My buddies at Creativebug shot this ridiculously cute video to promote the spirit and the season of holiday gift-making! I love it so much! You might recognize these friends from my Critter-of-the-Month crochet classes. For a free first month subscription to Creativebug and also a 30% off coupon for Joann Fabrics, check out this link!

I know! I can’t believe I have my Christmas tree up already, either! Actually, this is the first of 3 trees. We also have a pink one and a lavender one, but this is my brand new white tree gifted by Treetopia, since they kindly invited me to be on their Design Council 2017: Christmas in Treetopia!

This year, I wanted to make giant peppermint ornaments. At first I was going to crochet them, and if I have time, I might still try that and post the pattern here later, but in the interest of time and working at a desk 40 hrs a week, I decided to give myself a break and paint some styofoam disks. This tree just really represents giving myself a huge break in general. I usually try to stick with handmade and vintage ornaments, but we don’t always have time for any of that, so this tree is decorated entirely with Treetopia ornaments and stuff I bought at Michaels at 50% off, plus a really basic and easy DIY.

I started with the Arctic White 6 foot tree and these Colors of Christmas Beaded Ornaments. Treetopia did provide these items to me, but my review is honest, and both the tree and the ornaments are beautiful. When it comes to fluffing an artificial tree, you need to take some time, but it’s worth it! The tree is pre-lit, and you can change from white lights to blue lights. I layered in some gingerbread ornaments (yes, you could definitely crochet those!), ceramic(?)/glass(?) garlands, and bows made with ribbon from Michaels.

I really love that ribbon! It’s a minty green blue with peppermints on it, so it was 100% perfect for my tree theme. I then bought floral styrofoam in two different disk sizes, painted some small red stripes with acrylic paint, and then wrapped my big candies inside cellophane tied off with gold ribbon.

This is the first time I really tried to plan my tree out as far as color scheme. My normal design personality is sort of a kitschy mish-mash of pastel randomness. It will be interesting to get all the trees up and decorated at once! I also have a garland and a wreath from Treetopia that I need to decorate, so stay tuned for that!

If you want a chance to win a tree and ornament set for you and a loved one, you can enter to win Treetopia’s 6th Annual Secret Santa Sweepstakes on their Facebook page. Choose your favorite look from our 2017 Design Council and telling us why it suits your holiday style. Ready those sleigh bells and sing your way through the merriest time of the year! Duration: November 14-25, 2017

Can I end with some #HolidayCraftConfessions ? (I started using this hashtag on Twitter. Feel free to contribute!) I could NOT find my vintage tree skirt, so I just pulled the fleece cover off my chair, which I use to protect the chair from dog hair and muddy paws. Also, I didn’t have the proper extension cord to light my tree topper. And you know what? It’s ok. I lived.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

You can purchase the crochet pattern for my pumpkin jack-o-lantern slouchy beret hat (obviously I can’t decide what to call it… haha) in my Etsy shop, and I also just posted my YouTube tutorial for it.

I use my favorite – worsted weight yarn – and a little felt for the face.

For a little extra Halloween love, here’s an easy tutorial I made for work: turning a reusable shopping bag into a fun trick-or-treat bag. Manda and I always have to make some kind of video in a pumpkin patch!

Have a safe and fun day!

Remember my crocheted sloth from my Creativebug class?

He’s part of Creativebug’s October Look Book … which is also a short horror movie! Click the image and check it out!

You can also take advantage of a 1-month free trial to Creativebug + a coupon for 30% off at Joann Fabric and Craft Stores: just click my affiliate link here!

In March, I backed Vickie Howell’s The Knit Show. In August, I was filming for it. On October 5th, Season 1 premieres on YouTube.

The Knit Show will be very first studio quality, community-funded and internationally accessible, episodic how-to knitting & crochet series, from the host of the wildly popular DIY & HGTV series, “Knitty Gritty”, and PBS’ “Knitting Daily with Vickie Howell.”

When I decided to back the show, I wanted to support my craft and my community and help make part of knit/crochet history. Vickie is a rock star, and if I could help in some small way to make this amazing thing happen, then I was going to! I had no idea that a few months later, I’d be flying to Austin 3 days before my birthday to film part of an episode.

I met Crafty Is Cool, who kindly bought me a birthday taco the next day. I met The Crochet Dude (yeah THAT Crochet Dude). I saw Kelley Deal but I tried to be like nbd. I hung out with Vickie’s daughter Clover, and an air conditioning duct that was blasting freezing cold air at us at high velocity provided hours of entertainment, Boomerangs, and slo-mos.

It is rare for me to hang out with my peeps in person, so this was a very special trip and a very special experience. I even hung out with the Hivesters (you’ll see) a little bit, and one of them brought me a giant birthday day donut the next day. Like, who is that nice? I hope you all subscribe to The Knit Show YouTube Channel and watch it all unfold on October 5th! Also please keep hounding Vickie about Knit Show t-shirts because I really want one, even though I already have the enamel pin and the tote bag….

BTW the day after filming for The Knit Show, I hosted a pop-up shop in Austin which was also super incredible. I’ll blog about that next!