The very merriest of Christmases to you and yours!
Aside from Zachary having strep throat (ugh.), we are having a lovely Christmas holiday. Zachy is now snuggled up with Bronte, dreaming of sugar-plums and Tylenol.
All is well.
someone else's thoughts
- "The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." - Margaret Nadauld
- "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." - Helen Keller
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24 December 2006
15 December 2006
12 December 2006
snakey.
My sister Karen and I are putting together Christmas gifts for the three little ones (Zachary and a couple of cousins). They're bedtime kits... I'm sewing up drawstring bags, softies, and jammie pants. Each kid has an animal (the kitty and dinosaur are for my neice and my son), and everything matches their animal. And Karen wrote and collage-illustrated a book for each kid, starring them with their animal. The books are sooo cute.
Anyway, I had done Daniel's snake a few weeks ago, but it reminded me forcibly of a dog's chew-toy. Soooo... I finally re-did him, and I'm mostly happy with him now.
His little forked tongue makes me happy.
Now I have to figure out how to make the jammies, and I'll be done with my part. Hooray!!
In other news this week... Zach found my sewing scissors and decided that Aslan needed a haircut. So the poor guy is missing several clumps of fur... and a few whiskers. But otherwise came out unscathed.
09 December 2006
going yoyo.
Does the word "garland" conjure up images of glittery plastic tackiness in your mind the way it does mine? But then I look at our tree and think that it really needs something to tie it all together, you know?
So last week I started stringing popcorn and cranberries. Have you ever actually tried that? So, um... I didn't get very far with that, and resigned the little string that I accomplished to my table centerpiece.
Plan B: Heather had the greatest idea... a yoyo garland! I LOVED the look of hers, so of course I jumped on the idea.
I started by getting some gorgeous fabric half-price at Hobby-Lobby. I love that place!
And so far I've made about 80 yoyos. (I know, I know... I'm a total wacko!) There's a great tutorial on that site. Thanks a million, Heather!
I used fabric glue to attach ten yoyos to each section of grosgrain ribbon. The package said nothing about a well-ventilated area... I should sue. I lost half my brain cells gluing these things on. I simply can't afford to lose that many. I was running short as it was. :)
I did it in sections so the garland would be more versatile. This way I can tie together as many sections as I need for a certain area, whether it be over the piano, around the windows, or on the tree. Now mind you, I only have about 12 feet to work with right now, so the tree thing is still out of the question. I think it may go garlandless this year.
And despite the fact that several of my yoyos are quite wonky, I think the overall effect is lovely. Now to figure out where to hang them...
07 December 2006
cinnamony.
Zachary and I made these cute ornaments for the tree two days ago, and the smell of cinnamon is still permeating the living room. Yummmm.
They are so easy. Just mix a cup of applesauce with a cup of cinnamon (yes, you read that right). The book suggests adding a bit of white glue to it to make them less crumbly, but as we apparently don't have any white glue in the house(!), we did without and they turned out fine.
Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick (ours are thinner than that, though). We used extra cinnamon on top of the dough and on the rolling pin to prevent sticking. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and then poke a hole near the top (you could use a toothpick to carve out a hole... I used a noodle to punch out holes). Place them on a cooling rack and let dry completely... no baking. Ours took about a day and a half to dry.
Thread a ribbon through the top and hang them on a Christmas tree, a wreath, a mantle, over your stove... wherever! They're festive and smell oh-so-good.
06 December 2006
cookie time.
Zach's been singing "C Is for Cookie" a lot lately... which is highly appropriate now that the Christmas season is upon us. I've decided to make various kinds spread out throughout the month, rather than having a huge stack of all of them the last week in December. So we started with wreath cookies this week. These are similar to Rice Krispy treats, but much better and more fun.
Christmas Wreath Cookies
30-34 large marshmallows
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. green food coloring
4 1/2 cups cornflakes
red hots
1. Melt marshmallows and butter in large heavy saucepan till well blended. Add vanilla and food coloring.
2. Remove from heat and add cornflakes. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Butter your fingers, and shape into wreaths or trees. Add red hots to look like berries.
Sit back and enjoy one or two or six of these with a mug of the best hot chocolate ever.