Do you BELIEVE??????

When my children were small

I used to tell them that

SANTA

comes to all who 

BELIEVE

Today I was busy baking 

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

HINKLEY  

"helped"

also!!!!!

Anise Cookies

Wrapped in a pretty bow 

and 

SNOWFLAKE

paper.

I hope you are enjoying

MAKING THE MAGIC  

happen

this 

SEASON.

"Christmas MAGIC is SILENT.....you don't hear it... 

You FEEL it.....You KNOW it.....You BELIEVE it"

~Kevin Alan Milne

Hugs,

Lynn

Thyme for you to meet HINKLEY!!!

Look who just

 arrived

all the way from 

Brenda Griffith

at

THE RUSTY THIMBLE

in

OKLAHOMA!!

His name

 is 

HINKLEY

Brenda sent him to me to replace my

BELOVED ELF

LES

who was lost in a fire in our home in July

You can read 

Les

story

HERE

SO

NOW

HINKLEY

WILL

HELP ME MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN!

I was told that he had completed all his classes in

ELF SCHOOL

and 

could  

TYPE!!!!

Well that had me 

REALLY

excited because I always have a

 LOT

 of pattern packets to

 type up!!!

 I 

told 

HINKLEY

he would be learing on a 

MAC computer.

to which he replied

"OH......I don't need lessons.......I KNOW all about MAC's"

SIGH....somthing tells me I'm going to be up late typing patterns myself!

I'm just going to

Hugs,

Lynn

Thyme to show you a SEASIDE Santa I painted

Because I live on 

CAPE COD

I needed 

a

SEASIDE SANTA

 for 

my porch

I painted this one last 

Christmas

I used a pattern from 

Country Whims purchased a long thyme ago

called 

Candle Santa

to make him.

I have added many of my own touches such as the

 face and beard 

which were free hand painted

Santa stands 65" when completed

I

 LOVE

 to paint 

SANTA BEARDS

It takes patience

AND

several layers of paint!

H0 - HO - HO!

I found these LARGE resin candy canes at a thrift store

I

 added some 

Diamond Dust

to

make them

SPARKLE

I added 

STARFISH

to Santa's wreath

I used BURLAP to make Santa's sack

I grunged and baked the fabric to make it look old

I then stitched the sack

I added "snow" and snowflakes

 to the

 tree!

AND

Then

 I assembled Santa!

HO - HO - HO

 I have made several of these Santa's

They are fun to make but a LOT of work!!!!

 Happy Painting!

Lynn

It's thyme to count the days!

Are you Ready????

If you are like me.....probably not!!!

How did 

CHRISTMAS 

get here so fast???

Will I be able to

MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN? 

I am still so busy, baking, shopping, wrapping 

AND

PAINTING

I had these old cookie sheets in my 

painting stash

I used a 

FLAT WHITE

paint to prime them

I used a small roller to paint the light blue

It added a nice texture to my surface

PEPPERMINT ADVENT CALENDER 

was 

a fun design to paint!

You can purchase the pattern to paint this at

Painting With Friends

HERE

I painted a small wooden disc to look like a 

PEPPERMINT

I glued a magnet to the back

I drilled holes in the top so I could add a piece of homespun to hang my piece

I also added some 

JiNgLe bells

and

a grungy tag that says

COUNT THE DAYS

I am just going to 

keep calm

and

HO-HO ON!!!!!

Hugs,

Lynn

Thyme to show you a Cynthia Erickson design called Sleighmakers Inn

I found this antique fireplace bellow at a thrift shop

and

decided to paint 

a 

Cynthia Erickson 

design on it

It is always fun to find unique and interesting pieces to paint on.

I am always on the lookout for such pieces!

I had to modify the design some to fit my surface.

I sanded the surface and prepped it with a base coat of black 

followed by a coat of red 

letting some of the black show thru.

This is such a pretty design to paint!

I found some perfect homespun and bells to add to my piece

I made a grundy tag that said

SLEIGHMAKERS INN

for my piece

I love how it turned out!

Happy Painting!

Lynn