Before and After Christmas Organization

Here are a few "before" and "after" pictures of my 2015 Christmas Organization/Declutter session.  As you can see in these "before" pictures, it was pretty messy.  Lots of cardboard boxes and lots of plastic totes that I wasn't even sure of the contents. 

In the "after" pictures, you will probably think it doesn't look much different!  But, I got rid of the cardboard boxes and lots of junk.  I now know what's in the boxes and only kept the "good" stuff.  I have to admit that after I put the boxes of stuff in the car that I was going to donate, I had second thoughts and went back and retrieved some of it.  Why does "stuff" have such a hold on me?  I don't know.  But I am proud of what I accomplished anyway.

I also organized my wrapping supplies that didn't include Christmas.  Now all the gift bags that I am reusing, ribbons and wrapping paper are all together in an easily accessible place.

Here's a list of some of the things I got rid of:

1.  Ugly, ragged gift bags
2.  Pieces of left over wrapping paper, some was wrinkled.
3.  Left over tissue paper that was VERY wrinkled and messy looking
4.  Mashed bows
5.  Several pairs of new with tags Christmas socks from the Dollar store.  I had planned to make some kind of craft with these, but it never happened.
6.  Broken, ugly ornaments that had no sentimental value
7.  Candles and plug in type fragrance things that I didn't use or like
8.  Boxes.  Had too many of those saved for future use.  I can only use so many!
9.  Christmas lights that don't work any more.
10.  Old, faded Christmas dish towels or some that I don't like. I bought some new ones this year.
11.  Polyester Cloth napkins that I didn't like and never used.

One thing I did that I am so happy to have done:  Instead of all the ornaments being pretty much thrown into one big plastic tote, I organized them into categories.  Each of my children's childhood ornaments are now in a smaller box by themselves.  The ornaments that go on a particular tree are in individual containers or zip lock bags.  Next year it will be so much easier to decorate for Christmas.

Its also nice to have things in smaller plastic containers by themselves.  For instance, if I want to make a Christmas wreath next year, I can just pull out the box with the ribbons, etc in it.  If I want to get out the Christmas dishtowels, pot holders, runners, napkins, mugs and coasters , they are in a plastic container by themselves.

I'm also glad that my wrapping supplies are not so messy!  

This closet is not a big one, but its perfect for storing our Christmas stuff.!

Christmas Sewing - Co-worker Bag Number Two

I'm in the process of making three quilted tote bags for my co-workers for Christmas gifts. Here's number 2. She likes doughnuts a lot! She knows where the best doughnuts can be bought and if a church member comes by the office selling doughnuts for a fundraiser.... she always buys them. So when I saw this fabric in a bag of gifted fabric, I knew I would make something for my doughnut friend.

Here are two of the bags.  The first one was for the chocolate lover!

 

I've made so many bags using my REUSABLE FABRIC GROCERY BAG TUTORIAL, that there is no telling how many.  Years ago, I made a fabric pattern that I use over and over that does not require any pinning. 

 

1/2 yard of fabric is enough for the bag and the handles.

 

 

I've already finished the third bag, which is made from NC State fabric, but haven't taken any pictures yet.  I'll show it soon.

Christmas Stocking Number 2

I finished Walt's stocking this morning! I love the country, homespun look of it. Some small rusty bells or other rustic embellishment would be cute hanging from the bottom of the cuff. I will be on the look out for something when the Christmas decorations are put out in the stores.
 

Here's Eli's from an earlier post this week. I plan to look for tiny snow flake ornaments to hang from the bottom of the cuff for a little more embellishment, aka, bling. :o)

What a blessing to have 3 grandsons this year.

Also, what a blessing it will be to already have these made and not to be trying to make them at the last minute!

Planning for Christmas 2013 - Christmas Stockings

I woke up during the night last night and realized that we need two new Christmas stockings for the two new grandsons that were born this year!!! I have a tutorial that I wrote a few years ago that I pulled up HERE.

I have lots of printed Christmas fabric, but didn't want that look for some reason.  Most of it seemed too "busy" with all the snowmen, Santas, reindeer, etc.  So, this is what I came up with for Eli. I used some snowflake flannel fabric bought on clearance a couple of years ago and recycled denim for the cuff.   Total cost, less than 50 cents!

For Walt's stocking I am using some red and green homespun with a tan corduroy cuff.  I'll show you it when I get it done.

Have a wonderful day!

Handmade Christmas Gifts in 2011

AND..........



A GREAT JOINT VENTURE!

Every year I "plan" to sew some Christmas presents and every year I end up with ... not much done.

This year I'm hoping that I will be inspired by the Sewn With Grace Blog and the Handmade by Heidi Blog to make at least one gift each month all year.

The third Monday of each Month, Sewn with Grace will feature a different Christmas gift idea.

I think a great idea would be if I dedicated my "Friday Night Sew In" projects to Christmas, 2011!

This is just one more way to be consistent in 2011.

