Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday! I'll be back in the new year!

And yes, I did get around to using LollyChops wonderful cookie bag idea. (Cookies were not baked yet when the pics were taken).

Super cute and easy!

The Only Knit for Christmas...

...goes to my niece Hannah! As you may recall, I started this blanket forever ago using yarn scraps. I then had to go to Ravelry asking for scraps there, and then onto my friends to beg for their scraps. After all that, I still only had what looked like a doll blanket instead of a lap blanket as I was hoping. But Hannah loves her "babies" and since I can't seem to knit her anything that fits right, I thought a dolly blankie would be perfect. (But she's getting other toy loot just in case!)

I love how pictures make blankets look gigantic. This blanket is just the opposite.

And it seems nothing would be complete from me without an owl or a skull applique. She's 3, so the the skulls can come later. =)

When Good Phones Get Washed

Yep. I'm an idiot. I washed my cell phone. This is not the first time a piece of technology has taken a ride on the spin cycle, but it's the first time that the fault was all mine. I never took it out of my pocket and then never checked my pockets before commencing washing. *sigh

Once the schmuckiness that I felt had dwindeled down, I sucked it up and went in to buy a new phone. Yeah...that did't go so well. Turns out that because I just bought my phone in July that I'm not elgible for any of the discounts for another 6 months or so. But I could get the "free" phone for the low, low price of $150 or get a used "free" phone for $80. Hmm...no.

Perplexed and defeated, I went back to work and told my woes to Miss Therese--WHO just happened to have bought a new phone and had no use for her old one and was happy to give it to me. Now that's luck! But I didn't want to just take it for nothing. So we made a phone/knit goods swap.

In exchange for her cell, I knit her a winter hat and scarf set in raspberry.

The scarf pattern was so fun. It's called Grecian Plait stitch and can be found in Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns.

Here's the scarf in all it's glory. The scarf is knit on two different needle sizes. One is small and one big.

And here's the raspberry beret...er, beanie. The pattern is called Odessa.

Bring Me Some Twiggy Reindeer

My snowmen seemed to go over well in the holiday decor exchange. They were stolen quite a few times (that's a good thing). Another item that was stolen a lot was Twiggy Reindeer, who is now living in my home. Twiggy is from Pottery Barn and comes in a set of three. I got the small size, which is actually quite large (about 5-6 inches tall). Here is the set:

Aren't they great? I love how their antlers grow leaves as they get bigger.

Here is a teeny version for the tree. Equally as sweet.

And then the mother of all twiggy reindeer are these bad boys. So cool! I wonder how much they'll go on sale after the holidays. I might have to get me one...or twelve. =)

Holiday Exchange: Sweet Snowmen

At work we do a holiday "ornament" exchange, which is actually more like holiday ornaments and decor. Last year I knit this little sweater ornament, but this year I couldn't find anything that I wanted to knit. As I was searching online for non-knit inspiration, I came across this funny vintage snowman bottle on Etsy (actually, it was through a blog first, but I can't recall which one...sorry!).

This is from littlethings1's shop.

I just love the vintage quality to this little guy. However, I wasn't about to go out and scour the antique stores for supplies (that's what I call "Christmas laziness"), so I made a slightly more contemporary version using existing supplies.

They're heads are made from paper clay. Once it dried, I painted them white, painted on their face, put spray adhesive on, and sprinkled with glitter. For those of you who know me, you know I went the extra mile when you see I used glitter...I HATE glitter. I always feel like I need to be powerwashed after using that stuff.

I also used a little glitter inside the glass and then filled the jar with polyfil. I used sticker letters for the front of the glass jars, which are from the Dollar Store like 10 years ago! The rest is just pipe cleaners, pom poms and hot glue. I like how they turned out.

I'm a Winner...Again!

Kelly over at Knit.Frog.Repeat (I love that name...so funny), just inforned that I am the winner of this stunning Brassy Apple Bunchy Scarf (but in teal...not purple). Isn't it great? She won two scarves from Portabellopixie and decided to give one away to a lucky winner. And that was me! Woohoo for contests and giveaways. I have to do more of them!

FujiMama, Come On Down!

FujiMama, you are the winner of the 2nd annual birthday giveaway! Yay!!! I'm very excited for you. I'll be emailing you separately to get your info so that I can get your prizes in the mail ASAP! Congrats!

And to everyone who played and shared your favorite yummy birthday treats, thank you! Here's a little Dexter reindeer love just for you! I do believe my dog is Forrest Gump when it comes to taking pictures. I have multiple shots with his eyes closed. But I actually find those shots cuter sometimes.

I made the reindeer antlers from felt. He hates them...but loves to chew on them. I think he thinks it's a soft bone.

Dear Santa, I'd Like This Chair

Through Whip Up, I found a link to an old project on Design*Sponge that I'm now officially in love with. I'm not sure how I missed this project as I'm sure I scoured the the Design*Sponge blog on numerous occassions, but now that we've found one another, I must have it for my craft room (which has not yet been started...but a cute chair is always a good jumping-off point. Sigh...I love you chair. Someday maybe I'll make another one of you to live with me.



Today's the last day to enter the birthday giveaway!

A Blanket-Wrapped Baby

I'd like to present Miss Penelope--Camela's baby for whom I made the veggie sweater. Isn't she sweet? Once you get over the cuteness, move your eyes down and notice the finely knit blanket she's wrapped in. The work knitters (a group getting seemingly smaller and smaller) made this for Camela and her little girl. And one of the knitters (Miss Shelley) made the recycled sweater elephant just above the little babe. Too cute.



Looking for the birthday contest? Just scroll down to the next post!

My Birthday Giveaway!

