Up On The Rooftop...

No, I don't believe in Santa, but- two days ago 

after a snow melt I looked up at the roof 

of this two-story structure and saw... this!  

I just HAD to take a picture.

What do you think?
No reindeer hoof prints, 
no sleigh runner scrape marks...
just footprints.
(No ladder, either!!!)

A Christmas Quilt

From my quilt-making days in the late 1900's and eary 2000's.  I quilted these words in script along both white vertical borders:

PEACE JOY  
and LOVE
FAITH HOPE 
and HOLINESS

It reminds me of a little old country church during the holidays...

Trimming The Tree...

MERRY CHRISTMAS &

A JOYOUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Washi Woes

Every now and then I reach for my Washi Tape collection to add details to my paper arts.  Today I selected some silver star tape I have had for a while.  As I attempted to unwind it, it split lengthwise and I found myself having to pick at shreddies.  Soon I had little bits of tape under my fingernails.  It just would not unwind.

I had a clever idea, or so I thought:  since Washi Tape is waxy, maybe heating it up would help it release.  I zapped the roll of stubborn tape in the Microwave for one minute, and I was able to unwind a few inches before it split in two again.  Then it stuck to itself and no amount of picking at it would make it release.  

I repeated the Microwave treatment.  Apparently by that time I had cooked the tape into a permanent solid.  With reluctance I threw the mostly-full roll of pretty Washi tape in the trash.

Theory:  either there are different qualities of Washi Tape, or, it has an unknown expiration date.  Fortunately, most of my tapes still unwind with no trouble.  I hope no one else has experienced this frustrating scenario.

Rustic Paper Ornaments

Fronts

Materials:  
Brown Kraft Paper (paper bags)
Acrylic Paint (1 color + gold, silver or bronze metallic)
 Patterned fabric 
 Hanging cord or ribbon
 Fiber filling (stuffed animal polyfill)

Equipment: 
Sewing machine or needle and thread, scissors
Exacto knife and protective cutting mat                 

Instructions:

Lay out your brown paper flat on a surface where you will paint it.

Crumple up the paper. smooth out.

Paint your base color that will show through the gold, let it dry

Paint over with metallic paint, let it dry.

Cut out shapes like stars or diamonds, two matching pieces (front and back).

Cut out peek-a-boo windows like tear-drop shapes near the middle of the front piece of each ornament, using an Exacto knife on a protected surface.

Place patterned fabric behind the cut-out's (temporarily glue edges or pin) so that the right side of the fabric shows through the front piece windows of the ornament, then over-stitch (either by hand or narrow zigzag by machine) around the edges of each cut-out area.

Put both pieces wrong sides (inner sides) together, matching edges.  Pin edges if desired.

Over-stitch (use a medium-narrow zigzag) around the outer edge of each stuffed ornament almost to the top, but leave an opening with room to push polyfill inside.

Fill to desired puffiness.

Insert ends of a fabric or string/cord loop into the opening.

Holding the opening flat, stitch the rest of the way around the top, catching the hanging cord/thread/string in the stitches.

Done! 

Backs

Let There Be- Lights?

Two days ago, the temperature was in the 40's and it felt warm!  I figured it isn't going to get much warmer until April, so I started pulling out the Christmas decorations.  

Usually I cut 1 or 2 saplings with branches and stick them into the ground in the front yard before the freeze, then drape them with white twinkle lights.  

Last Year's Lights

But not this year.  

First I put up the scrawny fake tree on the front porch, weighing down the base with flat rocks so the winter winds wouldn't blow it over. 1/3 of the white twinkle lights weren't lit, so I unwound that long strand and switched over to regular multi-colored bulbs.  

The shrubbery-netting twinkle lights were half working, half not, so I draped them along the porch railings.  It looks like this will be the last year I use that bunch of lights...

I think the neighbors saw me putting up decorations because all of a sudden, the white twinkle lights on their porch went on.  A little friendly competition, ha ha ha.