Christmas crafting has begun.

I had seen an idea for a reindeer made out of a cake-slice box and thought it was so cute...made a mental note to make one myself. Well, the mental note didn't translate well when I put it into action, because I think this is the goofiest looking reindeer on the planet. He's one of a kind and I won't be making anymore. The little tree at the top of this post was done as an afterthought, and I do kind of like it...though I probably won't make anymore of that one either. So you see, not everything I set out to craft turns out the way I planned. {I told you, I'm human!}

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I used my Cricut to cut these out using the Tags, Bags, and Boxes cartridge. Downside on this is that there are no scoring lines so I had to eyeball it {and the eyeballing isn't that great these days...}. I Googled "Cake Box Template" and a whole bunch of things that looked just like this came up:

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Look at all those lovely scoring lines!!! {I found this template here, and they have a lot of different templates to choose from if you are interested.}

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If you try this out I'd love to see what you come up with. I think the little tree has a lot of embellishing possibilities. I made a 4" size and it holds 8 Hershey's kisses.

♥ ♥ ♥

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This past weekend Doug was away on a deer hunt {for the record, he shot nothing} and I had extra days off work so I spent four full days creating stuff. This is the worst part of Christmas for me - having presents done and not being able to give them until Christmas. Argh!!! It kills me. AND! Now I really, really, really want to show these things on my blog, but my friends and family read my stuff here and can't be trusted not to peek. We'll all have to wait. :o\

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November Attitude of Gratitude:

* I am grateful that I own a Cricut. It's such a fun tool to have, and I've really got my money's worth out of it.

* I am grateful for the friends and family I have that I love to create for. Maybe they'll want to open just one present before Christmas...

A Christmas Story from Deb.

My Carrie ~ Christmas 1989

{she was 18 months old}

♥

Christmas, the year I was 7 years old: Though my memory of this particular Christmas is limited, I remember it better than any other. I remember that we lived with my grandmother in a tiny dark house because my dad was out of work and in hind sight I suppose that wasn't such a good time in our lives, but I remember being happy. I loved my grandmother and was happy to be there, and my mom had a baby in her tummy that would be born the following year. I remember hoping that Santa would know where to find us, seeing as how we were a bit displaced and living with Grandma, and hoped that he'd figure out a way in since Grandma didn't have a fireplace.

 

That was the year I discovered that Santa Claus had the exact same handwriting as my mom. Wow...how could that be?

 

And that was the year that Santa brought me a rag doll, handmade by one of his busiest elves: my mother. Oh how I loved that doll. She was probably about 16" tall, the perfect size for my seven-year-old-self. She had a sweet embroidered-on-face, and hair made of brown yarn with bangs that stuck out and cute tightly braided pigtails on each side of her face.

 

As a child, this toy was my one and only imaginary friend. I named her Suki and I pretended that she was a real girl that only I could communicate with. I loved her so much and took her everywhere I went. {The following year I would take her to school for show-and-tell and accidentally forget her at school, leaving her alone in that dark classroom all by herself overnight - I hardly slept at all that night myself!}

Christmas, the year I was 28 years old: I was so happy to have a little girl of my own. Carrie was such a sweet and fun little girl, and at 18 months old she understood the excitement of Christmas. I decided that I would invest my time in making a pair of dolls for her - Raggedy Ann and Andy to be precise. As I stitched these dolls together I imagined how Carrie would love them - how they might even become her favorite toy - perhaps even imaginary friends.

I went all out - made the largest size on the pattern. I found the perfect box to wrap them in and placed them under the tree. I couldn't wait till Christmas to see the look of sheer joy on her face when she opened that package.

Well, remember, Carrie was 18 months old. And you know the best part of Christmas when you are little like that is the empty box that the gift came in. Wrapping paper was flying and she was busy going from one package to another. When Raggedy Ann and Andy made their debut Carrie was less than impressed. I'll admit, they are rather strange looking dolls - what with their bright red hair and triangle noses. And that big size I made? They were taller than Carrie was at the time.

