Michele's Stuff

My daughter Michele decided to jump on the gift making band wagon and make something for her cousins.

She made these post it note holders. Are they super cute or what?

Gifts

I've been busy as a beaver making Christmas gifts and I finished with a day to spare.

These are for my sisters, sister-in-law and nieces if they want them.  Most of them are hand towels and the two red background are pot holders. Then I decided the guys shouldn't go home empty handed so I bought a bunch of thin mints and chocolate covered cherries.

I have this little assortment of potholders and a hand towel for my next door neighbor. I am also giving her  pictures from her garden that I took when she wasn't home, then attached them to cards especially made for pictures.

Foodie Tree

Last Wednesday my friend Marsha had the coolest post with pictures of her kitchen tree. I just couldn't get it out of my mind so I decided to make my own miniature version of a kitchen tree.   

I brought my Charlie Brown tiny tree into my kitchen and started digging out some little charms and miniatures that I had brought to attach to an apron quilt I'm working on.

Now I'm going to be scoping out places to see if I can find some food and super cute stuff like she has. Then  perhaps someday I'll get a bigger tree and I can give Charlie back his tree.
If you haven't been to Marsha's Blog you are missing out so hop on over there right now and check it out.

This old cupboard

If there is one thing I'm known for it is taking a long time to get things done.   I start things with the best of intentions, get board, get tired of it or something better comes along, my excuses could go on and on.  This is one of those projects that should and have been started and finished in a timely manner and if it wasn't for the fact that my family is coming for Christmas it probably still wouldn't be done.


This is the project for I worked on for months.

These are the before pictures. I sanded it down to the bare wood, then painted it white.

But then I didn't want it to look too nice, so I sanded the paint off the edges to make it look a little distressed. It seemed a little crazy  but I like the way it turned out and my kitchen is white so it doesn't look as out of place as it did before..

Cupcakes

In honor of National Lemon Cupcake Day, which just happens to be today, I made cupcakes.  I'm not a cake lover by any means but I do love my sewing machine.

My friend Jeanette made one and I thought it was just too stinkin' cute so I made one.  Then like with all my addictions, I couldn't just stop with one so I made five. Opps, I almost forgot, they are pot holders.

Our last get-together of the season

Our super fun little group had to get together one last time before the snow birds leave so Kathy had us over to her beautiful home for a wonderful meal.

 She is such a wonderful cook and it's always such a treat to go to her home.

 They are such a hard working bunch.  See how diligently they are working?  See my hodge podge mess in the front of the picture? That's how I roll.

And then there is Evy.  She's the one that worked like a crazy woman at the retreat and made 154 cards! She's still making cards like a crazy woman.  Then poor Kathy couldn't get a thing done, she just roved around helping some of us in need.

What a difference can make.

This is the view I have from the window of my three season porch this morning. I am hoping our employees can make it to work today so I can stay home a accomplish some things off my ever so long to-do list.

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days (original from 1998)

This just made me smile so I had to post it.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

 This weekend we headed to Minneapolis to the 31st Annual Augsburg College Advent Vespers. Our daughter goes to Augsburg so we thought it would be a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.  It really is a great service with four different choirs and an orchestra.  No over weight Elvis impersonators, no Santa's, just good Christian music and the true meaning of Christmas.
We spent the night then Sunday we went to the Guthrie Theater and saw A Christmas Carol. We didn't have tickets so we did the rush line thing where you show up about 45 minutes in advance get in line, then about 20 minutes before the show starts they sell unsold tickets at bargain prices.  We got 58.00 tickets for 25.00.  At the Guthrie there really isn't a bad seat in the house.  Pictures aren't allowed in the theater but here are a couple with the wonderful view of Minneapolis.

The marathon is winding down

After making meatballs, mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner.  I made a pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
Then made our favorite 5 minute treat.

Frito Scoops

Here is the super simple recipe.
Start with a family size bag of Frito Scoops. Spread over parchment paper or wax paper.

In a large pan place1 cup sugar and 1 cup corn syrup heat until it comes to a boil.  Add 1 cup peanut butter and mix until well blended.  Pour over the Frito Scoops.

Enjoy

And this concludes my black Friday marathon. Now I am off to play a board game.

Krumkaka Mission Complete

I asked for a Krumkaka iron for Christmas this year and my DH bought it and gave it to me early.  If I would have known how easy and fun it is to make I would have asked for one years ago.

It's one of those two-man operations that would be nearly as fun or easy going solo. Now what to do next?

No Black Friday Madness here

While I'm pumped up on caffeine and trying to get things done some family members are resting comfortably.

.Michele worked from midnight until 8:30 this morning so her afternoon nap is well desired.

Nothing beats a good cat nap.

OK enough already with the sleeping.  Let's make some Krumkaka.

40 Flying Geese

I just finished making 40 flying geese using the no waste method.

If you haven't tried this method and you find yourself making flying geese you really should try it and you can find out just how easy it is by hopping over to here. They are all trimmed and ready to go.

Marathon part 2

I thought I would post my accomplishments every so often though out the day just for fun.

I cut out some half eaten gingerbread men. I made these tree ornaments last year.

