Has Anyone Seen The Baby Jesus??

And does he happen to be riding on a camel??

Decorating is a joke this year. I have little hands going right behind me; arranging, moving, and stealing things! Her favorite target? The baby Jesus. He's always missing. And today he apparently rode away on the camel, leaving in his wake one confused and lonely shepherd and a Mary and Joseph staring expectantly at the blank spot on the table.

Today I found a snowman in the refrigerator. He probably would have been better served in the freezer, but at least she tried. :-)

My latest project from my Handmade Holiday agenda....a quilted wallhanging. I found this cute tree pattern on a blog quite some time ago, and drew it out in my sketchbook. My Mom came over several nights ago for dinner and we decided on a whim to put this together. I love how the miniature quilt turned out, but I especially love the memory of working together with my Mom on this. We had the pieces all laid out on the kitchen table and she handed me all the squares in the right order. We got the whole thing pieced in one night, then I machine quilted and bound it later in the week.

In honor of the new little quilt I decided to do something different with my mantle this year. The quilt isn't really big enough to hang above it, but I'm going to do it anyway. I originally made it to go in the guest bathroom, but I decided to be a show off and put it in the den instead. We've had the same painting hanging in that spot since we moved into this house seven years ago, so it seems strange to look up there and see something different. I kept the mantle greens simple and added bright red and green balls to give it some sparkle. It's kind of fun to have a change!

Here's the other thing I love.....handmade holiday fever is contagious! I love that my son asked to learn to embroider. He came up with his own idea for a project and is working on a gift for someone special. Looking forward to some stitching time this holiday weekend, and after a trip to the quilt shop with Hannah today, I have some new things to keep me busy!