How to Have a Stress Free Homemade Christmas

HELLO, blog reader friends!!!!  We've missed you all!  We have had a busy and fun 2013, and we hope you have been blessed as well!  This year, we welcomed 2 new members to our family--bringing the grand total of grandbabies to seven.  We were all able to be together in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, and are already anticipating the next time we will be together again.  

  
The taking down of the old calendar and pinning up a new one brings anticipation, refocus, and a resolve to be better this coming year.  Here at Swan Bay Family, our resolution is one we hope will bind our creativity together as we look forward to being together once again.  It is a long-range goal--one that will take 12 months to complete.  We hope that you will join us, be inspired by us, and cheer us on for our journey.  Because 2014 is.......drum-roll please..........

THE YEAR OF THE HOMEMADE, STRESS-FREE CHRISTMAS

We want our main focus to be the birth of Jesus Christ.  The gift of time with our loved ones celebrating our Lord's birth, should not be stressful.  It should be filled with love, joy, laughter, and good food.

But unfortunately, we usually resolve to make thoughtful, budget-friendly, homemade gifts around December 10th or so, which results in much stress, much loss of sleep, and high shipping costs to rush gifts to their new homes.

December 2014 we will all be Christmasing at the farm.  We will be having at least 15 of our most loved, favorite people in the world all in the same place, and we would love nothing more than to be able to be so prepared that we will actually be able to enjoy every minute.  Climb on board if you would like to go through this journey with us!!!  

This is not only going to be the focus of our blog this year, but also the start of a new opportunity at Swan Bay Folk Art Center...and here is where it is going to get really fun...  Every month Niki will be hosting a one day "CRAFTERNOON" (formerly known as a one-day women's retreat) at Swan Bay Folk Art Center on some form of gift or project to help you prepare all the merry-year-long for Christmas.

The workshops will include how to make crazy quilt personalized stockings, fancy flirty aprons that you will love to wear or give as gifts, ornament making, a snowman quilted wall hanging, a quilt-as-you-go table runner, a finger puppet busy book, an interactive advent calendar, and a mother-child gift-making class.  We will also be sharing some of our favorite recipes from our "Traditions Cookbook" and maybe even inspire you to make a family cookbook of your own.

Snowman Wall hanging class on January 18th. 

Two aprons can me made in our "Fun Flirty Apron Class

 on Feb. 1st

Make 2 crazy quilt heirloom stockings at our March 22nd class. 

So keep checking back to see what crafting, cooking, and kid adventures we're up to and make sure to check our website if you'd like to see our class schedule.  Happy New Year from all of us at Swan Bay Family!


Love, Niki
Amy, Megan, & Robin