I spent Sunday afternoon trying to finish up the cleaning and tidying and organizing of the sewing & craft & stamping & quilting room. (Doesn't that seem like a lot of titles for one room--maybe it should be more than one room....)

I put all of the beads into one big storage container from Plano Molding. Rich gave me four of them that he wasn't using a while ago. He thought they might help me get organized. (He's always thinking of me!) And he was right. I was able to organize most all of my jewelry-making supplies into the three large and two small containers stored inside the big ole box (which is stored underneath the dresser). And the whole containers is ORGANIZED! One small container has jewelry projects that need something or are already ready to be something (all the parts for a pair of earrings, for example), the other small container holds extra clasps, jump rings, head pins, etc., one of the big boxes holds strands of beads, another holds seed beads, and the remaining box holds miscellaneous beads. The only things that don't fit in the box are the flexible beading wires and other stringing materials and the tools. And the lunch-room trays that I use sometimes to organize things while I'm beading. And now, all of it is tucked away.

I also got all of my cross-stitch and embroidery supplies, floss, fabrics, etc. in the drawers of the dresser, so that dresser is full of great craft stuff! Smocking in the bottom drawer, embroidery in the middle, and jewelry in the top!

I was able to get rid of some things, making space to actually put away other things. I was able to clear off the rack and put the quilts on it. The three-drawer plastic container now holds things it should instead of random stuff poorly organized. And I threw away a big bag of stuff that needed to go. I can now navigate the entire length of the room without stepping over anything. The only thing I have to do still is set up the quilting machine. And then, its on to cutting out baby Violet's paper doll quilt, my sister's Stack-n-Whack, and my next quilt, a Storm at Sea. I'll talk more about that in the next few days.

Several years ago (and when I say several, I mean maybe a decade ago), my nephew (now 15) was obsessed with Lego's and Fisher-Price, and his favorite incarnations of these toys were pirates, castles, knights, and dragons. He's also peeled the wallpaper off the walls of his room, which had been his nursery (sorry to air the dirty laundry, sister dear). The room really needed an update. So sister dear stripped the wallpaper and put a basecoat on the walls. And over Christmas break, we got a little nutty and did this.

As for the how we did it.

1. Rent an overhead projector or opaque projector.
2. Find a coloring book with the images you want to use.
3. Make copies of the page on transparency (for an overhead projector).
4. Buy a whole bunch of acrylic paint and brushes. And Sharpies. (Much to my Mom's horror -- "how will you ever cover that up?") Don't forget the pencils.
5. Pop the first image on the wall and determine the right size for the image. (I think ours are about 3 feet tall.) Trace it on the wall with the pencil.
6. Repeat on the other walls with the other images.
7. Paint sections as desired. It's like a coloring book on steroids!
8. Once it's dry, draw outlines and fine lines using a permanent marker.

I did the pirate ship. My sister and brother-in-law did the castle. Since we started at 8pm, my nephew was supposed to be sleeping in the other room. But every once in a while, as we discussed what color certain things should be, we'd hear this little voice reminding us that the knights should be red and black, the banners should be different colors, etc. So finally, since he wasn't sleeping, we brought him in to act as color consultant.

I ran across these photos the other day in my organizing binge. The photo I'm missing is the one of the dragonslaying. They're still on the walls of his bedroom, mostly covered up with posters and furniture now. At some point, we'll have to paint over them, I know. And I'm okay with that. This was a very fun project to do, with a lot of laughter, though not at all as artistic as real mural painting. But it's a great way to add fun artwork to a child's room.

Since my fireplace isn't actually a working fireplace, I'm able to take advantage of the hearth and firebox for my Christmas decorating needs. I have these larger decorations, some homemade, some gifts, so I stack some wrapped boxes to stage them at proper heights and arrange them in the firebox area. I failed to take out the candlestand that is usually in there, and the large glass vases, so that's what you see poking up in the back. But now that you've seen the mantel, I thought you might like to see what was below it.

