my first WIP wednesday

as my dear friend renee pointed out, my blog thus far is mostly of my *crafty life*. so, i might as well embrace it by getting in on wip (work in progress) wednesdays!

gift making is going slowly, but i have made a few other things the past few days. i made two of the long thread's thrifted trees. so fun and simple! just circles of green wool sweaters. close to instant gratification. the best part is that the circles can be a bit rough around the edges....gives the trees texture! you can whip these beauties out pretty quickly.

this one i made for the seasonal table in class. pictured here with a handmade st lucia scored at goodwill.

this one i made for our home. the sweater i used was the perfect texture for trees! this one turned out VERY tall. we love it. pictured are many other precious treasures including another recently thrifted st lucia.

matt and i made the advent calendar above. constructed out of matchboxes. covered in scrapbook papers and magazine images by matt. i glued wooden beads for knobs and numbered the drawers. this is our first year with an advent calendar. we are focusing on activities and family time. each tiny drawer has enough space for a little slip of paper, about fortune cookie size. on one side a write the activity of the day and on the back i draw a little picture clue. they love to try and guess from my crude drawings (not in my skill set!).

this was one of the activities of the calendar. we used our trimmings from our tree and some holly and made a wreath. the grapevine wreath hangs horizontally above our seasonal table all year. from time to time we wrap seasonal vegetation around it for a bit of festive flair. the little angel i made last year following instructions in all year round. i may never make another one.....working with tissue paper is challenging!

truly a work in progress ( but nearing completion at this point), a special bird ornament for kelly. if you have not heard of the wellness tree, do go and visit. gardenmama has set up this special blog to uplift a beautiful mama weathering some very tough times. this ornament is one of many that are being sent to her with warm hearts and well wishes from women all over the blogging world. many thanks to tracy for scoring the white sweater for me!!

before i go, i want to share something special with you...nicole at frontierdreams was one of the mega talented women that i participated in the living crafts ornament exchange with. her fruit basket is absolutely adorable!! we happen to be the very happy owners of one of these beauties as a result of the exchange. her stitching is impeccable. the intricate design of the basket weaving and the tiny perfect fruits are all so finely crafted. nicole is generously giving away one of her baskets filled with the most adorable little fruits to one lucky reader!! get over there and enter...you have until st lucia's day (sun, dec 13). nicole's pattern is now available for download here. all of the ornaments will be available soon....more coming every few days.

off to bed i run! hope to see you again in this space real soon!