Sounds a little Christmas-y for early September, but Early American Life’s Christmas issue just arrived in our mailbox, and we’re excited about what’s on page 54!
A Christmas project or two…
Hello folks! We had a wonderful Christmas and are starting to settle into the winter routine here at the Frey house. The hustling and bustling is over for a while, and once again we’re resolving to start making presents in January!
Remind me that I said that next year.
One of our projects was exceedingly messy, but fun. And to add to the thrill we did it on the 22nd of December. And then prayed that it would harden by Christmas. And then tried to figure out how to wrap these heavy concrete things! We do plenty of last minute, hair-brained Christmas projects, but my advice to everyone crafty out there is to try a new project out earlier in December to see how things will turn out. And also find somebody sweet enough to mix very thick concrete in small batches by hand for 5 hours straight.
You can remind me next year that I said that also.
They ended up turning out great, though, and were such a hit that we’re going to make herb markers for the store this spring! We had some concrete left over, so Chris decided to make some more yesterday. (He must not have minded the mixing!) We just listed them on our Etsy site, which we’ve decided to use “just for fun.” We weren’t planning on selling these online because they’re so heavy, but we realized we can stuff them into Priority Flat Rate boxes and get them out at a semi-reasonable price.
And before I sign out, I must share with you yesterday’s “Frey Family Quote of the Day”…
Kate came downstairs after working nearly all day in the “workroom” (this is the place upstairs that is supposed to be our craft room, but actually is a catch-all for things outgoing and incoming and everything in-between!). She said to her father, and I quote:
“Daddy, come up and see my project and let me show you what you need to do!“
She is definitely her mother’s daughter!
A few of my favorite things…
We’re still finishing up last minute orders, but are definitely in a “slowing down mode!” (Or procrastination mode?) I keep taking breaks from things I should be doing to do other things I should be doing, like decorating and wrapping gifts. Or just having quiet moments while reading Christmas devotions by Christmastreelight, which is my favorite thing to do while I should be doing something else. We have one more very large Christmas gift project, and I’m hoping with everything in me that it turns out. I’ll let you know after the Big Day! It involves concrete and I’m recruiting Chris and Kate so it should be interesting!
And messy.
Since pictures always make a blog post more interesting, I thought I’d post another favorite Christmas decoration of our family… our Moravian Christmas Pyramid. It was made for us by Mr. Pete, who makes furniture for our store. Last year, I nearly burnt it down by leaving the top candle burning. We didn’t know until we were putting it away for the season and discovered the charred edges on the top candle holder!
On it is one of our nativity collections, by Hestia Creations. My mom gives me a special piece or two each year. I love this nativity… it reminds me of the Pennsylvania German putzes, and hopefully someday we’ll have enough to create our own putz. Here’s a close-up…
Have a Merry Today!
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December…
… A magical thing, and sweet to remember.
~Oliver Hereford~
Today the birds thought Spring had sprung! Temperatures rose to about 60 degrees, the wind was warm, and the sky was blue. Perfect day for hanging out laundry. (Last week my laundry FROZE on the line! I brought in a frozen flannel pillowcase to show Chris!) It was also perfect for putting me in the mood to paint some singing birds…
This one is very heavily stained, and will look nice and primitive! The banner area was an experiment, and turned out pretty neat… I wasn’t sure what to do with the tree as it went behind the banner, but I’m happy with it!
Kate set up an Etsy shop this week… she’s been busy stitching up hairbows and wristlets from vintage fabric, and is working on some make-do’s. (I think “re-purpose” is the correct term nowadays!) If you get a chance, pop on over to see what she’s listed! We have bits of fabric and fluff all over the family room, but that’s a pretty common occurrence around here. She also had an issue with her truck window today… it, um, fell into the door. Two very able mechanics came to the rescue, though, and had her fixed up in no time flat! Thanks guys… we owe you!
