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Better Sweet Peas

LAURA--do not keep reading this post.

Here's a cousin photo--gotta love that autumn light.

And Oscar practicing his sitting (on a wine tasting trip--he wasn't tasting)

Ok, so the real post!

I made a Kindle cover for the Kindle I got my sister for Christmas. It's inside a book I found, discarded at work. Better Sweet Peas. For some reason the title tickles my funny bone. I cut out the pages and just used the book cover.

The whole thing is padded and zips closed--my sister travels A LOT so it needs protection.

This was the project I posted about a few days ago under the title "Fail." This is the FOURTH zipper I used and it still isn't perfect. But it does work. And if she doesn't like it, she still gets the Kindle so I think it'll be alright.

And with that, we conclude 30 days of making something every day. Gotta say, this was a good kick in the pants. Despite the many (many) cop out projects I got several gifts done and I forced myself to get off the computer/couch every night to make something. Hooray!

Alphabet board book

I got a 4 inch board book for a dollar at Target.

Then I pasted trimmed snapshots of all our family members over the alphabet. I used a very thin coat of Mod Podge.

Yeah, could have done a better job with the trimming but I didn't have much inspiration tonight so it is what it is.

As always with this "make a thing a day" deal it was hard to get going late at night after work but I'm glad I got this done. It really only took 30 minutes and it'll be a fun little gift for Oscar under the tree.

What a cutie!

Lunch sacks and chocolate

Cockrell and Hackett families don't keep reading. Unless you don't like surprises in which case go for it. Here's a photo of my leaves this afternoon.

Then Oscar and I did a little strategic raking.

And the weeping cherry tree.

Pretty, huh?

Anyway, the lunch sacks and chocolate.

Truffles (dark chocolate with toasted almonds and milk chocolate with cocoa) in wax paper wrapping

The truffles are day 6 of the lunch sack advent calendar Biscuit and I put together for our family friends.

Lots of dollar store trinkets, some food treats, ornaments and other odds and ends. Several bags have something for all the kids to share, some days are for one particular kid and other days are for mommy or daddy. The yarn closure is the key.

Today I got all 25 bags carefully stuffed into a shipping box and put in the mail to arrive by December 1!

I hope the anticipation and fun of having something each day will make up for the fact that lots of the gifts are sorta lame. Still, pretty fun to put together!

Magnets, carrots and PVC (not all in the same project!)

Thanksgiving break is over. But wow has it been nice while it lasted.

Today Biscuit participated in projects galore! She and I painted tree branch pieces. Anyone who's been around here for a while will know that I've got a lot of tree branch pieces around.

We hot glued magnets on the back to make....wait for it.....magnets!

Before our painting adventure, Mr. H and Biscuit were busy in the woodshop making something for Oscar (photos to come) and then they ran to the hardware store and before I could turn around they'd made a soccer goal!

Biscuit is suddenly very interested in learning about/playing soccer. She says that "once she knows all about it" she might be interested in playing on a team with uniforms.

In the meantime she's working on my signature move from my soccer playing days. The preparatory cringe ;)

And Oscar was busy turning 6 months old.

Following my family tradition we made him half a cake. A delicious carrot cake which we enjoyed without him. Sorry kid, maybe when you turn 1. Happy Half Birthday to Oscar!

All in all, a good day and I've got the messes all over the house to prove it.

Salt

According to Pinterest 1970s salt dough ornaments are back with a more modern look. Too bad mine didn't work out. The dough was fun to make and easy to work with but the baking just wasn't right. Way too much puffing.

I will say, stamping the unbaked ornaments with plain old stamps and stamp pads did work. So that's something. Better luck tomorrow.

Friends

My friend Carrie gave me an ripped an article out of Martha Stewart Magazine. She said the cross stitched family portraits reminded her of me. She doesn't know that cross stitch is perhaps the one craft I have no interest in. But, I LOVED the patterns and decided to adapt them to a sewn project.

Enter my friend, Donna, who convinced me that, yes, I could do this using 3/4 inch squares of calico. And proceeded to help me choose prints and iron all my fabric.

Then I got stuck with design and figuring out how to affix the itty bitty squares. I couldn't decide which way to stitch for my "big" project so I made up some samples.

Biscuit

Oscar

I debated leaving off the mouths (that look like noses) and I wish I had. Just eyes would have been enough. These are backed with fabric to be pillow covers but I decided to continue the test by washing them. They're in the dryer now and based on how they looked after the washer I'm 95% sure I've ruined them. Oh well, it was only a test.

But what do you think? Mouths or no? Stitching diagonal or up and down? I'm still debating if I even like them enough to do the entire family portrait.....

Thanksgiving by Biscuit

That right there is the best Thanksgiving photo. You can see Biscuit's proud face after she's taken a soup and salad order from my mom. She was so proud of her work and justifiably so. After two full days of cooking Thanksgiving dinner was a hit.

Ok, it wasn't the prettiest bird but it tasted alright.

The side dishes were delicious!

The pies were delicious too except the crusts which, honestly, were awful. Can't win 'em all!

That leaf rubbing table runner was our thing for "making something every day in November." Biscuit and I made it a few weeks ago with leaves we collected. It made for a colorful table! You can sort of see it under all the dishes.

So, in the end Biscuit learned to use the peeler, learned that it is a LOT of work to cook such a big meal and got paid her $4. Plus nearly everyone at the table tipped her so she probably made out with $10 or so. Not much of an hourly wage but pretty good for a six-year-old.

And Oscar practiced eating solids and added butternut squash to his menu along with applesauce and pumpkin. He's getting really good at solids. We're proud of him too ;)

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sticks and preparations

Man am I tuckered. If ever there was a day I didn't want to make something this was it but these napkin ring/place cards only took about 15 minutes so it worked out.

Of course Biscuit had already covered place cards with her own work completed a week ago.

As you can see the table is set. The food isn't done but Biscuit has been working hard.

Harder than I thought she would, actually.

She's taken her work very seriously and doesn't even want much help. Of course I've been in the kitchen nearly the entire time just to answer questions and cut onions. The one time I left she ran outside screaming for help. The mixer was kneading the bread dough and it started bouncing around and nearly bounced off the countertop. Now that would have been sad!

Items completed include: rolls, butternut squash soup, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, turkey prep. Tomorrow's going to be busy

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Failure (and Thanksgiving)

Tonight's crafting effort was made of failure. Zipper #1: didn't zip. Zipper #2: installed properly, zipped properly then I cut it off and the zipper tab thingy came off. Then I gave up. I'll have to get back at it another day. Not sure if this counts for "making something every day" but it's 11:40 at night and I'm not going to start again.

In the meantime, this gift guide is so cool to look at. I just love how it's styled--the table of contents is even beautiful.

Finally, here's the ambitious menu Biscuit wrote for Thanksgiving dinner.

We're going to be busy the next two days. I can't wait. I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner and it'll be even better with a sidekick!

Linen skirt (revisited)

I finally finished the stocking today.

Honestly, the piecing was annoying. As you can tell by the itty bitty patches near the top (where I started) and the giant patches at the toe (which I sewed today).

It's far from perfect but I'm glad it's done. And it'll certainly work for Santa to fill. Santa should really start thinking about stocking stuffers.

In other news, Biscuit and I made a deal at the Farmer's Market on Saturday: she'll cook Thanksgiving dinner and I'll pay her $4. It sort of started as a joke (I thought) but she's very into it. So far pie crust dough is made, pumpkin is baked and mashed and bread slices are drying out for stuffing. Her recipes are selected and she's written menus for our guests. She's off the hook for major chopping and oven use but we'll see how much of this she can do. Should be fun!