one of my favorite things about the change in season is the craft excuse. for example, today my reasoning went like this:

thanksgiving is over and a lot of people are starting their christmas/holiday decorating.
everything in the living room is green, so some shots of red would look really festive.
i have some red felted garland, but that’s just not enough.
i think we need new covers for the couch pillows.
i’ll have to print some fabric for the covers.
and so on…

so here’s what we’ve updated so far. i actually finished a couple pillow cases and thought i should sew some festive kitchen curtains.  i started printing fabric, but it just wasn’t coming out right, so i put it on hold. now i’m thinking a sheer white with some sort of green trim on the bottom…

here is the red felted ball garland that i first strung up last year. it’s so simple (on metallic thread) but i love it. this year i added a pair of water-colored birds at each end to “hold” it in place. they’re not modeled after real birds because, really, i’m not a painter.

my niece was over for a visit this morning and she helped me put together this little piece of garland. it’s two strips of bias tape, some lace, and felted balls on gold thread. she’s almost five and loves all things crafty. cris suggested i invite her over for a craft session with izzy, and i think its a great idea! i hung this little garland across the front edge of one of my craft shelves. now i can admire it whenever i’m printing or sewing.

here’s one of the pillows i made. the other one i did today was just a vintage tablecloth cut up. it was a traditional red/green/white holly and bow kind of pattern. i am loving our new slipcover. even though it is the fourth shade of green in this room alone, it is so much calmer than the old pink floral fabric that we inherited with the couch.

finally, i put out this little green felt bear. i just love his tiny little face. i think he needs a polar bear to befriend… and a forest of mushrooms. you can look forward to those soon! my craft fair preparation is pretty minimal now, so hopefully i’ll have a chance to make 3 paper mache mushrooms. i’ll use them for props at the fair and then add them to our winter display at home. i hope you had a great thanksgiving and i’ll see you here next week!