Glitter Bomb

Do kids in school still get to play with glitter during arts and crafts? Do kids these days even get to have an arts and crafts class? I grew up in a house with a lot of crafts -- but glitter was almost exclusive to school. Probably for mess reasons.

That's an attitude I've kept all my life -- until today.

Yes, today I brought home what I believe to be my first purchase of glitter. Not only that, I brought home 21 colors of glitter.

Okay, okay, they were small bags of glitter, not a massive indulgence. And they were purchased with a very specific plan in mind.

My original plan came from an image I came across on Pinterest: an image of what appears to be glitter in plain, glass ornaments. That seemed simple enough, right? Except instead of a single color, I knew I wanted a variety. So, a few messy minutes later I wound up with this:

I did use a hot glue gun to seal around the top, and so far no glitter has escaped when I shook them upside down. I hope that means the glitter is well contained.

I'm pretty happy with how these globes turned out -- but the real winning project is what I was able to do with those little bitty bottles I found -- by accident -- in the scrap booking area.

These ones turned out super cute. I think I'm going to have to go back for more, if I can find them. I'm not quite finished with these ones, as I think I'd better glue the corks in place if I can. My goal is to find a way to hang them up as tree decorations also.

And yes, I do have bats hanging around my kitchen. In December. They might just hang out with me all year long at this point.

Drawstring Bags Everywhere

I feel like I'm a drawstring bag making machine. The assembly is going pretty well -- though I need a little more white ribbon to finish the last of the black ones. I do wish I was a little better at determining sizes. I think I have small, large, and massive, with not much in the medium-this-will-hold-a-dvd size range. That's probably why most people use patterns instead of winging it off free tutorials...

At least Momo's enjoying the pile.

Christmas Table Runner

Since I had so much leftover fabric after the Christmas Quilt was pieced, I've been working on a couple coordinating things to accompany it. I don't think I'm going to manage to finish the other projects I started -- though I'm hopeful I can pull together 4 coasters before Christmas gets here -- I did finish a coordinating table runner.

I used the same blocks as in the Xs and Os Quilt that's been giving me such a hard time most of this year. I love the way the blocks look, and I know I'll be working with this block again in the years to come. It's so quick and easy, but the outcome is so charming.

See -- adorable. 

I even did a little bit of outline quilting, so the back has a hint of the xoxo pattern as well. I know hugs and kisses aren't really a Christmas theme, but I think they could be! 

All in all, I'm thrilled with how this came out -- and I can happily say that it came through the wash with no visible problems, which I cannot say for the Xs and Os Quilt -- which happened to get a second, equally disappointing wash, at the same time as this runner. More on that soon.

For today, I'm going to focus on the good.

Keys in Trees

I don't know what it is about the winter holidays that gets me in the mood to do something crafty, but it seems like I'm always more interested in little diy projects during November and December.

This year, one of the two major projects I wanted to accomplish was something a little like this:

I've been collecting interesting looking keys for about 5 years now, and I finally felt like I had enough keys to start on this project.

It doesn't look it from very far away, but there's a lot of variety going on. Fortunately, everything blends together into a fairly cohesive look, but it's still possible to glance through and pick out a few favorites.

Ugh, pardon the extreme blur, but this one shows some of the variety -- cut out scraps of lace detail in the center, metal wings on either edge.

Right now, they're doing a test hang on our little tree from last year, but if all goes as planned, there's a good chance they'll be moving over to our new and improved (larger) tree for the Christmas House this year. I'm looking forward to it -- I hope it works out in reality as well as it has in my mind.



The Christmas House isn't anything official (though I know there are groups that do official things under that name). For us, it's the place where my in-laws and we will be having Christmas. Right now, we're unofficially in charge -- being the ones nearest and most involved in the planning -- so we've been stocking up on decorations and other supplies for what I hope will be a magical holiday. Thanks to a little borrowing, a little scavenging, a little diy, and a little shopping, I think we've got an artificial tree for every room. We've also picked up a couple Bath and Bodyworks candles that will make up for the loss of real tree smell, some stocking stuffers, and a few treats to welcome everyone 'home' for the holiday.

