One Creative Family

This morning a major snow storm has worked its way and it makes the baking and sewing so much fun to watch the flakes fall from the sky.

This was at 9am this morning.

Same window at 11am. By tomorrow we should be getting between 2-7 inches. It is so pretty out. Not liking the cold though.

I have decided to make gift bags on each of the family for one special gift.

Hopefully I can get each person’s personality with the bags. I do like a challenge.

Our tree is up and hosting quite a few gifts. It is looking like Christmas here.

How are things going in your corner of the world? Enjoying this time of the year. What about you?

Stay warm.

Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, is only 14 days away. It is such a Blessed time and full of Miracles to be dismissed. I love the excitement, the feeling in the air when out in public. It truly amazes me how on any other month, people are rushing around and paying little attention to others. Some can be down right rude. December people have a smile on their faces, friendly nods, and helpfulness out there. See a miracle for a month.

Last week we took Granddaughter to see Santa. (This is one of many trips she will take to visit this Jolly Man. There was a little carnival for kids to participate in to add to the day. She was so excited all day.

Monday she and I went shopping. My plan was to shop for her mom and sisters. Her plan was 2 hours in Dollar Tree and she bought for all grandparents(3 sets) aunts and uncle, sisters, the sister’s boyfriends, and cousins and their boyfriends. She did have to get some stickers for herself. The home to wrap them. We did buy a BIG bag to take them home in.

This will I will be making tamales and some candy. I have made cookies and they are in the freezer. This year will bring something different to this house’s Christmas Dinner. Usually we have either ham or Mexican. This year it will be later in the day and be a Buffet. Pulled pork, shrimp, (If I can grill Sword fish), tamales, and baked chicken. This way it fits all diets, allergies, and not being in the kitchen for a whole day. I am looking forward to seeing everyone together laughing and enjoying each other.

What are you doing these days? What ever you do enjoy it.

Finally home and I think rested, tree decorated, and hopefully Christmas finished. We spent a wonderful week on the Coast of Texas between Galveston and Corpus Christi. We were able to see so many family members and friends.

The two ladies on the bottom right are my Daddy’s sisters. This was wonderful.

We left Saturday about noon and drove home. Only 19 hours but then we stopped in San Marcos, Texas at the outlet malls for 2-3 hours and then south of Waco for an hour at Buckees. This is a mix of Walmart and gas station on Steroids will all things Texas and Buckees. Buckee is a Beaver. If you are curious here is their website. https://www.buc-ees.com/index.php

Got home about 7am on Sunday, unpacked did laundry, and visited with the kids. Monday got Christmas tree out and went out to do some Grocery shopping (the cupboards were bare.) Son, Daughter in law, Daughter and granddaughter came for dinner and then yesterday Destiny and I decorated the tree and got some other things out. Hubby and finished our Christmas Shopping and I am all tuckered out. Today will bring wrapping packages, and spending time in the sewing room, (I haven’t for about 2 weeks 😦 Tomorrow brings baking, candy making, and roast cooking for tamales.

Whew! So much to do and it will be fun. I will post a little of all I get done.

One the One Creative Family issue, not much creating getting done. Mary works for the Post Office and is working 6 10-12 hour days, raise a family, and is ready to drop. Alicia is car hunting. A drunk driver hit her daughter head on (Emily was not seriously hurt, Thank God. but still has headaches and some other issues) Alicia’s van is a loss. Ashley is all in for the Christmas Season and is busy decorating and loving this time of the year. So 2019 is ending crazy, but that means 2020 is going to be wonderful.

How is your December going? Any fun activities? Family traditions? I am seriously interested.

Stay safe out in the world.

This year Thanksgiving has brought me home to the area in Texas where I was born and raised. Seeing siblings is the best and spending time laughing and carrying on like we did as youngsters is great. We have been checking out the old haunts. It has been great. Today we spent part of the day at the DeLeon Ranch. This is a ranch on part of the original DeLeon Land Grant of about 1824. It is in the town of Victoria, Texas. The Ranch house was built by a granddaughter of Don Martin DeLeon and has raised 5 generations. It belongs to my cousins and they are in the process of remodeling it. The walls are the original wood walls and nails in the walls from 1901 when it was built. I love this house and remember so many family gatherings.

The walls with a white wash over them.

Another room with just high gloss sealant.

Everything they are doing is being done as it was in 1901. They have had to have all the windows rebuilt with the weights in side the windows to open them and keep them open.

This was an amazing day. Thank you for letting me share.

I was looking thru a scrap book my Mother In Law had kept and found a magazine article about Christmas Gifts to make and give. This was from the 1945ish era. What a fun find.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Hubby and I are going to celebrate with my siblings and their families. I love these family get together times. I am 1 of 8 kids and we all have families. A lot of the time there are over 40-55 people running all over. One sister has a ranch and so we gather at her place. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Siblings, and friends all gather at some point.

Sunset I am looking forward to seeing.

Sunrise

We will be right on the Bay Front that leads to Inter-coastal Waterway.

I have an old comforter that was given to me by my Great Aunt. Her mother made it for her when she was in her early 20’s as a wedding gift. Going back into my genealogy this was about 1920’s. That era. She kept it on her bed until her husband died and then stored it in a closet. It had some holes worn into it when I got it, but I didn’t care. To hold something in my hands that had been made by my Great Grandmother was wonderful. I have kept it unused wrapped in an old sheet(the way I brought it home) for 47 years. It is filled with down feathers and is satin. There are places on the comforter that the fabric has worn from years of use, but I don’t want to “USE” it but I do want to appreciate it. I want to be able to see all the detail. I am thinking that the best way for me to do this is to make a case for it out of an organza as close to the color as I can match to the original. Insert the old one into the case stitch it closed and then hand stitch the design thru all the layers and use it as a wall hanging.

Since hubby doesn’t smoke anymore I figure now is the time to try and do something to appreciate it. We are coming up on it being close to 100 years old.

Does anyone else have any ideas of how I can appreciate the comforter without having feathers all over the place?

Where the feathers are coming out of are on the back side around the corners and edges. It measures 71×71 inches and I love it.

Any and all suggestions will be GREATLY Appreciated.

As I sit in my sewing room looking out the window I am seeing a sea of golds, browns, and reds. The Oak Tree in my front yard is over 30 feet tall and full of gold leaves. The wind is blowing from the south and I see the leaves falling and blowing. I am thinking by next week we will have to rake the leaves. In no time at all we will be looking at beds of white fluff. The Farmer’s Almanac is saying this is going to be a hard winter. I have my bird seeds ready for the winter.

For the first time in a few months all my “Must Do’s” from the sewing room are done. Now for some time to clean and organize some hand sewing on while on our travels.

This year I am going to try and make my own Christmas Cards. A first for me, but hopefully not the last. Now after lots of frustration I may be purchasing them this year. We will have to see. Do you make your Holiday Cards or do you mail out Christmas Cards?

Here is a little trip thru a Cemetery just about 1/2 mile from our home.

We have several things happening today. (1)Our Give A Way drawing, a (2)idea for Christmas, and (3)a photo of a vintage quilt I just finished quilting for a friend. I have only 18 days till we leave for our wonderful Thanksgiving with Family in Texas. So let’s get busy.

So starting our count down is #3.

#2 Is for the person who is always walking around with towels wrapped around the head and the towel slides off.

KATHY REEVES you are our winner of the Amazon Gift card.

I would like to thank everyone for following our Blog. Here is to 4 more years at least.

Hope everyone has a Beautiful day, if it isn’t turning out good find 1 thing good about it and think on this one thing,

Today the gift idea I’m going to share with you is for individualized potholders. I did this for the Granddaughters last year and was a big hit. I hand wrote a recipe for each girl of a dish they like me to make for them. I did this with a Sharpie on a piece of solid fabric and made the potholder for them.

I cut the solid fabric the size of 4×6 inches and them put a 2 inch border around the recipe. I used the same fabric for a back as I did for the border. Cut this 6×8 and cut a piece of insulated batting the same size as the backing piece. Sandwich and finish off with binding. I put a loop on a corner to hang them up with.

I cherish hand written recipes from my mother, mother in law and grandmother in law. I have them framed and hang around my kitchen. This would also make wonderful gifts to hand write recipes for the next generation. Not much is hand written anymore. It is so personal and filled with love to take that much time to do you are thinking of what that person would like.

I hope you like our ideas and I’m sorry I didn’t get this to Monday, our family was fighting the flu. All well now and back on track.

Are you getting ready for Christmas? So much to do and so little time. Only about 55 days till Christmas. I love the Hustle and Bustle of the season.

Stay warm if you are in a cold area. Missouri is getting rain and then snow today. Brrrrrrrrr.