Archive for December, 2011

Minty the Candy Cane

If you’re a Conan fan, you might recognize this guy from last year– he’s Minty the Candy Cane and he may have fallen on the ground for just a moment or two. (Click here to go to Conan’s site if you are confused.) This is quite potentially the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever made…

Last year M was so taken with the idea of Minty and he sang the Minty song ad nauseam. When he started singing about Minty again this year, I decided he needed his very own Minty Christmas ornament for the tree. I constructed this guy out of felt and embroidery floss, and a real penny. (Please don’t tattle on me to the Federal Reserve.)

He even has an anatomically correct backside– bugs and all!

Happy Holidays– may they be most excellent and spent NOT on the ground and NOT covered in poo.

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A Partridge in a Fake Tree

I’m so tired of staring at this:

and so glad I can finally see more of this:

It’s a bit more colorful than your average partridge, but that’s alright. Everyone dresses up in reds and greens for Christmas, even the birds!

(I’m so tickled that they match.)

Though it’s a labor of love to do this every year, I get so much joy out of making ornaments for my loved ones. I think it reminds me of my childhood…Every year the school where my mom taught hosted an ornament-making night for families. You’d go into the cafeteria (which was also the gym) and move from station to station to make each ornament. I’ve kept everything I made over the years. I think my favorites are the weird ones– like a strawberry made from a walnut colored red with magic marker, felt leaves, and a yarn stem, which M rolls his eyes at every year when I hang it on the tree. There are some classics though, like an old-fashioned bead and lace candle and a snowflake made from styrofoam, chenille stems and sequins. I think ornaments like those give a tree character. I’d still hang my Kindergarten bow-tie macaroni wreath if it wasn’t so fragile. I have such fond memories of those times, Christmas as a child when everything was so much more simple.

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Adventures (and Misadventures) in Crafting

Still making. On Wednesday, a friend and I attended a workshop at Ambrosia Bead Shop where we constructed adorable earrings. I made sets of angels which I think will make some lovely Christmas gifts. Eileen made dragonflies (in the same type of fashion as the angels, just different parts) which I wasn’t able to get a shot of to share. However they were so easy and lovely that I have a feeling that when spring comes I will be making a set for myself to wear, and then I’ll be sure to share a photo!

Cards– I make a lot of them. M comes from a big family and has more aunts, uncles, and cousins than I have. (And I thought I had a lot!) You can imagine that means man holiday cards are addressed and mailed out each year– about 70 when you add in friends to the mix. The first few years I’d try to make each card start to finish but I found that took up so much time that I had to try a different tactic. And so, for the past 5 years or so, I’ve made the cards piecemeal. First cutting out all the necessary pieces, then stamping each piece, then coloring all the pieces, then assembly. This keeps things organized and running smoothly…until I realize that I’m quickly running out of adhesive.

A local scrapbook shop, The Queen’s Ink, turned me on to a particular brand of double-sided tape runner called Sticky Thumb. It’s a great product and the refills are incredibly affordable. You can imagine that with as many cards as I make, I go through an obscene amount of adhesive. Last night as I had everything spread out on the dining room table (it’s gotten so bad that the studio surfaces are all covered with other projects!) I had a few choices. I could have hubby run out to Michael’s, which is just around the corner, and have him pick up any number of (inferior) tape runners, I could quit working for the night and head out in the morning to The Queen’s Ink, or I could take him up on his enormously generous offer to go to The Queen’s Ink on my behalf. I dawdled for awhile. Sending a husband into a craft store is akin to sending a first date to the drug store to buy tampons. I didn’t want to do that to him…

But he offered, so I did. I armed him with an empty refill package and requested that he just go seek someone out and ask them to get the product for him, rather than him trying to roam throughout the store to find the correct section himself. (This store is laid out to be a world of joy for a crafter, but definitely is not one of those places with aisles marked by supply or department.)

Off he went to Savagie Mill– a historic textile mill turned into a mix of eclectic shops and an antique mall, where The Queen’s Ink is located. He first realized he was in trouble when he couldn’t find a parking spot. Anywhere. Even the overflow parking was filled up. After driving around for a bit, he eventually found a spot but couldn’t help but wonder what was going on that so many cars were in the parking lot. (It’s usually very easy to find parking in the evening.) He would soon find out. When he walked in the doors, he found himself among hundreds of people in better than their Sunday best. Among men in tuxedos and ladies who milled about daintily eating fancy food on toothpicks (attending some sort of large fundraising gala) he made his way through the crowds of people, decked in his fleece hoodie and jeans, to get to the shop.

Exasperated once he finally made it to The Queen’s Ink, he did as was instructed and found an employee to help him, and announced “I have a crafting emergency!” to which the entire gaggle of women, including the Queen herself, responded in fits of uncontrollable laughter. This ends the humor in the story– though it ended well– the finale scene being the presentation of tape refills to me along with the telling of the series of unlikely events leading up to the purchase.

In this case, thank you isn’t nearly enough so I’m hoping to come up with some sort of gesture that will adequately express my gratitude.

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Cocoa and Crafting, but Mostly Cocoa

 

Every year I tell myself I’m going to start on holiday preparations earlier than the previous year so as to avoid the last minute frantic feelings I inevitably start having right about now.  I’ve spent the week holed up inside desperately trying to finish (start?) all of my holiday cards and handmade gifts and ornaments. I can’t even begin to think about baking or shopping or parties.

My mother-in-law surprised me at the end of last week with a set of these adorable handmade place mats that she made, adorned with ric rac and dancing penguins! They have brought me so much cheer as I sit in the dining room indulging in hot cocoa, which as of late has been more of a crafting fuel than a caloric luxury.

I have a hilarious (well, hilarious to me) story to share with you tomorrow about poor M getting sent on a mission to the Scrapbooking store to buy double-sided tape refills…

 

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Six Fifty-Eight


I wait at the door wrapped in a cable-knit throw as the dog sniffs and finds a spot to do his business. I can’t help but wonder what today will bring as I recite: “red in the morning, sailor’s warning; red at night, sailor’s delight.”

There are benefits to being up early, though I have friends who would adamantly argue against the notion.

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