12.09.2010

Etsy shop is up

Hooray!
After much hard work and a long fight with my computer my etsy shop is finally up and running.


Check it out here . I've got cute little felt hair clips, bib and burp cloth sets, and a couple of hats.


Like this Christmas tree clip - perfect stocking stuffer!

And this - I love it so much I wish I had a baby to wear it!

More items will be coming soon! I'm working on more bib sets, as well as some key fob wristlets and badge straps. Check back frequently!

Also - be sure to go "like" my Facebook page .

And recommend me to your friends - I'm offering prizes and discounts to people who have a lot of friends "like" me.
(This is making me nervous, begging people to like me)

I'm so excited about this shop - it's a new venture for me and I hope people like my stuff. It would be absolutely AWESOME if I could make a little money doing something I love.

12.03.2010

My new obsession

This time of year is chaotic for our family. Yes, I realize that the holidays are busy for everyone, but the entire fall season leading into the holidays is crazy for us, which makes December even tougher. SO MANY birthdays in September, and in October, then Halloween costumes to purchase/design/make/alter, then November family birthdays, multiple Thanksgiving celebrations with family and friends, and our sons' birthday - which entails no fewer than four parties, in order to celebrate with my family, my husband's (local) family, the party for friends, and the nuclear family celebration on their actual birthday.

That's me. Except I don't have time to put makeup on.


Now, my husband's birthday is on Monday, so we will celebrate that with my family tomorrow, the nuclear family celebration on Monday, party with the neighbors maybe next weekend, and a birthday dinner with the Hub's local family that has yet to be scheduled.

And Christmas. We haven't even gotten all the Christmas decorations out of the attic yet, but decorating alone is a huge project. We are Christmas-aholics in this family.  My husband aspires to be Clark Griswald when he grows up, and I constantly have to rein him in when it comes to lighting choices.


Our neighbors would LOVE us

 But I'm no better - we have four, yes FOUR, Christmas trees. And close to 40 nutcrackers. And a Christmas village. And a Christmas train. And about a bajillion (super precise mathematical term right there) Christmas-themed tchotchkes scattered throughout the house.


Not quite like this, but I'm getting there

Oh, and let's not forget the Christmas dishes, and the Christmas books (A Christmas Carol , The Night Before Christmas ,a gorgeous pop-up Night Before Christmas ,The Nativity Story ,How The Grinch Stole Christmas , and The Polar Express )that must be displayed.

And gifts. We're going a little bit lighter on gifts this year, for a number of reasons that would necessitate another blog post altogether. So that helps, both with the frantic pace and with the clutter. But, we still have some gifts to give. This year, I had the brilliant idea that, with a few exceptions like books and games for the dudes, all our gifts would be handmade this year. Which is fine, except that I'm the one hand-making everything. Again, this would be fine, except that the majority of Babe's family lives in Chicago, so their presents have to be shipped, which means I have even less time to work on them . . .

All this to say, my life is super hectic right now. Probably not the best time to delve into a new obsession right now.

But I have.

Folks, I taught myself to crochet. I taught myself to knit last year, and had planned on giving a couple scarves as Christmas gifts this year, but I'm not the world's greatest knitter, so the scarves were taking FOR.EV.ER.
So I thought to myself, "Self, there's got to be a quicker way." (What, you don't talk to yourself like this?) And I decided to learn to crochet, figuring it would be faster and I'd be able to get my gifts completed in time. And it is. And that's wonderful.

Except now I'm obsessed. It's all I think about. In the week since I finally figured out what I'm doing, I've made:
  • Four scarves
  • Three hats
  • 2 goldfish appliques (which are a-freaking-dorable)
  • and a partridge in a pear tree
Ok, maybe not that last one. Although . . . . now that I think of it, I bet I could crochet a partridge in a pear tree.

I've also spent hours at the bookstore poring over crochet guides and ideas, as well as several trips to Michael's and Joann's looking at patterns and poking at yarn.

I even unravelled a scarf that I've been knitting, which was about half done, so I could re-do the whole thing in crochet.

I've taken my yarn and worked on crochet projects (Babe calls it "crotchet-ing") at the doctor's office, the barber shop, last night's trip to the ER, and to a family dinner.

I'd provide photographic proof that my new obsession is taking over our lives, but my camera hates me, so I'll save that for another time. For now, you'll just have to trust me on this - OBSESSION.

Off to go crochet!