mr. robot

Yesterday, little boy said to me about robot, "Oh mommy! She's SO beautiful!" (I guess all dolls are female to him) I hope he's just as excited when he opens the box on Christmas day to see Mr. Robot and discover that he (or she) was intended for him. The painted designs ended up looking a little '80s Mondrian. (I know Piet Mondrian wasn't from the '80s, but the color blocking seems '80s to me) I don't think the kid will mind that. Need to work out better designs for the next line of robots though.

W.I.P.

Work in progress... little Mr. Robot. A few bootie orders have kept me from finishing my robot - and, no, I'm not complaining! Santa's workshop will be back up and running tomorrow. I also find it extremely hard to get anything done when I know I have a mountain of laundry waiting for me in the garage. So, that's done now too and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. On top of all that... diet is back on. So far so good, but I know for a fact that Wednesday is always the end of dieting attempts for Ms. Dawn. Day three. Never make it past day three. I might pick up again on Day four, but by Day six (usually a Saturday) I convince myself that since I failed on Day three I should just call it a day and start brand new on Monday. But Not This Time! (we'll see about that)

our bird is taking a bath

Have you tried this before - a brined turkey? The idea sounded good enough to try. I really hope it takes away some of that turkey taste. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really have no business being carnivorous. Just hate the taste of meat. Meat I eat must be marinated, slathered in sauce or breaded and fried. So maybe a slice of this turkey, after it's been soaking up all those spices and salt, will be more up my alley. The husband and I are actually considering trying a more vegetarian lifestyle. Honestly, for me, the only reason I haven't done so early is purely out of convenience. How easy is it to throw some chicken on the barbecue? But after we eat till we're bursting at the seams tomorrow, this household might start trying out some more vegetarian options. Why not?

Next up, make mac-n-cheese for the kids, prepare gorgonzola flatbread appetizers, cook potatoes for mashed sweet potatoes and bake up almond tart. Busy day in the kitchen!

Hello Dolly!

From here on out, this little house is going to be a busy little workshop. The Wooden Dolls by Alexander Girard reminded me of how I've always wanted to make dolls out of wood. When I saw them gracing the cover of the Design Within Reach holiday catalog, I was instantly inspired. No, mine aren't going to be nearly as cool and graphic - nah, these are made for the kids. But they'll still be special. I've got a lot of doll making ahead of me, yes I do. Oh the ideas!

I often get e-mails asking if I make my booties in other sizes. Well, now I guess I can add teeny tiny to my sizes offered...

I struggled on the shoes for a bit. Spent several hours lying in bed in the middle of the night trying to figure it out. Initially, I thought the shoes would be made out of wood. But after a lot of shaping and cutting I decided it just wasn't looking like I wanted them to. Only after all that did it occur to me to try to use my bootie pattern at a much smaller scale. And that was it. I knew the second I started to pull the felt around her little ankle that I had finally found my answer. I love those moments of genius.

And, what kind of mom would I be if I didn't have dolls for boys in the works? Though, my son seems to be in love with this little missy just about as much as I am, I think he might like a robot or cowboy too. Busy busy busy! Now, time to make the stock for the Riesling Gravy I aim to make for Thanksgiving.

Why?

Can we talk about how tired I am of the Why? game? "Mommy, why did you just say, 'oh no,' why? Mommy, why did you just scratch your head, why? Mommy, why did that man just say, 'damn it,' why?" And you can't say, "I don't know," because, to an almost-4-year old that means, ask me again in 5 minutes. And then 5 minutes later, again, and again, and again, until you think you've gone completely mad. Hours later, the same question as if somewhere I've magically found the answer to the question, "Mommy, why did that man crash the tractor into our house, why? Mommy, why do you say, 'I don't know,' why?" (Yes - so, you see, a few other things on my mind today) The husband urges me to take a long, hot shower. Cleanse myself of the Why? game. I know, I know - I'll miss this someday when he's too cool to talk to mom. Right now, though, I think I'll pull my hair out if I hear the word Why? one more time!!!

my mind is aflutter

When I hear myself saying to myself - "Another year already gone by! Thanksgiving next week and the holiday season is here again!" - I immediately break out in song, Carpenter's style... Greeting cards have all been sent, the Christmas rush is through. But I still have one wish to make, a special wish for you... I just can't think about christmastime without hearing the Carpenter's Christmas Album in my head. It just can't be Christmas without the Carpenters, in my book. (yeah yeah yeah, I know Jesus is the reason for the season) So, come next Friday - once Thanksgiving is all said and done with - I'll be playing my very favorite christmas album again and again till the cows come home. Or, rather, until the husband comes home from work and I quickly hit the mute button the second I hear that garage door open. You know, after all these years of marriage I still get embarrassed and apologize profusely for the music I listen to.

