Bella Dia

After Christmas Crafts and Chores

Everyone had a great Christmas but I'm glad things are starting to settle down now. I was so worn out that I slept almost all of the next day. I've already put away all of the Christmas decorations and taken down the tree. I had been putting off some cleaning and organizing because of holiday preparations so I was anxious to get started. It helps that we've had a lot of snow in the last few days and it keeps us inside.

I've gotten back to crocheting some. I learned how to crochet when I was about 12 from my grandmother but I've never learned to follow a pattern. I don't really like having to count and keep track of my stitches but I would like to learn to make some of the hip stuff that's out there so I thought I'd better learn. I'm using the books Hooked on Crochet by Candi Jensen and Cozy Crochet by Melissa Leapman. (Their both listed in my favorite craft books if you're interested).
I started simply, and unimpressively, with a cell phone cozy and some flowers:

I wish I had a great yarn store nearby but on the other hand it's probably good because I already spend enough on fabric and I don't need another place to spend my money. Here's some new fabric I got as gifts and presents to myself ;)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Very Last Minute Christmas Ideas

Okay, it's the day before Christmas and you still haven't finished all your shopping. Here is a list of things you can get right from your computer, at home, or your local shopping area.

Get a magazine subscription at Amazon.

Audible.com has gift certificates. This is a great gift for someone who travels a lot or commutes and spends a lot of time in the car.

I've really enjoyed having my blog on TypePad and they have a buy one get one free deal going on right now. Give someone a year subscription and get one free for yourself or someone else.

The iTunes Music Store also has gift certificates. They have over a million songs available to download, there's gotta be something in there for everyone!

A neat idea from iomoi is e-stationery. You get a year membership for only $15 and you can do it all online.

If you know someone who's a teacher or homeschooler or just enjoys doing a lot of educational activities with their kids then consider a membership in either Enchanted Learning, $20 per year, or abc teach, $25 per year. I have experience with both of these sites and recommend them for quality and value.

Another great online resource that I have enjoyed is Clipart.com. They have memberships that start at $13.95 and over 3.6 million images to download.

Other sites to try for online memberships are:
South Beach Diet
Salon.com

Some ideas that you can do locally are:
*a gift certificate to the movie theater
*a gift certificate to Blockbuster or your local video store
*buy some specialty foods in the grocery store and put them in a basket with a bow
*a gift certificate to a local spa, manicure/pedicure, or massage
*some exotic flowers like orchids or anthuriums that someone usually wouldn't buy for themselves
*a bottle, or two, of wine
*a collection of micro brewery beers

Or how about a coupon for your services? Here are some ideas: gardening, cleaning out cabinets or refrigerator, cleaning their garage, detailing their car, polishing silver, washing china, mending or ironing, or taking down their Christmas tree and lights.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and remember to take a moment in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and count your blessings! Take care!

A Pussycat's Christmas

Just look at that face - any minute she's going to be all over that table!

We have five cats in our home so any project that you do will eventually have a cat sprawled out on top of it. Of course, at Christmas time, our house turns into a cat wonderland: toys dangling everywhere to be batted at, bags to get into, wrapping paper to tear up, and stockings to capture during the night.

In A Pussycat's Christmas, Margaret Wise Brown, the author, really captures the essence of a cat's personality at Christmas and Anne Mortimer, the illustrator, has done an amazing job of drawing a cat's oh-so-subtle look of mischief and delight.

If you're a cat lover, or have one on your gift list, this would be a wonderful holiday book for adults and kids alike!

Paper Ornaments

I made these little ornaments using five 1 1/2" circles that I cut out of some scrapbookking paper. Fold them in half and glue the halves together until it forms a sphere. Before glueing the last circle, I put a loop of embroidery thread down the middle so you could hang it. I got the idea at Paper Source. I'm going to do some more but I'm going to cut them using my punches and decorative edged scissors. They are really cute ornaments but I think I will use them for package decorations also.

Felt Needle Book

I made this needle book following these instructions at Martha Stewart. It's the first time I've worked with wool felt and it is so much nicer than the regular craft kind.

This is a gift for someone but I'll make another one for myself after Christmas.

A Little Gift for You

Here's a little gift I made for you - just print, cut them out, and laminate with clear packing tape.
Bookmarks (1578.2K)

Our Memory Tree

A few years ago, I surprised even myself and bought a "fake" Christmas tree. I had always felt a little bit guilty knowing that a perfectly good tree had been cut down just for our holiday pleasure but it was the annual hassle of it that made me finally give it up and I haven't regretted it once. No matter what we did the tree always got terribly dry and I worried about a fire and how to keep the animals from drinking the water in the basin and keeping the needles vacuumed up and then having to put the lights on and taking them off and the question of how to get rid of the tree...it makes me stressed just thinking about it! Well, I fell in love with this white pre-lit wire tree in the Martha Stewart Christmas section of Kmart one year. It's in four pieces that you stack one into the other and then just plug it in! I hate to think that it is a fake Christmas tree so I told the kids that we are going to call it a Memory Tree. Afterall, the majority of our ornaments are some sort of memory: places we have visited, first Christmas', children's handprints, collars of beloved pets who have passed away, the last boppy's (pacifiers), ornaments that we have made from Christmas' past and ornaments from my childhood. It has a magical fairy type quality to it that the kids and I love and that along with the simplicity of the set up makes it the perfect tree for us.