yay for holidays!

 They are always so enjoyable, especially when they're full of family, friends and little kids getting tons of toys!  We have had a wonderful holiday season so far, but we still have one more Christmas, a turkey dinner at my sisters and New Years traditions and celebrations to go!  It started with the ward Christmas party in early December, then we had Christmas at my moms house!  I can tell you, my homemade holiday was a hit.  To the right is the doll I made for my niece.  My niece decided to name her Maria. OK, she's not so Puerto Rican nor is she a Shark, but that's okay! 

To the left is the one I made for Lydia.  Her face isn't as cute, but I like this ones dress better.  I even made little cap sleeves!!!  Before I gave her away, I put a pretty litte braid in her hair with a pretty white bow. 

When Lydia got it, she put it in to her mouth.  SUCCESS!  Lydia also got the cashmere pig that I previously posted about.  That one stayed in the mouth longer than the doll, so even better success!

Update on the Snuggle Sack made for my sister, apparently, the lone ranger, Lulu, like the big snuggle sack all to herself.

If you look to the right, you might be wondering - what the heck is that?!?!  It's ROSE SOAP.  Mom and I made this soap one saturday... and well, the color didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to and ended up looking like poop... so we went with it!!  They became prank gifts for a few individuals.

I also made come cat nip toys for the brother and sister that don't have little boys, little girls or little doggies...  That left Fletcher and Dana!  I knew they both had some crazy kitties, so I came up with some fun designs for the kitty toys.  I made sort of a tug of war ball, a Wilson guy, reminiscent of the Wilson I made for my kitty about a year and a half ago that she loves.  He's about 4 inches tall.  Then there is the weird pulley thing with a super long string to drive your kitty nuts from the comfort of the couch!  Below that we have some kitty ice cream cones!  I love these!  While I was making the first one, my cat wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to make a few of these in order to be able to have some give away as gifts.  My particular favorite is the Mint Chocolate Chip one.    All of these we made with 100% cotton yarn along with cat nip wrapped in thin tissue paper.  

 

 



On Tuesday of the Christmas week, we had my work "Holiday" party.  We got to go to the boss' country club, grub out and go bowling at the alley in the country club.  It was a ton of fun!  It did not end up being the best round of bowling I've ever accomplished, but I can say that Dave and I walked away from the party $70 richer... but only because Dave is a beast.  We went to Dave's dads on Christmas Eve and had fun there.  We made the decision early on that we were going ANYWHERE on Christmas day. It was a great decision, because we had a great time!

Here is a picture of the "roast beast" that Dave made.  I must say my hubby is quite accomplished in his cooking abilities.  It's amazing having him around!  He always makes some great meals!  This one is just one of many, but particularly special because it was Christmas.  For Christmas day, we let jonah play the DS Santa got for him, I watched the Other Side of Heaven, Annie and Todd came over for a little to share a few laughs, and after Jonah fell asleep on the chair, Dave and I had date night (at our humble abode) and watched Inception! 

Here are a few other gifts I put together.  To the right is a blanket I put together for my niece, Sydney (d'oy).  Its much bigger than it seems to be in the picture.  It's about 6 feet long and about 3 feet wide.  I made blankets similar to this one for my sisters last year.  I think I posted previously about them.  Since I wasnt able to get my sewing machine working last year, I sewed their blankets all by hand, with the occasional assistance of my cousin's sewing machine.  This year, thank goodness I am a genius, because I got my machine working!  This one is solid!  It should keep her rocking at her sporting events for years to come.

 

 I also made these beauties.  Again, they're the Mali Wedding bead that I love so dearly.  It's just hard getting beads that match, since the normal look of mali beads are all missmatched...  at any rate, I love these, and they went to the wonderful Annie along with the gorgeous red ones (that were previously posted) when she came to visit on Christmas.

 AND FOR THE GRANDE FINALE!!!  Le Piece de Resistance!  I made this fantabulous necklace for my little crazy sister, Merry Ellen.  I love it and think it's hilarious!  It's already made it to her Facebook profile picture.  SUCCESS.

 I also made a sketchbook holder with pencil and tool pockets for Katheryne, but I didn't get a picture of it! 

I hope whomever you are, I got your creative juices going!