21 Weeks Until Christmas

It's 21 weeks, but that is also 4 months and 28 days until Christmas. 

We attended one Christmas in July event, and it was themed with a German festival of sorts.  We enjoyed (even on a hot day) a bowl of German potato soup.  Most items sold, were antique sellers.  I did not not get any photos of the event, nor made any Christmas purchases (very limited selection to buy from at this event).

Visited a store outlet of sorts, and picked one Christmas door mat out, and a Christmas mailbox cover.  It's going to be fun figuring out how, and where, to store the door mat until Christmas.  What was I thinking?

I washed up our Christmas tablecloth.  It has a few yellow stains, so I have ordered some special cleaner, that is specifically for antique yellowed fabrics.  The stains actually came out better than I thought, by using "Grandma's Stain Stick" that is made from lard and lye.  I was just waiting for a day to hang it on the line to dry (vs. using the dryer).

Cleaning out my handmade leftovers . . .

I finally opened a small storage container I had been moving here and there.  It was filled with some handmade Christmas ornaments that needed a new home.  Some had crochet work, or completely crocheted, but most repurposed materials such as wine corks donated to me, old Christmas cards, used canning lids, etc.

A closer look at these.  They are made from scrap rounds of wood, and misc. craft supplies I had on hand at the time I made them.  They were a special order for a blog follower who later backed out of the order.  Thus, they were shoved into a container.

I started making these ornaments maybe 4-5 years ago??  Mom gave me old wooden spools, and a blog I followed mailed me the cross-stitch paper, and I hand stitched the center part, sewed the mini yo-yo's and created these with the intent to gift one to each siblings family.  It never happened. One, they all don't have a tree anymore, and it was mentioned I gifted way too many already.  

All of the ornaments found a new home now.  A few were mailed to friends as a surprise "Christmas in July" snail mail.

I had these random granny square keychains leftover from years of craft shows, and as part of my "Christmas in July" surprise mail (really purging a box and came up with the idea), 3 people got one in the mail (randomly picked), and I left the remaining ones in various locations with a note (Random Acts of Crochet Kindness/Christmas in July).

The storage container is empty and will be re-purposed for another use.

No new purchases for the advent gift project, but I do need to get to the store for scotch tape and start wrapping what I do have already.  

I have one Christmas treat recipe I may be trying soon.

Christmas book read in July . . .

I will rotate in some more Christmas books soon.  I have more on my shelf to read.  I really liked this book.  I found myself giggling often with the main character's "ghost"  haunting him.  A much different book, but I really enjoyed it.  The book was in a large box of books I bought for $6 at an antique store (very early in the year).                            

21 Weeks Until Christmas   ©  July 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart