White Christmas

Well, Christmas certainly proved to be an adventure this year! Dinner was a total bust. We had heated up the ham, and my mother-in-law had cooked stuffing (dressing? is there a difference? I don't eat the stuff), and some yams (sweet potatoes? again, something I don't eat) but my poor mashed potatoes were on the stove when the electricity went out...and never got mashed. Josh was supposed to be roasting a pork shoulder on the grill but ran out of charcoal (we didn't take into account the effect the below-freezing temperature would have on the grill, since it's not something we usually have to deal with.)

After that failed attempt we came inside, ate semi-cold ham, and played a card game by candlelight, then went back out and my brother-in-law built a fire out of one of my pallets (freezing rain all day had left us with no dry wood) and we heated up some water for coffee and hot chocolate. Not too much after that it started snowing and we all ran outside to play in it. It was cold, and wet, and absolutely, hands down, the Best Christmas Ever. (And my first white Christmas!)

It snowed hard for a good long while, and once it finally slowed down we walked around the block (so pretty!) and then brought Orion outside and let him play. He loved the snow. He was a little freaked out, though, because it messed with his sense of smell and he kept forgetting who Aaron (Joshs brother) was unless he talked to him.

After we came in, changed, and were trying to get warm two huge branches fell off the tree right next to our house...luckily they fell straight down and went in between our house and our neighbors fence, and didn't land on anything!

Our power didn't come back until last night, and we're under another winter weather advisory for tonight (snow and sleet that will turn to freezing rain when the sun comes up tomorrow) so I hope that the power stays on...but if it doesn't, at least we're prepared this time! Batteries charged, everything is washed, and we have plenty of non-perishables, paper plates, and candles.

I really didn't mind any of it, it's all one big adventure to me. The only thing that made me mad was that I hadn't thought to charge my camera battery before Tuesday so all the pictures I have of snow falling are on my phone. We went driving around town today, though, and I got some nice shots, but still...I should know better! Anyway, here's a few bunch of pictures of the snow, and a video of Orion trying to get into a snowball, because for some reason he kept thinking there was treasure inside of them or something.

Sorry if I bombarded you with pictures, but I can still count the number of times I've seen snow falling on one hand, and this was by far the most snow I've ever seen at once! It was just so exciting to me! I still love it, even the sloshy, dirty snow that's left out there. :)

Pre-Christmas

I'm finally starting to feel normal again, and hopefully I'll get around to making something this weekend since I now have a SUPER MEGA AWESOME LIGHTING SYSTEM IN MY CRAFT ROOM!

It's actually on loan, but it's sort of an indefinite loan, so it's all good. (A pro in the family said he'd rather I hold onto it and get some use out of it, than it just wasting away in storage.) I'm really excited about being able to take (good) pictures at any time, day or night. I think while I get everything figured out, there are going to be a LOT of cat pictures...

We've been getting a lot done this week, and we're finally 100% done with our Christmas shopping. The only thing we need to go out for tomorrow is food, and then we're set! And they're predicting a possibility of snow for Christmas day, so that's kind of awesome.

Anyway, while I do intend to get some crafting in, and a lot of picture-taking, I don't know when or if I'll have time to post again before Christmas, so I just want to say I hope everyone out in blogger-land has a wonderful holiday spent with the people you love! xo

Birthday weekend

I think I need to write something today before we get to a 10 day lull. I've had a busy past few days...

My parents got here last Thursday evening. I'd spent the day getting ready, cleaning and fixin' up the guest room for them, and had chili cooking in the crockpot. Friday we went out for lunch, then came home and dropped off Josh and my dad, and my mom and I went out. We hit up TJ Maxx, Restore, and the mall. I found a few things at Restore, and also tried to teach my mom a little bit about thrifting - how you can't put things down, and how you have to learn to browse with one arm, while you hold all your other finds on the other arm. It was interesting, and we both found a few good things. She was pleasantly surprised at my ability to spot higher quality things in the midst of all the crap.

Find of the day was this:

Anyway, by the end of our shopping spree my mom started feeling bad, so instead of going all the way downtown for my birthday dinner, we ate at a local pizza place that's just up the road.

