For the first time in my life, I decided to buy something that I had intended to make. I had planned to make the actual boxes for my mother and aunt's Quilt Shop roomboxes. I even made a "first attempt" (as you can see in my gallery photos) to make sure that I could actually make it; it came out cute, but a bit small. So I have ordered 2 roombox shells that I will paint and decorate myself.

I almost never do that...whether it be pants or a quilt or a shelf, whatever, if I could possibly make it, then I won't buy it from a store or online. When I told this to my friend Juli, she damned near had heart failure. During our conversation, she kept saying things like, "Now wait, tell me again - you're BUYING something that you could MAKE, but you're not going to MAKE it. You're going to BUY it. Do I have this right?" If we hadn't been on the phone, I would have kicked her!

But the best part about ordering them is that I paid less for two of them, precut and with shipping and handling, than I would have if I made them myself - gas to drive to Home Depot and back home, cost of MDF, cost of glue and then there's measuring and the time and effort and the screwing up and the remeasuring...and the swearing, don't forget the swearing!

Last year, I was working on Christmas gifts right up to Christmas and realized that I didn’t relax and just enjoy the holiday season. So this year, I've made a conscious decision to finish the Christmas present shopping/making early and spend time stress-free. Come December 22, I will be done with everything; done with gifts, done with baking, done with decorating, done with wrapping said gifts. I just want to sit back and relax, eat some sugar cookies, drink a cup a tea, read a book and watch Christmas shows. For those four days (from the 22nd, when I leave for Mum & Dad's till Christmas), there will be no lists, no pressing matters, no worries, no thoughts other than enjoying those 4 days (then it's back to work, to a totally empty office, on 26th). The house will be cleaned before I leave, the laundry will be done and ironed for work. It's not a goal or an intention...it's a plan, set in stone, that I will bust my butt to make happen!

So far, I'm getting it done! The shopping is down to 1 person left. The making is down to last minute touches on quilts. And I just recently received the room boxes and started painting them (one is already together, save for gluing the top on). I'm really loving the ease of these room boxes! They go together soooo fast! But now I can see what will and won't fit for mini's and how much more I need to make, like fabric bolt shelves and a ton of fabric bolts, a sewing machine, curtains, another few rulers, some quilt patterns another rotary cutter. With all this in mind, I'm starting to wonder if I will get them finished by Christmas!

As soon as I have pictures, I will be sure to share them with the forum.