Yep, it's that time of year again, kids! It's my birthday! Woohoo! And while that's good for me, it's even better for you, because it means you have the chance to win three fun little handmade goodies that you can keep and enjoy or use to fill someone else's stocking. It's a win-win for everyone.

Let's start with the prizes:

Here's the sweet little prize pack--three items made just for one lucky winner. Included are:

A pair of Santa Skully knee socks. I didn't make the socks (those striped goodies came from Target), but I made and sewed on the holiday appliques.

One handknit bird named Holly. She stands about 6-8 inches and is decked out with her own personal (and removable) scarf, because, birdie, it's cold outside!

And for those days when you want to dress like your birdie, it's your very own blue/purple scarflette complete with silver polka dot buttons.

How to play:

One winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator. All entries must include an email address or someway for me to contact you. If you don't, I'll have to draw again. There are lots of ways to enter, and lots of ways to get even more entries. For each thing you do, leave a separate comment to let me know.

1. Leave a comment letting me know your favorite kind of birthday cake/birthday treat. (one entry)
2. Subscribe/become a follower of my blog--it's the link at the bottom of all the right side links. (one entry--if you're already a follower, let me know and you still get an extra entry)
3. Tweet about my contest, and be sure to include @carrieg777 so that I can keep track. (one entry)
4. Blog about it! (three entries...leave three separate comments each with the URL of the contest posting)

So what are you waiting for! Let's play. The winner will be announced midweek...once my birthday buzz has fizzled out. Good luck!

A Scarf-ish, I'm a Winner, a New Contest, & a Tease

I suppose this is what you'd call a miscellaneous day. So, in the order set by today's blog title, let's get started. First up, the scarf-ish. I started knitting this "scarf" in October and finished over Thanksgiving. For those of you who know me, you know that is an insane time for such a short scarf. But I'd like to blame it on the dog. He's full of cuteness distractions which makes knitting more and more difficult. Also, this is thin yarn that I decided to knit on small needles. I'm dumb.

I used the same yarn as I did for my SIL's b-day beret last year. So she may be getting this "not-so-long-to-be-a-scarf-but-not-so-short-to-be-a-scarflette" neck warmer as a "just-because" gift.

Up next...I'm a winner! Miss Tiffany over at Peanut Blossom has awarded me this beautiful quilt pattern! I'm the luckiest girl in the world. =)

And I'm going to press that luck by entering the PeanutBlossom Week 2 Stocking Stuffer giveaway! This week's prize is a $10 Shutterfly gift card. Just think of how that could come in handy for the holidays! Entering is easy and you get three chances. My favorite of those three is listing what you asked Santa for. I didn't ask for anything, but it was fun coming up with a dream list.


And now for the great big tease....tomorrow is my birthday (that's not the super exciting part for you), which means it's time for my second annual birthday giveaway! Here's last year's giveaway. And this year's is sure not to disappoint! Come back tomorrow for the big day!

Snow Day!

Well, kids, today is what we in the Midwest call a "snow day." Almost 18 inches dumped on us since last evening making it difficult to get out of the driveway, let alone drive to work. Technically, my company is still open and I live close, but I'm not up for braving the blizzard (which, by the way, is still in progress). So the day ahead of me includes lots of shoveling (a new joy of home ownership), hot chocolate/tea, sleeping, and some movies. I think I kind of love the snow day. Hope you're warm and safe wherever you are.

Here's the front of our house.

Poor Dex has nowhere to "go."

Down the street.

The first order of shoveling was a path for Dexter and his stubby legs.

Down the other side of the street.

Poor guy. We said "sit," and he had to sit in the cold, white stuff. All that just for a cute pic.

One more white-out view.

A Namaste Giveaway! Oh My!

OMG...this beautiful brand new Namaste bag is being given away over at Knit Purl Gurl. Seriously. I believe it was last January where I posted about the Namaste Zuma that I loved and adored and yet did not treat myself to for reasons of probably saving for a house. And now that I have said house, it's not like I can run right out and treat myself because rooms need to be painted, furniture needs to be purchased, and well, my dog needs to eat. So all I've got left is luck. Here's hoping being a December baby will work to my advantage and bring this bag home to me.

Oh yeah, and you can enter too...I guess. I mean, the bag is ugly and all. You wouldn't want it. =)

Peanut Blossom's Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Week 1

Miss Tiffany over at Peanut Blossom is kicking off her Stocking Stuffers Giveaways. This week, you could be the lucky winner of the Thimble Blossoms "late bloomer" pattern. It's easy to enter, which means it could be easy to win!

Special Birthday Wishes for My Brother

Let It Snow!

We've had a little flurries here and there, but today was this first day the snow actually stuck (albeit just a dusting). And that means it was Dexter's first snow! I thought I'd share a couple of his first pics in the white stuff.

LollyChops = Christmas Angel!

OK, aside from being an all around swell gal and Dexter's newly adopted Aunt, LollyChops has again moved up in the ranks to "Christmas angel." The adults in my family don't buy gifts for one another, but I still like to bring a little treat along when we go a wassaling (ok...traveling from house to house). I've made cookies, brownies, and breads in the past, and they're typically a hit. But last year, LollyChops offered up a wonderful hot chocolate recipe and cute bag printables. If you can't remember, here are the ones I made last year:

Super cute, right?

This year, I was planning on going back to cookies, but then the age-old question (for me, anyway) of how to package them created a dilema. Tins are nice, but not that easy to travel with (too bulky). Boxes are pretty, but the cookies slide around. Cellophane (sp?) bags are cute, but I can never find the right size bags...either too big or too small. And just when I'm about to give up, Christmas Angel LollyChops comes up all a glow with these sweet treat carriers, complete with printables. Perfect timing!

Ain't LollyChops great?