on sunday, we headed over to mike and sarah's house for crafting and wii... sarah is a master paper crafter (well, at least to me, because i have never done much with paper), and she taught me the ways as we made some christmas banners.  i was skeptical when she told me her idea, but i love how they turned out!
here's sarah hard at work:

our husbands , mike (left) and paul, spent their time playing madden football so we could craft in peace:

and i hung up the final product promptly when we got home.  i love it so much that i think i'll have to make some other year round banner to take it's place after christmas.  and it looks even better in person, imagine that!

i was so pumped to decorate for christmas yesterday.  i forced myself to wait until after thanksgiving, but then i had to get going.  i made this paper garland that i saw on a blog that has tons of holiday projects and the tutorials.  it was super easy to make and i love it.  i also put up this little tree on my wall with lights.  it was hard to get a good picture because of the lighting...

happy thanksgiving! 
isn't it great having a day off work?  i had so much time to make things today, including all of these things pictured below that i'll be posting on my etsy store this weekend.  also i am doing a free shipping sale on etsy this weekend from black friday through cyber monday.  feel free to stop in if you have some holiday shopping to do!

things i wish i made.....

isn't this incredible?  i found it at steampunk junq, a great little store on etsy where everything is made from recycled parts.  not only do i wish i made it, but i wish i owned it!

and i want to make these to put out on my patio, i saw them on etsy as well, but can't find the store where i first spotted them!

i think i've got those string earrings figured out like i want them.  i just listed the first pair on my etsy store!  i'm totally loving them, and i hope you are too!  they are pretty tricky to construct, but i think they're worth it. 

i have been wanting to try making some new pillows and have been loving any design with birds lately, so here is the pillow i just finished up.   i want to try a little tree design next and maybe an owl.  any other great ideas for what i could sew on?

i came up with this new design for some earrings, inspired by those awesome string earrings.  i reworked it and experimented and came up with a design i really like, but it was rather time consuming and i need to perfect it.  once i get them down, i'll put some up for sale at my etsy store.  what do you think?

the other day i saw a great tutorial to make a cute headband over on smile and wave, one of my favorite blogs.  i decided to make one because it was so easy to make and i had everything on hand... here's how it turned out, can't wait until my hair is just a little longer so i can make it work!

so, it's much harder to find time to make things and post now that i actually have to go back to work and class...  and i was sick again this week, on veteran's day which i had off.  ugh, so i managed to crank out a few more granny squares yesterday, but that's been the extent of my creative work as i lay on the couch watching daytime tv...
however, today i came home and made this necklace, and i rather like how it turned out.  posting it at my store on etsy to see if anyone else loves it like i do...

and the winner is:......
jennifer harris!
thanks for stopping in all of you- keep it up because i'm rather enjoying blogging!
sale at my store ends tomorrow if you haven't stopped in yet, please do.

and, i got these awesome prints today in the mail from an old friend who owns and runs djgdesign.com.  made my day, i  had been longing for that lamb for quite some time- it's made out of lawn clippings... so great.   and the dinos are a new design made out of fall leaves.  this guy uses the simplest things to create his art...