Gifts I Made for Christmas Gifts

This is another reason I slowed way down on my blog. In the midst of all the crises that arose this December, I made most of the gifts I gave family this year.  Here are some of them:

 Remember the stained glass scarf I posted a while back? It was red and yellow?  Ok..there never WAS a red and yellow scarf. It was actually THIS blue and yellow scarf. I took the image into my graphics program and changed the blue to red so I could still post it but throw my niece off her gift :) She loves Michigan State football (to the peril of me, her aunt who is an Ohio State grad....) whose colors are blue and yellow; so had I posted the pic with it blue and yellow she would have known what her gift was going to be.

The gloves are texting gloves. The index finger and thumb have flaps you can unbutton and push the finger parts down to let you use your finger and thumb for texting. The hat has a brim I thought was more of my niece's taste than a normal pull-down hat.

My niece has two daughters, Alexis and Payton. I made them Mickey Mouse-ish sets as well:

Here is Payton's Mickey set.  It's the hat I posted a few months ago and another hat I thought would be better for winter (with ear flaps and ties). It has a scarf that matches her mommy's but it more narrow (she's not quite 3 years old yet) and I bought red mittens for $1 and I crocheted black Mickey heads and sewed those on.

Here she is wearing them (not feeling very well, I'm told so not happy):

 

Alexis is 10 years old, so hers is bigger:

I crocheted the same kind of scarf as her mom's only with 3 sections wide since she's only 10. I made a similar hat to her sister's with a Minnie bow that you can remove if you want to be more like Mickey instead.  Also I got her a set of ear muff headphones and I crocheted a cover for them that's removable so it matches the rest of her set.

And here she is wearing all but the scarf.  She seems to really like it (that's my niece on the right) I'd never made mittens before ever, so this is my first attempt at mittens:

Next is the set I made for my mom:

It's made from super soft yarn that's wonderful to feel, but sure was not easy to work with.  Mom has never been a normal hat person. She always chooses to wear headscarfs, so I winged it and made a "head scarf" from the yarn to match the scarf so it ties under her chin like the scarves do. It's a double layer triangle.  I hope she likes them

And I posted this already, but I'll add it here too so it accompanies the other things I made for Christmas gifts.  The Oswald and Friends toys I crocheted for my son for Christmas (He LOVES them):

The next are not crocheted, but sewn. My sister had told me she had gotten a new coat and was having someone make a scarf for her, so I knew I couldn't do the crocheted scarf set for her.  A while back she'd called me when she was upset and said she needed a pillow that said, "Don't Allow Your Wounds to Turn You Into a Person You Are Not" as a reminder to not let people get to her. I think she'd forgotten about it, but I didn't. I made it for her for Christmas (along with buying her a Bible carrying case):

And I made a pillow for my brother-in-law Jim.  You can't see it in this picture and I forgot to take a picture of it, but he seems to like it.  It's the logo from the National Guard unit he's been with for the past 40 years and is about to retire from in about 3 months.

That's my sister (his wife) and my son Evan in the picture with him. You don't see pictures of my brother-in-law smiling too often, so I guess that's a sign that he likes it :) Part of the smile is that below the logo of his National Guard unit, I have a picture of his grand daughter Payton wearing his military hat with her arms up in the air in glee :)

That's the majority of the gifts I made. As you can see...I was really busy. I crocheted a lot in the hospital visiting my husband, crocheted nearly everywhere I was :)

I Got a Silhouette Cameo!!!

My second favorite Christmas gift this year :)  I got the Silhouette Cameo I've been wanting for SO long SOOO badly!

Evan had to join me for a picture too :)

I haven't opened it yet, but once the holidays are over, I look forward to using it a LOT and have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head for it :) I've been pinning lots of tutorials and ideas to Pinterest.

My Favorite Gift This Christmas

Ok, I definitely have to brag this one up! My husband's birthday is on Christmas Day and we celebrated it after everyone opened their Christmas gifts at my sister's.  I made Greg a birthday cake and had gifts wrapped in birthday wrapping, etc.

So here is my favorite part of the whole day!!:

That's my son's signature on his daddy's birthday card (which he picked out himself). HIS signature...the first time EVER that he wrote his own name all by himself on a card and it not be just a squiggle.  I'm so so proud of him and that's the best Christmas gift all year for me :)

Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful Christmas present!! :)

Christmas 2012

I survived Christmas 2012 :)  Sorry my blogging slowed way down over Christmas time. It was a very very difficult December for us this year.  As I posted earlier, my husband was in the hospital for a week (actually 8 days). Today there are no more signs of infection and he has two stents placed in his urinary tract.  He is scheduled for a procedure to remove the kidney stone that's lodged in the ureter on January 11th.  Please pray that procedure is a success and causes no further issues (he had a kidney transplant last year so it's a more delicate issue than the normal person).  Right now he's feeling much better and he lost 25 pounds from feeling so sick from the infections. That part is good :)

My son Evan (9 years old and autistic and non-verbal) had a nasty ear infection he's still finishing up his antibiotics from. He cant' talk to tell me his ear hurts, so I have to just watch for him to hold his ears.  He developed a fever and a lot of coughing.  Thankfully he's almost over that now.