This week I'm finishing up these little party birds pictured above. Using a Good Thing and taking it one step further to make them birthday birds for my Thanksgiving boy. Speaking of Ms. Good Thing Martha, I got my holiday Martha Stewart Living the other day and my mind is aflutter with all the decorating, baking and homemade gift ideas. I am definitely going to make a gingerbread village this year. And it's about that time for me to start making the gifts I'm going to make so I don't run out of time. Yep, this house is going to start feeling the magic of the holiday season real soon!

filling up with ideas

It's taken me way too long to finish this - a bib quilted from several bright fabric swatches, some of my own printed fabric and a silk-screened piece. (which reminds me of all the silk-screening supplies I bought a while back and have yet to use) So, hoping to make more of these for the empty Etsy shop. It's sew time! (Yes, I'm excited for Project Runway)

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! Little boy's birthday falls on the day of turkey, so I'm trying to come up with clever ways to make it a special day for the birthday boy as well. More on that later.

I've been slow to work on new things. My notebooks are filling up with ideas - but finding time to do them is another story. I need to make more of an effort to find the time. My head is always a little less stressed after a bit of crafting, sewing or gardening. Instead of spending time picking up toys that will wind up back on the floor later in the day anyway, I need to focus on my projects. That's easier said than done though. A couple weeks ago I even created a schedule for myself...

6am - wake up + start breakfast
7am - dress + make beds
8am - kids eat
9am - laundry
10am - craft
...and so on and so forth

I love the idea of that - a real schedule to follow so I'm not blundering through my day, losing my day. But I've yet to make it through an entire day of my so-called perfect schedule. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. Or, maybe, let's face it, kids just don't want to follow a schedule. Come to think of it, that was my biggest roadblock - fussy baby during what was supposed to be my hour. Come on, mom's don't get me time! What am I thinking? I know it'll only get easier from here. Baby will probably be walking in another few weeks and he'll start to enjoy entertaining himself more often. When that happens, watch out! This crafty mama will be back in business!

See Rock City!

Sorry I've been so quiet lately. Maybe I'm still trying to catch up, literally and mentally, now that we're back home. I'm just so gosh darn tired all the time! Baby boy #2 is almost 10-months old. When baby boy #1 was about this age, I was beginning to get things started with all my crafting and selling and blogging and such. I guess I was thinking that things would start to pick up again once the little one hit this age. But so far, the energy level on my part just hasn't caught up with all the stuff to do here around the house.

But that's boring. The last thing I want to do after not posting anything new all week is write something boring. So, today I'll share some of the things I picked up on our trip. "See Rock City" - It's the ad campaign for Rock City. All along our drive from Nashville to Chattanooga we saw big signs and barn roofs with the words, "See Rock City." This miniature birdhouse was just about all I could commit to buying since I knew we still had 2 weeks left to our trip. A big birdhouse just wasn't going to fit in the suitcase regardless of how creative I could get with packing! But I'm itching to buy a full size birdhouse online to hang in one of our trees.

And, a few other things I picked up on our trip. First, a taste for sweet tea. Used to have great pride in the fact that I didn't add anything to my tea. No more. At the Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio (God bless gift shops!) in Oak Park, I picked up this cross stitch kit of one of his graphics. It was a great project for the road trips we took, but now that we're home I've hardly picked it up. Another one of those things that will take me forever to complete. As if that weren't enough things to keep my hands busy, I found a pattern book for crocheting socks. And my gauge is all off because, 1) I don't know what I'm doing and 2) I didn't follow directions and use the yarn they suggested. So, this first sock may end up being converted into something else. I've been thinking about making new Christmas stockings now that we're a family. I made stockings for the husband and I pre-children - a lifetime ago. Now I think I need to make 4 somewhat matching stockings for all of us. One thought was to quilt them from solid fabric and then add a new embellishment each year. Maybe a band of crocheted stocking? In 15 years they'll be works of art! Each year a piece of whatever I'm into that year can be stitched on. Who knows what craft I'll take up next.