Watching What I Say!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, hubby and I were at the mall.  While I am attempting to hand make most of the Christmas gifts we give this year, there are a few things that must be purchased!  After all, I don't know how to make fragrances, teddy bears, etc.  so we found ourselves braving the crowds on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. Much to my delighted surprise, hubby suggested we just "wander the mall" once our purchases were made.  It gave us some much needed time to hang out and catch up during what will inevitably a busy season for us since he's a Pastor and I'm a music teacher and Advent has officially started!!

We were wandering through a Hallmark store when I saw a recipe box that had a recipe card rest on the lid.  It was sort of an insert that popped up for the cook to rest a recipe card on.  Since my girls and I had done some baking together over the holiday weekend, we discovered that the one cookbook I have with all the family favorite recipes in it really isn't convenient when more than one of us is baking so a recipe card box seemed like a great way to have a second set of recipes.  And the card rest was pretty clever!  I pointed it out to hubby and said, "That's cute!"  Apparently, he heard "I really like that and want to own one but would prefer that it be made out of wood and not the heavy duty cardboard that was used to make the one I pointed out to you."  How do I know that's what he heard?!  Because I now own a handmade original recipe box with a piece that slides out of the lid so you can prop up a recipe card!  Guess I have to be careful when I say "That's cute" about items that I see because he may take that as a personal challenge to make them himself!

I've included pictures of his handiwork.  The first shows the box closed.  The second is the card rest set up and ready for action (it simply slides in and out of the lid!) and the third is the box itself open.  It's been stained a beautiful golden oak and has gold hardware (hinges and latch).  Now I just have to fill it!

So close!

It's hard for me to comprehend that today is November 1st!!  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then Christmas!!  My favorite holiday season of the year - Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's - is nearly upon us!  I feel pretty good about where I am with the homemade gifts for the extended family (siblings, parents, etc) but there are a few things I'm feeling pressured to make progress on for my kids!  Hubby is in the process of getting some projects made for them that I am SUPER excited about.  Mostly because they are items I was going to buy and decorate but he wants to make them himself!!  I love that he has gotten into the whole Homemade thing!!

In the course of shopping around for cross-stitch ideas and projects, I found a MUCH better option for my dad's gift than what I had originally chosen.  So excited to see the final product there!  Now to get busy on some homemade jewelry items for my girls and come up with something comparable for my son.  Oh!  And the crayon totes that were mentioned in one of my first posts are nearly done!  Yay! 

I'm back!

Actually, I didn't really go anywhere. I've just been super busy and, consequently, super absent from this blog!! I've been diligently working on projects, though. Got one sister's gift finished and making good progress on the gift for the other sister.

As I continue to work on gifts for Christmas, my brain keeps running of to other "Oooh! I could do THIS . . . " type thoughts. Part of my brain even keeps playing around with the whole "could I make stuff and sell it?" idea. Not sure where any of that is going though!

And the Beat Goes on!

I apologize for my absence! But when I have time to myself, I either grab a book or the latest craft project! To say nothing of the fact that I must share the computer with hubby and four kids.

Speaking of hubby, he has jumped on the "Mostly Homemade" Bandwagon in a BIG way!! He made himself a work "bench" (really more of a table!!) and the last few gift giving occasions provided the chance to get him set up with some wood working tools. I'm getting a brand new, made with my hubby's own hands, trestle style dining room table for Christmas!! Okay, I may actually have it in the house in time for Mother's Day but it's officially my 2011 Christmas gift. I've wanted one for years!

As if that wasn't enough, he is trying to find (or create on his own) plans for a buffet with a hutch to go with my brand new table. I'm gonna get spoiled if he keeps this up!

