Prepare to be Inspired!

I have had so much fun today looking through different craft blogs and websites! All of my searching was in hopes to inspire YOU to enter my Christmas Craft Challenge. Today I was looking at paper and fabric crafts... our K & Company scrapbooking materials and Jo-Ann fabrics would be a great place to start!

Visit any Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store to find Christmas and holiday fabrics - below are some of the ones we found at the new store in Charlotte.

My holiday scrapbooking collection, Glad Tidings, from K & Company can be found here! Below are some of the papers, cut-outs, and stickers that would be great to use for cards and other crafts.

Everyone loves a homemade Christmas card! Find inspiration at Keepsake Crafts.

This cute paper wreath can be found at Inspire Me Crafts - with instructions too!

These magnet boards from Organize Your Stuff Now are awesome - perfect for a recipe holder in the kitchen or a picture in the office! I think they would look great made with some Christmas papers!

Who wouldn't love a homemade advent calendar!? I also love the little envelopes with numbers for each day... each one could contain a note for your loved one with the day magnet - maybe a little treat too! Find these and other cute decor ideas at Katie Bee Creative.

The following fabric wreath and balls are from our very own Jo-Ann Craft and Fabric Stores Blog! Instructions included!!

Another fabric wreath idea from Sticky Genius over at Etsy!

Christmas stockings of course! Find a tutorial for these at All You.

And... I would love, love, LOVE to see a Christmas quilt! The one below with the little trees from Katie May Too is too cute!

Or a quilted pillow or advent calendar quilt like these from Fabric Shopper Online.

Well, I know that I feel inspired! So... get crafty and give a special gift from the heart this Christmas - and don't forget to enter my Christmas Craft Challenge!

Merry Christmas

Hello friends!

I want to wish everyone a Very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I have a special Christmas message to share with you all. One of the designers at the studio, Stephanie, gives a children's sermon at her church every Sunday. This Sunday she spoke about Christmas gifts - it is a sweet and powerful message for all ages!

Winget Art Christmas Party!

Yesterday was our annual Winget Art Studio Christmas Party! As always, we had a wonderful time celebrating another joyous year together. We started with a delicious spread breakfast treats at the studio and then moved the party to the farm!My daughter Erin is home for Christmas!
Mary Beth's necklace of tinsel and lights!
Why does everyone look so shocked?!?

Erin Made Bread!!

Christmas Lasagna :)


Kendall came too!Hangin' around the Christmas Tree...
Every year I give everyone Vaillancourt Santa figurines - they are made from old chocolate molds!

The whole crew together!

Deck The Halls, Y'all!

I thought I would share some photos of our home decorated for Christmas. I have so many special treasures I have collected over the years and they each carry special memories of loved ones and holidays past. This year I also made a planter for our front porch using the bottom of our Christmas Tree and some of the vine decor from my neice's wedding last month. Of course I also have the table set with "A Christmas Story" china by Portmeirion- each piece has a different verse from the cherished "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem by Clement C. Moore.
Enjoy the photos and have a very Merry Christmas!

We're Dreaming of White Christmas...

Our friend Linda sent us the most beautiful pictures of her home in Tennessee. They have so much snow! We were hoping for snow in Charlotte last week - but only had a handful of snowflakes. But, we're still dreaming of a white Christmas... if only in our dreams!!

The picture also shows one of our holiday flags made by Magnet Works!

Christmas Shortbread!

What better way to kick off the holiday season than with Christmas cookies!? I always say that if I had to choose one food to live on for the rest of my life, I would have to choose shortbread… Here is my recipe – Enjoy!

Cream 1 cup of butter by gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar.
Cream until light & fluffy.
Stir in 2 1/2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour.
Chill several hours.
On a floured surface, roll 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
Cut with 1 3/4 inch round cutter.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 300 about 30 minutes.
Cool slightly, remove.
This makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Christmas Quilting!

Mary Beth, our resident quilter, saw a beautiful quilt in her Quilting for Christmas issue of The Quilter Magazine! It is made from our latest Benartex program – “Once Upon A Christmas.”

If you would like to make this quilt for the holidays,

please visit the Cotton Capers Quilt Shop to order the kit and pattern.

To order other fabrics in this collection, visit our friends at Fat Quarter Shop.

Happy Quilting!

A Package From China

Yesterday my family received a wonderful surprise in the mail. It was a box full of precious treasures, from our daughter Erin - and it came all the way from China! She sent a special gift for everyone, and a letter explaining the significance of each. The gifts included a scarf for her grandmother, a jacket she had worn on the Great Wall for her cousin, and a beautiful silk tote for me. One of the most precious gifts in the box was a special letter she wrote for my husband, her father, Al. It was wonderful to receive these tokens, as they each carried so much love. In a way we felt we were experiencing part of her journey abroad, through these items she had thoughtfully gathered while in China. Erin is now in Uganda, click here for updates on her travel blog.

Christmas 2008

I hope you all enjoyed a very merry Christmas this year! My family enjoyed another wonderful holiday together on the farm. It was a typical Christmas in many ways – gathering together with Al and our children around the tree, opening special gifts from one another, and giving thanks as we remembered the ultimate gift from God this season. However, in other ways this Christmas was very different. As many of you know, our daughter Erin is away this year on a mission trip around the world. She is currently in Kenya and was spending Christmas feeding the hungry children where they are working. We miss her dearly and missed her even more over Christmas. But, the delight and fulfillment we hear in her voice when she calls and in her blog entries helps us to know that she is exactly where she needs to be this Christmas. Erin shared another part of her life with us from so far away. Her friend Nikki has been living in our guesthouse this year and helping us with so many things around the farm. 

It was a great blessing to have her spend the holidays with us this year! Nikki brought some of the extra cheer we were missing in Erin’s absence and was a true blessing for us. So, this year, our joys of Christmas were by our side with Nikki and our children Sam, Mac, and Megan as well as afar as we kept Erin in our hearts. I found the following quote in our new book by Harvest House, God Bless Our Little Nest and thought it so appropriate to share this Christmas.

"Our home joys are the most delightful earth affords and the joy of parents in their children is the most holy joy of humanity. It makes their hearts pure and good; it lifts men up to their Father in heaven.”
Johann Heindrich Pestalozzi

Go Panthers!

One of the painters at the studio, Mary Beth, made it into the Charlotte Observer online! Mary Beth is a huge Panthers fan, as many of us at the studio are, so she made us proud. She and her husband always go all-out for the games with tailgate parties, signs and of course plenty of Panthers gear. Here’s to hoping all of our Christmas, and Panthers, wishes come true this season as we cheer for them to go all the way!


"A Carolina Panthers fan displays her Christmas wish during the 4th quarter against the Denver Broncos at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers won, 30-10."