a Flurry of Finishing and the Santa Saga

I've had the glue gun out again kids!  Got by with just 2nd degree burns this year.....Yay me! 

First up, my only new ornament for the tree this year:

Christmas House

freebie from Giulia Punti Antichi

I love that my EGA chapter strongly believes in offering educational yet manageable monthly programs.  This ornament was our December program.  I was very glad to be able to hang it on the tree this year.  My goal, every year, is to make a new Christmas ornament for the tree.  Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't.  No biggie, but, I really was happy to get this one 'finish-finished' before the sands run out on 2009.

Next:

Last year, a dear friend gifted me this very cute stocking.  She left it unfinished so I could talk to it and find out what it wanted to be (she knows me so well).  You see, she wasn't born with the crazy gene that allows people, like myself, to talk to inanimate objects.  Anyway....as I was saying.....in late 2008, this cutie came to live with me.  It told me straight away that it didn't want to be an ornament, but it wasn't sure what it wanted to be.  So, respecting it's wishes, I just laced it onto some cardboard, for safe-keeping and propped it up against a small vase so it could be enjoyed in the stitching room. That was over a year ago.  

THEN, the other day, out of the blue, while I was sitting in my stitching room waiting for the laundry to do itself, the little stocking said, "Hey, you remember that awesome easel tutorial you saw over here?  That's what I want to be!"  So, with that information, I found just the right backing fabric (IMHO) and let the glue fly!

The only adaption I made was using stiff felt in place of cardboard for the back portion.  I simply applied glue to a strip of stiff felt, bent the felt in two places, covered with the strip with fabric, glued the seam in place, and tucked the excess on both ends in between the front layers. 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  

I love it very much and think of my stitching friend everytime I look at it.

Lastly, here is where we left off with the Santa "drawing board":

And, where he stands now (by the way, it takes 8 BIG Hos, ~ahem~  to do Santa):

I still need to chart something for the backside and attach the back panel to the Ho band.  It may be a bit too much for such a small ornament, but I have made a red and white "peppermint twist" tassel to attach to the bottom of this cutie.  I really can't wait to put the last stitch in this one!  It's been a challenge.

Finally, I want to share with you the "pre-oven" glamour shot of the best darn pumpkin dessert ev-vah:

OMG.  That's all I'm sayin'.  If you plan on having any more pumpkin anything between now and next October, I highly recommend giving this recipe a spin.  (click on "pumpkin dessert" above for recipe). 

Better hurry and make this one before Jan 1st, while

the calories are still "half off"!  ;-)