The other day he and I were at Hobby Lobby buying paint for a project he and our oldest had going (see the next paragraph for more details on that!) and we were chatting about some of my "as yet to be started" Christmas ideas for family. I have been trying to figure out how to do some sort of homemade "keepsake" box for each of the kids. We were looking at some of the items in the store to try and get an idea. One idea in particular really struck a chord with hubby and since he's excited about it, how can I help but run with it? He will be making the keepsake boxes for the kids and they will be personalized (his idea - he's going to get stencils for his router so he can carve each child's name into his/her box) but the best part is the shape - he's making a treasure chest for each of them! How cool is that?! Metal findings, handles on the side, the works!! When I assured him that I would be happy with just a box, he said, "If we're talking about keepsakes, we're kind of talking about a treasure aren't we?" How do argue with logic that sweet?!

Remember the project he had going with one of our kids? Our oldest asked him to make a pencil cup for the desk in our front room (we can NEVER find a writing utensil in this house!) which he did quite gladly. She is currently in the process of painting it and doing a much better job than I could ever dream of doing - it's striped and the lines are actually STRAIGHT! She's of the opinion that we should take some of this crafting craziness - especially items like her pencil cup idea and the plastic canvas stuff I love to do so much - and stockpile some items that we could then sell at craft shows, flea markets, etc. I have to be honest - the idea of making a few extra bucks doing something I love to do doesn't sound like a horrible idea. Especially if it's something we could do as a family!

Pictures of the Tote with the pain-in-the-neck handles!!

As you can probably tell from the pictures, the stitching on the sides/bottom/ends was fairly easy and their assembly was quick. But those handles!!! 15 pieces of plastic canvas destroyed before I FINALLY got two handles cut out correctly!! My youngest daughter saw it and said, "That's cute! I want one!" I told her "Fat chance!" The pattern came in a book with another really cute tote pattern (that has ridiculously easy handles) and I told her I would gladly make that one for her. Luckily, that satisfied her!

Pictures coming soon!

Okay - so I took a break from making things for others to make something for myself. Before you start the hissing and booing at my apparent selfishness, let me explain. In the past, I have used small tote bags to carry my cross stitch projects with me so that I am able to work on them "on the go". Over time, however, most of my smaller tote bags have gotten threadbare, destroyed, or co-opted by kids who needed a bag for gym clothes or something like that (and those were usually worn out or destroyed before I got them back!). So I was in the market for something that would fit a cross-stitch pattern, the fabric and hoop, as well as the small box that I keep the floss in for my most recent project. I found a fantastic book of plastic canvas projects connected with the pink ribbon (breast cancer awareness) campaign that had a pattern for a fun tote. It's just about perfect for what I need and the handles are two large pink ribbons. The sides, ends, and bottom were easy to complete. Then came the handles. Grrr.

These things were a nightmare to cut out. Thankfully plastic canvas isn't all that expensive because I think I wasted at least a dozen sheets (probably more like 14 or 15 sheets) of the stuff because I kept screwing up the darn handles when I tried cutting them out!! I nearly threw a party last night when I FINALLY got them both cut out!!! I just need to finish stitching them, attach the support pieces to the top portion of each handle, attach the handles to the sides, and assemble the rest of the tote. I will finally be able to carry my projects with me on road trips, etc. and be able to cross-stitch more often. And I have quite a bit of that to do before December with a very busy Spring coming at me quickly!!!

As the first line of the post said, there are pictures coming later. I have been taking pictures of the project all along but wasn't going to post any of them till I got closer to actually completing it! The booklet I bought has another tote pattern, a pattern for coasters and a coaster holder, book mark patterns, a tissue box pattern . . . so many fun new things to try!!!

Confessions of an impatient crafter -

Started a cross stitch project for my MHC project. It's on navy blue fabric and that is HARD to stitch on! I've done projects on colored Aida cloth before but nothing this dark. It's a challenge!

For this project, I'm supposed to use some blending filaments and the chart gives a very specific manufacturer's name. In my little town I have exactly one choice for cross-stitch supplies. They carry items from those particular manufacturer's but not the specific items that the pattern calls for so I am seriously considering subsitituting. I know what I'm looking for and I'm certain that I've seen similar products by other distributors so I think I may just do the substitute thing rather than taking the time to find it on the internet and order.