And listed some mini tape measures in my Etsy shop.

Back Friday Marathon

In honor of black Friday and me not liking hoards of people I thought I would stay away from all the craziness and see how much I could get done at home.

This is number one.  I knitted this wine sack a while back and it needed to be machine felted. It's from the book Knit One, Felt Too by Kathleen Taylor I have a front loading wash machine so my friend Kathy volunteered (or perhaps I begged, I can't remember now) but anyway she felted it for me. It's been sitting around for weeks waiting for me to decorate it with grapes, a leaf and vines. Now it's done and I can move one to something else.

Wool Felt Fun

I bought a Sizzix Big Shot a couple of months ago and started playing with it this week end. I've been using it  only for paper but started experimenting with other medias.

I cut these out of wool felt.

 

Can you see the possibilities?

My new favorite toy.

I tried cutting fabric but didn't have great results so I may have to do some checking and more experimenting with that.

Waiting for the cable guy

Actually it  was the the satellite guy.  He was supposed to come yesterday between the hours of 8 and 12. So I waited and waited, embroidered some work shirts (which I don't enjoy so I always procrastinate as long as possible) then I waited some more.  I started working on Tom the Turkey, then got a phone call at 12:01 from the tech that was supposed to be here saying he would be arriving between 12:00 and 1:00 and was that OK?  Ummm, what are my other options? I said fine then I waited some more, worked on Tom more, then at 1:15 started getting worried and a little angry so I decided to make a phone call. Their records showed he was at my house. After several phone calls back and forth (not to him, they couldn't find him and he wasn't answering his phone) the final story was he didn't have the right equipment and had to go somewhere it get it.  By now it's 2:15 and I asked where did he go and how did he know he didn't have the right equipment if he hasn't been here yet and shouldn't he have told me that when he called and shouldn't he have called again when he realized it was taking much longer than expected?
At 2:45 he showed up, no apology, just asked how I was doing. I told him not very good as I was very worried and where has he been?  I left out the part about being mad as I just wanted him to get right to work and do a good job, which he might not do if I started reprimanding him. He had been to a town 40 minutes away to get some equipment, at least that was his story. Anyway, to make a long story short, he didn't have the right equipment and will be back on Friday between 8 and 12. I hope they send someone else.
But on the bight side ..............

Tom the Turkey is done!

Like a Squirrel Gathering Nuts .....

I gathered a couple of little unfinished projects in anticipation of the 2-10 inches of snow they were forecasting. The snow pretty much missed us but I managed to finish my gathered projects anyway.

 This is a Crabapple Hill Design.  I absolutely loved their designs and have done my part to keep their company going.

This is a close up view where the pattern called for french knots, I added beads instead.

This little number was supposed to be an ornament.  I added sand and wool in to inside and mine will be used for a paperweight, or pin cushion or something.

This crazy quilt mitten I started last year and for some reason never finished it. Perhaps every time they forecast snow I'll finish three projects, but for every three I finish I start four more so I'll always have plenty to choose from. The mitten is an ornament and much smaller than it appears.

Paper Fun

I love working with paper.  It's more of an immediate satisfaction thing as opposed to working with fabric.
With these two little paper projects I had something done in less than and hour.  It seems like with my fabric projects I can work for hours and still have nothing to show for it.

This is a cute little post-it note holder I made for one of the girls that works for us.  She is turning 16 so I thought I would make this just for fun. It's made with a clear plastic 5 x 7 frame with some cute paper inside the frame and jazzed up with funky flowers and her initial.

I got the idea for these little pumpkins from a scrap booking store up in Brainerd. I used a two different sizes of Spellbinders oval shapes, then I made two of them just using my punches. I was just relying on my memory and I couldn't remember if they had the little tendril in them but I thought they needed a little something so I used some green wire I had on hand. I do remember they just used paper for the stems but I have a massive amount of twigs in the yard so I thought I would recycle some of them. These really do look cuter in person, trust me.

 This little book took more than an hour but was really fun to make.  It's filled with quotes and positive affirmations.

The pillow dilemma solved.

It all started with a pillow.  A very large simple pillow. My daughter bought it for her apartment and wanted me to make a cover for it. I agreed to make one even though I thought the pillow was fine the way it was.  So when I was shop hopping with my friends I found a super cute pillow pattern but I forgot one little thing - to put my glasses on when I looked at the size.  It turns out the pattern was much smaller than what I had thought it was. So I did what I do best, I procrastinated and soon the days had turned to weeks. I planned my strategy thinking I would just make it following the pattern then add borders.  I decided to bite the bullet and get started.  I decided to make a sample one first using the pattern to see what size I was dealing with, compared to what I needed. I made the prototype then the weeks turned into months. I had promised my daughter that I would have it done by the time she came home to visit (she doesn't come home often) I did more planning, more strategizing and more procrastinating  before I finally decided to bite the bullet and just do it.  Oh did I mention in the mean time, she bought a second pillow for me to cover as well? 

The pillow before.

 

The pillow after.

The pillow and the prototype.

I made them as slip covers so they can be taken off easily if needed. The are all finished at last and I must admit they do look pretty cute and funky.