handmade christmas project: advent calenders

have you seen how many cool advent calenders there are out there this year? oh my! i have made a few for my daughter, but this year i decided to make one with a twist. from experience i know that all those small items i have put in the advent calender often get in the trash before new years :\ so, i made one with only 4 pockets, one for each sunday before christmas. as always super duper easy and you can make it in whatever style you want.





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a lovely felt one.

i also printed this beauty :)

have a wonderful day!

thankful...

with all this thanksgiving glory flying around on blogs these days, i wanted to join in on the fun even though we technically don´t celebrate thanksgiving here. i am thankful you know:

for my husband, with whom i have a wonderful and passionate relationship.

for my darling daughter, even though she has come to an age where she has a very weird temper...

for our pets, even though they make me loose my mind sometimes.

for our house, even though it is one big renovation to happen.

for my job, which i love sooo much.

for the internet, it makes me feel so good to be able to connect with so many wonderful people.

for painkillers and healthcare, i still have pains from my kidney-adventure.

for photography, mine and others.

for my family, genetic and inlaw.

for my drivers licence, i do love to be able to just take the car and go!

for music, it sets the mood of the day, i think.

for crafts, they make me so very happy.

for freedom and human rights, period.

for the ability to feel pure happiness.

for sunshine.

for lovely trips that are in store soon!
...i have more but that´s it for now...i might make a page with this :)

totally random friday post

i am home today, my daughter is sick and i did a eswl treatment yesterday (they blew my kidneystone up) and i have had such a hell of a night last night and i am still recovering. we are having a still day lounging around doing stuff here and there. my daughter is so bored and i am out of ideas. she has been home all week with fever and a cold, so i understand the boredom!

i didn´t think i would jump on the december daily wagon this year, but what do you know, i did :) just like i did last year :) i have seen so many lovely examples on the world wide web and i made mine real simple as i did last year. i used page protectors that i cut up to make a minibook. 3 bookrings and cardboard covers. i hope that i can keep up with taking pictures and adding journaling too.





the other day i made this 2 minute gift for my neices and nephew. it is the simplest and fastest gift i have ever made. i had some tree trinkets and 2 sticker sheets. made 2 out of each and voila a memogame is born!



i have just printed our christmas cards that we are sending out this year. i made them all photo = photo + writing on photo = christmas joy! i cut them up and my very bored daughter put them all in their envelopes. i was a little afraid that my inks would fail on me, but the printer let me print them all!

my to do list is a mile lone but i think i will take this upcoming weekend to keep still and fully recover from this kidney thing! tomorrow my wonderful parents-in-law are coming and i think i will take my mil to the christmas market, shop something homemade and take some photos.

what are you up to?

handmade christmas project # 7

a crochetted washcloth and a soap scrub. such a simple gift for yourself or someone you love. the washcloths can be used as a dishcloth or for dusting also.

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this etsy shop is where i got the inspiration for this project.

sharing inspiration

1. Simplicity is the path, not just the destination:

Simplicity, many people think,
is an end in itself
But they're getting it backwards
Simplicity is the path, the means
It's not a far off destination,
somewhere in the future
It's right here, right now
It's taking things one at a time
It's asking simple questions
It's taking simple actions
It's doing it slowly
It's considering and being conscious,
with everything

When you find yourself becoming overwhelmed
on the path to simplicity
Taking a complicated, frenzied path
to get there
Stop, consider, and choose
the simpler path
And take it slowly
And easily
And lovely

found at knitandpurlgrrl.blogs.com

2. elizabeths new class: inspiration defined looks like so much fun!



3. these baby shoes and its diy pattern!



4. lovely free prints :)

5. the blog 5 things has a lovely concept of doing posts in lists of 5. an easy way to blog.

6. fry+design is a lovely blog with interior design and other nice inspiration.



7. the tumblr blog "quote book" is a nice source of good quotes.

8. have you seen the nice package blog? i love everything about it!



9. “I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
- Martha Washington”

10. flip through the ikea family magazine :)

my beautiful morning

View slideshow

handmade christmas project # 6

i am in love with this project and even though it is not meant to be done yet, i just had to finish it! you will need scrap yarn and either a crochet needle or knitting gear. we are making an advent crochetted or knitted garland! wohoo!

the idea is to make one piece of the garland each day in december until christmas. see it as an adult version of a advent calender if you will. if you are not a familiar with crochetting or knitting, here are some helpful links:

Learn how to chrochet

beginner crochet

learn to knit

video series, how to knit



i used the very basic crochetmethod to make 24 (in sweden christmas is celebrated on the 24th) "squares" and simply attached them together to make the acctual garland.

garlands are really big right now atleast according to alot of sites around the internet. i would love to have made a heart shaped one, but this year i went with squares.



i just found this one by rachel denbow :)very cute, right.
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i also made a version of garland using fingerknitting and one that was really meant to be a cute scarf...



have fun!

wow...

...eh i think i might have one to many projects going on...

handmade christmas project # 5

todays project is all about making stockings. i made mine out of black felt that i traced with a simple patterned that i drew. i did a edge stitch around the edges and then i did some cross stitched monograms that i glued to the acctual stocking. my scanner didn´t want to work with me so i don´t have the cross stitch pattern right now, but i am sure that there are resources online for that.






i didn´t want to go crazy decorating the stockings so i kept it really simple. you can obviously do go crazy :)
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here is the pattern for this cutie :)

i have loved this stocking idea for the last year!

and you can use granny squares...



a bunch of christmas stockings

new layouts!

the story: my daughter and the horse she helps take care of :)



the story: we love to hold hands :)



the story: i am so loving my life at 30!



the story: our sadie girl is such a sweetie :)



the story: i was inspired my the site scrapping the music and their Challenge #19--It's Good to be Us by Bucky Covington.





the story: i was blog hopping and came across marnies post over at write.click.scrapbook. she introduced herself through a list called i am not. so, i did one too :)



the story: my daughter left me this note in my notebook. it says: mom has a big heart ♥ how can your heart not melt?



the story: a silly one about my addiction to coke :)

:::weekend edition:::

man i am having such a good weekend! our daughter is out for the weekend and we are alone. that means alot of sleeping in, lounging and doing whatever we feel like, ah! and the sun was even out for a minute :)



i did alot of crafting! (while listening to a Peter James book Dead simple it is sooo good!) i got so inspired when i found this blog yesterday! this woman is a sewing wizard! i made a few bags inspired by her. (i haven´t taken photos yet).



i did take a long walk today with the dogs in the forest. it was lovely.



i also added a few things to our wall :) i am so loving how it is coming together!



the cats apperently also thought that lounging was a good idea for the weekend.



and now i am going to see the greys episode that i missed last week and soon my dd is coming home and dinner is cooking :) and tomorrow i will be back with layouts galore!

handmade # 4

i have tried for days now to upload a movie on this project, but i give up. i´ll give you the photo version instead!

it´s a door decoration and you will need to get

some pine branches (if you pick them yourself, make sure that it is ok with the forest owner!)

pinecones

metal wire

a metal wire cutter

ribbon

i guess the photos speak for themselves since this is a really easy project. you basically just gather a bunch of branches together at the "stems" and decorate them with pinecones and ribbon and like i did with my dried red berries garland.

if you have any questions please let me know!