Just Make Stuff

So Thankful #30...

 

Grateful that as I sit at my desk I have a little bit of Christmas to enjoy.

Getting down to business...

Don't we all need more time? The days get away from us no matter how productive we are. And we have all these ideas swirling in our heads about what we want to do as opposed to tackling what we need to do.

Well maybe that's not the case for everyone, but it sure as heck describes me right now.

I have a feminist theory take home final due in nine days...haven't touched it.

My eighteen page rough draft came back as a gigantic mess of corrections. I have a meeting on Tuesday before class to discuss "conceptual issues" with it...no good can come of this.

Progressive dinner invites are officially going out to my neighbor's mailboxes tomorrow since the party is less than two weeks away (good thing I did the save the date cards in October)

 

I used this to make them. 

I did take some time today after gift wrapping to make up two kinds of tag kits...here's details from one of them...

If you decide to make an orderand type in "NDG" in the message to seller box I will include some ribbon or yarn with your order to help you get a package or two wrapped. 

Oh and speaking of tags the envelope of tiny tag supplies goes to...

SueB, Ont.Canada said...
I would love all the bits and pieces to make my own but would also like some of your creations as well. Your bird tag inspired me so much that I purchased the Spellbinders bird dies, now I can create some of my own. As usual thanks for all the inspiration, I just hope that my gifts look as good as your when i'm done. Thanks for sharing.
November 22, 2009 at 06:13 PM

Sue please e-mail me your address.

This week I have another starred post to share...I should start sharing photos of the Christmas decorations around here...and I have a good little giveaway from Catslife Press.

Okay now I'm going to work of school stuff...I promise.

So thankful #29...

 

I'm thankful I had the time today to wrap some of the gifts we've picked up in the last few days. I had my iPhone playing Christmas carols from a local radio station and was just happy to be busy choosing paper and ribbons.

So Thankful #27 & #28...

Friday & Saturday are a combination of similar thankfulness since we were working on the same stuff continuously...Christmas decorations.

It's close to done, the piles of boxes are back up in the attic, Sean and I have barely argued (although we had our traditional grumpiness over lighted garland hanging) and we've only made three trips to Target.

I'm grateful for the teamwork in making everything merry and bright around here...and I'll be especially thankful to sit together on the couch with the house lit only by Christmas lights and listen to a few favorite Christmas songs...which is a yearly tradition at the end of Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh and rest assured we are not keeping the Christmas tree in our entryway.

So Thankful #26...

I have to admit I'm extra thankful to have a few  minutes to enjoy a fresh baked chocolate croissant, the Black Friday Ads and the Macy's Parade.

This morning is one of my favorite all year...trying to enjoy every minute.

So Thankful #25...

I am thankful for Mac everyday (well okay most days) but even more so today than usual. I am always thankful to see him help care for his cousins (and suggest to them it's fun to rake leaves) and I am thankful that he loves holidays as much as I do...he is such a fun person to be around so I am extra lucky that he's mine.

This week part II...

Here's an update on the book...I didn't get a chance to work on it until today since I was in desperate need of a printer cartridge (maybe should have done the math on that when I planned to do the book). But I had fun late this afternoon filling it with some pictures and summaries of our day...

 

So Thankful #22-#24...

#22 Mom and I went on a field trip...we went to see the Pioneer Woman at a book signing...it was amazingly cool and reminded me how grateful I am that mom and I have so many shared interests

#23 Family...Dad came to visit from Oklahoma and ironically his sister happened to be in town from Michigan so we, along with my mom, piled into my sister's house (with lots of take-out) to hang out for the evening

#24 Sean and Mac being home...even though we have lots to do this week the pace is so much more relaxed and our spirits are high...love this time together

This week...

I randomly decided on Saturday night to try my hand at this documenting a week of your life stuff (the Ali Edwards concept). The week of Thanksgiving is one of my favorites of the year and since Sean, Mac and I are off from work and school I knew it'd be a fun week to give it a try...

I took a set of the book boards I have and stamped it with woodgrain...then I took file folders to make one page for each day of the week.

I can't wait to take lots of random photos and spend some time filling it each day.
 

Holiday gift happiness...

Usually piles around the house drive me crazy, but not this pile tucked on top of an armoire in our guest bedroom. As of this morning I took all the tags from my class and got them attached to the gifts we'll be giving this year. (Remember that I keep post-it notes attached so I don't forget what wrapped gift is for each person)...

It was fun to get out the ribbons and yarns and decide who get what tag... 

There are also tag making supplies in my Etsy shop now...in the next couple of weeks I have plans to work on even more.

I did save one bag of bits and pieces to give away here...please just leave a comment if you would like it sent to your house.

Oh and one question...if you were hypothetically thinking of buying gift tags at this point...would you want to purchase a kit with supplies to make your own or would you rather purchase sets that are already made? Just trying to get a sense of it so I can plan accordingly...thanks.
 

So Thankful #21...

Thankful for a chance to rest a little after we helped friends move into their new house today. Just a simple night with some spaghetti leftovers and and an Oregon football game.
 

So Thankful #20.5...

