December 2007 – Thimbleanna

Gingerbread Houses, Part 2

20 Comments / December 31, 2007 December 29, 2011 / Gingerbread Houses, Holidays

Wow. It’s the last day of 2007 already. We had a fun year here in Thimbleannaland. I’m once again very grateful for a good year in which we all managed to stay healthy. You can’t really ask for much more than that!

To finish off the holiday season, we finally managed to get together for our annual gingerbread house competition. (I know you’ve all just been waiting on pins and needles for the results LOL!) I’d like to apologize ahead of time for the inappropriate behavior of some of my family — hang in there to get past the offensive parts!

The defending champion frat team of TheSecondChild and TheManoftheHouse (along with one of TheSecondChild’s friends) continued this year with the party theme. They created a bar, complete with malfunctioning neon lights, jam wrestling, a bucking bronco and a bartender. (Apparently, a bar was their concession to clean things up….rumor has it that a brothel was in the works. Men.)

Appropriately, MyCrazyBIL and my 13 yr. old nephew created a Funny Farm. Their accessories included a gingerbreadman in a straight jacket and a crazy lady escaping out the back window while an inmate looked up her skirt.

In an attempt to bring a little dignity back to the competition, MyDadLovesMeBestSister and my 10 yr. old niece made a cute little Candy Cane Cottage. They get a special prize for the best use of Captain Crunch cereal. I was so busy taking pictures that I didn’t notice the cute little gingerbreadman snowball fight until after everyone had gone home.

In third place, we have the team of MeMum and BigDaddy. We all cracked up when we saw their Santa’s Home for the Aged. BigDaddy is always good for a laugh! I thought he did a great job on the roof too.

My 15 yr. old niece and I cornered enough votes for second place. We made a little Peppermint Cottage. My niece had to carry the ball on our house, as I had to keep leaving her to take pictures and refill icing tubes.

And the first place winners this year were none other than the bride-and-groom-to-be, SweetiePie and TheFirstChild. They created a cute little wedding chapel, complete with attendants, stained glass windows and a steeple.

I didn’t get a great picture of the steeple, but you can catch a glimpse of it in this picture.

So, a fun end to a great year! Thanks to all of you for being a part of my 2007. I’m WAY behind on reading my comments/e-mails — hope to fix that in the new year. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year’s celebration. Be Happy AND Safe!!!

XOXO,
Anna

A Bunny Blogaversary

63 Comments / December 30, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Bunnies

Boy, things are so lazy around here, my toughest decision everyday is pj’s or bathrobe LOL! I’ve been having a good time playing games and goofing off with family, which means I haven’t been on the computer very much this week. I wanted to hop on this evening though, and take care of a little bid-ness. A little bunny bid-ness.

First off, several months ago, I lured three little bloggers into my Pay It Forward project. I finally got my gifts mailed off, so I thought I’d show them to you. I made each PIFette a bunny and a little doll quilt. Since Sharon loves red, I made hers in red and I was lucky enough to give hers to her personally when I met her in November.

One day I saw something made from the Dick and Jane fabrics on Jade’s blog, so I made her bunny and quilt out of Dick and Jane fabrics with a few extra added coordinates.

And for Shropshire Girl, I have no explanation how I picked her fabrics. I just thought she might like the Susan Branch fabrics. I’m hoping she’s received her bunny by now as she’s been kind of missing in action in the last several weeks. She’s probably actually enjoying the holidays with her family!!!

Now, for the rest of my Bunny Bid-ness — TODAY is my BLOGAVERSARY!!! WooHoo! It’s been such a fun year. I started out with a blogspot blog and then moved here to Thimbleanna.com. I remember I felt so shy and funny about that first blog entry, I didn’t even do a proper blog introduction — I just jumped right in and started complaining about my neighbors who were cutting down so many trees. Since that first entry, I’ve met so many of you from all over the world and I’ve truly enjoyed our e-mails back and forth. I’ve learned heaps from all of you — you’re all so full of wonderful ideas and I’ve tried to incorporate many of them into life here at Thimbleannaland. (The latest fabulous success was the yummy Cranberry Relish recipe shared by Rohanknitter. I made it for a side at our Christmas dinner and it was a huge hit! Thank you very much Ms. Weathertop!)

THANK YOU so much to all of you who visit here, and especially to those of you who leave a comment along the way to let me know what you think. I LURVE comments and feedback and a little two-way conversation. Anyway, I don’t want to get all sentimental and sniffly over this first year of blogging, so we’ll get right to the fun stuff. You know a blogaversary means a give-away!

And at Thimbleannaland, a give-away means a bunny. You know the routine — just a leave a comment on this entry between now and midnight (Eastern Standard Time) next Saturday, January 5th and I’ll draw a winner on Sunday, January 6th. (Unless I’m still in my pj’s and I forget! ;-) )

XOXO,
Anna

Lazy Days

19 Comments / December 28, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Holidays

In the blink of an eye, it’s all over. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great time and are just now attempting to return to normal. For many years, when TheManoftheHouse and I were first married, my side of the family all lived in different parts of the country. We loved Christmas when we’d all get together, sleep under the same roof for a week, and enjoy each others company. Now that we all live in the same city, we miss being cooped up together, so we re-create it here at home. On Christmas Eve we went over the river and through the woods to MeMum and BigDaddy’s (it’s probably less than 5 miles LOL) and we just came home today. MyDadLovesMeBestSister and her family are still at MeMum’s. I could spend all week there, but TheManoftheHouse misses his own bed, so we come home after just a few nights.

I took a few pictures just to prove that I did finally get some Christmas decorations up. I still have a little hand sewing to get done, but now there’s no pressure and plenty of time. I love these lazy days between Christmas and New Year’s. Time to lay around in jammies, reflect on the holidays, and start to plan for a little organization in January. I hope all of you are relaxing and enjoying these more laid-back days too!
XOXO,
Anna

Merry Christmas!

20 Comments / December 24, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Holidays

We’re in an all-out sprint to the finish line here in Thimbleannaland and there’s just not much time for blogging. I’m sure you are all in the same boat! The sewing is finished (save a few bindings) and the wrapping is done. A few more cookies to bake in the morning and one last gift to grab at the store and I’ll be done. Not necessarily ready though. I’m just stunned over where this last month has gone and I’m a little sad that I only managed to get the basics done — decorating and gift making. Not much fun holiday stuff. I had some ornaments and Christmas items that I wanted to make. Maybe I’ll work on them in January so I’ll have them for next year. I think I say that every year.Â I wanted to get downtown and take a picture of the lights to show you, but we didn’t manage to get that done. So, here’s one of my favorite Christmas pictures that hangs in my dining room all year long.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday surrounded by family and friends. I’ll be back soon with a few of the goodies I made but couldn’t show you ahead of time. I’m anxious to have some time to catch up on all of you. And I do believe there just might be a little anniversary in a few days! ;-)

Have a VERY Merry Christmas!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Christmas Stuff

21 Comments / December 21, 2007 February 18, 2011 / Holidays, Travel

Since I can’t think of a good way to relate the items that I’m going to show you, I’ll just list them:

In our Christmas house, we have a running argument about the lights. The boys all love the little Christmas lights and I want the big, old-fashioned kind that I grew up with. You’d think, since I’m the one who has to spend hours putting the lights on the tree, that I’d get to choose. But, I can’t stand all the whining, so I give in. This year, I found an old string of 15 of the big lights, so I decided to put up a little tree in the kitchen just for me. I picked up a few of those Martha Stewart kitchen utensils on sale at K-Mart, some little candy canes, and called it a tree.
See those goodies under the tree? I returned home from my trip tonight to find a little surprise package from Sharon! She’s such a sweetie — it was totally unexpected. There’s a tin of tea, a yummy Mary Englebreit soap, a cute Christmas notepad, some Christmas kleenex, and an adorable little wool stocking with a gingerbread man on it (who’s very hard to see with the lighting!) Thank you SO much Sharon — I love it all! And, well, I really hate to tell you this, but Sharon’s having a little HUGE give-away. Run over there and leave a comment. And in your comment, tell her to pick me LOL!
Before I went on my trip, I managed to make and give a gift to a co-worker. I made her the Amy Butler lounge pants out of the chocolate fabric that I love and I added a little of the fabric to a ready-made t-shirt. Amy must be tall, because the pants are too long for my average-height friend. They’ll be adjusted after Christmas.

While in NJ, I dragged a co-worker in to NYC on Wednesday evening for a few hours ’cause after my previous attempt, I still wanted to see the big tree. I also convinced my friend to go with me to check out the Macy’s Santa. My VERY favorite Christmas movie is Miracle on 34th Street, so I HAD to see the Macy’s Santa. I must not be the only person who wants to peek at Santa ’cause they have a separate line and viewing window just for peeking people. Is this not the coolest looking Santa ever? I wanted to climb right up in his lap and tell him my wishes for Christmas! I think my friend thought I was nuts.

Depending on where you are, only 3 days left. Are you ready???

XOXO,
Anna

Month: December 2007