I decided to try decorating our dining room chairs for Christmas meals. I saw a picture on pinterest of a ribbon of burlap tied around the back of a chair, so I modified that, added colored ribbon and a silk flower or garland. Simple, but I think pretty and a fun addition to the chairs :-)

We've been going crazy (in a good way) decorating for Christmas. :-) We started the day after Thanksgiving, with me decorating countless wreaths, sewing Christmas stockings outa burlap that I recently purchased, hanging untold numbers of strings of lights, and it's beginning to look alot like Christmas! Hubby climbed on the roof and put up farolitos, put lights up in the entryway window, dug out the tree, and made sure we had a beautiful fire in the fireplace each evening as we worked. Very pleasant indeed! Several years ago, we saw a really awesome idea of putting a wreath around a light fixture, and had to do it ourselves. My daughter and I decorated a huge wreath last year and hung it on the chandelier over the dining room table, and it's now a "must-have" every Christmas. We have the one over the dining room table, and this year added one to the entryway light. Everywhere we look, there are wreaths! Hubby kinda thinks I went a little crazy, but it was hard to stop! ha! On one of the blogs I follow, there was a great idea for hanging a wreath on the top rung of a ladder (on the blog, she used a cherry picking ladder - I'm using the southwest ladder that hubby built for me a few years ago), and stockings on the lower rungs. I drew up a pattern, made some stockings, hung the wreath, added the stockings and some greenery, and voila! This is my version, and I love it! This will be another "must-have" every Christmas!

In August, our daughter and son-in-law became an Aunt and Uncle - what a cute little guy Diego is!! Such a happy baby, and such a sweet smile! Our daughter says "when Diego smiles at me, I cry!" Easy to see why! He's precious!

This past summer hubby had a gallery ask for some of his sculptures, and he got the spot right at the front of the property! I got to assist with the installation - it looks amazing!!! Such a talented artist!! My photos don't do this justice, but suffice it to say, the face on this is beautiful! Fused glass of hubby's design and creation, the feathers are sand-blasted and hand painted by my artist hubby, gorgeous colors, and I can't get enough of looking at it!

Hubby's mom's pie cupboard needed a little TLC - the punched tin "windows" had oxidized pretty badly and didn't look very nice any more. I had in my mind's eye a picture of maroon colored glass, so hubby and I went to Albuquerque to his favorite glass shop, found the very color I envisioned, hubby cut the glass to fit, installed it, and look how beautiful! I think our Christmas dishes look gorgeous through the glass! :-) Every time I look at this, I smile! Another great job by my handsome hubby - so talented! :-)

Last summer mom got to come visit us - was great fun to have her here! Had some girl time shopping, grabbing a bite for lunch, and then in the evening mom whooped my butt in Yahtzee! She always told me dynamite comes in small packages, and she's not kidding! at 4'10" she's a live wire!! Love you, mom!!! (P.s. see the chicken clock in the background? Yep, hubby made that!! Love it!!! Fused glass and other mixed media!)

Now I can reveal my secret project from a few months ago. My brother-in-law had asked if I would make them a king-sized quilt, which I had never done before. I was a little intimidated, to be honest, but I didn't see how it could be any harder than the smaller ones I've been making. I drew out a diagram of how I would construct it, figured the yardage (no small feat for this math-challenged person!!!), made a trip to my favorite quilt shop in Albuquerque - Southwest Decoratives - and headed back for a sewing marathon. I will confess, got stuck with pins a few times, but it went together fairly quickly and seamlessly (sorry 'bout the pun), and I'm rather proud of myself! Sis and brother-in-law celebrated their anniversary with a re-wedding ceremony December 1st, and we got to watch it streaming live from their church's website. Hubby and I watched from here in Santa Fe and our daughter watched from Santa Barbara - was fun, and yes I cried! :-) Sis sent me a couple pictures of their quilt, and it received a seal of approval from Emma, their cat. :-) Success!!