Christmas, the year I am 49 years old: Suki ended up being torn apart by a puppy we had {it was a horrific sight}, but Carrie still has Raggedy Ann and Andy. She did end up playing with them as she got a little older, and they moved out with her this past year when she purchased her own home. This year as I am busy making Christmas gifts by hand, I am humbled knowing the time spent and love invested by my mom when she made that rag doll for me - living in her mother-in-law's dark house with her fourth child on the way, with handwriting that was just like Santa's. I'm sure my mom had no idea at the time what a lasting impression that rag doll would have on me. I have always loved giving and receiving handmade gifts, and I think that started with Suki.

♥ ♥ ♥

Let Christmas begin!

{origami box tutorial here}

I'm happy today! I love the day after Thanksgiving when I can officially kick into Christmas mode. Got the Christmas blog banner posted, and I'm going to wear my reindeer shirt today.

I plan to spend my day hanging out with Carrie - she's feeding me Thanksgiving leftovers at her house for brunch, then we have plans to make candles, get hair cuts, and doing a little shopping.

November Attitude of Gratitude
* I am grateful that I have a daughter who likes to hang out with me.
* I am grateful that we get to try a new craft today (candle making).
* I am grateful for my husband who set up the Christmas tree and ladder for me before he left for his hunting trip.
* I am grateful for my crazy cat Whiskers Jay who can't stay off the ladder to save his life which is really a crack up (he LOVES the ladder!!!).
* I am grateful for my warm home, plenty of food, a car that runs well, and $$$$ to spend today. I am so very blessed.

Thanksgiving at our house.

Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone.

I hope this day finds you in good spirits
and full of reasons to be thankful.
♥

The schedule for Doug's annual deer hunt with his brothers fell on Thanksgiving this year. Rather than miss out on having everyone together, we decided to have dinner the Sunday before. So, while many of you are celebrating with your families today and having your first taste of turkey and pumpkin pie, all that remains of our leftovers is cranberry sauce. {I do have lots of leftover turkey and ham in the freezer.}

I had good intentions of taking a bunch of family photos, but I was too busy in the kitchen with these lovely ladies - my sisters-in-law:

Left to right are Janet and Laurie (Doug's brother's wives), Meta (Doug's sister), and yours truly. I love my SIL's and we do have some fun when we get together!

One of the things we love about holidays is the chance to see people we love. This year our niece Jessica was able to join us and brought her two sons along with her. This is the adorable little Brennan, youngest member of the family right now:

I'll close with these sweet baby photos, wishing each of you a very happy Thanksgiving Day full of bountiful blessings for you and your family.

November Attitude of Gratitude:
* I am so grateful that I have such an amazing family. And it's an even bigger blessing that when I can't be with my own family I have Doug's to call my own as well. I am blessed with some amazing in-laws.
* I am so grateful to be one of four awesome SIL's who enjoy each other's company so much.
* I am grateful for sweet babies like Brennan who remind us of the pure joy and innocence we all begin with.

How do you feel?

~ Our view of the TV ~
Now that the weather is cooler, Fancy has taken
to being a lap cat again - surely for no other
reason but to stay warm...or maybe have a
better view of the TV?

♥

I get daily horoscopes through email and read them for fun. The ones I receive usually just have a good message - almost an affirmation and I enjoy that. This morning it reads: "You feel content today -- which might be something of a rarity, so enjoy it! Your good personal energy guarantees that you're satisfied with what you've got, though your ambitious nature rears back up soon."

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I couldn't have said it better myself.
Today I feel very content.

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It could have something to do with the fact that we only have a half day at work and then I'm off until next Monday! {woot! woot!} And it's true, starting tomorrow morning I'll be going full steam ahead...lots of things to accomplish in four short days...

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What one word describes how you feel today?

♥

Out with the old, in with the new...

I'm big on putting holiday decorations away as soon as the holiday is over - love to decorate before and during, but am usually tired of looking at the stuff by the time the holiday gets here and is done. This year, a friend from work had cut this cat shape for Halloween that I thought was just adorable. I brought it home, taped it to our patio door and left it there well into November.


