Hand Stitching Christmas

I know the holidays are over but I've been in a sewing mood lately...which is a good thing because I almost sold out on my applique Christmas stockings and I know I won't feel like working on them come spring.

Plus I had a couple of special orders that pushed me on ...

"Sew" the week between Christmas and New Years I cut out and pinned 7 stockings...

This way, with the designing done, all I have to do is choose a stocking and start stitching...

Just grab and go...  

 With a daughter in club volleyball, I'm on the road a lot and
there's way to much down time for a "get er done" person like me.  :)

The stockings keep my hands busy and help me feel like I'm still accomplishing something.

I finished this happy little monster at a Volleyball tournament in Eugene.

And started the Lab in between games in Tacoma.

The Santa and the Jeeps were finished one hour at a time on my lunch breaks at work...

This one was a special order for a lovely customer and her jeep loving husband.

 I was so pleased with the way it turned out I made a 2nd one to sell in my Etsy shop.
I think it will be a big hit...I should probably make more!  :)

How about you?  Are there any of you out there still working on Christmas or am I the only one???

 Denise
And of course I will be linking up to many of the parties in my side bar.

Vintage Desk Makeover or How to Paint Camouflage

I got two desks for a buck a piece about 3 years ago...Yup that's right 2 desks for $2.00...and yes, it took me 3 years to get around to doing something with ONE of them...

But it did turn out GREAT!!!

My nephew Gavin was turning 4 and loves to draw on our Chalkboard Coffee Table so I deiced it was time to pull one of the desks out of the garage and paint it!

With a daddy that was in the military, and Gavin being such an outdoorsy little guy Camo was the obvious choice.

The fist thing I did was lightly sand and prime the wooden top. I then paint it with 4 coats of chalkboard paint....This baby had to be sturdy, it was going to be abused in every way and I didn't want to have to repaint it in a month.  :)

Yup, I have great taste in beer.

After the top was dry I covered it and Garret sprayed the rest of it with primer.

I considered refinishing the wood on the chair but the clock was ticking so we just spray painted it too...

In the end I think it was the right choice!

After priming it we used two different shades of flat green and sprayed them on randomly.

Now for the fun part...(which happened while I was at my real job).  Bryan gathered up some fern and some cedar branches.  Holding them against the desk he sprayed them with flat black paint, to create the wonderful leave pattern on the desk.

This is what the desk top looked like by the end of the party...

I think one could say it was a big hit!  :)

Thanks for visiting and if you have any questions on this project just leave a message in my comment box, I would love to here from you!

Denise

I will be linking up to may of the parties in my side bar.