Crafty Christmas

This year was a Christmas filled with crafts! And, this thrilled me to no end!! There is just something wonderful about home-made projects - fun to give and fun to receive...and fun to EAT!
Katey with her Christmas cookie creations. We also did chocolate covered pretzels that Katey decorated with sprinkles and Mike and Uncle Jason worked on a gingerbread house with the kids (I forgot to get pictures).

While we were in Middlebury, Indiana for a wedding (more on that in a later post) Jen picked up a craft called Locker Hook. It uses scrap fabric and a crochet-like hook. After just a couple of hours the trivet project was finished:
I picked up some more base material to do a little rug for the bathroom next!!

Katey got a weaving loom for potholders for Christmas and has already put it to good use:
She is pretty crafty! She also did a bunch of finger-knitting and is getting good at that. Wish I had snapped some shots of her in process, but here is some of the finished project:
Finally, the hand-crafted gifts. I made this out of ribbon and loved the way it turned out.
I have been able to cross stitch since I was young but hadn't done any projects in about a decade. So, I decided to pick it back up and do a piece for Mike's parents. The picture doesn't do the color justice - the matting is a sage green color with dark brown along the inside.
Next come the gifts that were received! Mom Averill is a master quilter and did this lap quilt with matching pillow for Seth. Isn't it beautiful?!?! Seth really likes his special quilt!
And, a couple of years ago, Mom A did a Christmas wall hanging for me. This year she used the leftover pieces and did a pillow to coordinate with it. So very festive!!
Finally, we made a trip to the craft store yesterday to get some knitting needles and yarn. Mike's sister, Joanna, is teaching me and our sister-in-law, Annie, how to knit!! Maybe pictures will follow soon. :-)