This is one of the first Christmas decorations I made for my house when I first moved out on my own. It couldn't be any easier. One basket, a block of Styrofoam, a bunch of boughs, pine cones, and flowers, and four candles. I left a space in the middle of it and have swapped out the center decoration over the years. It's been a small teddy bear, a large candle, this Santa candleholder, and several other things. I've had it since Christmas 1989, so it's had a lot of incarnations, and I've gone through several red and green tapers. Yes, I know better than to burn them when they're this close to the decorations--it's time to put new ones in for sure. It doesn't get lit very often, but occasionally, on Christmas eve, or for holiday dinners with friends, I'll light the tapers for mood lighting.

Since the center item can be swapped out, I can put something shiny in the middle and use gold or silver tapers for New Years. A little sticky wax holds the candles in place when I swap them out, but I put it a pretty deep hole for the candles, so it's still safe.

I wrapped presents Friday night. At that point, I thought I was about 75% done with wrapping. Boy, was I wrong! Tonight, I sat down and did the rest of the wrapping and I think I'm actually done now. But I had two presents yet to make, so after the wrapping was complete, I sat down to make two sets of wine charms (which have since been put it no-need-to-wrap cute little boxes).

I'd ordered the charms MONTHS ago from Oriental Trading Co.--this summer, perhaps--and had divided them into two sets, one for my sister and one for my dear friend, since a party at her house triggered this whole project. At her birthday party in March, I realized she didn't have a set of wine charms (mostly because several guests asked) and she expressed a desire to have a set. So when I saw these two sets of charms: a beach theme and a travel theme (which I can't seem to find on their site), they seemed perfect for her AND for my sister. Both gals are definite travel buffs, but they also both really enjoy the sand between their toes. So tonight, Dec. 21, I finally got them made.

As you can probably tell from the photos, I used two different sizes of wire rings. Since I have both fine-stemmed and wide-stemmed stemware (so to speak), I figured having options was a good idea. And with such fun charms, they might decide to use the charms on margarita glasses or around the handles of coffee mugs or whatever.

I love to make personalized wine charms as gifts. I have a couple of sets I made for myself--one set showcases state-shaped charms of all of the states where I've lived along with a few extra charms. Another set was made with shrink plastic--I think this is a VERY fun idea for a small party of creative people, just precut the plastic into tag shapes (I used a die-cutting machine), have your guests draw a design and add his/her name, and then, the best entertainment of all, watching them shrink in the oven.

So I did it. I actually made a Christmas present--two, as it turns out! Just hope neither of them reads this before Christmas.....

Second, a piece from WAY back--1991 or 1992. I designed the cross-stitched circles for this tree while I worked at McCall's Needlework and Crafts. I created it for another special issue--a Christmas one, though I can't remember which one right now. We did several while I was there--a Christmas cross-stitch, a quick-and-easy Christmas cross-stitch, and a Holiday issue that covered all of the holidays if I remember right. In any case, it hangs on my front door for two reasons--first, because it's large and makes an impact and second, (much more practical) because it's flatter than any wreath I have so the storm door closes (which it wouldn't do with a wreath hanging on the inner door). I'm not the greatest artist so my ex-husband helped me make the characters better looking. As I look at it now, these aren't the greatest characters, even with his help, but I still love it and it still makes me smile. I hope it makes the mailman smile, because he has to look at it every day.

All of the sudden I've had a realization that A) I haven't made a single Christmas gift this year and B) I haven't hardly written a single post that has anything to do about Christmas. Yikes! What's going on? In my own defense, the tree is up and lit, but not decorated, so I haven't been lollygagging or anything. But it's just been a nutty fall and winter, so it's December 17 and I'm just now actually writing my list to see where I am in the gift-buying process.

So to show you that I haven't totally lost my Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share a picture of some of my decorations. And over the next few days up until Christmas, I'll share more photos of the decorations, homemade and otherwise, that make my home feel like Christmas-ville.

First, the mantel. It's the most decorated thing in the house. The gingerbread house is the centerpiece this year. Behind it is a wreath that contains some very special ornaments. They were from my great Aunt and Uncle's estate and I feel honored to have them displayed in my home. I didn't want them to get lost among the others on the tree, so I put them on this with netted gold ribbon, which seems appropriate for the vintage ornaments. The needlepoint stockings on the mantel are purchased, but the stockings on the wall were made for Michaels Create! magazine. Okay, actually, the stockings were purchased, but I made the cuffs by weaving ribbon and using fusible webbing to hold it all in place. I still love them. On that mantel are pieces from both of my grandmothers, my Mom, my former mother in law, my friends Janet, Lisa, Joyce, and so many more. There are so many great memories--memories of Christmases past, of friendship and families, and so much more.

