A Sudden Obsession with Yarn

I hope all of you had a delightful Thanksgiving!  I certainly did.

We made our regular pilgrimmage to Ohio to visit my immediate and extended family, and everything was exactly the same.  I kept thinking to myself that if the Ghost of Thanksgiving past were to visit me and show me a glimpse of this holiday ten years ago, we would be doing precisely what we did this time - going to the movies, enjoying good food, playing Crummy Rummie {although my sister rocked our world by purchasing brand new decks of cards} and wondering with confusion where five days disappeared to. 



Turtleurkeys made by the
talented and wonderful Anne

We also enjoyed Black (a/k/a Holy) Friday shopping with extended family near Columbus.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the deals (even if we did find one or two)... it has to do with the 'trophies' you receive if you are among the first 100 customers.  And, of course, the adventure of dashing from store to store during the unmentionably early hours.  We are not true BF shoppers; we are merry wanderers of the night.

On a different note, I have also taken up crochet recently (like, two weeks ago).  So far, I have made a crowl, half a scarf, and numerous other things I've done simply for practice.  Thanks to Jayson (who showed me how to do a chain stitch), my mother-in-law (who showed me how to start the second row) and to my dear friend Anne (who opened up a world of different stitches to me), I'm confident that someday I'll be a seasoned crocheter.

How was your holiday?  Do share!

~ Sarah

"Catch and Release" Scarf

Well, I'm copycatting again.  I saw this idea on Pinterest (and can you believe it??  I actually got OFF of Pinterest and made something!!) and had to try it out.  It looked easy, beautiful, and totally something I could crank out in bulk (for, ahem, Christmas, perhaps...) 

Kelli has a very excellent tutorial here.  As with all things, I skipped a step or two (mostly the measuring-the-lines thing... I kindof eyeballed it.)  I picked a bunch of clearance fabrics, 3 yards long, and went to town.  In the time it took me to watch one movie, I had finished 12 scarves and was disappointed it was time to stop. 

Here are some photographs:

 

This white one was my particular favorite.  The fabric itself is a little stretchy, and makes a soft, comfortable, and absolutely gorgeous scarf.  I asked Jayson if it would be selfish of me to keep one of the white ones... after glancing at the 11 others I'd finished in 2 hours, he smiled and said, "I think you may have earned that one." 

Which one is your favorite?

~ Sarah

Pretty Paper Ornaments

Gosh, does it feel good to be working on craft projects again!  I thought I'd get started on Christmas decorations, since, well, the Christmas season begins next Friday.  (Is it just me, or did it sneak up on us this year??)

I loved this idea - I came up with it myself but I'm certain I'm not the only person who's ever done something like this.  But, for the record, I didn't see ornaments like this and duplicate them -- they actually came from my own mind.  ;)

What you will need:

1. Cardstock in various colors that match (and closely match) your theme
2. Big hole punch (mine is 2")
3. Glue (like Elmer's, or paper glue, etc)
4. thin ribbon
5. a really good movie (optional)
6. cup of tea (also optional)

Begin by punching out quite a few circles of your selected cardstock.  Fold every circle in half with the pattern inside.

Start gluing your circles together.  I didn't make any two the same, at least on purpose, so they looked like a mismatched, colorful little band of 3-D circles.  I was exceptionally pleased with them.

Cut your ribbon into strips (something like 10" long) - I did some longer, some shorter.  Fold them in half, and tie a basic knot at the ribbon ends, forming a loop.

The ornaments should have a natural gap in the center of the circles (see photos above), which the ribbon slides through comfortably. 

And you're done!!  Before I knew it, I had made almost 20 of them, but unfortunately I had the colors wrong for the person I was making them for (it wasn't purple - it was gold.  Durn it.)  So this turned out to be a test run.  A very successful test run, I might add.  Hopefully by the time I do the real ornaments, my new phone will be here and the pictures will be much better.  ;)

Happy Monday!

~ Sarah

Party Dresses

Have you missed me??  I've missed all of you... truly!!  I've been battling a mysterious illness that has entirely confounded my doctor, but on the bright side, all of my clothes are suddenly very big.  :) 

And speaking of clothes, I've been pinning a lot of dresses on Pinterest lately.  I have several big events coming up soon that I plan to splurge and dress up for, including a couple of Christmas parties.  I thought I'd share the dresses I like, since I haven't been doing any projects while sitting in my pajamas watching hundreds of movies.  (Though I will be shortly... I have deadlines coming.)

As with all things on Pinterest, sometimes you can find the original post, and sometimes, you can't.  As before, I'll provide the source where possible, and if you happen to know where an un-sourced photograph comes from, please let me know!

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I noticed after I pinned them that they're all roughly the same shape, length, style, etc... I must have one particular fashion on the brain this year.  Which ones do you like?

 

Back (for real!) very soon!  <3

~ Sarah