Our family went on a Christmas house tour this past Saturday night, and saw some very sweet and lovely homes. My favorite was the home of a primitive artist… every nook and cranny was filled with creative ideas, and I couldn’t take it all in. On the snack table was a really cute idea… I ate one and brought one home so I wouldn’t forget how to make them…
She took these ordinary mints…
And used food coloring markers to turn them into these…
Isn’t that the happiest thing you’ve ever seen? Hey Jo… that would make a fun and easy Christmas project for Luke’s brothers!
Christmastide…
Hello everyone! I’ve been very bad about posting again! Since our “living room re-do,” we’ve spent time putting up decorations and working on our final orders. And probably the biggest reason for lack of computer time is the woodstove has been running… in the front room. The computer is in the back room. And it’s been COLD in here unless I turn on extra heat, and I’ve tried to avoid that at all costs! (Because of the cost! I am determined to not have high heating bills this winter, since we have a huge supply of free wood!)
It was actually relatively warm in here yesterday afternoon, and I spent the entire afternoon scanning and putting up small cuttings for sale on our Currently for Sale Page and on our Seasonal Page … today I’m going to add the larger pictures that are still available. Just about everything on those two pages is “ready to go” and can be shipped in time for Christmas!
Christmas is my favorite time of year… Kate and I get out every crafting book and pile them up in a cozy spot. (Mind you , these are just the “crafting” books, not the decorating books, or the good Christmastide reading books!) Then we drink tons of tea, and plan and scheme and make lists of things to make, bake, or do. Jordan, we miss having you here for our scheming sessions! (We think she moved to California to get AWAY from the woodstove!) And some of it gets done. It’s the thought that counts, right?
We got a little creative with our decorations this year. We didn’t put everything out, just some favorites. My “Mitten Tree” got combined with our family ornaments on a little scrubby (fake) pine. Every year, the girls would give me little mitten ornaments for my special tree. Some are antique, some are real baby mittens, and some they made. We each had a little blown glass ornament on the tree… we had a blonde angel for Jo, and a brunette angel for Kate, and Red Riding Hood (that was me), and a Chimney Sweep (Hubby… there must have been a story behind that, but I can’t recall it!) The crocheted snowflake is the reason I’m a papercutter today. I was going to make an entire tree full of them for our first Christmas. I made two. And then switched to Scherenschnitte ornaments.
And the little mouse was their Daddy’s favorite from his childhood…
And Chuck Brown would be proud of our topper this year. I think we were getting a little slap-happy at that point! But it stays.
And our favorite this year… we figured out how to hang our Advent Wreath, like Tasha Tudor and Maria Von Trapp did.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
A Nifty Idea…
Every year we make oodles of German folded stars. Actually Hubby makes oodles of them. I’ll make a few, knowing he’ll get hooked, and then I go back to papercutting. He likes making them. Really, he does!
And, every year, we try to make them a little different than last year. A new color of paper, with glitter, dipped in wax, larger, smaller, etc. Last week, I was thinking it was time to start making stars, and was playing around with different ideas, and had a nifty idea. How about making them with historic newspaper! So, we ordered some, it came today, and I started cutting strips and folding. Kate showed a little interest, and joined in on the fun. (We haven’t managed to get Chris hooked yet, but we’ll get him!)
Anyway, here are the newspaper stars in process… I’m going to try to dig out some beeswax to dip them in. I think it’ll be just the perfect finish if I can find it!
Getting started…
Making the first folds!
Outside points on one side.
Three-dimensional points!
Seven finished stars!
How do the days go by so fast?
Yikes. Last time I checked it was Sunday. And now it’s Thursday. Time flies when your having fun, I guess!
Mom, Kate, & I took a field trip to a fancy new grocery store. Both households had $10 off coupons if we spent $40, and there were lots of specials offered, so we thought it would be good just to check it out, and didn’t think we’d have a problem spending $40 to get $10 off. And we did. Nearly twice $40. Each. Said fancy grocery store did have some snazzy things, including nearly 1/4 of an aisle of olive oils. We were all wondering how we managed to spend so much, even though each individual item was indeed a good price. Then we went to lunch and went home. And then it dawned on both Mom & I at nearly the same time. WE FORGOT TO USE THE COUPON!