So tell me about your decorations? What did you make this year? What pieces hold special memories for you? Let me live vicariously through your creativity!

My cousin Jill, the one I made the one-and-only wedding quilt for, has a gingerbread house party every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Some years, I get to attend. Other years, I miss it because I'm not in town. But she loves having this party, and it's a great arrangement, actually. A company called BBC Hollydays, based in the Chicagoland area, comes to the house, brings everything--the walls and roof, the bag of frosting, the base and box to take it home on, and a WHOLE BUNCH of candy and stuff to use to decorate. The whole package costs $30, but having made gingerbread houses from scratch and buying all the bags of stuff to decorate with, I know it's a bargain.

The son of the owners was our demonstrator and this guy works magic with a knife, gum drops, and Tootsie Rolls! My cousin's sons wanted to put dogs in the backyard of their house, and he made them three dogs, spots and all, out of two colors of Tootsie Rolls. Seriously, talk about talent! In fact, he made the tree in the backyard of my house out of jelly mint leaves.

(To view the image closer up, just click it and then click it again and it will enlarge in the new window.) To give you a tour, as you can see, flattened caramels were used for the windows, though I think I'm going to bring some of those gridded pretzels next year so I don't have to break pretzels to do panes. My reward for remembering to bring my box and base back from previous parties was the wreath on the door. I added pretzels as timbers for my Tyrolian-look house, though next time maybe I'll bring bigger pretzel logs.

Mints were used for the sidewalk and roof, with M&Ms filling in the gaps on the sidewalk. Since the gingerbread is dehydrated, you shouldn't really cover the whole surface with icing or it will rehydrate and get soggy and crumble, so there's gingerbread showing through on the roof, but that's okay.

And finally, I had to share my snowman. I thought I'd done pretty well with him, but my friend, coworker, and fellow Chicagoland native Cathy mentioned that he looked a bit like "Son of Svengoolie" circa 1980s 1990s from Chicago TV (and Milwaukee and South Bend, IN, according to wikipedia). And she's right. He does. It's the top hat and the quarter-M&M eyes. Next year, I'll remember the marshmallows.

I had the house at the office for a few days. The main prankster involved with last year's Santa Spud foolishness was eyeing it, so I got a little nervous and brought it home. As I took these pictures, he actually commented that he'd been brainstorming such a prank, so I think I rescued it just in time.

So there it is, a few hours spent being creative Thanksgiving weekend. My cousin and her friends are a lot of fun, so it's a good time even if your house collapses (which seldom happens, from what I hear). And I have the first of my Christmas decorations on display!

What a great Thanksgiving weekend! Visits with friends and family, doing a little surfing on the web, and, of course, doing a lot of the cooking. I found a new site this week: FaveCrafts.com and their blog: FaveCraftsBlog.com.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See a necklace and bracelet made from the same Blue Moon Beads pendant with a how-to video with me.

The Artful Crafter
Whatever the holiday, make cute pop-up place cards to organize the dinner table and delight guests of all ages.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy is making her first crocheted hat for herself. Now, hopefully it will be done by the time it gets cold down South!

Cross Stitch at About.com
The 2009 Holiday Ornament Collection is ready! Whip up some super quick back stitch ornies or cross stitch some more colorful ones.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge is ready for Christmas so bring it on! Check out this retrolicious frame she designed for iLoveToCreate

Mixed Media Artist
Mixed media artist Nicolette Anderson shares her lovely work!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got yummy pumpkin cookie and biscuit recipes, an inside peek into Bead Quilled Jewelry, eco friendly recipes for casein glue and an all-purpose cleaner, and starting Monday- The 19 Days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways starts, answer each day's question and you are entered to win a free book every day!

Aileen's Musings
Aileen invites you to join a creative challenge with her called the Erosion Bundle Project. Take a peek at her pictures and find out exactly what erosion bundles are!

About Family Crafts
Does your family have any creative Thanksgiving traditions. You can read about other people's Thanksgiving traditions and then share your own.

And here on Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style, I blogged about how creativity can prosper even in dark times.