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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Smelting


Here is one smelt that I can reveal. My nieces and nephews will each get a uniquely patterned mitten to use as an ornament. I love knitting small objects because I can see progress quickly.

And I will show a follow-up to "I" of GAIN's gingerbread house. The photo here is her with her house in the display case. Seeing your work on display is always fulfilling and very fun. She thought that making the house was also fun. We also like to investigate the competition to prepare for future events.

"I" was the first person to turn in a house, which pleased the Park and Rec staff very much. I was pleased to see the new home of Park and Rec. Progress is pleasing. The one criticism that I have of the competition is in the operation. The shelves are glass, and entrants are asked to supply complete contact info on the bottom of their house. I could read everyone's info -- not safe at all in my opinion. Thankfully, we have not detected any stalkers since the houses went on display. I will certainly let the organizers hear my concern.

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Crafting away

Last week was productive for crafting. The hat you see to the right, a gift requested by my niece's mom, was finished on Tuesday. I used Lion cotton and a nice wide rib for stretch. I added the multi-colored pom pom to show that it is a girl hat.

The other photo you see here is from "I" of GAIN. She made a gingerbread house a couple weeks ago for display at the Urbandale Public Library. We'll visit later this week to see all the other houses. She had fun making the house, and I really needed it in order to have a positive experience with royal icing again. My previous experiences with royal icing have been bad -- so stiff that my mixer broke. Twice.

In the tradition of Mr. GAIN's family, we "smelt" (did you ever see the Victoria Jackson and Paul Simon Christmas skit on Saturday Night Live?) our gifts for our family most of the time. It's traditional to procrastinate. I can proudly say that no one in our family is over 75% finished with their smelting. And of course, I cannot post our smelts here. No one can know who we're smelting for until the day we give our gifts.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Papercrafting


Our recent snows made everything seem right for making paper snowflakes. The kids got out the Martha Stewart Kids magazine (one of the very first issues) followed the directions, and had great results, as you can see in the photo. In the past, we have cut flakes out of interfacing, but this year we used scratch paper. It is easier to find and easier to cut.

My hope is to have the snowflakes visible from the street. I like to see the Christmas tree when we drive by, and I thought snowflakes would be a nice effect, too.

This is our first year for having snowflakes in the front room. We'd like to add more. In fact, there is a small pile of flakes waiting for me to iron and thread up tomorrow. The front entryway is the usual place for our snowflakes, and we may put some in there yet. Because of the breeze from the using the door, interfacing would be more appropriate for flakes in the hallway. You have an "aha" feeling when you enter a hallway of snowflakes!

"N" of GAIN even made tiny flakes for my scrapbook page that he knows I will make to commemorate the day. I really loved seeing him challenge himself in making progressively smaller snowflakes and feeling pleased in his work. Learning and being familiar enough with how to cut paper is a skill that brings happiness and I was satisfied in watching him go through this process.

Last year, we added a garland of paper stars, shown to me by homeschool mom Colleen, and small snowflakes to the doorframe between our hallway and kitchen. I taped them to a string of white yarn. Not sure if we'll have that again this year. It looked very pretty in the baby pink, baby blue, and white paper that we used (also scratch paper).

I started a gingerbread kid chain, just like the paper dolls my maternal grandmother would make for me. I traced a cookie cutter to get the proportions right. Grandma never used a cookie cutter for my dolls and they looked great, but I don't feel like I cheated. "I" of GAIN will need to use a marker to trace the faces and hair tomorrow, and we also need to find a place to hang or stand the "gingerbreads."

In the words of Robert Krampf,

Have a wonder-filled day.

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