Silly Goose {Pattern Winners}

And the winners are...

Comment #2: brittany said... Stuffing and Pie! I love that quilt! 

Comment #7: Carly Bradshaw said... adorable quilt! my favorite Thanksgiving food is definitely mashed potatoes, stuffing, and my mom's delicious cornbread! 

Comment #11: Kim said... I think I need to get some Ruby! My favorite Thanksgiving dish is Green Bean Casserole. 

Comment #18: Kristine Hanson said... I love anything with my mom's gravy over it! :) 

Comment #22: miamihoney said... I love the ham- honey sweet goodness :) Thanks for the chance to win! 

Congratulations!  Winners can choose to receive the pattern by mail or PDF download. I will attempt to hunt you down, but if you haven't heard from me, please e-mail me at lellaboutique@gmail.com. Thanks so much for participating, everyone! I heart every single one of your comments and hope your Thanksgiving was grand!

And don't fret if you didn't win...the pattern is available in my shop! 

Simple Patch Stockings

Several months ago, I designed these stockings for Marcus Fabrics using their Provence Flannel collection by Faye Burgos. Isn't the flannel divine? When I first saw it, I thought of Christmas with the March family from Little Women.  That certainly is a nice picture to imagine, don't you think? Oh and that pattern is available for free, just click on the link below!

(Free) Simple Patch Stockings PDF pattern

I love the Provence Flannel. In fact, using it made me realize that flannel is truly the best material to make stockings from.  Not only do they feel nice and soft, but the thickness of the flannel really adds a nice bit of sturdiness and structure to the design.

Silly Goose

Introducing my latest quilt pattern, Silly Goose. Yummy fabric, right?! 

This delicious fabric is "Ruby" by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. I love how the gray neutral fabric really makes those colors pop. It was a joy to stare at all of these prints for hours and hours while I put the quilt together.  It's such a happy palette.

 

I decided that this quilt is terrible birth control. As I am sewing it all together, I am imagining how cute matching crib bumpers would be and wondering if I should be stockpiling fabric for some future child. 

The pattern is available in my shop in a paper or PDF format. The pattern includes detailed instructions and diagrams and is perfect for beginners. Oh and did you notice that the instructions are for multiple sizes?  That's because you will want one for yourself!

*giveaway is closed*

Fabulous Faux Snowballs

I think I should start off with a disclaimer that these snowballs are not actually for sale. Nope, the cute little sign is part of the charm.

This week, I made snowballs and chuckled as I thought of the original batch of fake snowballs my mom made many years ago. They were to be part of a wonderful winter display at the craft store where she was working. She arranged the snowballs in a cute little basket with a similar homemade sign "advertising" them as five cents each. Big mistake. Within hours, a customer snatched them from the display and bought them. My mom was ready to strangle the cashier.

Later, my mom made extra-large snowballs and turned them into ornaments for the designated "kid" Christmas tree at home.  My brothers and I thought they were the coolest ornaments ever! I still love these fabulous faux snowballs and now that I've got my own collection, I can share the "recipe" with you.

Here is a list of basic suppliess: 

• Styrofoam balls 

•  Snow-Tex by DecoArt (regular or glitter)

•  Thin wire and wire cutters

•  A butter knife 

•  Clothesline for drying

I didn't mention specific quantities because it all depends on how many snowballs you want to make, and how big they are.  I bought twenty styrofoam balls in small and medium sizes and ended up using six jars of Snow-Tex to cover them. I hope that helps. The Snow-Tex consistency is similar to ricotta cheese while wet so keep that in mind as you are trying to figure out how much to buy.  You can always buy more if you need to--which is what I ended up doing. Also, Snow-Tex comes in regular or glitter varieties. Just be consistent in whichever kind you buy.

To prep your styrofoam balls, insert a wire through the styrofoam and out the other side about 1". Twist that end into a hook and push it back into the styrofoam.

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On the other side, clip the wire so that it is two or three inches long.

 

Using your knife, scoop a glob of the Snow-Tex onto the styrofoam ball. Spread it around like you would frost a cupcake. You could certainly try to cover the whole styrofoam ball by holding it by the wire, but I found it easiest to actually hold the styrofoam ball and just cover half of it at a time.