It was just too cute to put away so soon. I loved that if you caught a glimpse out of the corner of your eye it looked like the silhouette of an animal standing outside the door.

As Doug and I sat outside on the patio one evening, looking into our family room we saw our cats lined up - kind of a blurry photo but I thought it was cute anyway. {And yes, that is a dead animal on our wall - Eddie the Elk.}

Now, the cat silhouette is put away and we are desperately trying to find the gratitude banner I made last year for Thanksgiving. I suspect it got put into a box with Christmas decorations but won't know until Doug pulls them out of the attic this afternoon. Once found, the banner will hang on our fireplace until Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - when it will be replaced by Christmas decorations.

What about you? Do you put decorations away as soon as the holiday is over? Or do you leave them out well past the day?

November Attitude of Gratitude
* I am grateful for furry friends ~ love my cats {Fancy Jane and Whiskers Jay}. They bring us love and entertainment every day. ♥ ♥

What does this look like to you?

My husband loves bananas and he used to eat a lot of them, but lately there's been a trend around our house. Seems like instead of Doug eating bananas by themselves or with peanut butter, they are being left to ripen...only to mysteriously turn into some sort of baked good. So, when I saw these ripe bananas this afternoon, they looked like banana-chocolate-chip-cherry muffins to me. {And I don't usually keep Tootsie Rolls in our fruit bowl, this is a piece left over from Halloween. I started to take it out for the photo and thought, "nah, keep it real..."}

♥ ♥ ♥

:o) ♥

Two years ago today, Carrie thought I needed a blog and I protested - just like I did when she insisted that I have a MySpace {which I never really used} and Facebook {which I actually really like}. She set the blog up for me, and showed me how to create my first post.

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These past two years have been very interesting, and oh so enjoyable. I have loved sharing my thoughts and crafts and frustrations and recipes and antics on this little space. I have loved making friends across the country and the planet, and I have also loved getting to know about different traditions around the world.

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Through following blogs that I love, I think I have become a better writer, a better photographer, and a better cook.

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I consider myself to be a very basic cook - always follow the recipe exactly and don't even think about changing it up. But lately I've been stepping out of the box when it comes to recipes, and this afternoon I made the same banana bread recipe I've been making for 20 years, but I changed it up..

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I added a little more flour to keep them from being so dense, and chopped up some cherries for a little zing, doubled the vanilla, and I used butter instead of shortening.

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♥ ♥ ♥

Yes, a lot of things have changed in the past two years. When I used to look at ripe bananas, they looked like banana pancakes, or banana chocolate chip muffins. Now they look like a blog post.

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November Attitude of Gratitude:

* I am grateful for a daughter who pushes me to do new things.

* I am grateful for the many wonderful people and lessons the blog world has given me.

Can she bake a cherry pie?

Probably. She did ok with blueberries.

♥

I'm not a pie girl. I love to bake, and I've made pies before, but not for a very long time, and never for Doug. I'll admit it right now, I used store-bought crust. {Note to Mom: Please don't tell Grandma!!!} I was pressed for time, and I had blueberries in the freezer that I'd purchased a few months ago when they were in season and on sale at my local grocery store.

Me - calling to Doug who was outside working on the patio: "Hey Doug, come see what I made you for your birthday..."

Doug - entering the house and taking a big whiff: "Mmmmmmm...something smells good!"

As he walked over to the stove I said, "It's blueberry."

Doug: "Blueberry pie? I love blueberry pie!"

I knew he'd say that. :o)

And then he noticed the design on the top and laughed that awesome belly laugh and told me that he loves me and gave me one of his big hugs that I love so much...

Happy birthday, Doug.
I love you too.
xoxoxoxo
♥

November Attitude of Gratitude:
* At the risk of being really really mushy, I'll just say that I'm so grateful to have a husband like Doug and leave it at that.

