a 'week of glee' ~ day one

i thought it might be nice to have a 'week of glee'.

of course for some it may seem super duper early to be thinking about 'gleefulness' and all it encompasses, but i do believe the 'crafty masses' think way ahead of time.

knowing the hours that go into creating handcrafted goodness, means we must be 'one step' ahead...

therefore we shall spend the week on the topic of 'glee' and things that make us 'gleeful'... well actually it will be things i find to be 'gleeful' and as you are all the 'gleeful' type, i am hoping you will find the 'glee' i have to offer, to be most appealing.

today's dose of 'glee' is

a little 'gleeful' garland

because quite honestly, there is nothing more gleeful than a garland...

this little garland is so 'gleeful' in her simplicity that really, very little direction is required

and like always dearest readers,

all you will need is a little imagination to take what i have to offer, and make it your own...

my little 'gleeful' garland is crocheted,

but you could easily knit it.

i made all the little flags whilst twiddling my thumbs waiting in the car during chauffeuring duties.

yarn garlands are most perfect for that sort of occasion...

i used worsted weight yarn,

one thrifted cream

and

one lovely speckly red,

kindly donated by my friend Trish down the road, who listened to my sad tale in the grocery line about little old me trying to crochet up some 'christmas glee' without any red yarn. not two minutes after arriving back at the shed, she was on my doorstep with a bag of red 'odds and ends' for me. truly a grand neighbor indeed, sharing her bag of 'glee'...

i double crocheted

(american terminology)

10 cream flags

and

5 speckly red flags

and went for a rectangle shape

measuring roughly 4.5" x 3"

or roughly 11cm x 8cm

the beauty is you can just do what ever size you wish

next, i took some wide vintage lace and cut five pieces off,

lay them upon my red flags and hand stitched the lace in place.

i then laid my little flags out nicely to admire,

being careful not to leave them where little olive would also do some admiring.

i then rummaged around my lace stash, but alas i had no lace skinny enough for the string,

so i rummaged some more and found a thrifted packet of skinny cord in cream, a little shiny for my liking but our #4 assured me as it was a 'gleeful' garland it could surely take a little 'shine'...

i threaded the flags onto the shiny cord in a pleasing order,

hammered two pins in the wall and voila!

a little 'gleeful' garland completed

so simple i know, and some of you clever ones are perhaps 'rolling in the aisles' as to the simplicity of my 'gleeful' garland, but i wanted to 'show and tell' this little piece of joy because i think it most important to remember that bringing a bit of handcrafted 'gleefulness' to the home this holiday season, doesn't have to involve lots of steps, knowing lots of techniques and spending hours of time on a project.

quite honestly, i'm thinking if you can't knit or crochet, another way to do this would be to get a woolly christmas sweater that your man insists on wearing every year, boil it alive in the washing machine, bemoan the terrible tragedy to him, then quick as an 'elf' get out your scissors, chop out 15 rectangles, add a few bits of lace, sew on the string and voila!

your man can admire his sweater on the wall,

where we all know,

it looks a lot more 'gleeful' as a garland,

then it ever did on him...

she is thinking you may tire of the word 'gleeful' by the end of the week but then again, perhaps not ~ Tif

footynote: i have to just say once again, your comments here and in my inbox over the weekend have been most wonderfully received... truly without a doubt, you have been most generous with your kind words