charitable buying

Just a quickie FYI - I don't sell on ebay that often but seasonal items do fantastic so I'm taking advantage of ebay's free insertion fee and eBay Giving charitable listings and listing some bows there. 30% goes towards Heifer International. With any luck, I can buy someone a chicken... with lots of luck, I can buy a cow! HaHa - a cow from a Hambuger!! total knee slapper!

Pictures

I take a lot of pictures - mostly really bad pictures of the kids, hubby, my bows, my house decorated for a holiday (eek! that 31 picture photo of the tree fiasco is haunting me at the mere mention!!) that have to be tossed to get that one decent shot but I'm actually talking about portraits right now...

Today was picture day for my preschooler. I forgot completely and let him pick his clothing out. Normally I don't mind him doin' his thing and not matching at the slightest but I got to preschool today and realized what was happening and sank... he's in a Redskins jersey that's on the small side for him and Clemson U sweats and has on crocs and poorly tie-dyed socks from summer 2009 that just look dirty/dingy... ugh! Well, at least I'll get to see the pictures before I buy them unlike my girls pictures - $25+ each for an 8x10, 2 3-5's and 8 wallets and I don't like them... E looks like she's afraid of the photographer (probably not that far off) but she's trying to put on a brave face - it's most certainly NOT a happy face. A looks smug. M is mismatched...plus he didn't want have his picture taken - his teacher called me so that I could come a bit early and see if he would do it for me (he did).

Ugh! is all I can say and if you have coupons to Picture People or Portrait Innovations, send them my way!!

Pie

So I BAKED the pie...

or perhaps am in the process of baking the pie...

Enjoy! and those looking for Christmas gift ideas, it'd be great to have one of those reusable metal don't-burn-your-pie-crust thingies... My SIL has 2 different sizes for 8 and 9 inch pie plates...

Handmade Holiday

Artfire is doing a DSLR camera give-away for telling how you're doing a handmade holiday... Both things sound like fun but I'm not sure how I'd implement a handmade holiday...

- I already made our stocking (Grandma Cowherd made mine when I was a kid, so vintage handmade?). Anna's is crewel embroidery - trumpeting angels over a shepherd (foreground) and the nativity (background). The rest are felt applique - Emily's is a patchwork of all sorts, a little Victorian look. Mike's is...um...what did I do for him - I was looking for the Bucilla trains but it's rare and discontinued (kit sells for $150 on ebay) and I went with my second choice but I can't remember and wasn't all that excited - ah - pictures don't forget - it's a red and white "knit sweater" stocking like this one . I just did Chris's last year - it's Tigger - but I didn't get the kit until after Christmas on clearance. Mine is felt Santa going down a chimney - love you Grandma! I did add to all the kits - reinforced with flannel backed satin lining so that (a) things don't pop out the toe and heel or anywhere else and (b) easier to get things in or out (well hello there undies in the toe that got left there last year)!

- I need to make a tree skirt... I'm working on my own design based on my felt board nativity. The following picture is not a good picture - it's cropped from the background of a so-so picture, see my daughter's hair in the corner?

I'm afraid that this project will either spiral out of control or will take years like my BFF's mom's tree skirt is (although she is hand embroidering hers so a bit more time involved). A hand embroidered table cloth might not be a bad idea but it would take me a long time to do (do I hear a New Years Resolution popping up?).

- I always make some new ornaments for our tree and these usually involve the kids. One year we put glue, glitter and curling ribbon in clear glass ornaments; another year, we did 6 point stars out of Popsicle sticks and yarn (so the dog likes to eat wool...); and another year we did pony beads on colored pipe cleaners in the shape of angels, candy canes (with a little lace for the white stripe), and wreaths (did not turn out well, fyi). This year, I'm thinking about a couple of things using some of my bow designs. The tree would work - anyone thing I can get this sculpture (double-sided) into the hole of a clear glass ornament?
(you can buy this clip here).

- Outside is more complicated. We have a tiny yard so there's not much. Last year, we had lit garland swagged across our double window and wrapped around our banister and giant light bulbs in our garden. The light bulbs broke during our mega-snow storm the weekend before Christmas.

Maybe I can chicken wire together lit presents on plywood or do some thing similar... or maybe use real garland... I think that I tossed the garland b/c it was not staying together

Ideas are hard when I can't just start on a project. I'm a do-er. My husband, Chris, would be the one that really kicks butt on the planning of stuff (sometimes to the point of over-thinking without doing a darn thing). This is why we are so good together - I can have a so-so idea and he can figure out how to make it happen and better than I could imagine. Over the years, he's gotten better at thinking fast b/c if he doesn't, I can't sit still and just start doing (so kitchen remodel happened b/c I pulled out the cabinets - um, yea, so it's a good idea to turn off the water before you attempt this kind of action).

- Presents would be something to work on though... I'm still working on my cousin's wedding blanket (1/2 way done!! woohoo - she got married in Sept, I started in April...). Here's a picture of the center piece of the blanket - I can't find what I did with the newer pictures where the bottom 1/2 is knit (it's combined knit and crochet) but my ravelry account has a 1/4 finished photo.

I have a million and one ideas but I'm not sure how they'd be received and helping my kids make handmade items, well, depending on their moods, I might not make it to Christmas... I think my girls would really like this crochet purse that I bought a pattern for a little while ago and quite honestly, my son would too - he loves to carry stuff around in little bags! ooh - ooh! maybe I could get the older 2 to make plastic mesh bags for each other. I think they are hokey though so I'm sure everyone would be mad when I eventually threw away the falling apart thing they make me... okay, we're going back to making cookie ingredient jars and bath stuff in mason jars... that's safe?? right??

I think I'll stick to the table for my homemade stuff... I might visit Clay Cafe and paint some holiday pottery with the kids or paint some things as gifts... We had a great time doing the lace overlay for my BFF's bachelorette (she's all party, can you tell?). I'm already hoping my friend Jacki makes a bowl that I want for my mom. Her stuff is awesome but so far, the colors just haven't been what I'm looking for (I have the prettiest business card holder from her! looks like flowers suspended in glass!)

And you just can't beat my totally awesome pies - I'm debating if I should freeze or can my pie filling to last until the holidays...

I can't believe it's November...

Wait! one more thing - my kid's (almost) HomeMade Halloween: