Christmas Time Is Here!!

Good morning everyone! I pray that everyone had a splendid Thanksgiving break?! Hard to believe that it is over already. I could cry. I am sitting here lacking so much sleep that my stomach feels sick, and the whole left side of my rib cage has pulled muscles in it, from lifting and tugging on heavy stuff. Hopefully today it will subside and I can sleep tonight!
We had a great few days off. I kept busy, that is for sure. I am probably a bit behind on dishes and laundry, but that is what Monday is for, right?
I have a ton of stuff saved up to share with you, so it should be a busy week! I revamped the blog for the holidays-quite a change from fall, huh? I like the soft colors!
The first thing I have to share with you today, are these adorable snowman ornaments I made last week. I got the idea from Jennifers Blog, SIMPLE FLOURISHES {{Click Here}} I tweaked them to make them more "me" by adding more ribbon on the loop, glittering them, and adding a mouth to some of them. I also "stained" the noses with a rust color, on top of the orange color, and wiped it clean, to leave the noses with darker creases. I used 2 inch foam balls, and I got 5 ornaments out of one package of the model magic. I love Jennifer's blog, and her great idea! My friend Peggy and I plan to make more on Saturday!!

This is a rusty jingle bell wreath. I got the grand idea after seeing something similar in an online catalog, that I should get the bells and make one for my friend for her birthday. I have a great resource for all things rusty-StreetCarJunction on ebay. Let me just say these aren't the bells that LOOK rusty, and are just painted brown. These actually ARE rusty. I love the wreath, don't get me wrong, but making them can get a bit messy!! I actually made 2 of these, it was a "one for you, one for me" scenario. The evergreen branch is actually artificial-but it looks so real! Each ~12 inch wreath contains 72 jingle bells in 3 sizes, then 1 more large one hanging in the center. It was a trial and error process, but I finally figured out which method looked the best as a finished product. I strung the bells one by one, in a pattern of large, med, small, and they all nested nicely and I fastened the wire at the ends to make a circle. Add the hanging bell, the bow, and the branches with some fine wire, and there you have it! Really simple, really cute! There are all kinds of bells out there, too. I just like anything that looks old.
So, drop me a line, tell me what you think of my new look!

I plan on blog hopping today to get caught up.

Have a great Monday!

**Keri**