I’m still waiting for my pencils to show up, but it’s probably a good thing that they didn’t come yet, because I would most likely goof around instead of getting some things done that need doing. Currently working on a couple of wedding presents. And silhouettes of some really cute children. And a sweet Valentine cutting… hopefully I’ll have pictures of it up before next week.
And before I check out for the evening, I wanted to share with you something we bought for Kate for Christmas…
It was made by Lesley of Small Meadow Press and is a little notebook and task cards to be used for daily time management. Very, very sweet, as is everything that Small Meadow Press offers for sale! I’ve checked out Lesley’s work for several years now, and finally got around to ordering some things for Christmas for both Kate & my Mom. The package came with lovely papers pasted on the outside, and inside was an extra treat of a lavender sachet.
And there are new pictures of our sweet little grandbaby… and also of our beautiful oldest daughter and her hubby…. check out their flick’r! Isn’t Jack the cutest little bug you’ve ever seen?
Have a great night!
Back after a crazy couple of weeks!
Hi All!
Hope your Christmas was wonderful! Ours was pretty good, but we were all missing Jo, Luke, and Jack very much! Mixing up our normal Christmas routine was a help, though, and we kept ourselves very busy! Christmas Eve was spent finishing up a couple of presents and getting the house ready for company. (Creativity is not necessarily tidy. Favorite quote. I spread out when I work, and I happened to be working all over the house!) Then we had dinner at Mom & Dad’s house. It was their very first Christmas in the new house, and it was a challenge for Mom to figure out where to put all her normal decorations. We finally convinced Mom to put out her glass ornament collection! She’s collected handblown glass ornaments since I was a teenager, and my brother and I, and eventually my hubby & the girls would search each year for an interesting ornament for her! It’s a very large collection, though, and getting them all out and safely on a tree is not easy. I think it’s been quite few years since she got them out. Here’s the tree…
And an upcloseandpersonal view!
I finally gave up on the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge. I was still working on it, but wasn’t able to get any posts written during the second week. Anyway, here are the long-awaited pictures of our decorations! We went very simply this year, and used the Moravian Tree as our “tree”…
We didn’t keep those candles lit very long! It sort of felt like we had one of the Victorian trees lit with real candles… and I wondered if we should have kept a fire-bucket close at hand!
And the paper churches… at least a few of them! Never did get any pine or greenery in the house.
I’m going to update the Gallery and our Home Page next… keep your eyes out for new and exciting things!
A very Merry CHRISTmas and a blessed New Year to you all!
Wednesday doings…
Today was slightly busy at the store, but I was able to get a new papercutting designed and cut. I just can’t show it, because it’s for Christmas and they might peek! I woke up rather early again, so was able to get a good start this morning, but then Kate & I got sidetracked with good conversation, so not as much got finished before the store opened. And it snowed!!! Only a couple of sloppy inches, but it’s snow before Christmas, which is a very good thing, in my opinion. My mom, an extreme snow lover got phone calls all day long from folks that know how much she loves it. Fun! And the guys (Hubby & Dad) came home early. Chris chatted for a while with us at the store, and then headed to the shop for more frame making. He’s a really good sport.
I think later tonight Kate is planning on a “snow” post. With pictures.
Today is Day Three of the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge! Here goes… Better late than never!
Refresh:
Psalms 4, 5, & 6
Especially grateful today for God’s Word, my family, and my home!
Plan:
Make Coffee!Pack Lunches!Family Devotions!Chore Cards!Shower & Dress!- Work on Christmas Decorating!
- Put things in attic & take more things down!
- Work on Christmas orders!
We made a grand effort despite our sidetracking ourselves. Still more to do this evening! We did plan dinner, but it’s not a “do ahead” sort of dinner. We decided to skip the soup & sandwich and do breakfast for dinner tonight. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, & OJ. Heading to start it as soon as I post this!
Do:
Laundry is about half finished. We usually do a load each day, but had ignored it since the weekend, so Crystal’s assignment was rather timely!
So… off to fix dinner, finish laundry and then work on papercuttings and maybe watch a movie or listen to the Lamplighter being read. Depends on how tired Chris is when he comes in!
“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful!”
