Monday, December 31, 2018

that's a wrap

The end of another year is upon us...
 
 
It's always hard to comprehend that time can go so quickly.
 
We have been getting lots of snow here again in South Dakota.
If you know me you know that I love winters here.
Just tuck me in front of a fireplace with a cup of tea, a book
 and some handwork and I am one happy woman.
 
Happy New Year friends!
 
~b
 


Friday, December 28, 2018

Friday post card

 
Oh what fun it is to ride...
12 inches of new snow!
 
~b


Monday, December 24, 2018

Come on in

A Christmas open house...





Merry Christmas
from our house to yours...

~ b




Friday, December 21, 2018

Thursday, December 20, 2018

5 days

Santa has been super busy here...
all the little details on this doll house furniture he made.

 
(I better get some quilts made for these beds.)
 
 
Keep in mind that Mrs. Claus likes to keep Santa busy in his workshop.
 
 
Some might suggest she likes to keep him out of the house?
But that's simply not true!
 
~b
 


Tuesday, December 18, 2018

playing doctor

When our youngest granddaughters aren't playing chefs...
they like to be doctors.
 
 
I made them each a doctor's jacket for Christmas
These aren't the first ones I've made...
We had another Doc McStuffins fan a few years ago.
 
 
We are almost finished making and ready to concentrate on a menu.
 
~b
 
 


Monday, December 17, 2018

Santa's workshop

These toy trays came out of Santa's workshop last week.
They are just as cute as can be.
 
 
I downloaded the menus from the internet
 and glued them to the bottom of each tray.
 
 
Our two youngest granddaughters love playing with the kitchen set
their parents made them a few years ago.
These waitress trays will be a fun addition.
 
 
The two-year-old likes to steal her sister's apron
so grandma decided she needed her own and made her one.
 
~b
 

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

wee bear

I feel like this wee bear should come with a warning...
Do Not Attempt this at home!
 
 
He stands 5 inches tall with 11 total tiny parts
 to cut and piece together.
He didn't take all that long to make
 but making another one will be debatable.
 
He is pretty cute though isn't he?
 
~b


Monday, December 10, 2018

slow down please

I'm beginning to feel the crunch of Christmas...
checking the calendar everyday to make sure I can get everything done in time.
Why does it have to come so fast?


Dakota Man finished this sweet firetruck but I can't bear to part with it.
I think it's a keeper. How's your Christmas going?

~b

Friday, December 7, 2018

Friday post card

 
Winter in the Black Hills  of South Dakota is always beautiful.
Loving that red caboose.
 
~b


Thursday, December 6, 2018

Scandinavia

Mr. b finished my Christmas/winter barn quilt.
I think it looks like a Christmas ornament.
 
 
Does this picture look a little Scandinavian?
I love this pixie I made years ago
 and have been contemplating making another one.
Anyway...
nice job on the barn quilt Mr. b.
 
~b


Tuesday, December 4, 2018

quick and cute!

No sewing skills?
Because anyone can make these holiday mug rugs.
You will need a sewing machine however.
 
 
I used a 5" charm pack called postcards
so I didn't even have to cut squares.
I think each coaster took me 5 minutes to fold and sew...
20 minutes tops for the whole project.
I love a quick project that is also cute don't you?
Instructions can be found on Pinterest...
Holiday Mug Rug tutorial - quick and cute!
 
 
Make a friend a set, throw in a tin of tea
and you have a nice gift.
 
~b
 


Monday, December 3, 2018

December embroidery

 
I don't know if I like redwork embroidery so well
 because it's easy or because of it's vintage appeal.
 
Redwork embroidery was popular in the 1800s
as red was the only dye that was colorfast, hence its popularity.
 Different colors came into use as the dying process improved.
 
 
Daughter knit and pearl embroidered this flour sack towel
for me while we were in Hill City,SD
to remember the 1880 train ride we all enjoyed together.
 
~b
 
 

Friday, November 30, 2018

Friday post card


 
I watched Polar Express last night...
so cute.
 
~b

Thursday, November 29, 2018

What's going on?

 
Jalapeno cheddar dutch oven crusty bread...
recipe found on pinterest and it's very good.
Oh, and super simple.
I'm serving it with chili tonight.
 
