Are You Tired of Christmas Yet?

Whew! I'm nearly tired out. Is it time to take down the Christmas decorations and start decorating for Valentine's Day yet?! Just kidding--I LOVE Christmas and I'm not ready to move on just yet. (Although yes, I DO have a Valentine's Day tree and decorations--just you wait and see!)

I've been wanting to share with you a tabletopper I made for my online group's recent swap, but I had to wait until the package arrived in Canada. It got there yesterday, so I don't have to worry about blowing the surprise. Here's the one I made for my friend Jackie (those are buttons for the "berries"):

And, as it turned out, I received a package from my secret swap person yesterday too. She sent me this beautiful tree skirt, chocolate bars, and some decorations for my tree(s):

I was hoping to finish binding the It's a Wrap quilt last night, but I got sidetracked with shopping. I don't really like shopping for clothing very much, but I finally broke down and stopped to look for a top on my way home from work. I found several things on my list of "clothing necessities," like a new robe, shoes, and a sweater. That inspired me to come home, cook dinner really fast, and head out to another store, where I found all of the other things I needed and have been putting off shopping for. A successful evening of shopping, and now I'm done with THAT for awhile!

So let's talk pajamas for a minute. Remember that pajama pattern I posted? Well, I ordered flannel to make two sets of jammies, and the flannel arrived yesterday. The red/black check with stuff like trees, stars, and mittens is for one pair. The two black fabrics are for another--the larger print will be the top and the small print will be the bottoms (creating, of course, an optical illusion that will make me look like Barbie's twin sister. Okay, maybe not, but I can dream, can't I? Isn't that what jammies are FOR?!) Anyway, the fabric's here but I don't know when I'll be able to sew for myself again, so when I saw a couple pair of cute cotton knit jammies at the department store last night, I bought those too. Is there anything better than new jammies at Christmas time? Okay, yes, there might be one or two things better than new jammies--like chocolate--but jammies are high on my list of comfort items.

Finally, I wanted to show you what I found:

I will understand if you think maybe I've lost my mind, getting all excited over finding a hunk of bark, but here's a decorating tip from me: Keep your eyes open, look around, and think outside the box. Christmas decorations don't HAVE to come from a store and cost money. What I see when I look at this is a pillar candle in the middle and fresh Christmas greenery filling the rest, with maybe a couple old glass ornaments to add a little contrast to the woodsy look and reflect the candle flame. Or maybe the greenery with a small bowl of water, cranberries, and a floating candle. Once the bark dries (it rained here this morning) and I decorate it, I'll get a photo to show you.

Finally, I hope to have the It's a Wrap quilt done by tomorrow's post and up on the wall behind my kitchen tree, so stay tuned! It's definitely turning into a Holly Jolly Christmas! Time for me to put my new jammies on and go bind that quilt. See you tomorrow!