Hand and feet salt dough ornaments

(Warning:  If your name is Nana, Pops, Gong-gong, Puo-puo, or Tita Tina- STOP!  Please do not read this post.  Please do not look at the photos.  Baby Chuck wants you to be surprised by the gifts he made you.)

Are they gone?  Good.  Now, for the rest of you-

This Christmas season I find myself crafting, and crafting, and crafting some more.  It's like someone opened up my blocked crafty gates.  My mind keeps churning and my hands making.  Mind you, not everything turns out the way it's supposed to (like the time I boiled cashmere for hours to felt it... big mistake... we just ended up a horribly smelly sweater), but it's just fun to make stuff.

Since Christmas (or as I now dub it "Craft-mas" get it?  Tee hee...) is just a couple of weeks away, I'm crafting more holiday items.  First I made the fortune cookie advent calendar and the geometric straw ornaments.  This week we tried our hand at making salt dough ornaments.  Patty from Make it Cozee posted such clear directions and cute photos that it was easy to get super cute results.  (Thanks, Patty!)

We painted the hand prints gold and we had a whole bunch of dough left so we made some tinier ornaments too.

  

Hopefully we can make this a yearly tradition.  Then we can see Baby Chuck growing.. and growing.. and growing... (Hmm... does this mean we need plate sized ornaments?  Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we  get there.)

Hubby turns a sweater into a hat

Last winter hubby bought me a beautiful mustard yellow sweater.  I loved it so much.  Even though it was slightly too big for me, I kept it because I loved the color.

Fast forward one year later and I still had not worn it.  I tried pairing it with different things, but the fit was always slightly off.  Instead of giving the sweater away, hubby and I cut the sweater up and upcycled it into a hat.

We measured the circumference of my head, and then divided that number by 2 (a).  Then, we measured the distance from the top of my head to my ears (b*).  Using those two measurements we chalked out the outline of a hat (the width being "a" and the height being "b").  After some quick pinning, hubby sewed everything up and voila, I had a new mustard colored hat.

(Embarrassing fact: What? Is Leslie wearing a hat?  Yes, it is a strange sight.  I typically don't wear hats because my ginormous head is so large that it never fits any of the hats in the store.)

(*Side note:  I think the next time I would have made the hat a bit taller.  It just reaches my ears, so it would have been nice to have a bit more room up there.)

And since we had a bit of extra material hubby quickly whipped up another hat for a slightly smaller noggin.

Yup.  Because sometimes Baby Chuck and I like getting all matchy matchy like that.

(By the way-  Thank you all for voting for my crapty reindeer head!  I was one of the top 6 and moved onto the final round of the competition.  So, if  you have another spare moment, would you please vote for my reindeer head at the Totally Green Contest? Thanks so much for your support!)

Crapty Cat Wreath

Our aunt loves cats.  

And I like making wreaths out of crap.

So it was a natural fit for me to whip up this cat wreath for her.  

Materials:
- cereal boxes  (<--crap)
- scissors
- craft paint
- paint brush
- glue/tape/some sort of adhesive
- thin Sharpie marker
- pencil

Directions:
This was super easy to make, so I'll just show some photos from my crapty night.

Happy crapting (and black Friday)!

Yes, Virginia, Santa Claus goes to school

This year 115 Santa Clauses attended a three-day workshop at Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School, located in Midland, Michigan. Here, they learned various skills like beard bleaching, sign-language, and the art of responding to children's requests.  Boy, I'd give anything to see a hundred Santas ho-ho-ho-ing with their "little round bellies" shaking like bowls "full of jelly."   

Interested in learning more?  You can find the original photos and article here at the New York Times

Get psyched...

it's finally Friday!  I thought the weekend would never come.  We're definitely going to enjoy the outdoors before winter sneaks up on us again...

Excitement is clearly written all over Baby Norris's face.

Frozen lake

Lately it's been so cold that parts of Lake Michigan are frozen. Interested in seeing this phenomena, we visited our local state park and took some photos. 

Meet Big Red, our local lighthouse

Can you tell where the land ends and the water begins?

Rocks engulfed in ice

The lake's frozen beauty tempted us to walk out,  but fear kept our feet planted on solid ground

 

Snow day

We just received an email saying that school is closed tomorrow.