Saturday my brother (Paul) and almost sister-in-law (Marla) came up with her kids. They brought me birthday flowers, a cute owl pot holder/towel set, a new grill (!!!!), and presents for my animals. (A new bed for Belle, that she absolutely loves, and a pack of rawhides for Orion, which he ate in one day.) They also brought food, and Josh lit up the grill immediately and cooked up the fajitas my parents had brought from HEB, and we feasted. Then we all loaded up (well, except my dad) and went to Garvan Gardens to see the lights. There were so. many. people. Luckily we left at like 4:45 and got there right at 5:00 so we got in before it was too bad, but walking through was insane. Plus I had taken Orion and I think that at least 80% of the people we passed had to touch him. I can't even count how many times we got asked, "What kind of dog is that?!" or "What's his name?" At first he enjoyed it because he loves people and attention, but by the end he was tired (it's like a mile walk, maybe a bit more, and he's really not a high-energy type) and pulling me, and ready to get back to the car. Bella (Marla's younger girl) fell asleep in the car on the way back to our house so they loaded up and left. I passed out at 8 because I hadn't gotten too much sleep the past few days, and I think my poor tired, sick parents did too. It was a great day, though, overall.

 Sunday we lazed around the house all day. My parents had already said they would buy us either a new bed or a couch for Christmas, and since no one felt like going couch shopping, (and I refuse to buy one I haven't sat in) we ordered a bed online. It'll be here next Monday, so last night I started prepping the room by moving our current bed into the craft/guest room, and putting the air mattress on the floor in our bedroom. It'll be easier for me to clear out the area, and move the air mattress around and clean under it and stuff over the next couple of days...plus it's a queen size (as opposed to the full size we've been sleeping on for the past 6 years) and the new one is a king, so it's a little easier to estimate the size of the space I need to have cleared out and ready. (Also, in case you're wondering, the air mattress is still set up because after my parents left Josh got sick so he's been sleeping on the air mattress so that I don't get sick too.)

Ok, well, we're about to go eat lunch/dinner and have a few drinks since my entire birthday weekend was a booze-free affair. :) Ciao for now!    

Notes

OK. Let me just start this whole thing off by saying that I know I don't really get into fashion all that often, but I do love it. I mean, ever since I started sewing at around 8 or 9, and then got into theatre at 13, I've been a fashion lurker. I check in on my favorite labels, I clandestinely follow bloggers that make the trip(s) to the various fashion weeks, and, occasionally, I splurge and get myself something nice. (Usually Marc Jacobs sunglasses, Michael Kors purses, or anything Elizabeth & James or The Row, although a Balenciaga purse is definitely happening sometime this next year.)

Anyway, that brings me to my point. I love love LOVE Alexander Wang. His work is amazing, and I would drop the $$ in a heartbeat if I could commit to one thing. But I can't. So when the announcement came that he would be the new head at Balenciaga, I swear, I almost collapsed. I am ecstatic to see what comes of this.

Moving on...

I didn't really do much this weekend. I mean, I made a couple of little girl dresses for Bella, my almost niece, and made a stop at restore where I stocked up on sweaters, but I didn't get to Lowe's, so I haven't purchased any of the supplies to start working on my new/old kitchen table.

I (we) also haven't put up Christmas lights. Not along the edge of the roof, anyway. Last year we were one box short, and this year we decided instead of putting them up and wasting money on our electricity bill, or buying new lights (since we couldn't find a match for ours), we would just forgo the lights entirely and spend the money on getting nice gifts for the people that matter. :) We've already bought them for my family, all of whom will be here sometime this weekend. (My parents are arriving Thursday, and my brother, his girlfriend, and her kids should be here on Saturday.) Anyway, giving is my favorite part of Christmas (I prefer to GET on my birthday ;P) so I'm insanely excited to see how everyone likes the things I made them. (Everyone is getting something bought and something made.)

As for Joshs family, we're hoping to spend actual Christmas with them, although whether it's here or there has not yet been decided...

 Anyway. I don't have a story, or a point, so I'll just leave you with a few pictures that I've been meaning to post but haven't had a good reason to.


Here's one of the chairs that goes with my new/old table. You can see some of the carving detail, which is the reason I fell in love with it.

Here's some more detail on the edge of the table.

And here is a shot of the decorations on my front door. A wreath I made last year, complimented by some garland, ornaments, and a bow! I think it looks nice, I really like the color scheme I went with. :)

Finished shot of the shirt I made my mom. Burlap tree with (fake) pearl ornaments.

And this last one is a shot of Josh and Orion in the park yesterday. Such a nice, unseasonably warm day for walking in the park.

Anyway. I'm going to be finishing up getting the house in order the next few days (my parents arrive on Thursday evening, and we have plans for EVERY WAKING MINUTE that they'll be here) so forgive me if I'm a bit slow on the posting, but you know how it is. :)

Angel

I may not be the kind who holds onto things for their sentimental value, but I am cheap. I'm not going to shell out for something I already have, especially if all my current one needs is a little facelift. So when I pulled my 6 year old angel tree-topper out of the Christmas box this weekend, and her wings fell off, I figured I'd spruce her up a little, and fit her into my Christmas tree color scheme before I glued her wings back on.

