One of This Year's Crafty Christmas Gifts

I don't always get to make gifts for Christmas, but when the time for me to do them is there, I take advantage of it.  Like last night...  I was wide awake at 11:30, and I really had a hankering to cross-stitch (thanks to my friend, Margaret).  The only problem...I have SOOO many projects that I have started and not finished.  Did I even want to go there?  Um, yes...just not toward one that's unfinished.

I decided I would yank out a quicky kit that would be also be a great gift.  I've known forever that I would make up this cute little keychain and give it to my mother-in-law someday because she loves lighthouses.  I'm so excited to put this in her stocking on Christmas Day.  :o)

(Oh, and um, mom....on the off-chance you're reading this, just click that tiny red "x" if you would...thanks!)

 I'm at about the mid-way point here...working on the backstitch for the clouds.

 Bella couldn't make it to the half-way point!  By this time, it was about 12:30 in the morning, and she was ready for her beauty sleep!

 And at 1:30 in the morning, I'm done!  (Pardon my pink plaid pj pants.)

 So, at a normal time of the day, I ironed this sucker, and tried to get out the frame imprint.  Not much luck, but it won't matter anyway.

 Next, I yanked out some interfacing to stabilize the picture, and ironed it to the back.

 After ironing the interfacing on, I used the clear insert of the keychain to figure out where to cut, and got to tracing with my pencil.  

 And voila!  We have a cutesy lighthouse keychain!!  The instructions advised that the fabric should be glued inside the keychain, but I didn't like that idea in case MIL wants to pull out the lighthouse and put a picture of something else in there.

This was a Bucilla kit that was fast and easy, but I absolutely cannot recommend the thread that's included in their kits.  I cannot count how many times my thread knotted up on me, as well as frayed.  Very frustrating, but I'm still happy with the finished result.  ;o)

Doggie Fun

No, none of these dogs are mine, but I sometimes I wonder what my dogs think of me and my hubs.  Here's a few laughs for ya today!  :o)

This pic reminds me of my dog, Bella.  One time (and one time only) I put her in this cute little pink dress that had a little tutu looking thing on the end.  Poor girl, she gave me the most pitiful looks for an entire WEEK!  She wouldn't play, she wouldn't come up to me to get petted, nothing.  Finally, I took it off her since she was so obviously miserable, and it was a complete transformation in her personality!  We have not gone down the clothes road with her since.  :o)

This pic reminds me of Dasher.  Every now and then when either I or hubs is on the internet, he'll weasel his way underneath our arm and act like he want to "use" the computer.  :o)  We call it "checking his dog-mail."

This one reminds me of Dasher and Bella when it's treat time...which guarantees a laugh at least once a day.  :o)

All pics courtesy of ihasahotdog.com.

No, I'm Really Not Speedy Gonzales

I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves spring. Since I've become a bit of a garden addict, I just love seeing my flowerbeds fill up with new flowers. My hydrangea bush has started to bloom, as well as all my rose bushes. Ahhh....I just love it.

But this year, I need to get some bulbs in the ground to start filling up some new flowerbeds that I set up last fall. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll have those bulbs in the ground by this weekend. I've only ever planted bulbs once before, and had mixed results, so I'm a little nervous about doing it again. This year, I've already bought some dahlia bulbs to plant in the flowerbed in my front yard. If they bloom, I'll upload some pics.....cross your fingers for me. *grin*

My gardening plans would've started a little sooner had I not had a little accident at the house about a week and a half ago. I have now learned that I cannot race through my house like Speedy Gonzales. There are consequences when I do that. :o)

DH decided to order pizza the other night, and told me beforehand: "Hon, when the pizza guy gets here, will you come and get the dogs so they don't race out the front door?" (Bella, our chug, likes to escape out the front door if she gets a chance, and runs all over the neighborhood like she's going on vacation or something.) I said I'd help him with that when the time came. About thirty minutes later, the pizza is at the house. I'm in my newly-cleaned craft room, and race to get to the living room to keep the dogs under control. Just before I make it out of my room, I bang (yes, bang) my left pinky toe into the desk that's right next to the door. Oh. My. Gosh. I have never known such pain in my whole life. And I'm sure you can visualize this scene quite well in your mind....the dogs are going nuts, hubby's trying to pay for the pizza, and I'm screaming bloody murder. I literally could not even walk to the living room, and we're talking a very short distance between my craft room and the living room. I plopped down in the hallway, and just cry like a baby because my whole foot hurts SOOO bad, and all I did was hit that little bitty toe. (Also going through my mind was what the pizza guy must be thinking.) Bella must've heard my blood-curling screams, so she comes to see if I'm alright. She then proceeds to pee right there in the hallway on the carpet....right in front of me. By this time I'm thinking, "Could this night get any worse?" Yep...sure could...she decided she'd do the same thing in the living room. Needless to say, she was not my biggest fan that particular night....didn't like hubby much, either.

Hubby was so sweet for the rest of the night, though, I must say. Cleaned up the doggie pee, and was checking up on me the whole time. Got me an icepack for my foot, got it all propped up, and then he started, "Hon, do you wanna go to the doctor tomorrow?" I respond with a pleading "please don't make me go!!" He's like, "Are you sure? Your toe might be broken." I'm convinced that it's not broken because it looks normal, just a nice shade of red. (Yeah, there's a reason why I never went into the medical field.)

The next morning I decide to make an appointment to see the doc. Good thing I did, too, because my husband can diagnose stuff better than I can. Sure enough...my left pinky toe was indeed broken. Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about that at the doctor's office except tell me to go to the drugstore and get some tape so I can wrap the pinky toe to the toe beside it. Seriously, I've lived on this earth for 28 years, and never broken a bone in my life. And when I decide that I'd like to break one, I think it should be, according to the doctor, "the smallest, most insignificant bone in your body....it's not there for much, except to probably help you balance better." Great. Well, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right.

So, for the past week and a half, I have worn the most unattractive shoes in my closet simply because they are the most comfortable. (Lesson #1, never throw out all your ugly shoes...you never know when you might need them.) And if you've never broken your toe, you'd think it's not that big a deal...until it is. I cannot run, I can't lift anything really heavy (yep, experienced that one firsthand), and I walk around looking like I need a cane.

Oh, and the doctor also said no yardwork. While normally I would love to hear that, I've got to work on my flowerbeds. Hubby is great at a lot of things, but planting flowers is not something that he's tried, and I don't think he really wants to. So, as long as I can get outside early enough on Friday morning before it gets up to 80 degrees (yep, the hot temps are already here in west TN), I'll sit myself on the ground, plant those bulbs, and hope that there will be fruits to my labor come summertime.

Pics of My Doggy in the Snow

Had to share with y'all some pics of my doggies. :o) We've had some strange weather in TN lately, and have gotten more snow than I've ever seen around here in my lifetime. I had no idea that hubby got the camera out the other day and took some pics of my little girl in the snow. :o)

Bella is kind of finicky when it comes to weird weather. She absolutely will not go out when it's raining, so I don't even bother any more. Of course, that means that I occasionally have a mess to clean up in the house....ick! My other dog, Dasher, will go out in the rain, and it's the fastest "doing his business" that you've ever seen in your life!

So, it's somewhat strange that these pics are of Bella in the snow, and Dasher is no where in sight. How very strange that he doesn't like the snow, but she does. :o)

Not sure what she's doing here...sniffing something, I guess.

Checking to see if her "neighbor" is out. (We are surrounded on all three sides of our fence by other dogs, so things can get noisy from time to time.)

And just so he's not left out, here's an old picture of Dasher sleeping. He's such a cutie pie! :o)