Downtown Deb

So, you may have noticed that my post yesterday was a little crabby. I was in a really bad mood when I wrote it, and Carrie even mentioned it to me today. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I was in a bad mood. That mood carried over a little into today, and oh was I grumpy on my drive into downtown Phoenix due to a summons for jury duty. You can see my shadow behind the little white car here, and see all that backed up traffic going west on I-10? That's where I was heading. (Note there's hardly any traffic going east bound in the morning. Afternoons are just the opposite.)

There was an accident on the freeway so traffic was at a stand still. I decided to take an exit and travel on surface streets which was a good idea, but still put me at the parking garage at 8:35 - and I was supposed to check in at 8:00! It was amazing how many other people were trailing behind me - I wasn't the only one with jury duty who was running late. The mood of everyone around me seemed the same. Grumpy. Irritated to be inconvenienced with a summons for jury duty. How dare our democracy demand our time to keep the judicial system fair. I'm missing work. I had to drive in traffic. I need more coffee.

And then something happened. We boarded the shuttle that would transport us from the parking garage where we had begrudgingly parked our cars, to the Maricopa Superior Court Building where we were potential jurors. The bus driver introduced himself as Walt, greeted each of us with a smile and acted like this was the greatest day ever.

On the short trip from the garage to the courthouse, Walt helped to shift my mood. He gave instructions over the microphone on where he would pick us up at the end of the day, and had everyone on the bus laughing and smiling as we unloaded at the steps of the court building. "Have a great day! I'll be back to pick you up later!" he chimed. Then I kind of got grumpy again. Hmph! Great day? Sitting and waiting for our name to be called? Ugh.

You'll notice by the photos I am posting that I subconsciously was really enjoying the architecture. The beautiful morning, and that gorgeous Arizona sky. Anyway, back to the grumpy part...

Inside the jury assembly room was a woman about my age on a microphone giving instructions about what would be happening throughout the day. She would call our names, we'd line up, if we went to the bathroom be sure to check the sheet to see if our name was called while we were gone, etc., etc., etc. But you know what? She was funny too. You know she gives that same speech over and over again, day after day, but she was present and positive and humorous. Standing up there with a new crowd to laugh at the same jokes that probably make her co-workers cringe, she was happy {and if she wasn't she was really good at faking it!}.

Because I was in a rush this morning, I skipped my morning walk. So when we broke for lunch I hit the sidewalks and enjoyed the beautiful day. I had seen my favorite deli a few blocks down so I headed straight for it. On my way, four different homeless people asked for money. I had a granola bar with me and gave it to the first woman who asked me - she was so happy. The others I had to say no to, which really made me sad. :o\ Especially since I knew I was headed to have myself a very delicious sandwich at Duck and Decanter.

By this time, I'm feeling pretty happy. I went over one block and walked a different route back to the courthouse. And lo and behold. There was a bronze naked man standing on the corner. Had to have a picture of him. I laughed to myself thinking how Carrie would be mortified if she were with me. Or about the look on her face when she sees him on my blog. He's fairly well cut, don't you think? ;o)

I loved seeing the old buildings among the new and modern structures.

Business people bustled past me as if I was in their way, stopping to take photos of the buildings they pass by every day. It had been so long since I'd been in the downtown area, I'd forgotten how beautiful it was. I suppose at one time I took this for granted myself.

Back in the jury assembly room, my group was released early and we headed back to find Walt for our ride back to the parking garage. He was still jolly and seemed so very happy to be driving that shuttle bus, greeting each of us as we got on, bidding us adieu as we departed.

I found my car which was a relief! Even though Walt dropped us off at a particular location, I had to walk around the garage and go back to the staircase I recognized so that I'd be sure to find my car. {This is a little issue for me!}

As I headed west on Washington Street I could see the state capitol building up ahead. What would a trip downtown and all those photos be without some of the capitol building? I wasn't in a hurry for anything, and actually wanted to kill some time, so I parked across the street from the capitol and had a nice stroll around the grounds.

