Christmas in July - January Theme Ornaments

The January theme for the Holiday Handmade Crusade was ornaments. "Make one, make one hundred!" I challenged...Well, collectively, the participants of HHC actually made closer to two hundred ornaments! It was just amazing! Below, I am posting some of my favorites, which will hopefully inspire you to take back Christmas from the mall, and make your own ornaments!

These S'more Snowmen were made by Craftster user TMommy



Craftster user ineedart shared her version of Anna Maria Horner's It's a HOOT Owl Ornament Pattern



Which in turn inspired Craftster user lynner4 to create a whole flock of her own...



Craftster user SewHelpMe created these beautiful stamped dove ornaments...



while SimplyFabulous came up with these, well, simply fabulous felt portrayals of Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog



Craftster user Cinnamon Teal's Kusudama ornaments takes the cake for me...



So polished looking and gorgeous, right?! She used a tutorial from Folding Trees.

If you would like to learn more about the Holiday Handmade Crusade, visit this post. Otherwise, join me for more Christmas in July goodness tomorrow!

Small Town 4th of July

Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow American folk! I wish that I had more pictures to share with you, but alas, Matt still has the nice camera on tour in California, so this photo will have to suffice! Do you like my 4th get up? It's missing the red cowboy hat that I was sporting this morning, but I'm still feeling festive in my white country girl dress.

Today my dad and I left the house early to go visit my brother Thom and his girlfriend Michelle's family up in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire. Michelle's family owns a sweet little breakfast place called the Iron Kettle. I put away three blueberry pancakes with crispy bacon, YUM! Sadly they did not have real maple syrup, but leave it to my dad to come to the rescue. He had a single serving syrup bottle in his car! Have syrup, will travel. The Duclos family doesn't mess around!

After eating, we settled in lawn chairs in front of the restaurant to view the Main Street, 4th of July parade. Believe it or not, this was the first 4th of July parade I had ever been to in my life! I had a blast watching the little ones closer to the sidewalk scramble for bits of candy thrown by the people on the floats. It was too fun.

My 10 month old baby nephew Aaron was taking in his first parade too! (Pictures from Thom's camera to come later). We danced and sang and had a grand old time.

On the way home with my dad, we jammed out to Johnny Cash: Live at San Quentin all the way down Route 16. The sun was shining for the first time in weeks, and even though we're supposed to get scattered thunder showers later, I wasn't about to dwell on it. It's moments like these that make life great. Small Town U.S.A at its very best.

Handmade Holiday Crusade Announcement

Announcing the Holiday Handmade Crusade theme for July!

Your theme for July is: Save the Summer! Save a little sunshine for the winter holidays by saving a piece of summer. You can literally do this by trying your hand at making jam, or canning some homemade pasta sauce. How about pressing some beautiful flowers into a frame? Inspired by the summer beauty around you? Sketch, paint or photograph your surroundings and frame that in a recycled frame from Goodwill.

Entries to be eligible for the raffle are due on July 31st by midnight EST

Prize winner for June will be announced ASAP!

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Be crafty and prosper,

<3 Your Craftastic Christmas Crusader


P.S. If you are visiting from Gingerbread and Snowflakes, hello! Thanks again for the mention, Pam!

Matt's Skull Cuff :: A Love Story

About three years ago I knit "The Bead Goes On Cuff" (rav) from Stitch n' Bitch Nation for Matt's birthday. I made it to protect his wrist. You see, Mr. G+N is a punk bassist. He strums so fast when he plays, that without some kind of protective garment, he gets horrible blisters on his wrist.

He loved it, and proceeded to wear it every. single. day.

Three years later, this is what it looks like:





The skull's poor face is mangled beyond recognition, the shine on the beads is worn completely away, and it is little more than a tangled ball of yarn that hangs from my hubby's wrist every day...

A week before Valentine's Day, Mr. G+N started recording a new album with his band, and he said to me "I wore another cuff at practice yesterday to make sure I could play with something else in the studio, but I'm bringing the old one just in case." His voice was mildly frantic like that of a child who has lost a favorite stuffed animal or security blanket, but still trying to play it cool!

I knew immediately what Matt was getting for Valentine's Day. Not original, but I knew that he would love it.

Shiny and new, here's cuff #2:



For comparison, old vs. new:



He loved it! However, do you think he's throwing out the old one? Absolutely not. The new one is only going to be worn for shows and special occasions, the raggy old one is still going to be draping off of his wrist like a crusty pirate bracelet!

Sigh. I can't lie, I think that his attachment to knitwear is a little cute.

<3

Happy (Belated) Thankgiving!

How was yours?

Mine was delicious! My mom outdid herself once again. I took very few pictures, because I was so busy devouring it all, but here are some of the food highlights:

:: My dad carving up the bird ::





This thing was huge! That's half the bird. He was 28 lbs total. My mom cut him in half and saved the rest for a rainy day, mostly because he wouldn't fit in the oven!!!


A repeat from last year, I contributed two Nutmeg Maple Cream Pies.



Almost as exciting as the dinner was getting to meet my 10 day old little grand-niece, Isabelle!

:: I love how excited my dad gets about babies and little kids - look at the grin on his face! ::



:: She was so tiny! She weighs just over six pounds! ::



:: And, of course, I logged in some significant cuddle time. ::



:: My nephew Zach, the papa ::



Like any good Thanksgiving, we all succumbed to food coma induced exhaustion at the end of the day, as demonstrated superbly here by my brother, Mike.



I give thanks for a good day. And leftovers.

P.S. Want to see more Isabelle cuteness? Check out my Thanksgiving 2008 set on Flickr.

Halloweeny 2008 Re-cap :: Amy Winehouse

I wasn't quite feeling the Halloween spirit this year, until a couple of days before hand. I just could not think of a good costume idea. Then one day it struck me - as I was belting along to a certain hot-mess chanteuse's cd at work. I dressed up as Amy Winehouse.

I am so more than proud of myself for pulling this off...

My hair, with the help of a wig I bought on Halloween clearance for $2, defied gravity:



I really got into the details, drawing on tattoos, faking a "monroe" piercing (silver bead+eyelash glue...it stayed on all night too), and a certain illicit substance stuck under my nose (flour and more eyelash glue).



The piece de resistance for me though was figuring out what to wear. I went against the slutty, red-carpet Amy look and opted for a grocery shopping t-shirt and jeans, being photographed by the paparazzi Amy. What t-shirt did I pull out of my closet?



My D.A.R.E. t-shirt from elementary school! I laughed so hard at the irony, and many, many people at the party thought it was a scream as well.

I tried my best to make awkward faces whenever anyone snapped a picture of me. Such a fun night.





I leave you with this hilarious Winehouse/Spears parody from Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders:



I'm grateful for a really fun Halloween! What are you thankful for today?