Christmas in September

I know it's way too soon for this. Even the stores wait until after Halloween to start putting up Christmas decorations. But looking at all of the Artist Market applications for the December 7th Holiday Market has me thinking Christmas. 

One of my favorite decorations is an Artist Market find (surprise, surprise) - my quilted forever wreath from One Mor Quilt. Full disclosure: I'm biased. One Mor Quilt is the work of my mother in law, so I know first hand how much work goes into these quilts.

This handmade wreath features hundreds of little pieces of fabric - check out the close ups below. That's a lot of effort hanging above my mantle. And it doesn't shed needles. 

It'll take Elvira a little time to make you one of these, so you should probably order soon. This is one time you want to think Christmas ... in September.

A little about Elvira Gastaldo, owner of One Mor Quilt:

I started quilting in 1973 when fabric was not what it is today and methods of construction were archaic. I made templates using cereal boxes and then drew each piece of the pattern on the fabric, cutting each piece out with a pair of scissors. I can make 6 quilts today with the time spent on just getting one ready back then. Quilting was a means to an end back at that time (if I wanted one, I had to make it) and my creative inner self went to Antique Reproduction Samplers (Counted Cross Stitch) on linen. As we traveled the world, I was able to take this easily along for the ride. Upon moving to Maine in 1999, quilting found me when I was asked to be the faculty adviser for the Quilting Club. This actually translates into teaching one evening a week during the academic year. I know that this is what I am suppose to be doing. I am suppose to be passing the art and tradition of quilting on to the next generation. I love sharing my gifts with family and friends and now have decided to share them with you.

Much Overdue Notes from Germany

Michael and I were lucky enough to travel to Germany for vacation back in November. We were there over Thanksgiving and again, lucky enough to catch the beginning of their Chriskindlmarkts. 

I am in love. Handmade goods, food vendors, beverages, caroling ... kind of my thing. No bloody marys over there though. Just some amazing mulled wine, called glühwein. 

Here are a few shots of how they host Markets in Munich and Heidelberg:

Alright, that was long enough.

Sorry I've been quiet for so long! After the Market, I tend to take a blogging break, but even I'll admit, that was a bit excessive. So to make up for it, here's a little round up of how our vendors do Christmas right!

Nostalgic Graphic Tees

Rewined Candles

Artwork of Kristen Solecki

Finkelstein's Center

Jill Lauren Handmade Knits

Dodeline Design

Inherited

And on my personal list:

Muy in Molly

Lauren Amos Designs

The Fresh Stitch

This should not be on my list. I do not have a child, nor am I pregnant. But the cuteness of this gets me!

Lauren Amos Designs

Have you finished your shopping? Add your own suggestions!

Tomato Planter Christmas Trees

I've been tempted to buy the prefab guys, like these, but $40+ just seemed too expensive.  Thank goodness for the internet.  Pinterest, specifically.  I found this easy (read: cheap and easy) solution.  

If you can't tell - that's just an upside down tomato cage and a ton of lights.  

42" Tomato Cage - $2.57
3 sets 100 Lights - $2.68x3

Total:  $10.61

Made one for each side of the door.  Not too shabby. 

Testing the lights first, of course.

The only part that had any real planning was wrapping the bottom layer.  Just threaded the lights around the bottom loop.

Then diagonally up and down the "tree" until it looked full.  These pictures are with 1 strand of 150 lights, but I ended up adding more for the final picture - 300 lights total.

I thought I would need florist wire to secure the top, but the lights did it for me.  Just wrapped them around each other to tighten up the top.

That's all there is to it.  My Mom actually made one as well - but wrapped it with greenery first and it looks great.  This is an easy project to make your own.

One step closer to being ready for Christmas!

Christmas Decorating

My husband and I bought a house this year.  I've always loved Christmas and have taken pride in our seasonal decorating skills, but my neighbors -  they are serious decorators!  Time to step it up.  So we started with icicle lights.  Easy enough.

But then we needed something for the windows.  Honestly, I think most of the wreaths I see in stores are tacky.  Just too much flare for me.  I was able to find a handful of wreaths at Michaels and just added a little berry for color.  Easy windows done.  

I wanted something with a little oomph for the front door, so I decided to make this guy.  Back to Michaels for berries, spray paint and the letter "G."  Woah, popular letter.  Two Michaels and no G's!  Luckily I found one at AC Moore.  


Tangent: Compared to the crazy disheveled-ness that is Michaels at Christmas, AC Moore was a much less chaotic shopping experience.  The place didn't look it had been ransacked and the line was minimal.  I haven't done extensive price comparison, but it might be worth looking into.

Back to the wreath.  

1. If your letter is a light color, you'll probably want to spray-paint it black to avoid any color showing through. To prevent the letter from sticking to the paper, I propped it up on two disposable cups while painting.  I've seen people use push pins for the same purpose on smaller items.
 

2. While the paint is drying, start cutting small bunches of berries (not individuals) off of the larger bunch.
.

3. Now it's time to glue. Picking out little sections of berries, manipulate them to fit the shape of your letter and then glue them down. If you haven't used a glue gun before, word to the wise: The heat is no joke. Be careful not to get it on your skin.

4. I ended up applying two layers of berries to the letter, which gave some additional height and texture to fill in the gaps.
 

And that's it!  My original plan was to hand the G from a ribbon on the door, but it looked a little empty to me.  Additionally, I discovered I have NO ribbon skills.  Looks like it's back to Pinterest for some tips.

So I added it to a wreath.  Much better!

Ultimately I decided it looked best on the side of the wreath.  I may add berries or a ribbon to it later, but for now, I can live with this.  It was honestly pretty easy - although I definitely underestimated both the heat and messiness of a glue gun.  Luckily dried glue peels off almost anything with minimal effort!

Here's how it looks at night:

Final addition - spiral Christmas tree.  Next post!