Arizona is known as "The Copper State" for all of the copper that has been mined here over many years. The dome of this building is covered with copper, and topped with an angel. The copper dome is in need of some polishing, as it wasn't nearly as shiny as I remember it being before.

This next photo surprised me for a couple of reasons. 1) I hate pigeons. I think they are rats with wings. But when I saw them playing in this fresh puddle of water I had to get a shot of them. Then 2) when I uploaded the photo and saw the cool reflection of the capitol building in the water I was really happy. {And I'm not sure why the pigeons look blue in this photo as they are actually an ugly color of gray.}

I'm so glad I went the extra mile and stopped at the capitol building.

I took a few self-portraits which I find very embarrassing to do in public, and Carrie was over earlier and encouraged me to post this one.

I was happy here.
I am happy.
I needed today to be just like it was.

♥

November Attitude of Gratitude:

{Did you notice I forgot to post gratitude in my last post? I'm telling ya', I was grumpy.}

* I'm so very grateful that I have a safe and cozy home and plenty of food to eat.

* I am grateful for people like Walt the Bus Driver, and the Courthouse Microphone Lady who are not boring government employees and really helped ease the process of jury duty. Their attitudes were an inspiration to me today.

* I am grateful to live in a country where - if we are in trouble, we are judged by a jury of our peers.

* I am grateful that I am healthy and capable of supporting myself and my family.

* I am grateful that I live in Arizona where weather is beautiful in November and walking outside is so fab!

* I am grateful for a special blog friend who surprised me today with Royal Mail {thanks, Rhona!}.

The Sale. {Well, it was sort of a sale...}

Yesterday I participated in my first craft boutique ~ an annual event where vendors pay for a table space and are allowed to peddle their wares for a day. I shared a table with our good friend, Janae. :o)♥ Here's a re-cap of our day...


Our Arizona weather was perfect for the day. A little chilly in the morning, but fairly warm once the sun was overhead. My Girl C was there with us all day. She kept me happy and entertained, as usual.
I had intended to do individual posts showing what I've been working on for the past several weeks, but now that the boutique is a thing of the past, and I feel fairly behind on blogging {not to mention things that desperately need my attention around this house} I'm going to slam-dunk all the stuff into this post.

Tote bags: I made 19 of these. It was a lot of cutting through thick fabric with a rotary blade and my shoulder hates me for it. I made 11 of them last week alone because I was sure this would be a popular item. Wrong.

Made: 19
Sold: 2

Magnetic frames: I showed a couple of these in a previous post, here's another one that Blogger refuses to allow me to post in landscape view:

Made: 4
Sold: 1

I Spy Bags: Remember my Rainbow Rice Tutorial? I used the colored rice to fill "I Spy" bags. These are basically a 6"x6" bean bag design with a clear vinyl window on the front - filled with rice and little trinkets to find as the rice is moved around. I did some with rainbow rice, some with black and white, and some with pink and white.

These ended up being my best sellers.

Made: 14

Sold: 7

Notebooks with colored pencils: I've sold a few of these in my Etsy shop and they are fairly easy to put together so I whipped up a few for the sale.

Made: 13

Sold: 3

Oh, and the chalk blocks had rave reviews - so many people loved them and commented on them - I sold 3 of those.

Needless to say, I came home with a lot of leftover stuff. Most of it I will use for Christmas gifts...Doug thinks I should put it all in my Etsy shop but for some reason I don't really have the energy to mess with it, at least not right now.

We were a little disappointed about the lack of shoppers flowing through. The boutique was held in the courtyard of a church that was not visible from the main road that people drive by on, and there was no signage to advertise what was going on at the church. I think that the only people who came were the ones we (the vendors) had told.

Even though I wish I'd sold more stuff, it was still a nice day hanging out with Janae and her mom, and my Carrie. We also got to see a few craft friends we haven't seen for a while so that was a bonus.

Today I need a nap and some time on the couch with a blanket and my hubby to rub my sore feet. I really need to tackle the heap that I call my craft room, but it will be there waiting for me in a few days, I'm sure.