Christmas Crafting and Some Christmas Cheer!

The holiday crafting has gotten off to a slow start for me this year. I finally got a little inspiration last week and made some of these frosty, chubby snowmen for my gal pals. I bought the pattern and tutorial from Dawn this past Spring during one of her tutorial sales. The pattern and tutorial worked great! Thanks, Dawn.
I made a total of 3 and 2 more are in the works for Shelby's teachers. I had already wrapped the others before I took pictures, but here is a glimpse.
This one has a linen and red damask print scarf and hat.
This snowman has a light red and ivory toille print. They are just too cute with their sparkly snow. Check out Lessons From the Nest. Dawn often runs specials for $5.00 each or buy one get one free!

Now for the Cheer Part! Our good friends and neighbors Hal and Trina invited the couples group that we get together with frequently to a Christmas dinner at their home. We were treated royally.
This was my contribution to the evening. I was asked to bring an appetizer so I made this cute tree shaped cheese ball. The recipe came out of a Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook. It was adorable and easy to make. It is covered in parsley and decorated with pine nuts and red peppers. The cheese ball is made up of cream cheese, shredded cheddar and pesto.
We sat down for dinner in Trina's lovely dining room. We started with homemade wild rice soup served in toasted bread bowls. It was delicious. It had almonds added to it and fresh swiss cheese to melt on the top. Then the second course was this wonderfully southern favorite, Shrimp and Cheese Grits. The shrimp were spicy with the creamy cheese, making it a great combination. The dessert course was awesome. (I failed to get a picture in my excitement) Trina made homemade chocolate cups filled with chocolate mousse. YUM!!
Here are us girls; Trina, Me, Marla and Annette. ( I have no idea what I was doing with my hand. I look like I have to go to the bathroom. LOL!) Never a lack of laughter with this group.
Here is the Jolly group in front of Hal and Trina's tree. Thank you sooooo much Trina and Hal for having this special dinner for all of us and for sharing your home and hearts with us during this holiday season. Everything was terrific!!
Well, enough partying for now. I am off to make a few more snowmen and I also have some ornaments on the go to get finished, presents to wrap, etc. I am sure you are all busy, too. Enjoy the week everyone!