It's beginning the look alot like Christmas!

So I know Halloween isn't even here yet, and Thanksgiving is a whole month away. I am, however, thinking about Christmas. I love Christmas. The twinkling lights, all the greenery, the yard decorations, the happy spirit that can't be dimmed; I love Christmas. So I am asking opinions about how to decorate for it. My main problem area is my back porch/den/sewing room. Here are a few pictures of how it looks now.

As you can see, my hubby likes to hang is army uniform there. My lonley little nutcracker is guarding my oil lamps. My fruit plaques are not supposed to go there, but I have very little room right now.

We want to change the paneling in this room to drywall. I will have pics of that next month.

But for now, the room has very little light and not enough outlets. As you can see, I have a phone line strung across the sewing part of the room to hold my quilts and also put the phone on the other side of the room. Notice the homemade quilt hanging on the shelf???? My own creation.

So in this view, you see my sewing table. Right in the middle of this farthest wall is a window. It is a 3 ft x 4ft slider aluminum window. Lots of air flows through this portal. We are planning on replacing that with a vinyl insulated one. The whole room is only 10 ft wide. With 8ft ceilings. Actually, I don't think that they are even 8ft. Very low. Concrete floors are waiting for laminated hardwood.

You should remember that my father-in-law built this house all on his own. I refer to it as my crooked house. He had a few troubles in getting it square. He told me that is what happens when you are building all by yourself! But that is another story.

Now this is the view across from the fireplace. My fruit plaques should be here, but there is just no room!

So what do you think? How would you decorate this very unusual room for Christmas?

Mom! Look at my pumpkin.........

He did it all himself. He came and asked me if he could carve his pumpkin that gramma gave him and I said yes. Okay, I was quilting and lost in the pieceing as I tried to make sure the pieces continued the same pattern. Then I saw the knife!!!Then I had second thoughts as I saw the carving knife go out the back door with him. "NO RUNNING!" I yelled. I just had visions of a self inflicted stab wound. "Yes, Dr., he was running with the carving knife......No, I didn't see three blind mice, why do you ask?"


Sorry about that. Here is what he ended up with. He told me he made a baby jack-o-lantern. How do you know it's a baby? His answer........Because it has no teeth! Well, so it doesn't Do you think it will still scare the boogey monster away if it's a baby?

What do you think?

So, a friend of mine asked the question on facebook last night if anyone remembered those latchhook rug kits. Well, yeah. I was traumatized from my 7th grade home economics class that failed mine because of the colors being in the wrong order. Well, I will have you know Ms. Pam Boggs, that I now have excellent color cordination. And no, I do not believe you failing me on my latch hook kit was the cause! It is my new found (well, not so new) confidence in what I think looks good and years of training by my little sis, so there!!!!

I don't think that mine had a heart or a smiley face on it. But hey my memory is not what it used to be either.

After she asked that, it made me wonder if I had seen any kits anywhere around here. And the answer was, No I haven't seen any. Now, for Christmas this year, I had planned to get the kiddies a WII system and a few games. But you know I am in a nostalgic frame of mind and they just might end up with little craft kits and jigsaw puzzles. If nothing else, it will keep them from constantly saying that they are bored. And wouldn't those just make the perfect things to keep them occupied this winter when the power is out and they can't get on the interenet or watch TV.

Where we live, when the wind blows and the rain falls, the phone and the power have a tendency to disappear. My son says it is alot like camping, but in the house. Which is the best way to camp if you ask me. It reminds me of the episode of Andy Griffith where Opie said that "adventure sleeping was an ironing board on two chairs". Or was it Barney? Humm....not sure, but it was on there.

So how do you spend your "down" time? Puzzles, craft kits, quilts or reading? I must say that I enjoy them all. You never know what I will end up doing.

Love to all!