The Season

 I have been enjoying my time away from work and my blog.  It's nice to not feel any daily pressure to get things done.  Yesterday we stayed in our pj's all day.  I did take a shower, and put on clean pajamas.  It was fantastic.

My boys had mixed emotions about the Christmas Pageant this year.  I'm not sure they will take part next year.  Little Man, was the cutest most lovely boy angel I have ever seen.  He didn't want to wear my white shirt as his costume, but never complained about the headband/halo or the fairy-like wings.

 

Big Boy on the other hand...let's just say his costume was an unfortunate size for him.  He really is one tall boy.  The hat was more like a yarmulke.  After I snapped this photo I heard, "Stop it Mom".

And the folks in two row radius also heard my adoring son.

Although Christmas Pageants aren't BN's cup of tea, gems are.

I didn't need to do any adjusting on this photo above...my new flash is the most wonderful piece of equipment.  I love it!

I have been working on some cute little boy hats, a scarf for an old high school/church friend, and hope to clean the fish tank and my bedroom in the next couple days.  Oh, as promised, here is one more star/snowflake that I made in between my blogging absence, it's a little large, but it is very pretty.

All of us here at WeaverGirlGuz (me) wish you the happiest New Year!

My Lunch Date

It's hard to work when this guy keeps staring at me.

A little clutch for the shop.  I hope to list it over the weekend.  And I'll ship Priority if you know someone that needs a hoot for the holiday.

Paper Snowflake Tutorial

 This is not your grade school snowflake.  I wanted to make a special Shout Out to the gals at Park Creek...thanks for teaching my mom this technique.  And Mom, you were a great teacher, thanks!

Ready?  Here we go...

Step One and Two:  Get a square piece of paper.  Regular copy paper works just fine and is what I'm using in this tutorial.  Fold your square into a triangle.  Fold again into a smaller triangle.

 

Step Three:  While holding the triangle with the folded side down, cut along the longest side, evenly spaced and not all the way to the top (don't cut your paper in pieces).  You are going to make three cuts, which will give you four strips all attached at top.

Open it up and you get this.

Step Four:  Put a dab of glue stick on one corner of the inside square and glue to the other side of the inside square.

Step Five:  Turn your paper over, so that the first folded square is on the bottom.  Repeat glue for next inner square.  Turn your paper over again, and glue the second outermost square together.

 

  

Step Six:  Repeat for final outside square.   

Step Seven:  Repeat Steps One through Six 5 more times, for a total of six of these "arms".

Step Eight:  Glue three arms together at the points.  If you take the center and add glue to each side of the point, you can easily add the two others-one to each side.  Repeat with remaining 3 arms.
Step Nine:  Glue the center points of each of your three armed segment to each other.  I used glue and paper clipped the two points together until the glue dried.  Tape would work here, too.


Step Ten:  The final frontier...this may not seem necessary at first, but it helps immensely with stability.

See my stubby finger?  Those two cross sections need to be glued together.  Repeat all the way around the snowflake/star.

You are done!  Stick it on your tree, hang it from the ceiling, give as a hostess gift.  I just remembered as I'm writing this that I bought spray glitter!!!!  Oh, I hate when I forget that I have things.  I'll make another and spray it to show you.

I tried different papers, too.  This one is scrapbook paper.

And this is copy paper...just like the one you made!

Now, stop looking and go get flaking!

Brrrrr

The view outside my front window on Monday.

We had quite a storm that lasted almost two days.  It wasn't all that significant in total inches, but it was constant and that means poor road conditions.

But not so bad that we didn't go out to get our Christmas tree! 

We are from Buffalo, remember? 

Coffee Filter Snow Ball Tutorial

 Love these puffs of stuff. 

Here I will show you how I did it.

Step One:  You can use Styrofoam balls, but since I didn't have any, I crumpled a stretch of yarn (two ends to create loop of yarn) into aluminum foil.  I found that adding two scrunched filters inside the foil made a bigger ball, and an easier base for attaching the folded filters.

Step Two:  Separate a whole mess of filters and fold them in half, then half again.  You can roll them or fold funky, it really doesn't matter.  Since I was making a bunch of these, I found it easiest to make my folds, then twist the bottom (where my fingers are in the above picture) so the folds stayed together, and keep folding. Once I had 20 or so folded, I would cut off the point and twist.  I was cutting basically where the ripples start on the filter.

Step Three:  Don't even try regular glue...you should use the glue gun.  Really.  While holding your yarn, add glue to the area right around where the yarn comes out of the foil ball.  Place your first cut filter on end into that glue.  Continue adding glue and filters.  Place close together, but don't go crazy...the foil showing through is kind of nice, a little glitz.

Step Five:  When you are done, you will have a ball that you think looks wonky.  Pull out your scissors, stand over the garbage can and trim.  It's amazing how great it will look after it's haircut.

Go ahead, try it!  It's fun.  I made five in 2-3 hours.

Stay tuned...I'm going to share another snowy craft...a new take on an old favorite.

Oh, Step Four...that's pour yourself some coffee or crack open a cold one...it'll be more fun that way.

