Last Minute Holland comes in under the wire

On Christmas Eve as I sat feverishly stitching two Twelve Days ornaments for dear loved ones, I once again reflected on my time management skills. I feel like I'm busy ALL the ever lovin' time. Perhaps I actually am? Probably not as busy as I think. Surely I can do a better job at this. Heck, I still don't even have my own personal set of any of my ornaments. I have a lot of MmmCrafts samples of course, but those I need to keep in my office for photos/promos. My two girls do not have their own sets either. I do manage most years to make a special one-off ornament for them, but not always. Not this year. Argh.

Next year is my year for sure. 

So this Partridge and French Hen were completed by 1 AM Christmas morning and checked off my list. They were received on Christmas afternoon with joy, and that is the best feeling!

It was nice to revisit these two patterns. If you are curious, yes, I follow my own pattern instructions. LOL. I have so many patterns now it's easy to forget the best way to put them together. It's essential to have a cheat sheet. 

fun with pinecones, poms, and pipe cleaners

I made this little owl ornament for Robyn (don't look, Robyn! haha) from stuff you might have laying around your house and yard, if you are like me: An acorn cap, large and small poms, chenille stems, wool felt, a small pinecone, touches of white acrylic paint, some metallic thread, and a stick. All held together with blobs of hot glue. 

I have a love/hate relationship with hot glue, and after an evening of burning my fingers, taking a chunk out of my work surface from a hot glue leak, and getting hair-thin snarly hot glue strings all over my clothes and in my hair, I asked folks on my Facebook page to recommend a good mini hot glue gun that won't be out to get me. I am 100% sure hot glue is not supposed to be this hard to use. 

I'm going to check this one out, as Surebonder was the brand recommended by several different commenters! Thanks, guys.

Welp, it's the last week before Christmas. Y'all ready? I'm not! I'm fine this is fine