Finishing up getting ready for the Christmas House is going to take up about a week of December, so I'm sure I'll be back with more -- and I'll be sharing photos of these flying keys in action with everything else.

It's the busiest, and happiest, time of the year!

Practice Tree

Since we have two houses to decorate this year, we splurged and went for a larger tree than the one we used last year. I know, every year I say I've found the one -- and I'm still not 100% convinced we've made the right choice, but for now, we're going to go with it. And next year, I refuse to purchase another one!

With two places to decorate, and me being a little bit of a control freak planner, I thought we should go ahead and assemble the new one, throw on a few decorations, and make sure we're really happy with how it all comes together.

I also used this as an opportunity to check how the gifts we've purchased so far fit in my expanded collection of drawstring bags. Conclusion: I need to make a few more, but I'm close to done.

I was happily surprised to learn that the lights, which in the store were blue, red, green, and yellow, can also shine in all white. That took swapping the red/yellow lights for clear right off the list. I might do it someday -- my goal is to have a blue and white light scheme -- but right now I'm pretty satisfied with the clear/white colors.

The tree is still looking a little scant, I know. We're not going too all out just yet -- in part because we'll be moving this larger tree to the other house in a couple weeks, but mostly because we are testing Momo. He's never been around a tree this large, nor has he ever really had the opportunity to mess with our decorations -- we usually put them well out of his reach just to avoid this test. So, we're skipping the breakable things for the moment.

I'd call it a successful practice. Can't wait to finish up all the details -- though I think I might keep this one fairly simple and leave all my favorite things at home this year. Minimizing damage to the important ornaments, probably a good step in Low Stress December!

December Goal

December Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books
Average 11000+ steps per day

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2 
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- ugh, maybe there will be time in January?
Replacement windshield for the car
Christmas concert rehearsal -- do everything possible to actually make it this time!!

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Purge: Office, Living Room
Bathroom project??

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Probably need a couple more wrapping options
New stocking hanger? (If there's time)
Finish decorating

Um...

December is difficult enough to stay on top of -- I'm officially giving myself permission to use this list of goals are more of a guideline than anything else. There are lots of things I want to get done, but I know I have 2.5 weeks of huge days at work, 2 weekends full of practices for the Christmas program, and a week of having family in from out of state -- so honestly, it'll be some kind of winter miracle if I manage to accomplish even a couple things on this list, much as I really want to.

I'm going to get done what I can, but I'm not going to stress myself over optional projects -- and I'm going to try very hard not to stress myself over the less optional ones!

Low stress December. I like the sound of that.

November Wrap Up

November Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books

• "Take a Thief" Mercedes Lackey
• "Trouble" Non Pratt
• "Arrows of the Queen" Mercedes Lackey
• "Maid of Secrets" Jennifer McGowan
• "The Fire Wish" Amber Lough
• "The Hero and the Crown" Robin McKinley

Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000) -- Did not make this. Between the short day light part of the day and the very cold, slick, nasty kind of weather we've been dealing with, and the stupid cold I had all November, I was lucky to get 10,000 most days. I think I've got to lower this expectation until the weather gets nicer. 

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2 -- I'm so close to finished. If I'd had one more day, I might have made this goal. 
-- IF there's time -- Baste: Random Reflections
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Make a back for Random Reflections 2 of 2
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block
Tutorial for Quilt Group -- Print copies
Bind Christmas Star

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- for December?
Replacement windshield for the car

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging in master: take out orange chairs, begin brainstorming update for doors
Begin rearranging in office: swap desk set up to short wall, consider moving cedar chest to master?

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Begin testing possible recipes
Finish holiday shopping
Swap out lights on big tree
Tree skirt???
More gift bags???
Buy black thread 

It's not a great excuse, but I think I can call all those reasons I haven't been walking enough for all the reasons I didn't complete enough this month. I've just been in kind of a slump -- though I have managed to finish some of the holiday prep. December isn't looking good for getting things done either, but I'm going to keep trying!