Our reaction?

We're quietly celebrating.

Icicle farming

With the weather fluctuating on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis, we've noticed a large crop of icicles growing near our window.  Amazed by the size of these pointy beauties, here's a photo of my proud icicle-farming hubby:

Unsure how big this thing really is?  Here's a photo of Charlie lying next to it. 

*Note:  Sadly, our prized beauty snapped in two after this photo was taken. 

Five reasons

This past Christmas I took a day trip into Manhattan with family.  I completely forgot about these pictures till just recently.  Here are five reasons why I love New York City: 

I love the city's buildings.

I love the inhabitants' creativity.

I love the hubbub.

I love the culture.

And I love the food.  (A whole universe of flavors resides in this bowl.)

Ice ice baby

Yesterday we visited a collegiate level ice sculpting competition with a friend.  It was amazing to see what these artists could do with a block of ice and various power tools.

Most competitors relied on their trusty chainsaw to create figures from ice.

Here, two teammates work together to join two forms.

The cold temperatures prevented us from staying for the entire event.  However, we were able to see several smaller already completed works.

Ice horse head

Ice ram

Ice fish

And our favorite, the ice-burger

Can you see where we took a bite?

It's the most de-li-cious...

time of the year...

One certainly cannot celebrate the holidays without feasting!  Below are some highlights from our aunt's holiday meal:

VIEWER BEWARE:  Looking at these photos will cause your salivary glands to become overly excited.  Drooling will probably occur.    

Welcome to the holiday table!

Let's take a closer look at some dishes:

Shrimp baked in butter and garlic, then sprinkled with salty parmigiano reggiano

Roasted prime rib covered in a delicious coating of garlic cloves, mustard, and crushed black pepper

Apple, walnut, and craisen salad with mustard and maple dressing:  a wonderful mixture of textures 

Evolution of a bird feeder

As many of you already know from my "flighty visitors" post, we've recently put up a bird feeder.

Here, I hung the feeder on a random nail.

Worried that our birds didn't have enough space to stand, hubby created this contraption to encourage maximum feeding:

 

The "trapeze" feeder

Then, reading somewhere that bird feeders should be about 4 feet off the ground, hubby reworked the contraption to look like this:

The "damsel tied to the railroad tracks" feeder

Are we encouraging more birds to visit our feeder?   Unsure.
Do I smile at hubby's ingenuity?  You betcha.

Flighty Visitors

A couple days ago we had some unexpected guests.

Sadly, they didn't stay very long.  Hoping to attract more feathered friends, we put out some delicious treats.
    

Our bountiful bird buffet

Soon enough, our guests returned.  Unaccustomed to my presence, many took off before I could take their photos.  Here's one guest that wasn't quite so camera shy.

Is it me or is he posing?

Cat huts

A cat colony lives in the empty lot adjacent to our apartment complex.  With the recent snowy weather, hubby and I worry about these feral felines' fate. 

How will they stay warm in this weather?

Luckily for the cats, many kindhearted neighbors have reached out to help.  Some constantly put out tasty treats.

Monday's Special:  Stinky sardines

Those who are a bit more crafty designed and assembled small "cat huts."  Built out of old pet carriers and cardboard boxes these units are insulated with straw and old blankets.

One hut in the cat complex

We're all hoping that they'll stay warm this winter.

Welcome, December!

Today, Charlie and I were greeted by a wintry surprise.

The cold and snowy weather came at a perfect time.  Our fridge has been on the fritz and now stores everything at an ultra-mild 70º. While that temperature is great for humans and dogs, it's not so good for milk or meat.  So now we're storing our food "Little House on the Prairie" style until the fridge gets fixed.

Doesn't this remind you of an image from an airport scanner?  I can already spot three deadly weapons:  salami, margarine, and cheese.

And now, we finally get to wear our boots.  Ta da!

This picture was obviously not taken today.

 Big, clunky, and ugly, these babies are going to get us through the winter.

Beauty in the details

This weekend my hubby and I visited Saugatuck.  This town is so cute and I really love all the charming details.

"Come inside," beckon the beautifully crafted door handles.

American Spoon

 

Wicks Park Bar and Grille

"Return back to yesteryears" chime the double letters and extra "e." 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too,

Ye Olde Pink Stripey Sockkes