My Bag for Tara

This is Musi.  I finished this purse a while back and since it was pink, I added "breast cancer" as one of my tags for folks to find it.

What happened next, well, I just think it was a sign.  A sign to think about others, a sign for me to think about how fortunate I am, and to meet someone that has gone through so much, and continues to be joyous about life.

In comes Tara.  Tara found my shop on Etsy because of the purse above and the 'breast cancer' tag.

I still don't really know what possessed me to use that tag.

Back to Tara.  Her message was this:  I am a three time breast cancer survivor and had a double mastectomy.  In January, I'm getting nipples and I'd like to celebrate that with a new purse from you of breasts.

Honestly, I thought it was a prank message at first.  Then, I thought 'Yes'.

I can do this.

And I did.

Through the process, Tara and I wrote notes about sizes, nipple colors, funny things Sam said as I was testing colors.  And in so doing, I came to look forward to the notes.

This became so much more than a custom request.  It became an outlet for me to use my talents to make a bad situation fun.

I can't imagine the conversations she will get into with this purse.

All I know is that it feels good.

It feels good to make someone else feel good.

This bag is limbo with the United States Post Office and I can't wait until she gets it.

And I can't wait for the feeling she'll have when she unwraps the purse.

And I can't wait to hear about her conversations with other women facing the same horrible cancer.

Thank you, Tara.

I may have made something for you, but you made me feel so much more.

December is Here

This is all we got.

Sam came running off the bus "MOM...I've been looking out the window all day at school today, just waiting. Waiting to play in all that snow.  I just couldn't work, I was staring at the snow all day."

Unfortunately...this is all we got.

Sam's cousins had so much they had a snow day.

Maybe tomorrow, Sam.

Maybe tomorrow.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Thirty

These boys.  That remind me that a good picture doesn't have to be perfect, and a good boy also need not be perfect.  I love my boys.  I love who they are.  I love what they are going to be and I love the struggles they hand me.  For if it weren't for struggles, then there would be no gratitude in getting through them.

Here ends the Month.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Nine

Grateful for success.  I work my butt off, sometimes falling asleep with a crochet hook in my hand.  But this one day of shipping makes it all worth it.  I have achieved success in my crafting life.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Eight

Grateful for the leftover gluten free pumpkin pie my Mother-in-Law made for me.

And grateful for cool-whip, but then again, who isn't?

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Seven

Thankful for sons that enjoy playing together despite the 3 year age difference.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Six

 

 Grateful for a flexible family that doesn't see Thanksgiving as a Thursday event, but a time when we can all get together and relax.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Five

Grateful for a husband that vacuums before our guests arrive.  I love you, Tom.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Four

Today was a long day.  A long day without a photo op.  I've been fighting headaches for a couple weeks now, my doctor says it's the weather.  I have one right now, but this photo made me smile.

I am thankful for wool.  The wool that has traveled with me in the car, camping, to the doctor's offices, to the playground.  The comfort of the repetitive stitches gives my head a break and permission to get lost in the motion of the hook.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Three

Thankful for plants that can not only survive, yet thrive, after being neglected for months on end.  Slightly early for Christmas, but I am thankful for these tiny buds holding the promise of Spring.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Two

 

This lamp.  This lamp has been packed away since we moved back from Chicago.  All because of the fear of running boys and crashing lamps.

I am thankful I inherited it.  I am thankful for my Great Grandmother that owned it and loved it, just as I do.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty One

Grateful for a large pile of progress and completion!

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty

Grateful to have feathered friends enjoying the harvest of our burning bush in front of our house. Next time, I'd prefer the birds were in the sunshine, so I didn't get such dark birds!

A Month of Gratitude: Day Nineteen

 

Grateful to see beauty in things not so fresh.  

A Month of Gratitude: Day Eighteen

Grateful for good-fellow-blog friends and new inspiration.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Seventeen

For pieces of history, handmade.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Sixteen

This one may be a stretch, but here goes...

I'm grateful for quiet places filled with lives past.  They always make me nostalgic.  The stones with centuries of time embedded into them make me wonder who is missing this loved one.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Fifteen

Grateful for places to explore where concrete isn't allowed.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Fourteen

Grateful for the love and wonder of exploration in my boys

A Month of Gratitude: Day Thirteen

I'm thankful for friends that make me laugh and make me feel like a real photographer.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twelve

Mid-November sunshine giving us 60 degree weather.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Eleven

The quiet moments.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Ten

I know, I know...this is a stretch, but hear me out.

I'm having a bad day.  This one task I need to perform at work is taking 6.7 minutes per document.  Halfway through, I need to click a check mark.  And it ties up my computer, working on something else, makes it take even longer.

So...I'm grateful for the Scholastic Book Orders (who isn't?).  I love the browsing, the imagining what the boys will pick, the joy of the book delivery day and especially the time I have to get cozy on the couch and read the new books with my boys.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Nine

Grateful for an afternoon coffee made by my husband.  And, who wouldn't be grateful for the most brilliant thing Tom and I did...traded the kids all their candy for a new toy.  No guilt eating it, other than the guilt I face on the scale, but that's for another day.

This is my mug, not a working camera lens, I drank too much of the coffee before the picture.