Oh Holidays!

I made many of the gifts we gave this year: small tote bags for everyone made from recycled upholstery samples and filled with goodies, 5 pillow covers for the mother who of course chose my most expensive fabrics (it's ok I still love ya), fleece hand embroidered hats for the 2 older nieces, and elf shoe ornaments.

 

Same hat in both pics, the sakura flower is reversible!

We did purchase a few things like DVDs for my brother in law & father in law and an art set for the oldest niece. The art set was full of pencils, markers, crayons, etc in a carry case on sale for less than $4. I couldn't rightfully pass that up! The rest of our gift giving was traded for with some my awesome EtsyDarkTeam mates. Extra special big thanks to AgonysDecay for the amazing soaps. I sent a set of Day of the Dead soaps to my mom and a big cameo soap to my sister but it was claimed by her daughter because "it's a princess soap". My niece then announced that she must now take a bath! Too damn cute.

We spent Christmas Eve/Day with my husband's family once again. We had fun if not much sleep. We got to see 2 of our nieces that are sprouting like beans, the sis & brother in law and hung out with the ever elusive father in law. We ate way too much but it was oh so good. And apparently my father in law enjoyed the banana bread I made for him and my brother in law since he nicked a piece of my brother in law's even though he got an entire loaf to himself!

We got some great gifts not the least of which were Alice in Chains tickets. Hells yeah, Alice in Chains! And then there are the gifts from my father in law which are always fun. I got universal Waite tarot cards (to compliment my glow in the dark Ouija board from last year) among other things, and my husband got a no-one-in-particular pharaoh plaster bust which is extremely funny since we were just discussing how one might go about becoming a god-king.

And of course I can't leave out the tea, mounds of chocolate, and jelly bellies. Coldstone flavored Jelly Bellies are delicious!

What did you do or get over the holidays?

Happy and prosperous New Year, everyone!

Elf Shoe Ornaments!

Need cute & quick ornament or gift? How about an Elf Shoe Ornament? I was looking for a quick but cute ornament to give this year and this is it!

 

This design is not by me, but it's so cute I had to share since it is a free & shareable pattern. Here's where I found it: http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2007/11/ears-to-your-el.html

I resized the jpg pattern (which you can get from the link above) and made mine 4.25in / 10.8cm long, measuring flat from heel to pointy toe on the Sole piece. Note, cutting 2 of each pattern piece will give you a pair of Elf Shoes. I cut one of each piece out of red, one of each out of green, and then mixed the pieces to get the ornaments above. I used Dark Green & Cranberry synthetic Felt, Dark Gold Glossy Thread and a simple whip stitch, Gold tone Jingle Bells on jump rings, a loop of Black Ribbon is straight stitched at the heel to put the hook through and matte silver toned 'S' hooks (wish I had gold tone!) to hang them.

You can do a blanket stitch, add more embellishments, use different colors, double layer in contrast colors to make it even sturdier & "flashier",  etc. I made myself keep them as simple as possible so I don't spend forever on them and then not have them ready for Christmas.

Having the twisted sense of humor that we do, my husband suggested making a severed foot or bloody sock to stick out of the shoes for that "dark" feel but, um, I don't think the family will get it. They'd probably call in the men that bring you the extra long sleeved buckling white jackets that are so NOT meant as a fashion statement, if you know what I mean. I am considering embroidering initials on them though but that will have to wait until they're all done. That's nice and "normal" right? We'll see, we'll see.

Ok off to make more! :D

EDT Secret Scrooge Swap

Last month the lovely AgonysDecay put the call out for participants for a Secret Scrooge Swap so of course I couldn't pass that up. I happily can show you the goodies I sent since my recipient, SyntheticSeduction, has already received her package. She says, "He's just the cutest thing ever!" What do you think?

• A Zombie Hand Puppet
• A Grey & Purple Fleece Neck Warmer/Gaiter/Cowl/whatever-the-heck-you-want-to-call-it (embroidered on a vintage sewing machine, ah yeah)
• Skull & bones paintable/inkable foam stickers
• Skull Beads

(More pics in my Flickr if you want to see closeups, etc)

The Zombie Hand Puppet is completely hand cut, stitched & painted. He is the first of many to come hopefully and it the "poster zombie" for my upcoming Zombie Hand Puppet pattern I hope to have for sale soon-like. The Neck Warmer was serged on my little Bernette & line by line embroidered on my vintage Pfaff 230 sewing machine (love that machine!).

I had a lot of fun making the Hand Puppet & Neck Warmer. After a couple failed attempts I finally figured out what the heck I wanted to make for her. I can't wait to see what everyone else made and I'll be sure to share what I receive!

Static's Adventures in Baking

Ok I can create damn near anything I put my mind to in the sewing room but when it comes to the kitchen, well... let's just say me and stove top cooking are definitely not friends. But, I have come to find that baking can actually be enjoyable! Aside from the eating part of course. I've had my share of "ugly cakes" and shortcakes that didn't come out quit how I wanted but they were all still tasty!

 

L: Not-so-ugly red velvet cake with chocolate frosting, R: Ugly little banana honey shortcakes (strawberries at the store were pitiful), Both: Deee-licious

Over the holiday weekend I got my mother-in-law's recipe for Banana Walnut Bread out of my sister-in-law who inherited our mother-in-law's recipe box (I will get all of those baking recipes at the least some day, I will!) and yesterday I made two small loaves (8"x3" tins).

I was only able to get a picture of one of them because my husband and I devoured the first one. It wasn't as sweet as perfectly overripe bananas can make it (because we wanted Nanner Bread now) so I rubbed a bit of honey on top. Scott was heeheehee-ing over at his computer and ate every last bit I put in front of him so I knew I did okay. Not exactly like his mom's, he said, but close. For my first attempt at it I'd say that's a pretty high compliment! I didn't even burn it, yay.

The next batch will have choco-chips. Yeeesssss.