CC Strikes Again

It’s the CC’s turn to wow you!

Every year, my Crafty Counterpart makes an ornament for the Things….(He shared a couple of his most popular designs here.) ..but he was stumped this year.  What to make?!

I showed him this post by superfabcrafters Derek and Lauren from The Curiosity Shoppe and Smarts and Crafts and suggested that we use some of the leftover veneer we had.  His eyes lit up and I knew he was ON IT.

Next thing I know, he’s calling me to bring the camera and start my clicking.  He knocked these out in a couple of hours.

We don’t have a drill press, so he used a leather punch for the holes.  We had some white oak and zebrawood.  He double sided the center piece, but left all the others as is.

Lined them up and sewed them up.

As you can see, one of the ornaments’ veneer gave under the pressure…no problem.  Just makes a different shape, and now we can tell them apart.

Take a bow babe….

More details will be posted later in the week on his Instructables page, but in the meantime, he can answer questions here in the comments.

Liar, Liar, Pants Flambé

I NEVER decorate before December.  Ever.

The relentless begging of small children can wear you down and force you to abandon all the principles you hold dear.  They can make a liar out of you if they’re skilled enough.  Mine are skilled.

So, I caved on ONE. Just one singular festive display to keep them appeased.  The holiday hounds are nipping at my heels, but this seemed to fend them off until the weekend.

UPDATE: It was cloudy when I took those pics..the sun came out today, and now I have a disco kitchen!


Gold Gourds

As I gathered all my gourds while cleaning up from the party, I took one last snap.  The stripey one was inspired by Happy Mundane’s pumpkins from awhile back, but my lines didn’t come out very clean….amateur!

No matter, because I discovered during our slightly windy party that these gilded gourds made great paperweights….securing the bowl of tats at the tattoo station, the pile of paper napkins…all over.  Very handy these babies…and you know how I love multi-tasking.

Moving on.  Time to call the chimney sweep and settle into the cooler weather.

Happy Halloween

I think last night’s first annual Haunted Forest was a success…we had 9 stations on the trail for trick or treating….needless to say…all gone!

Can you see the face in the creepy old tree….

I still stink at night shots, and I couldn’t take any photos during the party…too much going on!  I took some before, and this morning…

One of the biggest hits was the hay bale outdoor theater:  We showed It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with the projector.

I never got a shot of the finished spider before its demise….this morning, the carcass blew in the wind….nothing is as joyful as beating the holy crap out of something with a big stick…

We all had naps today to recharge for trick or treating….now, off to bed!

Year of the Tiger

We geek out a little over Chinese New Year around here, so I’ll be posting a few things we like to do leading up to the big day.  This year, the new year falls on Valentines Day, which is great for us since we kind of loathe that particular “holiday”.  We do it up for the kids, but not for each other.  We’ll have a date night another time, when restaurants aren’t slammed, understaffed and overbooked.  I know, I’m a crankenstein, but this works better for us…trust me.

Anyway, back on topic…last year, I made some DIY plum blossom branches, and I still have some of those fabulous DIY dragons left for the Minors to decorate.  This year, I’ll share my fortune cookie recipe (yes, an American creation) and we’ll surely make some new lanterns to adorn the house.  Bowls of oranges, red envelopes with surprises..all part of the fun. Here’s some old snaps from last year to get you in the spirit…..

Blank Dragons

Cookies with kid-friendly fortunes to share with classmates.

Handmade Hubby

To give a little background….the Crafty Counterpart has been making an ornament for the Things every Christmas since they each arrived.  He has posted the 2 most popular on Instructables.  They will be entered into the contest, but voting isn’t until January.  I’ll hit you up for votes then!  Go babe!

Airplane from cigar tube Instructable found here.

Helicopter Instructable found here.