A Crafty Christmas at the Green House

Well, two more holiday parties down.

We had a party at my Mom's on Saturday and it was a blast. All three of my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-laws and my nieces and nephew were there. My boys had a riot having a Nerf war with their cousin and uncle. There was hiding behind cabinets and furniture, diving rolls across the floor. Walking between them was like being trapped in an action movie.

On Sunday, we went to my Dad and Stepmom's place for another party. It was fun, but the roads were awful. A one hour drive turned into two because of all of the ice, wind, drifting snow and whiteouts. But everyone made it there and back - safe and sound.

Unfortunately, I now have the plague - a holiday gift from one of my daycare kids. So in lieu of thinking coherently, I thought I'd share some pictures of holiday craftiness from the Green home.

The picture up above is a Christmas castle that my Gram knitted for me the year I got married. She'd made one for each of my aunts and uncles the previous year and she'd planned on making one for each of the grandkids as they got married. Unfortunately, I was the only one to ever get one because she died before the following Christmas. It's one of my most treasured possessions.


These are our stockings hanging on the living room archway...along with various masks and mobiles. There are closeups below.

Here's Killian's stocking. In case, it's difficult to make out, it's Santa riding a dragon. I'm pretty proud of these since I made up the patterns as I was going along.

his is Corwin's - a dragon peering out of his cave at his little Christmas tree.

These are mine and Matt's. I made them the first year we were married. I'd just learned to cross stitch the year before and was a rabid addict. Matt's is a dragon sitting by his gifts (there are little knights in the foreground) and mine has faeries and a unicorn...cause, yeah...I'm a nerd like that.

And last but not least - this is our tree. It's a hodgepodge tree of ornaments the boys made when they were younger, faeries, dragons, castles, moons, stars and lots of Winnie the Pooh - both Classic and Disney. I love me some Pooh Bear.

Well, that's it for the crafty Christmas tour. I'm off to make some tea and cwtch up under a blanket and maybe take a nap. I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful holiday and that those that don't have a lovely time as well.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Surviving the Holidays

On my mom's side, I have a pretty big family - 6 aunts and uncles, 15 cousins (about half with kids) 3 brothers, 1 sister 2 nieces and a nephew. The best thing is that we're all really close - any one of us would drop everything for anyone else. Yes, there's a whole lot of crazy in there, but I consider myself really lucky, some people (like my husband) may beg to differ, but I love getting together with everyone. The holidays are never boring with the Green fam.

So far, we've had five out of six family parties and a good time was had by all. Trying to cram 41 people, 17 of whom are small children, inside a small ranch style house probably wasn't the brightest idea, but it was still fun. It would have been more cramped if the other 15 family members would have be able to come too.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to give my niece her Cinderelly dresses. Lexi-Lou-Who got the stomach flu so we had to postpone that party until the 29th. If her mom says it's okay, I'll post pictures of the little princess herself. She'll also be getting a handmade Alice in Wonderland costume and Wendy from Peter Pan costume from my mom - it'll be a very diva-centric gathering.

I'm still finishing a few Christmas gifts, but luckily I'm not due to see those people for a while - well, except for one and she's being super patient. And I'm happy to say, her gift is turning out beautifully. All in all, Christmas has been lovely this year. I wouldn't trade any of it...except maybe Lexi's stomach flu.

Christmas Survey

Brynn's mom sent me this survey and I thought it was really fun. I'd love to read your memories too, if you feel like posting them to your blog.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, but that's where hubby comes in. He's much neater than I am.

2. Real or fake tree? Fake. I’m allergic to real ones.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, but it han’t happened yet this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after New Year’s Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Meh…I’m indifferent

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The Sunshine Family and their super awesome hippie craft shop - seriously, there was even a pottery wheel and a spinning wheel. For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 70s (or have a hippie-dippie mom) let me enlighten you.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My sister, Cait.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever got? A Precious Moments clown figurine. I hate Precious Moments figurines and I’m terrified of clowns. There’s nothing like a heartfelt shriek of terror on Christmas morning.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail…if I get around to doing it.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Normally I start in August, but it hasn’t turned out that way this year.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom’s fudge

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? I can’t have just one…Coventry Carol, Carol of the Bells, What Child is This? And John Lennon’s Happy Christmas...Okay, if I’m gonna be completely honest, I have to add my 80s fav, Do They Know It’s Christmas.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I travel to my mom’s, my aunt’s my dad’s and my mother-in-law’s – but all of them are within an hour of my house.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yepper

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A grapevine star with a little field mouse dangling from it – its’ sooo cute.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning with the boys and whenever we schedule the other get-togethers with everyone else.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Icy roads and heavy traffic.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Being with my crazy-ass family – they’re the best.