper from a heart. She is given instructions for that day. Today she needs to do something special for someone. This next one is really fun. I was in an advent calendar swap. Each of us made 2 numbers and we swapped them. I made the cookie sheet background very similar to the first calendar. Next up is my mother's calendar. It has 24 little windows. In every window there is a magnetic character from the Christmas story and a piece of chocolate. It is fun to watch the scene be built throughout the month. Lastly, we have a fun "24 Chocolate Days 'til Christmas calendar that was given to my niece this year.

There are lots of other ways to countdown to Christmas. Here are a few I found on the internet:

• Make a paper chain with scripture references. Each evening, remove a chain until you get to the final link.
• Pop down to Christmas. Make a countdown calendar out of recycled bubble wrap. Pop one of the bubbles every day until Christmas. There are a few other cute ideas on this site. Search "advent."
• A coloring sheet with scripture references every day 'til Christmas.
• This one requires a little advance planning but everyday there is a scripture reference, a suggested family activity, and an ornament hidden behind a door.
• The advent candle gift idea. Everyday the recipient burns the candle while reading the scripture.
• Open an envelope with an activity idea. Free printable and some fun ideas of things to do as a family.

How do you celebrate the days leading up to Christmas. Do you have a calendar or do you do special activities? I'd love to know (and see pictures.) Thank you again for allowing me to share my ideas with you.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's time for another open house. Please enjoy these images from my home. Let's start with the front door. My sister painted our Grow pumpkin. Once you come inside you are greeted by Paris. I don't think he likes his pumpkin costume.

Let's go in the kitchen. This is the shelf above the sink. The turkey in the middle was created by my niece when she was in kindergarten. It's part of a series.



Then, above the front window hangs the banner I sewed this year along with a welcome sign painted by my sister.

All of the glass cupboards have pumpkin ephemera inside.

 

Let's go in the dining room. We have china we only use for Thanksgiving. The wheat plates were from my mum's mum. Later, we'll put the Thanksgiving serving pieces out. They are from my Dad's mum.

 

I am really excited about my new project this year. It's a "stuffed" turkey. I saw it on the V and Co blog and I knew I had to make it.

I made little pumpkin place cards for everyone with a gingerbread cookie mix and melted orange chocolates.

 


This is a funny pillow that sits on our living room chair.

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Here's the top of the piano. My niece worked her magic there.

That concludes our Thanksgiving open house. I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for you.