Christmas

So I'm a lazy bum. Not much going on. Christmas break.

For Yule we got new Jammies and the wizard of oz. 

Christmas Eve we go to mom's

Ross took all the pictures at moms /sigh

Christmas Day is the hard one, we get up super early and do presents at home

Connor got lots of cars. Kae got a case for her laptop and a ton of monster high stuff

Then we went to my In Laws (::sigh::)

They sound like dinosaurs

Last we went to my dad's...

Playing cars with great-grandpa

Writing a short story using her story dice..

Then grandpa read it to everyone lol

The kids got a ton of presents, lots of cars and monster high. Lots. Both seem pretty happy!

I can't wait for school to start

BEER!

So for Christmas we got Ross a Mr Beer Brewing Kit. It comes with everything to brew and bottle 2 gallons of beer. 

Ross isn't much of a drinker, but he does enjoy the occasional beer, and he loves loves loves the process of stuff like this. 

The kit comes with the malt to make the equivalent of Bud Light, which is gross (I don't drink beer), and after much searching we found out you can change the recipes! Then after even more convincing, Ross is going to make the first following the directions. So he knows how it works before making it his own. ;)

The fermenting process takes between 2 and 4 weeks, I think Ross is going on the longer end. I'll post more when he bottles. 

Parents of the year! Kae's got the malt can in her mouth, and we put the little brown keg next to Connor's Dora cereal!

Shop

So opening an etsy shop has been a stop/start thing for me. I look at all the fees and go, "well I can price accordingly!" Then I see all the same stuff for sale, where is the business going to come from?

I've decided to boost traffic to my Facebook fan page, "Paula's miscellany" and sell on a first come first served basis, and try and drive up some business. 

I also plan to make hat/fingerless glove sets, and cowls/scarves, to try and sell at the green market in Gardens next fall. I can use stash up, and hopefully make some spare coinage. 

I already got my first commissioned order :)

Ignore me, the hats real owner is far cuter. 

Nostalgia

Saturday is Kae's teachers birthday. Since we already made her the spiffy hat and gloves for Christmas, and EVERYONE is making her a card, kae and I decided (mostly me) to make her a necklace.

Paper beads!

When I was 8 my grandmother Burdette came to visit us, it was the first time we'd ever met, and pretty memorable, for me at least. It was Christmastime, too.

We spent hours cutting pages out of magazines, and rolling them up on toothpicks, making piles of different colored beads to make necklaces for my mom. Which she still keeps in her jewelry box. I love my mommy.

So kae and I decided to make them too, but instead of magazines, we took a falling apart copy of a children's fairytale book and used book pages!

I made my own modge podge. 

The book was going in the trash anyway

The thread is from my embroidery box, it's pink, Mrs. L's favorite color.

Kaeley threaded them on with a yarn needle, I tied it off. It's in a pink bag to take her on Friday. Completely free gift, and lots of fun with my girl. 

Oops

It's been a while since I posted. For the like, 2 people who read my blog, I read 2 books last month. Woo!

I've been crafting up a storm though. Gift knitting! Most of these were Nerd Wars round 2 submissions

Gloves and hat for Kae's teacher

Gloves and hat for a friend 

Seed stitch cowl for my SIL

Cardi for Mai - kae gets the same one, in hot damn pink sparkly. But the picture is missing from my phone.

I still need to finish the two hats for gabe and Connor. And possibly one for my half brother. He's being a toad, so maybe he'll get an SAT prep book.