in the nick of time!

This is my second year dropping toys for the Toy Society. We had so much fun doing it as a family last year.
I'd let the month slip away and almost didn't get this done in time!

Curly Girl was sick and had an appointment with her pediatrician on Saturday.
I threw this little zebra together in about 10 minutes. No time for eyes or anything but I think he was cute anyway!


We planned on leaving it in this chair but as soon as we put it down a ton of people walked in so I stuffed it in my tote.
We ended up tying it on the scale in the hallway as we left after the appointment!

We had to be quick so I didn't get a photo of it there.


Knowing another sick child would find it made her feel better.

I felt better knowing she did NOT have the flu....we are still waiting on the results from her strep test but since she is feeling better today, I don't think she has it.

just a scrap....

Remember THIS post about Christmas with our dogs? Just so you can see how MUCH they loved their toys....let me show you how the toys have faired. The 'flat' gingerbread men I made them all met a fate worse than death within a week.
I'm not complaining, that is MUCH longer than the 2-5 minutes the store bought stuffed ones last.

I highly recommend making them this way if your dogs destroy toys (and swallow/barf up squeakers.)
Just cut out your shapes using 2 pieces of polar fleece and sew both pieces together without stuffing them. The braided tugs lasted a long time....about a month.

I originally made three of them....here is a picture of them playing with one of them.


here is what was left of the last one...
Yep....it was about 4 inches long...well, it was in this photo.
2 minutes later Ginger ripped a piece off and ate it.....yuck.


But look how happy Mojo is....still wanting to play with it.



After he gets it good and GOOEY, he will bring it to you to THROW....first he puts it NEAR your foot and looks up at you.

if THAT doesn't work, he puts the nasty, gooey scrap ON your foot....and waits... he KNOWS you can't stand that gross thing on your foot and that in time, you'll fling it somewhere....if you put it in the trash, he digs it out. So we have to throw them away in the outside trash! LOL!
but oh my gosh, how cute is that?

One time I was in bed ASLEEP and felt something gooey hit my face.

Mo stood up on his back legs and put that gross thing on the bed next to me. I was so grossed out....but when I looked at him, he was just standing there, all happy, wagging his butt (corgis don't have tails)....totally CUTE!

Needless to say, I made a few more braided tugs on Saturday for them to play with and threw that nasty scrap away...in the OUTSIDE trash!

makes ya go hmmm....

I did NOT see this man with this possum....but the picture FITS what I DID SEE today......

Okay, so today on my way to work I saw a man cradling something in his arms, as I got closer I saw that it was a possum.

The man was holding it like you would a baby, but was holding its head by the scruff of the neck. I mean, have you ever seen those teeth?

My first thought was DANG, he's gonna eat road kill! (yes, I really thought that....)

As I got closer I realized the possum wasn't dead....it was alive.

So I decided he WASN'T going to eat road kill and promptly put it out of my mind.

When I got to work they asked if I could switch and work the afternoon so I said yes and left.

On my way back home, I saw the same man with the same possum.

He was standing right by the road....on the shoulder....with his feet just touching the asphalt.

He was shaking his fist and then pointing his finger at the possum while fussing at it.

I've decided that one of these three things was going on:

1. He was deciding whether or not to eat the possum. I mean, he would have to kill it himself, right?

2. He was mad at the possum and was going to fling it into oncoming traffic (maybe that's how all those possums end up being road kill in the first place....)

I actually slowed down because I was SURE this is what he planned to do. But as I passed by he was still yelling at the possum.

3. He had a special relationship with the possum and they were having an argument due to some difference of opinion.

Thimbleprim's Mouse Swap

I decided that if I joined any swaps this year, they had to stretch me a bit creatively.

That being said, I joined Thimble prim Studio's Mouse Swap!

The rules were fairly simple...but the thought of creating clothing for something so little was a bit intimidating to me!

In the end, I am really happy with how my little mouse turned out.
She stands a bit over 6 inches tall and is made from polar fleece. I started to make her out of muslin and tea stain her but then decided I wanted her to look ready for spring!

We had to include an article of clothing so I made a little skirt and a pretty pearl necklace, along with a crocheted strawberry for her to hold.



and here the goodies I sent along...


Here is what Carla sent me in return!



Thank you Carla!

Year of Enchantment

Here are my first ornaments for the YOE challenge I'm hosting this year.

Our theme was either acorn or pine cone...so I had to make a few!

I love the way they all turned out.

I really had fun with the teeny acorns but my hand got so CRAMPED! The bigger acorn was much easier on my old hands!


Our challenge was to perform a RAK . So far, I've done 3....but they are secret!

Our activity was to make bird seed ornaments to feed our feathered friends. I already posted about that here.

I got my package from Sherry on Saturday and it is SO CUTE!

I thought it funny that we both sent each other pine cone AND acorn items.

I adore them all....and LOVE handmade bookmarks. Those are extra special.

Thank you Sherry!

One Cheap Hot Mama!

I'm hosting my first apron swap of 2010....this time we had to use fabric from our stash!

My partner wanted something wintery and loves snowmen. Lucky for her, I had some cute fabric in my stash!

Here is what the apron looks like from the front:


it's a clothespin apron....here is the side view so you can see the pocket...




and here is the reverse side. I just appliqued some cutouts on it....but I love how it turned out.


I put together some goodies for her...hope she likes it all!

I included some peppernuts I'd recently made...they are AWESOME...I just had to share some with her...I sent her the recipe too.


on another note...Look at this cutie that Sandy sent me as a little surprise! It is signature graphic to use on my blog posts. Uh,once I figure out HOW!

She got it through Katie HERE...so go check her website out!

Thanks Sandy, how did you know I love surprises?!

Scarf it up!

This time of year I wear (and make) a lot of scarves! I adore them and would wear one everyday if it were cold enough!

I made this one for Dean.
I used "Touch Me" yarn by Muench. It was part of his Christmas from me.


here is a close up of his stubble...scarf!



I made these scarves for the latest Craft Hope project.




And I made this cowl for myself! I love ORANGE!



I used this pattern by Lion's Brand and just shortened the beginning chains so it would fit me.

I bought the yarn sometime last year from my LYS. It was expensive but I got it HALF PRICE!
I wish they had more but it was the last one in stock.