I can’t believe how fast time has flown these past few weeks. November and December have come and gone and I don’t know where they went.
I spent a good portion of time crocheting play food for my niece, Taryn. I loved the crocheting part, it was the weaving in, stuffing and finishing that was my downfall. A few of the pieces came from the old pattern book I mentioned here. Some of the others came from very talented designer on Etsy, Crochet n Play Designs.
Crochet play food waiting to be finished. We have all sorts of vegetables, bread, pizza, fruits, a cute shopping bag.
My son, his girlfriend and I went looking for a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. We went to Fullner Christmas Tree Farm again, they have the best trees and it’s absolutely beautiful out there.
My son and his girlfriend at Fullner Farms
Beautiful scenery alone is worth the trip
My tree.
Let’s talk about this seemingly beautiful tree real quick. It’s a beautifully shaped tree isn’t it? We cut it down and took it home, did a little trimming and then tried to put it up. That is when we found out how crooked the trunk was, it just wouldn’t stay in the stand. We weighted it down the best we could and I started putting on lights. The more lights I added the more it seemed to lean.
I finally stopped for the evening until I could get my son back over to help get it straight and more sturdy. Just as I was heading to bed the danged thing fell right over. I just left it lying there, I was already pretty frustrated with it. On my way home from work the next day I ran to the store to pick up a larger tree stand. I was hoping a more sturdy base would help. HA! My son played around with the tree for at least an hour trying to get it trimmed more and stable in the tree stand. We still have it weighted down like crazy on one side. It’s pretty from the front, but don’t stand to either side. Not only is the trunk crooked, when they trimmed the tree during the year they trimmed it straight on one side and more shaped on the other. We didn’t notice but the tree must have been growing on a small hill and that is why it grew crooked and was shaped crooked.
Even with the problems I love the tree, it’s beautiful. Each ornament has some meaning to our family and I can’t imagine not ever having a huge tree like this to showcase all of our memories.
Pretty tree from the front.
From the side…oops, looks like it is about to fall.
I went to South Dakota the beginning of December to celebrate my grandson’s 4th birthday. We had such a great time together, I just wish they lived closer so I could see him more often.
Playing games on grandma’s tablet.
4th Birthday. Mom made him a pirate ship cake.
Making Christmas cookies with mom and grandma.
Cade had such a great time decorating the cookies.
I picked up a cute Santa ornament in the Minneapolis airport. If you’ve never been through Minneapolis you really should. It’s like a little shopping mall there. You definitely won’t be bored during your layover.
When I got back it was off to Vancouver, BC for the Vancouver Christmas Market with my daughter. I couldn’t wait to go! It was an authentic German Christmas market with all of my favorite things and even my favorite Christmas shop, Kathe Wohlfahrt. I wish I could have gotten a nice picture of the market but it was so crowded you could barely move. We went on a Saturday and we’ve already decided next time we will go during the week. Hopefully it will be less crowded, and yes, we are planning on going again next year with a few extra family members.
It really reminded me of the Weinachtsmarkt in Berlin that I went to every year. It was such a happy stroll down memory lane and I was so happy to share it with my daughter. She was too young to remember much of our time in Germany.
Gluhwein. Can’t go to the market without a cup of warm mulled wine. They had traditional, cherry and apple available. We kept the mugs of course.
A few ornaments I picked up at the market.
Wooden nutcracker ornament from Kathe Wohlfahrt
Wooden German in lederhosen holding a mug of beer from the Hofbrauhaus.
Next we did our second year of family baking together. I was smart this time and cut out all of the cookies and baked them ahead of time, leaving a small ball for my niece and nephew to play with. We started off the day with mimosas. Yum!
Mimosa time!
My niece, nephew and daughter rolling out cookie dough.
Decorated sugar cookies.
I spent about two weeks watching and bidding for this silly little Snoopy doghouse cookie cutter on EBAY. I saw some cute cookies on Pinterest and knew I just had to have the cookie cutter. I ended up with a regular sized doghouse and a huge one too, along with several different Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus cookie cutters.
We ended up making Peanut Brittle, Scotchy Peanut Butter Bars, Peanut Butter Balls, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Caramel Bars, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies. This was only round one. My daughter and I had a few more days of baking ahead of us.
Snoopy and our Charlie Brown Christmas tree
Chocolate fudge, Mexican wedding cakes, Scotchy Peanut Butter Bars, Chocolate Caramel Bars, Peanut Butter Balls
Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies
I made several other batches of cookies and bars over the next week or two. Our final cookie plate.
Seven Layer Bars, Chocolate Caramel Bars, Scotchy Peanut Butter Bars, Italian Christmas Cookies, Peanut Blossoms, Candied Almonds, Peanut Brittle, Spritz, Chocolate Dipped Spritz, Mexican Wedding Cakes, White Fudge with Cranberries and Pecans, Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter Balls.
I had a great Christmas and my kids totally spoiled me. A couple more ornaments for my tree.
Canadian Mounty Christmas ornament from my daughter.
Beaded Snowflake made by my sister
The pretty blue beaded snowflake was made by my sister. My daughter used them as package trims for all of her friends. I’m awfully glad she decided to let me have one. I love my sister’s work.
A few finished crochet gifts. Here is all I managed to finish for my niece, I have a ton more to finish up.
Bread and toast, shopping bag, corn on the cob, chicken drumsticks, sandwich cookies, chocolate chip cookie, lemon, lime, baguette, onions, eggs, pear, bananas, carrots, sausages, eggplant
Fingerless mitts for a secret Santa gift exchange
Seahawks inspired earflap hat for a friend’s son.
That’s it for this year. The rest of December is going to be full of rest and relaxation. Maybe finishing up some more play food for my niece and getting ready to greet the new year.
I hope everyone had a great holiday season full of family and friends!
A Little of This and a Little of That 