Two more Twelve Days pattern bundles in the shop

Hey, friends! If you have been curious about the Twelve Days ornament series and want to get started making, there are now three discounted bundles in the shop:

Bundle 1-3 contains the Partridge & Pear, Turtle Dove and French Hen patterns.

Bundle 4-6 contains the Colly Bird, Gold Ring and Goose a-Laying patterns.

And the 1-6 bundle contains all six available patterns. Number seven is coming up! Swan a-Swimming. There's a sneak peek of that on in this post.

handmade gifts 2015: two more very nice mice

My last installment of the handmade parade for Christmas 2015. I was on a roll with these mice. This girly one is for my MIL, Paula.

Um, I kind of messed up the ear placement somehow and they ended up wonkified, so I added a hat with a pom-pom to hide it. But I really like the hat. It's a pipe cleaner that is just wrapped in a spiral cone and secured here and there with thread.

I like the chubby rear view too.

This little guy with the snowball is for my nephew, Trent. I love his extra fuzzy feet.

They make a cute pair. I'm a little sad but mostly a lot glad that the Christmas crafting frenzy is over. I'll try to remember to start earlier this year. *laughing with you* *slapping knee* Yeah, that's just never going to happen, is it?

P.S. I've now entered the time-eating magical world of Instagram, so follow me there if you like:
https://www.instagram.com/mmmcrafts/

handmade gifts 2015: make a little birdhouse ornament in your soul

I found these little Erzgebirge bird push pins on Etsy last January and was immediately filled with tiny wood bird avarice. (You say, "Erzuh-who now?") And I say, pushing my tortoiseshell glasses up my nose, "Oh yes, that's a term for the Ore Mountain region in the former German Democratic Republic and refers to crafts made there before the fall of the Berlin wall."

OK, OK, I didn't know about that either until I read it in the listing. Ha! I learned a thing. So ever since I bought them I've wanted to make a birdhouse ornament and put some tiny Erzge-whozit birdies inside and keep it for myself. So I did.

I was inspired by this pin but then things got way more involved.

There is a toilet paper roll underneath that wool felt. And there is a cone of paper underneath the wool felt scalloped roof. I added round windows and ribbon and silver gimp trim and glitter. You must have glitter. Finished with a ribbon loop at the top so I could hang it with a wire hook.

I had a handy circle punch that was just the right size to seal off the bottom. I love when things work out like that.

After it was finished I sat under the Christmas tree at night and just looked and looked at the sparkly birdhouse ornament. Totally craft gloating. I also experienced a brief twinge of guilt because it occurred to me more than once that this ornament would really make a very special and appropriate gift for my little grand niece and nephew who just moved into a brand new house.

The house will still be newish next Christmas, right? I'll make another one.

handmade gifts 2015: ornament for Baby John

My niece, Erin, and her husband, Nathan, lost a precious baby boy before he was born. His name is John. I thought this ornament would be a special way for his brother and sister to remember him each year when they decorate their Christmas tree.

The angel was made using my Wee Princess Pea pattern for the doll, only slightly elongated. The wings are made of stiffened wool felt. The babe in arms is made of wood beads, a cotton pipe cleaner, and felt.

We love you, Baby John, even though we never got to meet you here on Earth. As David said in 2 Samuel 12, you cannot come to us, but we will go to you. All our love to my niece's sweet family and my sister's family as you remember this child and grandchild that flew straight to God.

handmade gifts 2015: swan a-swimming and two replacement ornaments for Robyn

The December handmade parade continues...

I was hoping to send Robyn a Maid a-Milking ornament in addition to this new Swan a-Swimming, but time slipped away from me and I was only able to finish Mr Swan here. I think the final pattern will be very similar to this one, but I added some sequins and glass beads to hers for a little sparkle.

Closeup of the stitching for you there. If you are working on my Twelve Days ornament series, it's really easy to add some sequins under your French knots if you like. Or if you just hate sewing French knots (c'est toi, Beth!) you can use a small glass bead in place of a French knot and also layer a sequin underneath the bead for sparkle.

I sent all three of these ornaments to her this year, but only the swan is new. Those top two are actually repeats of nos. 2 and 4. She already has earlier versions of them from years past, but it was really bugging me that her versions don't match the current series and I just like this Turtle Dove and Colly Bird better. They have some added sparkle sewn on them too. Robyn's perfectly welcome to prefer the earlier ones, of course! She knows I'm a bit cracked this way. It's alright.

handmade gifts 2015: a very nice mouse for Thing 1

And here's the other ornament I made using the Very Nice Mice tutorial from Ann Wood. This one is for Thing 1, my oldest.

I gave this one a pom snowball, pipe cleaner stripey scarf and felt mittens. I used cotton pipe cleaners for the arms and feet.

I also shaved off a tiny bit of the seam allowance this time because I was having trouble maintaining the 1/8" allowance she calls for. I'm so used to sewing the smaller allowance for my own felt ornaments it was just more comfortable for me. Required less thinking. Plus it made it easier to close the opening after stuffing.

This one was finished in the wee hours of Christmas morning (surprise, surprise) so I forgot to add the pom pom bow on the head. Thing 1 assures me this is fine because her mouse is a boy and his name is Ralphie.

Here's the finished pair:

They fit very nicely on the tree. 

Thank you to Ann Wood for such a cute and timely pattern!

handmade gifts 2015: a very nice mouse for Thing 2

Have you seen Ann Wood's Very Nice Mice pattern and tutorial? It is just for hand sewing and makes the perfect little ornament-sized mouse. I followed it to make this ornament for my sweet Thing 2.

I added a few of my own touches, of course. Her felt bunny slippers are my favorite part. (Although I can't look at them without hearing a voice say, "He looks like a deranged Easter bunny.")

I also gave her a tiny felt stocking to hold and, of course, a paper cheese wedge. And a little pom pom bow on her head.

I substituted pipe cleaners for the arms and feet instead of using the felt pieces from the pattern. The finished mouse is about 3 inches tall.

I love Ann's original version in its little sailboat! I'd like to try a sailboat ornament next year.

have yourself a merry little Christmas

I love painted wood ornaments. This is one of my very favorites, marked 1982 on the bottom. It's my husband's from when he was a little kid. His whole childhood collection of ornaments was passed along to us by his sweet mom and I treasure them.

This one's charmingly bizarre if you really look at it. The hanging loop that's stuck on one side to the chimney. The window on the roof. The crazy clock on the chimney that has 8 o'clock where the 12 should be and all the numbers face the wrong way. The fact that it isn't a house that Santa is visiting, it seems to be a store. With green windows. And most intriguing, the oversized child on the roof, looking nonplussed as Santa smiles down. Is that what he asked from Santa? To be supersized? Like I said, I love it. It makes me happy when it comes out of the box each year.

It's been pretty dismal holiday weather in Atlanta. All of December it's been unseasonably warm which just feels wrong, and now for Christmas we are getting dark skies, thunderstorms and flash flood warnings (part of our family had to miss our gathering on Christmas Eve because their road washed away!). Bright side: it sure makes for a cozy atmosphere inside with the Christmas lights on.

I wish to you the merriest, most peaceful time this Christmas to be with family and friends and to eat more than you strictly need. See you soon with some photos of handmade gifts!