 
I finished another purse organizer.
You can't just make one you know.
 
 
I have a whole lot of knitting to get done before Dec. 25.
I have just barely begun this project and am already wearing a wrist brace.
Yikes, gotta go. Bye!
 
~b

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

top secret

It's the time of year where a lot of the projects
 we are working on have to stay
 in Santa's workshop and under wraps.
 
 
I'm almost done with decorating the house...
I will spend the next 27 days tweaking, moving, redoing
or undoing what I have done.
Anyone else like that?
 
~b


 
 


Monday, November 26, 2018

make-do

Usually for me Christmas is all about making-do
 with what I have when it comes to decorating.
I wanted to replace this 3-foot tree but decided to instead see what I could do with it.
I had Dakota Man make a wooden box to put it in...
(why do the bases always have to be so ugly?) and I stenciled it.
 Have you ever priced  wooden boxes!?
 
 
We spray painted the tree hoping to camouflage
 the awful-not-anything-like-real color of it.
 
 
I put old and sentimental ornaments on it
 as I like to theme our large tree.
Yup...I'm very happy with it.
(But I may go back and rearrange some of those ornaments.)
 
~b


Saturday, November 24, 2018

inspiring

This post is all about getting you inspired to do your Christmas decorating.
 
 
How many trees do you put up?
 
 
We took Friday off and headed to the nearest Hobby Lobby
 in Pierre which is an hour and a half from home.


Pierre is also the city of the South Dakota Capitol.
We have a beautiful statehouse but at Christmas time it is
a winter wonderland.
 

 

 
I came home inspired...
 
~b


 


Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Thanks

 
This is exactly what we are doing for our Thanksgiving
...eating beef.
 
Have a thankful day.
 
A am grateful for all of you that check out my little blog
 to see what is going on in my corner of this big world.

~b


Tuesday, November 20, 2018

toys

Dakota Man has been spending some quality time
 in his workshop already this season.
 
 
He was inspired to make these small planes
 from ones he saw while in Kellogg, Minnesota at Lark Toys.
 
 Lark Toys is about the most fun toy store I have ever been in.
 
 
 
This moose is part of carousel.
The troll is to be the first of many
 that will eventually be displayed with it in the toy store.
 
~b
 
 


Monday, November 19, 2018

Russian tea

I found some old Tang in the top of my cupboard the other day
 which prompted me to dig out my recipe for Russian tea. 


 
I picked up my Russian tea drinking habit years ago
while living in Iowa.
Some people call it friendship tea.
 
I do have some interesting Russian-Germans
 on my family tree so I will stick with Russian tea.

 
Russian Tea
2 cups Tang
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup instant tea
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
 
I will swear to this day that Iowans have the best recipes.
 
~b

Friday, November 16, 2018

Friday post card

 
Daughter knit and pearl in North Dakota
sent her chickens to their winter home while we were visiting.
 
Now don't assume they got to go south for the winter.
They went a few miles out of town to Farmer Brown's
 where there is a little more protection for them.
But they are still three spoiled chickens...
her and the girls see to that.
 

 
~b

Thursday, November 15, 2018

so handy

I love this purse organizer I made yesterday.
It has seven pockets! No kidding!
And four of those are divided to help keep your junk organized.
 
 
It will be so handy to put inside your purse or bag.
No more lost keys.
 

I started another one today
while my pumpkin bread was baking.
November is my pumpkin month. I crave it.
 
 
~b
 

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

snow thoughts

Are you thinking about Christmas decorating yet?
I sent Mr. b out to his woodshop today
 to cut me these barn wood trees.
 
 
This is more of a winter scene than Christmas.
We have had snow and below normal temperatures
making it hard to not think about Christmas.
I say when there's snow on your pumpkins and mums
it's time to get out Christmas.
 
~b

Monday, November 12, 2018

old raggedy

No, not really old.
She is made new to look old.
 
 
I finished this Raggedy Ann this morning.
I have made quite a few raggedy' s
 starting when my kids were babies 40 years ago.
 
 
I had to have a bit of fun after I finished her legs.
 
~b