greetingarts

family portrait

Group shot.

And a few all dolled up.

Goodbye, little ones.  I'll miss you.  Let's see what $5 worth of Target baby socks turns into.

gobble, gobble

I'll never ever get tired of the handprint turkeys.

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, here's hoping you fall asleep tonight remembering all that you have to be thankful for.

hair-raising

I've been scrambling, trying to come up with some fast, easy and inexpensive items to donate to my daughter's school's fundraising Winter Boutique next week, things that can be sold for anywhere from $1 to $6.  I was only told about it a little over a week ago, and what with the fires and the holidays and life in general, I was a little stressed. 

But thanks to a wonderful friend, Michele, I had these amazing machine-embroidered panels just waiting to be made up into covered buttons.  Some will be made into buttons for pencil rolls and notebook covers, but others were destined to be ponytail holders.

And the ponytail holders seem to me to be the best thing for this fundraiser.  With  the pre-embroidered panels, all I had to do was cut out circles, assemble the buttons, loop on a ponytail elastic, and pop it into a little zippy bag.  Done!  I made 20 of these in no time at all (seriously, like less than two minutes apiece).  They're a little over 1" in diameter, and I would price them at $3 each but I think the people in charge will probably lower that amount.  I really think three dollars is fair, but people are so used to Wal-Mart and dollar stores these days, it's hard for a handmade kinda gal to compete.

Aren't these completely adorable?  Of course, we had to keep one (or two) of each for ourselves.  But I hope the rest sell well, our poor school really could use the money.  We haven't had a field trip yet, and as far as I know, there aren't any planned due to lack of funds for the bus fees. 

Maybe this Winter Boutique can help change that.  I'm trying to do as much as I can, so I also made a batch of my little sock animals to donate. But I'll save that to show you another time.

the winds died down

Now that it appears the immediate danger is over, and the mandatory evacuation area no longer reaches less than a mile and a half away from my home, I can show you what my girls packed in case we had to leave the house in a hurry.

Some of the essentials except for Blue Kitty.  We can't find her anywhere, and believe me, I've looked.  More searching today, but, thankfully, under much less frantic conditions.  Jessie included the Dora map (the cartoon picture with the crocodile) "so that we can find our way home later."  The things my kids say just kill me sometimes.

If you're waiting on me to mail out your advent boxes, I'm going to the post office tomorrow when the air quality should be much better, and if I owe you an email, I'll get to that as soon as I can, too.

Meanwhile, Rebecca is enjoying the fact that school was canceled today, and I'm enjoying the fact that while the minivan is still packed with all the essentials, we got to spend the night under our own roof last night, and today I'm able to see some blue in the sky along with the brown, black, orange and grey.  40% containment ain't perfect, but it sounds pretty darn good to me right now.

the best medicine

I wasn't in the greatest of moods a few days ago.  Massive headache, coming down with a cold, messes everywhere I looked, a lot of annoying little errands to run with a little one who also wasn't feeling 100%.

Until I saw this, sticky-taped to the wall by my desk.  Better than Advil.  Hope your weekend is lovely!

blank advent boxes

Anybody ready for the countdown to Christmas yet?  It occurred to me that if I want to be prepared, I'd better start soon, instead of waiting until December 1st and *then* figuring out what to do (which is what usually happens).

There are tons of cute, easy-to-make advent calendar ideas out there in blogland, but I have a die-cutting machine and a die that makes little 2¼" square boxes that are perfect for hiding little treasures.  There's even a built-in hanger.  I can't decide whether to make them out of fancy Christmas paper, or let the kids decorate them, or what.

Actually, does anyone else want a set, too?  I can cut them out of white or red cardstock, a set of 25 for $13 including priority mail shipping within the US, or $18 overseas.  The die cut boxes themselves are $8 a set, the rest covers shipping costs.  I rounded up because I just didn't want to deal with the loose change.  Pop me an email if you're interested, there's still enough time.

 

What surprises will your boxes hold?

mitten weather

Well, finally!  The temperatures are dipping below the 80s now, and yesterday I don't think we were above 75.  Brrr!  Time to knit mittens! 

Just kidding, these aren't for me or anyone I know, they're for Lynne's charity effort.  About 5½" long, made of 100% worsted weight wool, using size 6 double points and a simple pattern.  I used to live in Buffalo, New York, and I remember the snow, the ice, the blizzards.  Great fun for a three year old with a warm house and snuggly bed, but I hate to imagine what it would be like for those without such things. 

No matter how far ahead I plan, I always get overwhelmed this time of year.  There are just so many gifts I want to make, decorations I want to put up,  activities I want to participate in, goodies I want to bake, and charities I want to help.  One pair of mittens is a start, I guess.