I missed May's Rudy Day (May 25) but I decided to post today and 

give you a rundown on activities for May. Perhaps you can find 

a few minutes here and there to be thinking about:

New themes for your decorating or Christmas party.

Peppermint is always a fun theme. 

Set your table with some dishware that carries 

out your peppermint theme.

Here's a simple 15-minute project 

to get you started. 

Wouldn't your Christmas 

cookies or cupcakes look 

cute on this Peppermint Candy Tray?

Peppermint Candy Tray

About 60 starlight mints, any color

1 (10-inch) round cake pan

Nonstick pan liner (such as Reynolds), parchment paper or foil

Pencil

Scissors

Wire rack for cooling

1. Heat oven to 350. Unwrap the mints and place in bowl.
2. Use a pencil to trace the outline of the bottom of the cake pan onto the parchment or pan liner. Cut out liner and place firmly in bottom of pan.
3. Place mints just inside the rim of the pan, continuing in circles. In the center, adjust mints to make certain all will fit.
4. Place the pan in a 350 for eight minutes. Do not walk away. Check the pan frequently to make sure the candies do not over-melt.
5. When done, remove from oven and let cool. After 10 minutes, remove from pan. The parchment or pan liner will peel off the tray. Keep the tray away from wet and heat.

You might even make little votive holder bowls to go along with it!

Go to the heavenlyhomemakers.com website for more information.

One of my favorite themes is gingerbread. How about we find a project that is do-able? Some libraries even give classes during November / December on how to make and assemble gingerbread houses. 

You can make or purchase gingerbread ornaments in all kinds of fun

Christmas designs, with or without names on them. I think this would be 

fun to add to your children's or grandchildren's ornament collection. 

When they grow up and start homes of their own, they'll have

 some ornaments for their tree!

You can purchase gingerbread stocking holders

to hold up their gingerbread stockings!

And don't forget to carry the theme to your table. How about making your meals festive during the Christmas week with a table set like this:

I bought some blue Christmas tree ornaments at the end of the season last year, thinking ahead to this Christmas. I want a small Christmas tree in my bedroom and would like to go with the "Blue Christmas" theme in that room. Blue is my favorite color, so why not use it during the holidays,too? 

Think more than just blue ornaments...a beautiful blue ribbon on a 

green Christmas wreath, blue linen napkins with white rick rack trim 

and your family monogram, blue packages with blue ombre 

ribbons. Silver and white complement the blue beautifully. Aren't 

the individual white angel food cakes adorable? 

My tree won't be this big, but isn't this beautiful with the different 

shades of blue ornaments? I love how the white deer complement 

the theme so well. Here they've silver and white to contrast, and 

punched the blue up to a gorgeous shade of teal.

I need to decide what kind of design I want for my tree skirt! This one 

is lovely, isn't it? I'd like to see blue balls and white balls and 

white icicles on the tree that goes with this skirt.

Have you thought of a new theme to use this year in 

your Christmas decorating?

Till next time, Keep the spirit of Christmas alive!

Mary in VA

Early Christmas Sewing Projects

We have a new Christmas club that meets at our local quilt shop on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Oddly enough, that puts the meeting very close to Rudy Day (celebrated on the 25th day of every month)! We had several ideas for small make-ahead gifts. Among them are these cute fabric baskets. You can use them for candy dishes, in the craft room for small items (thread, buttons?), or in the kitchen (with tea bags?) etc. etc. I'm sure you can come up with some ideas, too.

The item on the left is a mug wrap. It wraps around a coffee mug, and gives you lots of little pockets to corral your small items: pens, pencils, small scissors, etc.
I think my mom needs one near her chair with her crossword puzzle pencils and tv remote.

Small potholders and mats for hot pans/casserole dishes are always nice. Choose fabrics in your friend's kitchen colors.

This simple table runner (below) only takes about 30 minutes to make.

The green tablerunner, below, is my version of the simple tablerunner. The 18 inch square pillow on the bed is one of my favorite projects. It says "Dear Santa....I can explain!" It just slips over the pillow that is on display 11 months out of the year.

I've been having a lot of fun making walker bags for my 96-year old mother, who lives in Florida. The first bag was made of bingo fabrics. I will have to dig up a photo of it to show you! Bag #2 has pink flamingos on it. I added the little cell phone pocket to the pattern. You can download the walker bag pattern from Craftsy from a vendor called "BucketsGoneWild." It was free!

Mom is a retired nurse, and I couldn't resist this fabric with Lorlei's nurses on it.

Remember decorating your bike with streamers for the 4th of July parade? They used to decorate mom's golf cart in red-white-blue!

I also found a free very simple pattern to make tissue holders to coordinate with her wardrobe of walker bags. I still have to make her Christmas bag!

Have fun making some home-crafted items for Christmas gifts this year.

Mary in VA