It's finally done. At least mostly done, it still need tabs and a dowel to hang it. My sister has her very own advent calendar, and I get to take mine home.

My mother started to cross-stitch one for my sister not too long after she was born. She missed a line somewhere in one of the figures and between the need for things to look just right, yes, I come by it honnestly, business of life, etc. it just didn't get finished. Two years ago I picked up a pattern for a pocket calendar thinking it would be a fun summer project. I'm not sure what happened to that first summer, but somehow it flew by and the extent of my accomplishment telling myself that it would be an easy project.
This summer, since I'm not working and only have the baby, cats and puppy to worry about, I decided to start and finish the project. At least I planned that I'd start and finish the project. Finally I took the first steps in sewing together 25 little pockets and roofs sometime in the fall. Here and there, with the help of my mother-in-law, I completed little bits of it. Blanket stitching teh houses onto the background didn't go as quickly as I would have liked. A few months after Monkey was born I ended up with a flare-up of tendonitis in my thumb despite following correct baby-lifting techniques. So the final touches (snowflake buttons) were put on on Christmas Eve after dinner with my hubby's family. I'm usually finished wrapping presents a week before Christmas, so this was a little unnerving for me.
It's not as perfect as I'd like, a few things are a little askew, but I'm pretty happy with it, and I think my sister is too!

Not the best picture, but here's the final product! I bought this beautiful Christmas fabric over a year ago with the intentions of making a tree skirt. A few things got in the way of this being completed last year - a move, new puppy and being pregnant, all that on top of teaching a crazy course load.

This fall I got my act together, found a pattern on line, made a few chages, and voila, the skirt was finished in about 2 weeks. This was a great project. The pattern was easy to print off and put together. Instead of making this a circle, like the pattern shows, I made each section come to a point so as to create a decagon (I had to look that up, FY, it's a 10 sided object). Popped in some seams and pieced it together then snipped the edges. This was the first project I completed using a new-to-me sewing maching, so it was great for testing out the machine before tackling any more complicated projects.

I love that this is a piece that I made myself, that the fabrics are ones that I absolutely love, and most of all, that it is washable! Within the first few days of it being completed it was spit up on, and now it's become the dog's favourite place for burrying her bones. Ahh, pets and child

I have friends that live for Hallowe'en and friends that detest the day. I'm usually somewhere in the middle. I love any chance to dress up and I love the chocolate. I also love any excuse for baking themed treats. I'm not big on being scared, and I really don't appreciate how some people use it as an excuse for bad/annoying/dangerous behaviour.

This Hallowe'en was filled with firsts for us. First Hallowe'en in our townhouse. First with a dog. And first with a baby. Needless to say, I was looking forward to it more than usual.

In order to get into the festive spirit, I learned how to make a simple, quilted table runner. We put up a few decorations and got ourselves ready for a family dinner and hours of answering the door handing out the 300+ pieces of candy we'd stocked up on. The family brought dinner over and I made pumpkin and ghost shaped biscuits. As we ate we answered the door to a total of 13 kids. A bit of a let down. Yes, it was raining, but seriously, where were all the kids? Our complex should be a Hallowe'en goldmine - only 5 steps between doors!

The rest of the evening was spent admiring babe in his Yoda costume - touque thanks to a talented Auntie and robe supplied by Baba.

More on how the candy will be used up to come...