Holidays – Page 8 – Thimbleanna

Oven, Oven, Who’s Got the …

27 Comments / December 17, 2012 June 22, 2013 / Holidays

Like many of you, I’ve found this last week to be a blitz of sadness, hope and busy busy. And can’t keep up-ed-ness. If normal holiday madness wasn’t enough, it appears we’re getting new ovens this week. It’s the last step of the kitchen update. Finally. Last week was the big week so we removed our old ovens. (Well, ok, the week before Thanksgiving was the big week. And then it was the week after Thanksgiving. And then the week after that.) See my new ovens?

What? You can’t see them??? Yeah. The cabinet people screwed up the cabinet and got the measurements wrong. So now it’s a big rush job. And hopefully the new ovens will be here on Friday. Four Three days before Christmas. It’s Cookie Baking Week with no cookies! So, I entertain myself by wistfully reading about the cookies I would be making if I had an oven. And, of course, now I’m kicking myself that I’ve never posted about the Christmas turkey. You know, just in case the ovens don’t make it again, and I need to console myself by reading another old post!

Moving on, I’m making good use of that gap in the kitchen.

I’ve made the annual little soldered ornaments.

They’re always fun to play around with and they make good package tie-ons.

Also…
I’ve been learning a little bit about Ami Sims Art Quilt Initiative. She’s been working hard since 2006 to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research. If you’re looking for a charity at this giving time of year, this looks like a great choice.
And…
I’ve been included in a list of 40 homemade gift ideas. I’m in great company — have fun reading some of the fun ideas!
Have a stress-free week. “It” will happen whether you’re ready or not, so you might as well have a wonderful, fun time of it. And bake some cookies for me!!!
XOXO,
Anna

Merry, Merry

28 Comments / December 8, 2012 June 22, 2013 / Holidays

WooHoo! Are you out there Making Merry? You’ve probably been shopping or something, huh? It seems like everyone is having an open house or a sale this weekend. I’ve been holed up having fun and decorating today. I’ve got the Christmas music cranked up and this house looks like a tornado hit it. Not to worry though, I’ll soon start to clean boxes and things up. Just taking a little break to pop in and say hi!

Several years ago I gave MyDadLovesMeBestSister a little mug rack, but she hasn’t had room for it in her house so I stole it back this week and it’s now the happy home for my Santa mugs. I love it!

After I took a few pictures and sat down to write a post, I saw those mushroom thimbles up in my blog header and decided it was time for a merry little change. So, I threw a few thimbles into the santa mug scene and ta-dah — new masthead!

I’ve also been playing a little with paper. I saw a fun garland that Susan Branch posted a few weeks ago. Then, a few days later, I saw a cute little deer on the Cath Kidston website and knew it had to be mine. Awwww, look at that little honeycomb bow-tie!

So, combine Susan Branch and Cath Kidston and we have a happy little Christmas window.

Now, it’s back to work for me. Hope you’re having a good weekend — lots to do for everyone!
XOXO,
Anna
P.S. I forgot to tell you that the last month of the Aurifil quilt block blog hop is up. The Lizzy B Girls have done a great job and created a super cute little skier. Check it out!

Happy Easter

28 Comments / April 8, 2012 June 22, 2013 / Holidays

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Easter! It’s been a blur this week and I’ve had major blog neglect to prove it. Poor little blog. The beginning of the week was just too boring with nothing exciting to post. But then things heated up for the weekend and I was just too busy. (I did manage to finally get rid of those goofy dancing thimbles on my blog header — did you notice?)

We had the family over for Easter Dinner this afternoon. We had our traditional Easter Dinner — Ham, Cheesy potatoes, a few vegetables, a few salads, Easter cupcakes and some other cakes that deserve a post all their own. Oh, and we usually have deviled eggs, but I ruined them. Too much mustard. Blech! Even CrazyBIL wouldn’t eat them and he’ll eat most anything!

Anyway, it’s over for another year so now I can get back to some of my other projects. Speaking of which, have you all seen the April Aurifil block of the month? Miss April is Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs. I got the biggest smile when I saw her adorable block. When I found out I would be Miss May, I was going to contact Miss April and see if she wanted to do an April Showers Bring May Flowers combo. But then I realized that Gail is from Austrailia where they are going into fall, rather than spring, so I reasoned that the April Showers/May Flowers thing doesn’t apply down under and I gave up the plan. Oh well, I love Gail’s cute little block — it’s perfect for April!

Don’t forget to check out the Aurifil Block of the Month Flickr pool too — lots of cute blocks appearing there.

Have a good week — I’ll be back soon with a Tale of Two Cakes!
XOXO,
Anna

Happy Valentine’s Day!

58 Comments / February 14, 2012 June 22, 2013 / Embroidery, Holidays

Yipes — I’m sneaking in just under the wire to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope your day was filled with Chocolate!

I managed to get my little Valentine’s embroideries done and one of them finished into a pillow to give to MeMum for her Valentine.

