The Perfect Wreath

There was a special gift I received for Christmas. Well, I got a few including snowmen ornaments, some things from my hubby, and my favorite glass icicles (yes, I gave some and got some, too), but there was one that I felt was thoughtful, and also handmade! Which I give handmade so I love to receive handmade! It was the yarn wreath you see above in my new 2011 header. It was made by my friend, Sarah, who was so instrumental in helping me achieve my quilting goal in December. She was supportive, caring, and just there to listen to my gripes. I have a few of those sometimes. ;) And she's always there for me. Anyway, I love this wreath. She said she saw a tutorial on-line. It's made of yarn; burlap roses; and attached to a wooden, distressed circle. The sentiment is this: "As YOU take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, YOU improve not only the WORLD around YOU, but also the WORLD within YOU." Just perfect! (And to top it off, she added my shop and blog name - The Cozy House Crafter!) Thank you, Sarah!

Crafting Christmas Gifts - Part Three

Pulling an Oprah, I decided to gift some of my favorite people with my favorite thing for the Christmas tree. (Do you watch Oprah and know what I'm talking about?) With limited time due to the "Crafting Christmas - Part Four" that I'll post next week, I didn't have a lot of time to really make something wonderful for my three good friends. But they mean so much to me...they give me insight, friendship, service, kindness, and support on many different levels. So I wanted to give them something I feel is special to me. Well, when we moved to Ohio five years ago, it was still early in my marriage and consequently Brent and I were still collecting things here and there for our Christmas tree ornaments. I decorate in turquoise blue (one of my top favorite colors); white; pearls; snowballs; snowmen; white lights; silver bells; etc. When we to the mall that first winter here, we discovered an old man who would create glass pieces to sell at Christmas time. I loved watching him, and found out that he made icicles. Real glass icicles. They are absolutely beautiful!!! They are hard to capture the beauty of on camera, but they are really stunning on the tree in person. So I bought my first dozen that winter. That's all I could get at the time. And every winter since, I have bought another dozen to add to my tree. So this year, with five dozen, I have finally filled up the tree from top to bottom (on the front side) with my other "snowy cold" ornaments. (The funny thing is that even when we lived in California, I decorated with snowmen for the tree and winter months...even though I never wore a coat at all. It wasn't ever really that cold there...not compared to here in Ohio or WV. I definitely missed that about the East Coast when we were on the West Coast.) ANYWAY, back to my gift, I felt like it's something really special to me, so I decided to take some old cigar boxes bought on E-bay a couple of years ago, alter the boxes, and fill them with a dozen icicles each for my sweet friends. I hope they enjoy them. I think the boxes turned out lovely, but I think they will like the shiny icicles on their tree at night the most -- I hope! Thanks for looking!

"Mattie Rags" on Etsy

I used to live in CA (I loved it there!), and aside from some of the most beautiful scenic places you can imagine (that are real!), I made some awesome friends. They were really friendly, kind, and talented, and it wasn't hard to be so far from home with great friends like these - Keri, Sariah, and Leasa. We would meet at parks and have playgroups, have Pampered Chef parties, and attended church together. Well, after living there for almost three years, we moved back east to be closer to relatives. Recently I found some of my CA friends on Facebook and I have been able to re-connect. I am glad I have been able to find out about their lives and follow their family stories since I don't live so close anymore. And I just learned that my friend, Sariah, opened an awesome little Etsy shop which you can find here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mattierags. Please visit her shop and check out her burp rags...which aren't rags at all, in my opinion!

Scentsy, anyone?!

My friend, Sarah, recently started selling candle warmers and like products for Scentsy. If you are interested, here is her site: http://sarahleecandles.scentsy.us. I've already placed my first order and can't wait to get it!

A Gift Worth Waiting to Receive!!!

My dear friend, Sarah, is completely talented when it comes to all crafts. Right now she is very into doing vinyl projects. On our way to visit out-of-state family on Christmas Eve, she called me to see if I would be home to receive a gift she made for me. I told her no, and also when we would probably be returning. Well, you know how the holidays go with keeping families busy, and then my son got strep throat...so just today I received her gift, and WOW! It was definitely worth waiting to receive! I love it so much! Thanks, Sarah! If you would like to purchase the same for yourself or anyone else, contact me and I will let you know how to contact her.