Financially things are really difficult as well. Our mortgage is behind and the bank isn't happy and it's made me a nervous wreck.  I've filed paperwork with a government program to try to save our home and we have an appointment with them on January 15th.  Please pray for that for us, if you will!

My faith is the only thing that's holding me together right now and I'm grateful for the Lord's hand on my life and that of my family.  My women's Bible study group starts back up a week from tomorrow and that will encourage me, I'm sure.  During the week of my husband's illness and since then, there's been little effort from anyone from my church to minister to him or bring a meal or something and that's been discouraging to me, but it's been a reminder that the Lord Himself is the one I should lean on and that just like me, other Christians are still living in a fallen world and are no more perfect than I am.  It was Christmas-time too and people are busy with their own families during Christmas time.  I've had friends on Facebook who were encouraging and supportive to me and that's helped. I'm trying to get and maintain a positive attitude about it all.  Letting discouragement get hold of me will only add to the problems.

A good friend from my women's Bible study group passed away after an 18-year battle with cancer. She had such an upbeat and positive attitude through the whole thing, even when she had to wear an eye patch and her speech became a struggle for her.  I will miss you, Shelley!  She is definitely with Jesus now. She was a real example for me and I won't forget that or her.

So...onward and upwards and hoping for a much better 2013! My next post will be more uplifting, I promise :)  In the effort to be 'real', I try to be as transparent as possible and when God brings me through it all, He will get the glory, and not me :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Oswald and Friends Crocheted Buddies

I finished crocheting my son's Oswald and Friends.  They're all ready to wrap and put under the Christmas tree.

I had so many things planned to make and give as Christmas gifts this year, but very little of it will actually get finished due to the crises in my family...

But I think my son will really like his Oswald and Friends buddies anyway.

The Lord Carries Me

Finances are in a scary place and today I rejoice to just get mine and my family's hair cut and my color touched up (after 5 months since the last time we had it done), but I trust God to provide.  Christmas is going to be rough...but the first Christmas was a lot rougher on Mary and Joseph, but they brought the Savior of the world to us!  As long as I remember that, Christmas can be wonderful :)

(I know Jesus wasn't really born on December 25th, but I'm thankful to have a day set apart to especially honor His birth  beyond the every day that we should remember it as well).

God is good...ALL the time.  ALL the time...God is good

"The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;  though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.  

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

    or their children begging bread."  -Psalm 37:23-25 (NIV)

"The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

    he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰ 

The Lord helps them and delivers them;

    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

    because they take refuge in him." -Psalm 37:39-40 (NIV)

"He Never Sleeps" by Don Moen

"Something More" by Nick Vujicic (of Life Without Limbs)

"Jehovah Jireh"

"Jehovah Jireh" (The Lord Will Provide)

"You Raise Me Up" by Selah

The Twelve Days Of Christmas Special Needs

This came across my Facebook news feed and I related to it SO much that I thought I just had to share it here as well.  I wouldn't trade my little boy who is autistic for any "typical" child ever. I just adore him :)

The Twelve Days Of Christmas Special Needs

On the first day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a child with special needs.

On the second day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the third day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an ache in my heart and a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the fourth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a tear in my eyes, an ache in my heart and a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the fifth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the sixth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the seventh day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the eighth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the ninth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in heart and my heart full of love for my child with a special needs.

On the tenth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an appreciation of small accomplishments, remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a sense of pride and courage, an appreciation of small accomplishments, remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, the good Lord said to me: Reach out and share your sense of pride and courage, your appreciation of small accomplishments, your remarkable doctors & therapists, your supportive friends, your sense of humor, your ray of hope, your unsuspected strength for the tear in your eyes and the ache in your heart and your heart full of love for your child with special needs

Crafting the Past Few Days

I've been super busy this past few days crafting.  I made several more Christmas pillows and a crocheted Christmas stocking I put in my Etsy shop.

Here's the stocking I just finished:

I also crocheted the first of a set of Santa mug rugs (coasters).  I only have one made so far, so it won't go on Etsy till the others are done, but here is the picture of the first one:

I don't plan on doing a ton of Santa stuff, but this was a simple pattern and it only took me a few hours to do it.

Here's a variety of Santa bowing down to baby Jesus pillows I made for Christmas and put in my Etsy shop (click to go to the correct page of my Etsy shop):

I hope to move on to some new projects tomorrow, but it's nice to have several things in my Etsy shop finally :)

This Week's Craft Projects

I'm all set to get crafting!  Here are this week's projects:

SANTA AND BABY JESUS FELT & FLEECE PILLOWS

I got the idea from the cover of this magazine:

I plan to make a few of those too, but then I got the idea to make the same pillow only using the pattern I created for some yard art I made last year:

So I already had the graphic on my computer, so I opened up my graphics program and shrunk the pattern for Santa bowing down to Baby Jesus to fit onto a 16 x 16-inch pillow.  I got the felt in the colors I need and I used my graphics program to "dissect" (if you will) the various colors in the image and have those printed out and ready to cut the pieces out in felt and piece them together to make a pillow top.  I got some red fleece in the remnant section of the craft store and will use that as the back of the pillow instead of felt (I think it will be more comfy), but otherwise use the same techniques in the instructions for the snowman pillow the magazine gives. I'm planning to start on this when I get up tomorrow morning, so wish me luck! :)

SEQUIN LIGHT BULB ORNAMENTS

This is a second project I have the supplies to do and I think it's just so pretty.  I'm like a cat when it comes to shiny things :)

I'm making this in Christmas Red, Kelly Green, Royal Blue (of course ;) ), Gold, and ...hmm...either purple of fuchsia.  I have the supplies to make about 2 of each color.

NO SEW FLEECE PET BLANKET (or throw for a human) :)

Here's my fleece fabric:

It will have one pattern on one side and the other on the other side and the finished product will be like this (only in my patterns):

(This image borrowed from HERE)

I'll be a busy girl this week!

Some of My Recent Craft Projects

As a way to start out my blog, I thought I would share some images of recent craft projects of mine. I've done a lot more than this, but these are the ones I have pictures handy of.

There really isn't any rhyme or reason for the crafty things I'm into. I love it all  :)  I enjoy wooden things, crochet, sewing, computer graphics, digital scrapbooking, paper scrapbooking, cards, oh I could go on and on :)

Everything but knitting. I've never learned how to knit. I find I always want to use the knitting needles like crochet hooks :)  I'm not giving up though! A good friend of mine knits and I may get the itch to talk her into teaching me how to knit before long :)

This Santa bowing down to baby Jesus is one of my favorites.  It's wooden yard art and about 36 inches tall:

   

When I make other ones, I won't put the holes around the edges as it just didn't look right when I put mini lights through the holes and lit it up.  That one is our own and it's got a spot light shone on it. I think that worked the best.  I cut it out of plywood after transferring the image I worked out in my graphics program to the wood.  It's secured into the ground with steel pipes. I've been wanting something like this for years and could never find it, so I figured it out myself and made it!

I used plywood left over from our yard art and corn hole game work to make these cut-outs of cartoon characters for my son for Christmas last year.  They were a big hit and he still loves them!  It's a TV show that used to be on called Connie the Cow and Friends.  Evan LOVES Connie and friends and you just can't find toys from that show, so I got this idea.  I already had the wood.  I just designed the graphics in my graphics program and transferred the image to the wood and cut it out with a jig saw.  I painted them with non-toxic paint (as my son is still into sticking things in his mouth) and then covered them with Mod Podge Hard coat (also non-toxic) to make them really hard so the wood wouldn't hurt him if he put them into his mouth (and to protect the wood from his teeth :)

I made bags to store them in:

There are around 62 in all and Evan loves them.  That was a LOT of work!  To see him love them so much was worth every minute though :)

Last Christmas I also made new salt dough ornaments for my Charlie Brown holiday tree:

 

My husband and I started making corn hole sets to sell last year. He and I cut them with a table saw, sand them and construct them. I jigsaw the holes out and do all the paint work. I sew the corn bags as well.  Here are some images of the sets we've made so far:

This Ohio State set is ours and it got scratched. I need to touch it up.  I got an Associate of Arts degree (2 year degree working towards a Bachelor's degree I never got to finish due to suffering a mild stroke) from OSU before I met my husband, so I'm a Buckeye alumni and fan :)

We just did this one a few months ago for a friend of his who is a veteran:

Youngstown State Penguins for my friend Joanne:

and the Browns for my son's bus driver aid:

I made this Christmas Advent calendar last year. I've never had one... ever!  It looks crooked in the picture, but it's the angle of the camera :)  I learned how to print onto fabric (thank you, Pinterest!) and printed the images at the top of it onto muslin from pics of the nativity I found online.  There is a tiny stocking for every day of the season that hangs to the calendar by a little button so you can adjust it for every year. There are little cards with activities, scriptures, etc. on them and we put one of each in the little stockings for an activity to do that day.  Once the card is used, I put it in a little pocket in the lower right hand side that also hangs by buttons (it says Thank You Jesus on it)

More wooden yard art for my friend Joanne (each one is about 40 inches high if I remember right):

Easter basket and more eggs to scatter around it

Currently I'm teaching myself how to crochet rag rugs from bed sheets.  This is my first effort. It was going pretty well till I noticed a tear drop shape forming. Ugh.  I need to take it apart and re-do it.  I want to try one using a crochet doily pattern next to make one a lot prettier!

That's it for this post :) Thanks for looking!