I started these a few years ago, so I’m counting them as another UFO finish for this year. WooHoo! They’re from an old Bareroots pattern that I’ve had for quite a few years.

And just to prove my true love for Mummy, I took one for the team. I was sewing along on the machine and zipped my thumb right under the needle.* Slick as a whistle, that needle zipped in one side of my thumb, poked out the other side, and then withdrew. It was a case of perfect timing — I heard the machine groan a bit and snatched my thumb out of there in the split second that the needle was up before it came down and started stitching again. In all my years of sewing, I’ve never done that. The needle didn’t even break.

I was kind of disappointed that the bobbin didn’t engage, which would have attached me to the pillow. I could have left that thread hanging through my thumb. A body piercing badge of honor. All you belly button piercers got nuttin’ on someone with a sewing machine!

Valentine Smoochies!

XOXO,
Anna

*Pardon the goofy picture — I know it looks like someone’s big toe. You try taking a close up picture of your own thumb at a weird angle — it’s not easy! ;-D

Gingerbread Houses 2011

49 Comments / December 29, 2011 June 22, 2013 / Family, Gingerbread Houses, Holidays

So? How’s that relaxing in-between week going? I’ve had a chance to read just a few blogs and it looks like lots of you are reading, resting and making plans for the new year. As it should be! We’re managing to lie around and play with Christmas toys a little, but mostly it’s been busy. Today will be the third (and last!) day of painting in MeMum’s kitchen — you may remember that I did the cabinets a long time ago, but the ceiling, walls and trim were never done. Finally, we’ll have that big job out of the way.

I’ve also had time to weed through the many pictures of the annual gingerbread competition. We had a wonderful time again this year with lots of laughs. I’d like to congratulate my cute little family this year — we didn’t have one. single. collapsed house. WooHoo! They’re becoming real pros at the construction. There were lots of groovy little details too — several of which I don’t have good pictures of because you have to remember to take them before the roofs go on the houses.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I proudly ( ;-) ) present to you the Houses of 2011:

Team 1: SweetiePie and CuteNiece1. Santa’s Workshop. SweetiePie is a real pro with the icing and this house was adorable. They have Mr. and Mrs. Claus out front and a super cute elf workshop to the side of the house. All the elves were at their stations working away. (The icing on the bottom right pictures says “Elves enter here —>”) I loved this happy cheerful house!

Team 2: CuteNiece2, CuteNephew, and BigDaddy. With BigDaddy on the team, we knew it was going to be pretty funny. They decided to do TheFirstChild and SweetiePie’s future house. The house where they have a bunch of children. The house that is falling apart. The front door is off of the hinges, the roof is cracking and one of the unruly children has started a fire at one of the corners of the roof. CuteNephew very cleverly carved the burned portion of the roof and then held it over the stove to get the charred look. The other unruly children are climbing on the roof and have crashed the family car into a tree. The created a pretty cute interior too — there’s a beautiful striped carpet and big screen tv (bottom right picture). And, of course, TheFirstChild is parked on the sofa watching that tv.

Team 3: TheManoftheHouse and TheSecondChild. This was the team that started the trend into irreverent houses five years ago when they made a frat house. They decided they should finally clean up their act and make a church. Being an all-male team, they were a little spare on the frosting, but they had some clever touches. We all wanted to know why the people were squished behind the bench. Don’t be silly — they’re kneeling and praying. I love the little bell in the steeple!

Team 4: MyDadLovesMeBestSister and CrazyBIL. CrazyBIL is a physical therapist so they made a model of his clinic. The small touches to their clinic were SO cute. They had workout tools everywhere — I loved the dumbbells and the pile of broken crutches behind the clinic. They also included a parking lot to one side of the clinic, and my very favorite touch, an outdoor yoga class (middle picture) to the other side of the clinic. Their proudest touch was the lighted candle inside — CrazyBIL created an open chimney so that the candle smoke could escape. Unfortunately, after awhile, the gingerbread started to get soft so we had to blow the candle out to avoid a cave-in.

Team5: TheFirstChild and Me. We stumbled around trying to think of something that would have most of it’s contents outside of the house. We finally settled on a tree farm. Which sent TheFirstChild (and the rest of us) into fits of laughter remembering an old high school tree farm joke. So, we iced up the house and planted trees everywhere. Then popped in a few tree-shopping families (one with a candy cane sled).

Great fun again this year! We held our traditional vote. Can you guess the winner?

Team 4’s Physical Therapy Clinic came in third, only lagging by one vote. Then Team 1’s Santa Workshop and Team 5’s Christmas Tree Farm tied for first. So we had a run-off.

Ta-Dah!:

Go Team 5!!! We only beat Team 1 by a vote and I really think their frosting work was superior. Plus, I think we won due to all the memories and laughter this house generated.

So, that’s it for this year. I can’t believe how quickly the year has passed. I probably won’t get back here for a few days so I’d like to wish all of you a Very Happy New Year! Stay Safe and Have Fun!!!

XOXO,
Anna