Believe in Santa

It was weird to walk into the house and see our bare coat closet door.  So I wanted to try & make a large door decoration for the Christmas season.  I found a great pattern!

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

Two Christmas trees with a star on top.  Not a great picture, though.

Of course, Santa Clause!

"Believe"!

Not the best lighting for picture, but you can see the size of Santa better.

It's finished size is about 18" tall.

This pattern, "Believe" was designed by Donna Harelik and can be purchased through e-PatternsCentral.com

I chose to do his eyes using the Googly Eyes and didn't bother to put glasses on him.  I used Red Heart brand Cherry Red and Aran color yarn for his suit and face.  I used Simply Soft Caron yarn for all the white parts.  It's very soft & helped his beard lay beautifully.  Rudolph is made with Simply Soft Caron yarn as well; Chocolate.  The trees were made with Red Heart Paddy Green, stars were Simply Soft Caron.

This pattern was a bit frustrating.  I found mistakes with the mittens, beard, & the trees.  I totally screwed up Rudolph the first time I tried putting him together.  But that was no fault of the designer.  I just had a big brain fart!   But I love the finished product and the closet door doesn't look naked anymore:)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Recital

Kara had her 1st recital as a guitar student on December 8th.  She'd been taking lessons for exactly 3 weeks and she learned AND even memorized "Jingle Bells" to perform.  She's so awesome!    I have to gush, it's a mom thing, you know.  I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished in the few short weeks of guitar lessons.

Kara was nervous, but she bit the bullet & willingly played her solo.  She didn't even hesitate on her way up to the chair.  She was so swift & sure that she was half way through "Jingle Bells" before I could even start recording!  So of course, I didn't get it.  But she played again for me at home so that I could record it.  Now I just have to convert it in order to blog it.   I'm just not getting it done fast enough:(

Not only did she do her guitar solo, she learned a few chords so that she could be part of the accompaniment for the Sing Along at the end of the night.

For the Sing Along, she played Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Jingle Bell Rock.  Yah, Kara ROCKS!!!

Kara loves her teacher, Mrs. Haggarty!  She used to substitute in the public schools for the music classes.

She's amazing with the kids and has great incentive programs they enjoy.

Kara was so happy and proud of herself for accomplishing such a hurdle.   She even SMILED for me to take a couple of pictures!  That's almost unheard of for her:)   I haven't seen her countenance sparkle like this before, so I know that she's enjoying every minute of it!

Kara is so totally AWESOME!

(Movie footage coming soon)

New Tradition

I've never made a ginger bread house or graham cracker house before.  But this shouldn't surprise you, because I'm always saying that I don't get out much:)   We were invited to a friend's house to make cracker houses.  It was a lot of fun with plenty of mess and at the end of the night, vomiting!  Thanks Evy!

BUSTED!!!!   Kara:  "What?!  I didn't do anything!"

Who needs all the candy when one can just suck the frosting from the bag?

Nice scallops and shingles, Brynn!  Very detailed.   Santa's feet are sticking up out of  the chimney and his body is just inside the house.  Very clever!

Terry's is still a work in progress.  So far, he has half of the shingles on his house.

Thanks to our friends for the invite!   It was totally worth the $22 of sugar.  We had a great time!