Frugal Christmas Wreaths

I recently posted about how I recover pillows to fit each season. Another way I use what I have on hand through all the seasons is to redecorate these grapevine wreaths. I made them years ago and they have taken on many different looks and have been hung in several different parts of our home. My mother has grape vines, so I was able to get the vines from her. If you don't have access to grape vines, the ready made wreaths aren't too expensive, considering that you can use them over and over.

This one is hanging on one side of the mantel and book cases that run the entire length of one wall in our living room. I used floral/pine cone picks purchased at a local discount store that cost 2 for $1.00. The "wish" star thingie was found on clearance for $3.50. The neat thing is that I can pull these decorations off the wreath and store them until next year. Then after Christmas, probably as Spring approaches, I could redecorate the wreath with another look. Or I can just store it as it is to be used again and again.



Here's another larger one using larger floral pics and this twiggy primitive looking snowman, purchased at Dollar General. A little secret is that I used bread twist ties to hold him on securely. They are orange, blue, white and green, but they don't show on the front of the wreath. It hangs on the front door.



That snowman is almost a little scary, but I like him!

Melissa, Doug and Swagbucks

A great Christmas frugal hint for NEXT YEAR is to use Swagbucks as your search engine and earn Amazon gift cards. I earned $40.00 during 2010, without really spending a lot of time or trying to work the system. I'm sure that's much less than many people earned, but it was so nice to be able to order my grandson some Christmas presents on Amazon at no cost, using the gift cards.

On Friday Amazon had a good sale on Melissa and Doug toys. Since my youngest child is now 23 (I think I'll swoon), I have never heard of Melissa and Doug toys. But after looking at the selection on Amazon, I decided these toys would be a nice departure from the standard toys found in the toy department at your neighborhood superstore. They are made from quality materials, are educational and just plain old different than most toys for sale nowadays.

But, as a final note, I did a quick search on Wikipedia to check out the Melissa and Doug Company, and was saddened to find out that while this company is an American company founded in the owners' basement in 1988 and the toys started out being manufactured in America, NOW the toys are manufactured in China. In 2006, the Melissa and Doug company had only 200 employees in America and 1000 employees in China. What does one do? Its nearly impossible to buy our children and grandchildren any toys that are American made.

In the Sewing Room This Morning

Well.... Jeopardy won out last night, but I was up early this morning and worked on 4 more Christmas napkins. Here's one that I completed. The other three will only take a few minutes to finish.



After hearing me complain about having to stop and fill bobbins all the time, my hubby bought me this for our anniversary. It will also come in handy because recently my sewing machine's bobbin winder wanted to act up!



Can you believe this huge tote is completely full of just Christmas fabrics?



My sewing chair was beginning to scratch the hard wood floors in here, so I picked up a rug at Dollar General.



Happy Friday to all of you!

Cloth Napkins, but no Jeopardy...

After work last night I summoned up enough energy to visit the sewing room and made another table runner and 4 napkins. I'd like to have a dozen napkins, so I should make four more a night for the next 2 nights.

As I've said in the past, if I just get started, I can get some things done at night. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If a body lays down on the couch to watch Jeopardy with hubby, the body tends to STOP!

A Fussy Cut Mug Rug

I always called them coasters, but nowadays they are sometimes called mug rugs. But maybe mug rugs are technically little quilts with a binding and everything, so maybe this is really just a plain old coaster.

Anyway, as part of my simple farmhouse Christmas, I am making coasters and napkins this week using some Debbie Mumm rustic looking fabric.

Just cut your squares the size you want. Mine are about 6 inches. You need a top fabric, scrap of quilt batting and a bottom fabric.



This is the first one that I whipped up and the corners are a little wonky, but I hope to do better on the rest of them. My old sewing machine doesn't want to do those corners, but with practice I can improve.



I hope to show you some more coasters/mug rugs and the napkins later this week.

Haul out the.... dishcloths

One simple thing I enjoy each year at Christmas is using my supply of Christmas dish towels, pot holders and oven mitts. Over the years I have received them as gifts and bought some myself. As you can see I have a drawer full of them. I just switched out my regular dish towels and pot holders with the Christmas ones. A Christmassy touch that takes about 5 minutes.

Monday's Simple Christmas Idea

As I've gotten older and my children have grown up, I have less desire to spend a lot of time doing Christmas decorating. I love the decorations, but its a lot of work, especially when its time to take it down.

So as part of my simple farmhouse Christmas this year, I want to simplify decorating. I have been thinking about what kind of things I want to use and what can be left in the box in storage. I will definitely put out some Nativity scenes that I have collected over the years, because they depict the real meaning of Christmas.

Do you have some out of season pillows laying around? I do! I have Fall themed pillows that will go into a box until a later time.... unless.... I can figure out how to incorporate them into my simple Christmas theme.

A no-sew option would be to simply turn the pillows over. If you check some of yours, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that they are a solid red, green, gold or beige/cream color. If so, just flip them.

I flip this "sister" pillow during Christmas every year. Here's the front:



And here's the back, a perfect Christmas green.



