from a long line of crafters

so, long before i was a mommy, i was a crafter.  as a little girl, i loved helping my mom with our annual christmas presents/projects, though, we usually started them a little late in the season, causing us to nearly pull our hair out by mid-december.  :)  we made straw wreaths, mini christmas trees complete with presents as table center pieces, cloth angel tree toppers and countless other holiday goodies.  not to mention all the ones that i watched her slave over for hours - stockings, little plastic, yarny hangy things, coasters...and can't forget all the ornaments, popcorn strings and wreaths made before i was born (that still hang on the tree today)!

my granny erskine: crafter...she knitted and crocheted.  my grandma rode: crafter...she has made so many beautiful quilts, sewn so many dresses, jammies, you name it.  my aunt nani: crafter...i believe that both tyler's and my stockings are made by her as well as one of my favorite blankets as a little girl.  my aunt kay: crafter...again with the blankets and i'm sorry i can't remember other specifics.  my aunt karen: crafter...i've seen dozens of dream catchers made by her.  my aunt patty: CRAFTER and baker...enough said.

so, you see...it was determined before i was a twinkle in my parents' eye that i would also be a crafter.

for the last three years, i've been working on our family stockings and just as my mom taught me, i finished nolan's just in the nick of time! 

i've also made it a tradition of mine to make bags of goodies for people as christmas presents.  this year they were (admittedly) a little sparse due to motherhood.  sorry family.  but, yummy nonetheless.  they had almond melt-aways, coconut balls and graham cracker cookie bars (new this year and definitely going to make a return in future years).

and pies...thank goodness my amazing mama was here to help me bake pies christmas eve eve or i would have been up half the night!  and thank goodness my wonderful aunt patty supplied me with a delicious pie crust recipe.  and thank goodness my grandma provided me with the genius inventions of a cloth rolling pin cover and cloth thingy to roll the crust out on!  this year we had the traditional apple pie on christmas eve and a super-delicious pear cranberry pie on christmas day!

(this picture is defying me and refuses to load the proper way...so, sideways it is).  you get the picture.  holly leaves for a top.  delicious...but fell into crumbles when served.

this christmas was fun, but so looking forward to when nolan can help me in the kitchen and we can make some of our own ornaments to put on the tree.  and like me, he will be able to say that the popcorn strings on his tree were handmade...before he was born.  :)