Thursday, November 29, 2012

...Advent is upon us...

...our youth gathered last night to make Advent wreaths...
...there were a lot of big(ger) hands helping little(r) ones...
...and lots of bright smiles during the process...
...there were long tables of materials to choose from...berries...pine cones...ribbons...
...the teenagers bravely manned the glue guns...so no one got hurt...
...there were tables full of wreaths...
...and everyone took home an Advent Wreath worthy of years of use...

...and we all had a lot of fun helping and creating...

...wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Advent Season!...

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...we needed some tinsel for our tree...
...and I found this sparkly yarn...that just practically screamed tinsel...and I always wanted to knit something in one of these fun yarns...but they just never seemed like my 'style'...but this won't adorn me...it will adorn the tree...
...this was so so very easy...I just cast on 4 stitches on size 13 needles...and mindlessly knit away...
...several hundred rows later...and you've got several yards of 'tinsel'...

...and it's oh so soft...not prickly like real tinsel...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

...Christmas-ized...

...that was a word that a very little Scout used to say...I love that age...when they are beginning to use new words and combine them in ways that make sense (sometimes only to them)...but in this case it made sense to all of us and it was so cute that we continue to use his made up word...just as we do my sweet Nephew's made up phrase "I feel snack-y"...remember that one?...

...anywhoo...we set about finishing the 'Christmas-izing' of our house...go ahead...you can use our word too...your spell checker won't like it though...
...we Christmas-ized the front door with a couple of homemade swags...
...made quite simply by lopping off some sprigs from a bush that needed a trimming anyway...and tying them up with a big red bow...
...we put some candles in the windows...with blue lights for Advent...we'll change them to white for the Christmas season...
...we put our stag candelabra on the hearth and lit him up...
...we got out the Christmas teapot...
...and Christmas-ized the kitchen with some festive towels...
...so our house is well and truly Christmas-ized...what about yours?...

...Have a lovely day!...

Monday, November 26, 2012

...the decorating's done...

...for the most part...
...we had a fun day on Saturday...buying the tree...
...Scout is such a good helper...
...he sawed off the end of the tree so it can get a good drink of water...this was no easy feat as the tree is very very green and the saw kept getting stuck...but Scout persevered and gave us a nice level new cut...
...we got the tree inside with minimal mess...and put Jack's crate liner underneath...just to be sure no drops of water make their way onto the new wood floor...
...then there was the annual testing of the lights...
...and the obligatory picture of the placing of the topper...
...a few white lights outside...we're going for an 'understated' look on the outside decorations this year...I'm going to add a couple of red bows and maybe some greenery to the door...and we'll call it good...I'll post a couple more pictures when we get it all done...but this was a good day's work...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your decorating...and your week!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

...from my back deck...

...It's looking pretty wintry here...
...no more leaves...and it's blowing snow this morning...

...we have big plans today...we're going to get our tree and hopefully get most of our decorating done...

...I remember last year at this time...we were packing up getting ready to leave North Dakota...

...is your Christmas tree already up?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, November 23, 2012

...Vegan Whipped Cream Topping...

...after my vegan feast we headed back to some friend's house for an afternoon of games and desserts...and just general snacking...
...I had baked a vegan pumpkin pie...same as always...I love Bryanna's Vegan Pumpkin Pie...

...but of course we needed some Vegan Whipped Cream to go on top...so I made some Crème Chantilly over at The Vegan Version

...it was super easy...

...and so very delicious...
...this was my leftover slice from this morning's breakfast...HA!...

...wishing you a lovely day after Thanksgiving...with lots of sweet leftovers...

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

...Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!...
...we spent most of Thanksgiving Day here...I called ahead and spoke to the chef...and he made me a wonderful vegan 'vegetable plate'...sorry I should have snapped a photo of it...it was gorgeous...and everyone said when they brought it out that they were having that next year...I had braised kale with onions...sautéed green beans...roasted red potatoes...and fresh corn and tomatoes...and for dessert I had the renowned Greenbrier Peaches...sans whipped cream...
...then we walked around...and sat around in the bookstore and in the rockers...and I bought the final gift for the 'Crazy Christmas' that my family does each year...we've always been in North Dakota so we've never participated as you have to be present to 'steal' your gift...

...it was a restful lot of fun...more about Tamarack here...

~Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

...a secret chasuble...

...the Man needed a royal blue chasuble [The chasuble is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian Churches that use full vestments, primarily in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, as well as in some parts of the United Methodist Church. In the Eastern Churches of Byzantine Rite, the equivalent vestment is the phelonion.]...he prefers the royal blue colour for Advent...and he has a chasuble for each of the other Church seasons...

...chasubles are very dear (ND'ans read 'spendy')...but they appear to be of quite simple construction...often of very elaborate fabrics...although the Man's are fairly plain...he has a set of four (red, green, purple and white - but no blue)and all are embroidered with a ChiRho [The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" =Christ in such a way to produce the monogram. Although not technically a Christian cross, the Chi-Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus, as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ.] ...bracketed notes are from Wikipedia...gotta love the Wiki...
...so of course...I set about making a royal blue chasuble...it'll be an early Christmas present...
...I simply cut around one of his existing chasubles for the pattern...really just two shoulder seams and a hem...and I was done...

...the colours are really off in these blurry night-time photos...sorry...
...the colour here is better...and it's really got a nice flow-y drape...

...I have a sweet friend with one of those fancy embroidery machines and she's going to embroider a big gold Star of Bethlehem center front...

...Oh...and I also copied the small stole worn underneath the chasuble too...

...I'll show you a photo of it after the Man sees it...

...Advent is upon us...are you ready?...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, November 19, 2012

...two tone freezer paper stenciling...a failure...almost...

...see...the finished product came out pretty well...but there was a point when I was quite worried that it wouldn't...
...I started out the usual way...I cut out my freezer paper stencils with an exacto knife...this time I had two...the inner pink one and the outline which would be silver...
...and then I spounced away with my hot pink fabric paint...
...I peeled off the first stencil...and I could have just stopped at that point...but I wanted the sparkly border...so I proceeded to stencil #2...
...I ironed the border stencils on...and on top of the pink letters I trimmed the freezer paper to leave just the tiniest overlap...this was a BIG MISTAKE...because freezer paper just doesn't stick to the already painted area all that well...
...I squirted out some of my sparkly silver paint...and spounced away...
...so far so good...right...er...not so much...
...because I didn't get a good seal over the hot pink letters the silver paint bled onto the pink...YUCK...that looks really bad...doesn't it...
...but never fear...these were pretty straight lines...so I just grabbed a tiny little paintbruch...and did some touchup over the pink...
...so...in the end it all came out alright...and I like my new pink WV shirt a lot...

...Have you ever tried 2 colour freezer paper stenciling?...how'd it turn out for you?...

~Have a lovely Monday!

Friday, November 16, 2012

...Discipline...

...Scout's Band...lined up and standing at attention as each row...
...row by row... loads their instruments onto the truck...

...now that's discipline...
...then they gather for the 'Truck Talk' at the back of the truck after every game...the director gives them words of praise and encouragement...this is not usually the time when he points out any faults...and so...they cheer...and remain disciplined...

...Scout's high school football team has entered the playoffs...which is exciting, of course...but also of course it extends the marching band season into December...

...it'll be a chilly one tonight...

~Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

...Finger Food...

...you know that we sometimes have sort of strange finger foods around here...

...but I was in the mood for roasted green beans...we were watching a foreign film (Russian - the Return - not happy)...when it's my turn to pick you can bet subtitles will be involved...
...so...I popped open a bag of frozen green beans...gave a spritz of my garlic spray...and a sprinkle of salt...and baked them for about 30 minutes at 350°...probably a bit too long...but really delicious and slightly carmelized...yummy...

...what's your favorite movie-watching snack?

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

...New Neighbors...

...we have new neighbors...
...so I baked them a Vegan Pumpkin Dot Pound Cake...
...and I made a card...which I didn't document very well...but I'll tell you about how I did it...it's quite simple really...

...I had a packet of cards from a charity that I support...and in these cards were some smallish birthday cards...that I'm not really very likely to use...and the front of this one just seemed more like a 'welcome to the neighborhood' kind of card than a birthday card...

...so I simply cut the front of the card off...trimmed the border...and glued it to the front of a half sheet of grey card stock...much nicer...and then I could write whatever I wanted on the inside...

...and it still fit in the original envelope...sweet!...

...so what do you do to welcome new neighbors...

~Have a lovely day!