Also, with a minimum of sewing skills you can make removable pillow covers to use through the holiday season. After Christmas, just take them off, fold them up and store them until next year. There is a simple tutorial for one way to make a removable cover listed under "Tutorials" on the left side bar of my blog, or just cover the pillow the traditional way and after Christmas, carefully remove enough stitches to remove the cover from the pillow.

Measuring:



Covered:



The back with an envelope opening:



Two covered pillows:



The insides of the smaller one:



I am incorporating a few touches of Christmas into the farmhouse and haven't even opened a box of Christmas decorations yet.

Simple Farmhouse Christmas Plans and Organization

Christmas Table Runners:



I recently purchased a kit for making an easy and quick table runner. It was so simple that I made another one.

Also, now that Thanksgiving, 2010 is a memory, my efforts have turned to getting organized and preparing my home for Winter. This means that I am organizing my personal life, homemaking and Christmas plans

I pulled out my organizer/notebook and updated it by purchasing a few items from the Dollar Store. Some folders with pockets, a pretty composition book, a shopping/to-do-list pad, a zipper pouch and a 2011 calendar.

The folders with pockets will be used for organizing bills to be paid. I like to budget and organize bills by the week. I find that certain bills are due each of the 4 weeks of each month. I have a list of the bills that should be paid each week in each folder. When a bill comes in I put the part that gets mailed along with its envelope in the appropriate folder. If the bill is drafted or paid on line, the list helps me to make sure the amount is written down in the checkbook.

One pocket folder will be used for Christmas receipts, shopping lists and to do lists. Each year I list all the people on my shopping list, items purchased with the cost, and if its been wrapped. I also like to write down a plan for our Christmas menu and to do lists for things like decorating and handmade gifts.

My organizer/notebook also contains menu ideas, a grocery shopping list, phone numbers and addresses.

First thing this morning I made a list of things I wanted to do today in the composition book. I would say I finished 75% of the things on the list. Completed items included: finishing laundry, including putting it away; deep cleaning and decluttering the living room in preparation for Christmas, vacuuming all the floors, cleaning out the shade garden, watering houseplants, cleaning bathrooms.

I plan to keep Christmas decorating very simple this year. I want to use some handmade things such as the table runners shown above, pillows, wall hangings, holiday themed napkins and coasters.




Well, that's what's going on at the farmhouse this week. I hope to post pictures of some more simple handmade Christmas items this week.

First Day of Summer....Christmas Gift Ideas

This is my grandson enjoying Grandma's bench on a recent hot day.

I hope you are having a great first day of summer! Shucks, its felt like summer here for about 6 weeks! This week is forecast to be a scorcher from beginning to end.

So now that the year is almost half over, what do you think that means? It means it will soon be Fall again! It also means that if I am going to hand make any Christmas gifts, I'd better get to it! I am committed to having some gifts made before the last minute this year!

With that being said, I also like to work inside on sewing or other crafts when it gets as hot as it is here this week (upper 90s and above).

Here are some ideas that I have for Christmas gifts.

1. A pillow case made in fabric that the recipient would like along with a new pillow. HERE is one I recently made for my son in camo fabric.

2. Another play mat for my grandson in a different theme, such as jungle, farm or cars and trucks. HERE is the Thomas the Train play mat I made for him last week.

3. A small throw size quilt, perhaps a quillow (magic pillow). If you don't know what these are, they are quilts with a pocket sewn on one end. You then fold the quilt in such a way that it fits inside the pocket. They are great to put on your couch or for a child to take to a sleepover or for nap time away from home. It can be used as a pillow or a quilt.

4. Tote bags. Both for adults or special ones for kids. My grandson would love one in fabric featuring one of his favorite characters.

5. A crayon Roll for my grandson.

6. I made new Christmas Stockings for all my family members last year, but there are other people on my list that I could make one for and then use the stocking to hold their gift, such as a food item. HERE is a tutorial for the stockings I made last year. Feel free to use the tutorial to start making them for your family.

7. Fabric bags made especially for holding food gift items. After Christmas the recipient could use it as a reusable fabric grocery bag. I have some kitchen themed fabric that would be cute for this. HERE is a tutorial I posted for these as well.

8. Rice filled neck pillows. These could be microwaved and then would soothe the neck, shoulders, back or knees. I love THIS ONE.

Those are all the ideas I have for now. As I think of more ideas and make some of these gifts I'll update you.

I'm really getting into the Christmas gift making spirit! If you have any ideas let me know. Is there something you wish someone would hand make for you?

Merry Christmas!

I'll leave you with one last picture of a Christmas Stocking I made last night. This one is for the Appalachian State graduate and fan.

I only have one more stocking to make and that will get done today, I'm pretty sure. Whew!!! I made it.

I hope that each and everyone of you have a wonderful Christmas! I'll be posting again next Monday, the 28th. See you then.

Two More to Go!!!

I made the flannel Camouflage Stocking for my son last night. So, I hope to make one more stocking tonight (Appalachian State) and the last one tomorrow night (Spiderman).

I have purchased some old-fashioned candies for the stockings, but need to think of some other inexpensive items.

Happy Tuesday!