Yes, they're a bit messy, but luckily the mess washes out with soap and water :) 

Hang the snowballs to dry onto your clothesline by wrapping the wire around the rope/ribbon/string. (I strung up some old ribbon for a makeshift clothesline.)

 

Let them dry overnight. Resume applying the Snow-Tex to the other half of the styrofoam and hang to dry overnight again.

Then you are ready to do what you want with them! You could twist the wire into a loop and add a ribbon for ornaments. Or you could tie them into a garland or wreath. I snipped the wire off for my basket of snowballs.

To make a charming little sign, see my tutorial at the Therm O Web blog: 

Snowballs for Sale (Sign Tutorial) 

I've shared this tutorial with my favorite link parties!

Partridges and Pears

Yeah, I realize it is early November and my tree is already up...

Blame it all on Florida. You've heard me complain about the darn heat all summer, so my goal has been to bring in some of that delicious ice and snow as soon as humanly possibly. Now that Halloween is out of the way, I'm practically skipping Thanksgiving altogether so I can bask in Christmas glory for a while. 

I've been scheming about the tree for months now but was never really sure how all the elements would all come together.  I wanted my bits of winter, of course, but maybe not exclusively? I thought a lot about other nature-based elements I could incorporate. Birds?  Glistening fruit? Cranberries?

I started with a skinny alpine tree and added three packs of lights. (Three packs isn't nearly enough, but it'll suffice.)

Then I added three cranberry garlands...

and some icy (medium-thickness) silver ribbon...(I would have used a thicker ribbon if my tree wasn't so skinny)...

I started out with ten bunches of these frosty berry bouquets and cut each in half (using floral tape to re-bundle each half). I simply nestled them in the tree, aiming to distribute them out as evenly as possible.

When I saw these snowy little birds, I knew they were destined for my tree. Aren't they sweet? (They're from JoAnn's.)

I also really loved the look of these jeweled pears from Home Goods.

Together, they have put "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in my head. 

Finally, all that was left to do was add the star on top and plug in the lights! 

I must admit that it is a huge relief to have the tree finished already.  I imagine it could be nice to actually relax and enjoy the holidays.  Meh, who am I kidding?  I'm just getting started.

This has been shared at all of my favorite link parties! 

Rustic Holiday Frame

 

I love this time of year as I am reminded of the countless blessings in my life. To say that "my cup runneth over" is the understatement of the year. At last I have been able to incorporate this sentiment into a cute holiday project. It could be cute perched on a shelf or hung by a wire--I haven't decided where it will live quite yet. (I could also see it packed in an adorable holiday gift basket with lots of goodies,) I was able to make it during Olive's afternoon nap today, so it's a fairly quick project.

Rather than use actual chalk, I've used paint to make the letters stand out. 

To make one, you will need:

• Kraft wrapping paper or a brown paper bag 

•  Scissors

•  1 pkg Therm O Web Zots - Clear Adhesive Dots (Jumbo) 

•  One small framed chalkboard 

•  Acrylic paint (I used Americana-brand in "buttermilk") 

•  Skinny paintbrush

•  Ribbon or other seasonal embellishment 

 

Use a pencil to draw leaves of varying sizes onto the kraft paper. The point is for them not to look perfect! I ended up making about one hundred leaves for the entire project.  

After you have drawn enough leaves, cut them out.

Cut the jumbo Zots in half.

 

Press a half-Zot piece onto the frame. 

 

Slightly fold each paper leaf in half (lengthwise) to give it a bit of dimension. Place it onto the frame where the half-Zot adhesive is placed.  Keep adding more leaves and half-Zots until you have worked your way around the frame.

 

Use a pencil to lightly mark your phrase onto the chalkboard. (If necessary, it can be wiped off with a wet cloth.) Use a skinny paint brush and acrylic paint (or a paint pen, if you prefer) to trace over the penciled words.  Let it dry and retrace until the letters are as thick as you desire.  

 

Embellish with small sprigs of cranberries or with a ribbon bow (or anything else you might feel inspired to add). 

I've shared this tutorial at my favorite link parties.