Handmade holiday ideas & look what the snow blew in...

So what has kept me away for so long? Well these are just a few:

Links for all the creativity sources are below- but here is the big explanation of what they are and who for~

A cloth covered binder for my oldest "neice"- which will have inside a B&W copy of Panda's new guitar teaching books- they can learn together and have a "practice jam" each week when they get to visit. Panda and her cousin are both getting child sized guitars for the holiday- I have the adult Acoustic.(having the same work book will also serve purpose for me to help her on my visits since the three of us will be learning together.)

The cloth lined bag is the tote to hang her new binder book in and have it hung up on the door back- preventing damage and loss. That is her Initial E which I hand embroidered along with a few music notes coming from the bottom. A first for me.

The fun Felt monster in a certain child's (my "nephew") favorite colors which go with a pair of blue flannel PJ pants-not shown- and an under shirt soon to follow, which will have the same face as the felt monster to make it all a set.
I have a Duro style shirt for the youngest niece along with a few of these headbands for her gift.
I have been told I MUST make Lil' Man one of those felt monsters , so he can have one to sleep with too. Of course Panda requested a green one on a key chain... And would you like fries with that?... But seriously, I have a tall order for these and the one above was not even an hour old before they came in.

I have a pact with my cousin's wife- "Tuesday", that we are to only exchange gifts crafted with our own or family hands. It may seem hard to some, but have you really looked at the great craft making sites out there? Here is one forum I lurk at often*. So many talented bloggers willing to share tutorials and sites that really spark the creativity into you- or in my case with the felt monster, A total copy Kat... What can I say? I admire the work but the rule is Made By MY hand or our family.I saw it and the child popped into my head. I knew he had to have one and I sketched up the pattern in under 5 minutes. He stands around 13 inches tall and about 10 inches wide. I must say, he is quite the dashing monster.

So I have been sewing away like an elf in the night and working the day away like a true stay home mom, winter cleaning & de-germing~ (everyone has been sick the past 2 weeks).

But of course you may be bored with my blabbing about crafts, and gifts, and me, me, me...
So I thought i would share what the new snow blew in....

Well, more like I drove 1 hour to the Carrolton county dog pound to adopt this little girl just 1 hour before the cut off time on Thursday. (they put all dogs left in the pound to sleep on Friday mornings.)

As with all our animals of which we do not eat, she needed a name.
So we threw some ideas out. A day goes by. We Pondered some more... Days went by and not one had really smacked us in the head. But then today I found myself calling out to her with the first name demanded by Little man. (Instead of the usual "wo wo" frog calls her, or "hey puppy" that The captain throws out.)

Introducing Grizzled- or as I call her "Grizzle".

lil Man on first sight exclaimed her name will be "Grizzled", which I thought was a bit too far out there. Even for us.

But the Lil' Man won in the end. Plus she comes to me when I call her that. Who'd have thought....

Snow will continue to fall through Monday and I have yet to find a face template for Lil' brother Army's classic 80g ipod. I am making cookies tonight and had hoped to make him an Ipod cover like this one to send out on Monday along with his tin of baked goods. Just cant find the face dimensions anywhere....

I can see a frustrating weekend waiting for the snow to lighten for my mad dash to Best Buy...

** Found it!** edited 1:14 am

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie