Scribble Nation

Nathan Jones You Been Gone Too Long

Boy has it been a while! It seems that no matter how easy I try to make it on myself the holidays are always a humdinger. So much crafting has gone on since my last post! I'll hand it out in small doses over the next few posts, starting with my pink and brown Christmas goodies! Bobleo's family employed a great gift-giving system this year in order to accommodate the massive amount of family that seems to be collecting. As this number grows with in-laws, nephews, etc. giving gifts to each family member is close to impossible. My immediate family of 6 gives me a run for my money, so I was thrilled when family Bobleo decided to swap names this year. Each person was responsible for one stocking and one gift. Bobleo and I each got mega-crafty for this challenge. We were in charge of stockings for Bobleo's sister, Karen, and his SIL, Liz. I wanted to make their stockings extra special so I started out by sewing the actual socks out of shirt flannel and calico. I think they looked pretty fab.

The fun part was filling them! The ladies got some very ETSY stockings. Each stocking got a handmade notebook from Jeng's Shop. They also each got a cute pocket mirror from NameThatCandy. In Karen's stocking I included some hilarious buttons from Krystan. I made some bubble bath for each of them, added a flower shaped loofah. Liz's stocking also had some handmade peppermint striped sugar scrub, and I made Karen some roll-on perfume. Each stocking also included handmade soap and plenty of chocolate. I think the ladies liked them plenty. I'm glad since they were really fun to make and put together. Here's a peek at some of the goodies inside:

I made some goodies in the pink and brown fabric for some of my favorite ladies at work too. These little makeup bags were my first experience with piping - and I am in love! Piping makes everything look so finished. It's a shame you can pipe everything.

Anyway, I made four of these little guys and filled each with packets of chocolate truffles. For the rest of my co-workers I packed up cello bags of homemade cookies and tied them with ribbon. A couple of folks got Lindt reindeer as well. For my boss, Jay, and his four cute kiddos, I boxed up a small army of chocolate cherry mice.

If you've never made these you are in for a treat. They are so easy, and everyone who sees them will react. All you need are chocolate chips, maraschino cherries (with stems), Hershey Kisses, and almond slivers. Check out Craftster for some cool variations and a tutorial.

 

I'll be back soon with many more Christmas projects, as well as updated baby pics from my many friend's babies. Oh! And I've had some new adventures in my granola lifestyle to share with you all too. Hold on to your hats people, its getting freaky granola over here!

New Haiku!

Did you think I forgot about you haiku's?

Busy as a bee
so haiku's are scarce lately.
Lucky I'm driven.

Spills and Thrills

Scott Bobleo had the day off on Saturday, a nice treat since we rarely get a whole day to spend together anymore. We decided to have a nice afternoon date. :) First we went ice skating at the Danbury Ice Rink. Scott hasn't skated since the day he cracked his head on King's Lake in Bethel. That was his first and last experience ice skating. Every year I beg him - "Please!!" to go ice skating, but every year he drones on and on about how I couldn't possibly understand how awful it had been to hit his head while ice skating as a kid. Snore! So this year, I made my usual request, and to my surprise, no story! He said - "you know I've always wanted to try ice skating." So off we went. Within 15 minutes Bobleo was literally skating circles around me, twirling around and even hopping into the air! Sometimes it's downright annoying to be partnered up with someone who has a natural ability at EVERYTHING. LOL. It turned out that this trip was not meant to injure Bobleo. It was meant to injure me!

Twinkle Toes McNally took a dive (or 6 or 7) last Saturday and managed to bruise her knees, wrists, and elbows something fierce! Check out this elbow shot -

I went down so hard that it ectually embedded the stitches of my sweater into my arm! The best spill of all though, was when I wiped out in front of Bobleo and he SKATED INTO ME. He ripped a giant hole in my jeans with his toe-pick! He had denim hanging of his skates! Luckily, he only ripped my pants, and not my ass! I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling a slight draft now and again, but otherwise it was a harmless collision.

The rest of the weekend was a flutter of toilet cozy sales and crafting. I finished  my super cool craft for the Scissor Squad's Holiday Swap just in time! But alas, the weather reports insisted an ice storm for that evening, so I had to cancel. Murphy's law prevailed and the weather wasn't too nasty that night anyway. Argh! We'll be giving it another go this Tuesday. Hopefully we'll make it there this time.

On Monday I got to meet Michelle's darling new baby!! Natalia Rose is Pooks's little sister and she was born Monday morning, weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. As all of you know, I am a crazy Pooks fan, so MIchelle Baby #2 is just about as good as it gets. I harassed Bobleo all night with baby talk. If ice skating has taught us anything, it is the value of persistence. One of these days that boy is going to say YES. For now I will have to settle with being an honorary Auntie to some of the cutest kids I know. It's not a bad gig.

Call me Thrifty McGee!

So I am totally back into coupons now. And this time I have gotten into it with a renewed fervor and dedication that I definitely lacked before. I was inspired by own of my indie heros, Donna Maria, to give this coupon thing another shot. I got a binder, I started snipping and am now saving about the same amount that I am spending on groceries every week. It is a lot of work, compared to none at all, but its well worth it! For example, during my trip to two stores last week, Shaws and Stop and Shop, I spent a total of $80.00 and change. My savings with coupons and in-store specials, came to $43.00 and change. Not too shabby, ay?

And it's easy! I sit down every Sunday and clip coupons, then I file them away in my O.C.D. style coupon binder (organized by  grocery section/aisle). Next, I go online and check out the weekly circulars for my two local stores. I match up items that are on sale with what I have coupons for, and what we need. Then I make a list of what I intend to buy at each store, and paper clip my coupons to the list. Easy Peasy! It doesn't take all that long, and as an added bonus, I am planning my meals for the week around what is on sale, so I don't have to waste time wandering around the grocery store thinking of what I want to eat, or worse sitting in my kitchen with a cupboard full of mismatched groceries and nothing to eat. It's done!

Speaking of thriftiness, I found this awesome tutorial for making homemade laundry soap.

Make Your Own Laundry Soap! - Click here for more home videos

This will be especially great for those of us with madly sensitive skin. You have the choice of adding a non-offensive essential oil, like Lavender or leaving it fragrance free. According to this woman, she makes an entire tub of soap for less than $1.00 and it lasts her family of three for months. Doesn't get much cheaper than that.

Baby City

It's baby time here in Scribble Nation and the preggos are getting ready to deliver. My bff, Michelle is scheduled to have her little girl baby on Monday. Bobleo's SIL, Liz, is due on January 9th with a little boy! Baby baby baby! For Michelle's shower I gave her my very first quilt:

It is far from perfect, especially the quilting. The patchwork, which I was more intimidated by than anything else was a breeze. But I puckered the quilting pretty badly. Oh well - luckily babies don't have a lot of attention to detail. Hehehe.

I made two Pointy Kitties for Liz, in honor of their two treasured kitties, Charlie and Zoe. The fantastic pattern came from Wee Wonderfuls. The little guys were so fun to make. I hope she'll love them.

I also finished off a quilt that had been left behind by one of the scissor squad girls after she moved. The patchwork was incredible, so I just quilted it and threw an edging on. Woot! Much easier than making a whole quilt. LOL. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of anything, since I was in a major rush to get it delivered by the shower. Drat!

Spent a lovely weekend on Saturday with my Aunt, cousin and my cousin's four adorably cute kids. Three triplets and their older brother. Each kid is a total blast, when you get the together its an unstoppable force of cuteness. We went shopping, had coloring contests, and my favorite, ice skating! I'm officially re-addicted and have been chattering non-stop to Bobleo about how I need to ice skate every day for my mental health. Connie and Aunt Nan, you've re-animated a monster! When I was a kid, I was nuts about ice skating. So much so, that after we moved to CT and could no longer have lessons, my dad actually built an ice rink in our back yard. He used heavy duty plastic and fallen pine trees to create our one little rink under the trees. Way cool.