I learned a few things in this process; first of all, sewing a Victorian style gown in size DOLL is a lot harder than I anticipated. Also, real (or at least soft/moveable) hair is far easier to work with than painted hair. (I would have preferred a higher neckline, but her hair prevented that.) And last but not least, when you leave feathers laying about, your cat will feign sweetness in order to sit in your lap and try to eat the feathers.

Anyway, let me show you a few before and afters of her (minus her wings, I'm trying to add some different colored feathers to them but am not too sure of how to proceed with that...) Also, I'm not too sure why she had a wand. As far as I know, angels don't typically have wands. So she's not getting it back.

I painted her face, darkened her hair, and brought her forward a few centuries, fashion-wise.

And for comparison purposes, a side-by-side.

I think she looks great. :) I love being able to take something I paid less than $10 for and make it uniquely mine.

(You like how I got completely distracted and haven't even touched the new/old table and chairs?)

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Plans

Well it's been a busy, fun, and exciting holiday weekend, and it's not looking like things are going to slow down anytime soon! My in-laws brought me the table and chairs I wanted (!!!) along with another chair (and ottoman) I completely forgot about asking for. They're both in great condition, but have been sitting in a warehouse for...a few years at least, and have more than their share of dust and mud wasp houses on them. I hope to have at least the table done by Christmas; cleaned, stripped, stained, and sealed. The chair I absolutely love (the style/size are perfect), but since I'm supposed to get a couch in a few weeks, I'm going to wait so that I can pick a similar fabric to re-upholster it with.  

Here's all the chairs in our carport immediately after they unloaded them from the truck:

And you can see part of the table (the leaf is upside down on top of it) in the background of this picture of me after I smashed my phone with a hammer.

It's really gorgeous, I'll take better pictures soon, it's got a lot of detail in it, and it's the perfect size, but for the moment I'm just enjoying spending time with Josh and my mother-in-law. (The men went home Friday.)

Today (which for me, is still Saturday) we went to restore (I KNOW.) where I got three sweaters for re-purposing, and one for wearing. (I have to say, though, I actually have plans to make gifts for everyone this year, and so all these sweater are going to be made into matching accessory sets for various loved ones.) We also went to Michael's, where I got a few more Christmas things (ugghh 50% off), and out to see the Christmas lights at Garvan Gardens. I came home inspired and put up some lights around our front window (on the inside.)

Well, I'm pretty tired from all the adventuring we did today (probably should have worn better shoes for walking at the Gardens, but oh well) so I'm going to leave a few pictures of the lights here and get to bed. I hope everyone has had a great holiday!

Christmas things

I kind of went crazy at the Dollar Tree today. I love cheap decorations! It's so easy to just grab one (or four!) of everything because it's only a dollar! I got some giant felt ornaments to go in the craft room and office windows, a pack of sparkly snowflakes, four pieces of silver and iridescent tinsel garland, a Santa hat for Orion, a stocking for Orion, a pack of dark silver glitter ornaments, and a big sparkly Christmas tree shaped ornament. I think that was all.

I also worked on the shirt for my mom some more last night, and made her a coaster. I always give her something tea or coffee related because she likes both, especially trying new kinds. So I figured I'd make her a special coaster mostly because I saw this idea on pinterest (it didn't lead to anything though, so I'm not going to post the inspiration photo because I couldn't source it.)

But, as you can (hopefully!) tell, it's supposed to be a coffee/tea cup! I thought it was super cute, and experimented with a few ways before settling on the one that worked; cutting out my pattern, sewing it right sides together around 3 sides, making sure the 'handle' was in there (totally left it out in one of my three failures), then turning it right side out, and putting a felt piece cut in the same shape inside (to absorb any liquid/make it thicker and more coaster-like). Then I folded in the last side that was left and top-stitched all the way around it. I think it's cute! I think you could also make one using leather and denim, and not have to double up the fabric. I wanted to use the polka dots, though, and it frayed too easily so I couldn't do anything that only used one layer of it.

As for the shirt, it's still not done, but I was extremely pleased with how well the tree came out so I'm going to post a progress picture. I drew the tree onto my heat-bond paper, bonded it to the burlap first, then cut around the edge of it. I think that helped keep the burlap from unraveling while I worked with it. Then I immediately bonded it to the shirt, and did a zig-zag stitch all the way around the edge of the tree. (Very time consuming, but also very worth it.) I think I may do a few pearl ornaments, and leave it at that; I'm kind of loving the rustic look it has right now. 

Pictures! First up, the teacup coaster (this could also work as a ornament for a tea/coffee lover!)

And here's the shirt.

And you can file this one under 'pictures that happen accidentally when you're messing with your camera settings and don't notice your dog walking towards you with an entire tree in his mouth'

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