one shabby chick

Fun couple of days

The weekend was fun - busy, but fun.

The wedding was beautiful and my brother and sister-in-law got a full dose of life with kids (they had to pull over on the side of the road for a potty break - ha ha!).

Monday night we went bowling with our cheesy Christmas sweaters......

and then Tuesday I met some friends at the ice skating rink (I had an eye appointment and took Baby Girl with me - my friends took the other three earlier). Baby Girl has this movie and has asked me forever for ice skates so I think she thought she'd be a natural - twirling around like nothing. So when she got the ice skates on and got out on the ice, she was a little disappointed to find out she couldn't skate at all..It was pretty funny.. She managed ok with the little walkers and even went around the big rink once holding my hand (I had to make sure I didn't fall over either - I hadn't been ice skating in a looong time!)

 

Did some baking yesterday -

marshmallows...

 

(overcooked the sugar on the first batch - guess we have to keep them all!)

This yummy candy - which tastes just like a skor bar..I used Wheat Thins so I guess any cracker works..

 

yummy cookies (which I saw on this blog)....

and chocolate-chip pumpkin spice bars (which I am eating right now for breakfast)...

(this is pre-baking and frosting - very yummy!)

In a bit we are off to help set-up for our church's annual Christmas Eve service - We have a huge white tent outside at church and set it up to look like "Bethlehem Village" - there's a bakery, craft shops, candle maker, all kinds of different shops that might have been around 2,000 years ago. We all dress up in costumes and at the end of the evening we have a short service. It's perfect for the kids!

Sometimes it is rough living in Hawaii...

Like running out of Christmas trees since we can't just go out to a farm and pick one...

It's been big news this week.

Luckily I picked one up a few weeks ago...

Finished project - just can't share it....

Finished the Christmas present for my sister - who I should probably tell not to read my blog until after Christmas...

I'll just share a sneak peek...

 

The cookie party was fun - of course we had too much food and cookies...

 

and I forgot to take pictures until the very end and people had already left...

 

We had lots of fun - my sister-in-law (who is not a baker/cook and had told me she burnt half her cookies) actually won the "prettiest" cookie prize - they were pretty but of course I didn't take a picture!

(desserts which we didn't even eat - I had to force people to eat samples of the cookies to vote..we were all too full!)

(my cookies)

Tonight we are off to a "white attire" Christmas party (sans kids!) - Hubby doesn't have anything white except a t-shirt and I have two white tops and that's it - hope it's not a "strict" dress-code..and I need to get a new cell phone before the party too since mine died yesterday and it's my only phone!

Tomorrow we have a wedding in the afternoon and I think Sunday will be spend resting....I have a couple gifts left to get and some small ones to make - hope everyone has a great weekend!

We are the pirates who don't do anything

If you have never seen this movie - then you probably don't know what I'm talking about - but apparently I'm liking the vegetable movies lately...

Whenever I think of pirates, I think of those little guys - sitting in their boat - singing about "piratey" things.

My little guy has been asking me to make him a eye patch for a while now...it was always at a time when I wasn't sewing or I just forgot (which is horrible - I know) so finally yesterday I was determined to make it for him.

I guess he's been watching this movie and loved the eye patch. It had to be green - he picked out the fabric. I had a little mishap and the first one got thrown away - my brain just wasn't functioning and I had made it so it was impossible to turn inside out...but the next one got a seal of approval from the little pirate - and of course Baby Girl needed one too after seeing her brother's...

I'm making these today for our annual Cookie Exchange party. We usually have it at my house but it's pretty crowded cozy so my friend offered her beautiful, spacious home so we are having it there instead. I'll try and remember to take my camera and snap some pictures. It's basically a girls' night out - with cookies. And I always have a few prizes (an apron and tote bag) for the tastiest and prettiest cookie.

Have any of you gotten the new voile by Anna Maria Horner? It's amazing...I'm trying to figure out a dress I can make for the girls for Christmas - it will drape so beautifully - for some reason I was thinking it was going to be like Heather's Far, Far Away but it's nothing like it at all - almost has a silk feel to it..

And I also got some Hope Valley in the mail - have already cut into it for a Christmas gift....

Oh and I almost forgot - made these for Christmas gifts for a few friends...inside is a gift card to Starbucks - I used this tutorial - really great and fast to sew up!

Oh Santa

Oh Santa, I can't wait for you to come...I just can't wait for you to come cause I've got cookies...some yummy cookies....

And when you come - do you think you could bring me....

Some Nicey Jane....

 

a little thread....

 

and maybe even a box full of charm squares?

Thanks Santa!

(not sure if anyone has ever seen this but that's where the Santa song is from...I love it!)

what I've been up to

My sister-in-law ordered some aprons for Christmas.....

(she ordered them for her "dog show" friends so I used some doggie fabric for the pockets)

and a tote bag too...

A friend of hers (yes, she's giving me lots of business) called today and wanted to see if I could make some mini crayon rolls (for only 4 crayons). I was just finishing up the aprons so I said sure....

and managed to finish them today - 25 of them :-)

   

They were fun to make and I had a good audiobook to listen to.

Planning on doing a bit of Christmas shopping tomorrow - hopefully....I have no idea what to get for my 12 year old....or my brother.

Christmas Parade

We are all getting ready for the annual parade...

the two oldest kids are walking with Hubby and their soccer teams....

The other two will be watching from the sidelines with me. It's nice and sunny this year - last year there was a thunderstorm during the parade - I kept worrying someone was going to be struck by lightening!

Been a busy week on the North Shore - big surf contest, another surf contest, lots of traffic and now the parade - fun times!

Glee

I just had to share these - I dare you to watch them and not feel happy afterward. Best show ever! I watched the season finale of Glee and Top Chef while folding the mountain of clothes - I'm in the best mood now!

Bullet points

• The kids are back - they had a blast!

 

  

• BIG waves are here - and tomorrow night is our church's Christmas dinner here...which is right smack in the middle of this contest (if they are having it). The traffic is insane so I may have to leave a bit earlier than I had planned.

• Made up some aprons with Heather Bailey's new line - I love this fabric - the prints are just so cute!

• I'll do another post with more NY pics - just been busy with life :-)

(isn't that the cutest ornament? My sister got it for me at K-Mart) 

• Finally got our Christmas tree today - we went to Home Depot last night but they were all sold out (they got some more today)...it will have to wait until Wed. to get decorated though...got to finish up a few more things for the craft fair tomorrow.

Grosgrain giveaway

This is such a great one too - I love vinyl wall decals - and she's giving away a gift certificate on her blog - go check it out!