At the same time my grandma was putting together her advent calendar, she was also working on dozens of other holiday decorations. We have boxes full of ornaments she made, a tree skirt, and numerous wall-hangings. The next project I want to tackle is an updated version of this banner of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The one she made is really perfect, but after all the fun I had doing my own advent calendar, I can't help getting my paws dirty with this one too. 

The weather has been so unpredictable here this winter and we were hit with a beautiful, sunny day on Tuesday. R and I took advantage of it and went for a nice, long walk around the neighborhood. We met a small cat and bunny along the way, tucked into a neighbors gate as a giveaway. Of course, being the stingy, strict, and scared-of-bedbugs parent I am I immediately said no, we absolutely could not take them with us. At about the same time, a slightly drunk, smoking, shuffling guy came up and told R to go ahead, take them anyway, that's what they're there for. She, of course, took his advice and pulled the friends down. She could not have been happier about it and snuggled them the whole walk. I guess sometimes as a parent, you just have to listen to the drunk guy.

While trolling around the web way too late at night a few months ago I stumbled my way to Citronille. Their children's clothing patterns are just perfect - simple, straight forward & classic. I immediately impulse-bought a handful of them and am just now getting to actually put them to work.
"Daisy" is the first one I worked on, in a pink striped oxford I had bought for another project that went down the tubes. I did the shirt in size 2 and it's still a bit big on the lady as a top, but fits her very nicely as a short dress.
I have two more almost finished, just waiting for buttons & button holes, but now with Christmas coming they've inched their way to the bottom of the pile. Maybe sometime in the new year.

 

I can't believe how long it's been since I took a minute to sit down and let you all know that I am still alive. I can blame the crafting funk a little, but mostly I'd say it's laziness. BUT - I am excited to share that I have been kicked with a new bolt of motivation. I pulled out the advent calendar on Sunday to start our countdown to Christmas, and I was reminded of what got me into crafting high-gear in the first place.
Growing up, we used the same advent calendar every year. It was hand-made by my grandmother (I think from a kit) in the early 1970's. I loved that thing and always looked forward to hanging it up - not just because it meant Christmas was near (though, I'll admit, that was part of it) but because I just loved the thing itself. Each pocket had a special ornament to hang on the tree and my sister and I would switch off days. You never knew what you would get, but you always hoped for something good (and if you were feeling especially naughty, you'd look ahead, count it out, and swap a dud for a gem in your next pocket). I was a particular fan of the mitten and the snowman.
I knew I wanted to continue the advent calendar tradition when I started my own family, and one of the first projects I started when I found out I was pregnant with little R was my own replica of this family heirloom. It was a BIG project and took me a full year to finish, but I finally got it done just in time for Christmas last year. After finishing such a large project I knew I could motivate to tackle other unfinished crafts, and perhaps even follow through on new ones. . . The fact that I made it through to November before a major funk set in is actually pretty miraculous. As the new year approaches, I am ready to start again.