I need to get to bed, but before my head hits the pillow I have to document my immense thankfulness that this whole class thing seemed to work tonight. I had my worries as this kit came together...so to see tags being made tonight was extra wonderful...as was getting to hang out with everyone. I am way too lucky to get this opportunity.

I was also super lucky to get to come home with some of the tons of new stuff the store got in this week...I might even get to make something with it this weekend.

Oh and here's the pound cake recipe we made for tonight...we made it years ago when I taught the planner class...it's a great holiday recipe.

Time to sleep...

Chocolate Mint Cream Cheese Pound Cake

A favorite recipe from one of my Cake Doctor cookbooks... 

 

Chocolate Mint Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Serves: 16

Prep time: 8 minutes

Baking time: 58-62 minutes

 

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan

Flour for dusting the pan

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain butter recipe fudge   cake mix

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at roomtemperature

 ½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups (about 28) Andes chocolate mint candies, broken in half

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

½ cup fresh mint sprigs, for garnis

Instructions:

Place a rack in the center of oven and preheat the over to 325 degrees F.  Lightly mist a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour.  Shake out excess flour.  Set pan aside.

Place the cake mix, cream cheese, water, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.  Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed.  The batter should look well combined.  Fold in the candy pieces until they are well incorporated.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula.  Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, 58 to 62 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.  Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert it onto another rack so the cake is large side up.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes more. 

Slide the cake onto a serving platter, dust it with the confectioners’ sugar, and garnish with the mint sprigs.  Slice and serve.

Store this cake, wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, or in a cake saver at room temperature for up to 1 week.  Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months.  Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

So thankful #17-#20...

#17 I'm actually thankful for my feminist theory class. Although it's been a lot of work, it has been a rewarding challenge...and it's one of those classes filled with really thoughtful, dedicated people. 

#18 MaryJane :)

#19 Thankful for taking a couple of minutes to make turkey cards (copied from Paper Source-scroll down a little to see them) and getting Thanksgiving boxes off in the mail to my niece and sister just in time

#20 A stack of Thanksgiving magazines and a pedicure...waited for that reward all week (or actually weeks now)

Details...

I always love trying to come up with little bits of cute...

Here's one of the little piles that went into tonight's holiday tag making kits...

Here's some thick yarn wrapped around a gift for a friend...

And here are some little sewn pouches to hold the stamps Catslife Press donated as class prizes...

 

Pretty soon...

We're finishing up the tag class kits tonight (not a moment too soon) and it has me thinking that I need to get Christmas cards figured out next. Thankfully that project will seem small in comparison.

Speaking of Christmas cards...here's the planner page I use to keep track of them...and here's a "notes" page too...

Download Christmas Card Addresses

Download Notes

Back to kitting...

Mary Jane & MaryJane...

MaryJane McIntosh was born today weighing 6lbs 15oz. For the third time my sister gave birth like a superhero. She labored hard for about 45 minutes and had the baby out in less than five. She perked up within a second and exclaimed, "Oh that was great!". We wished we had gotten a video of it since it really was that unbelievable.

So here is my mom Mary Jane (who has gone by Jane almost her entire adult life) and new little MaryJane...

My mom has an uncanny ability to carry on an entire conversation with a newborn. Seeing her talk to MaryJane today reminded me of over 13 years ago when she would open up one of the small doors on the incubator and tell a 2 pound McIntosh about things like red radio flyer wagons and telling him about how much fun they would have together.

Looking through the photos from today has really reminded me how lucky I am to get to be a part of such amazing family experiences...Caleb, Matilda and now MaryJane...

So thankful #16...

So thankful to see these arrive for Friday's class...

Even more thankful that I have all the tag ideas complete...and fifteen tags designs ended up being eighteen. Now it'll just be all about kit, kit, kitting.

But I think I just might be the most thankful that this is all cleaned up...

 

So Thankful #14 & #15...

#14 The draft of my fifteen page paper is due on Monday, but I finished up eighteen pages of writing on Saturday night around 11:30pm. It was an enormous relief to have my head hit the pillow knowing it is done. Well, at least for now.

#15 Super grateful to have a quick break from tag kitting (which by the way will probably be all I talk about this week since I have supplies to prepare for 780 tags...should have never done the math, but no matter the number I am just so darn lucky that the class kit sold out) We took an hour this afternoon to stop by the local Patchwork Crafts Festival...

I was able to get a cute teacup pin cushion & bird ornament, a notebook, and three little rolls of tape that I cannot wait to use on something.

I will occasionally dig out of the patterned paper and rubber stamps this week to share a couple more holiday organizer PDFs, to maybe post about my new niece (in case she's born this week) and of course there will be a lot more thankfulness... 

So thankful #12 & #13...

 

#12 The little bits of actual fall...piles of leaves and cooler nights

#13 Patterned paper...I've been staring at it most of the day was we put together tag class kits...even after all these hours it really is cute stuff

Oh and before I forget (since November is almost half over)...here's a look at our little thankful decor on the tree in our entryway. I cut out a whole bunch of leaves for us to randomly write things we're thankful for and watch them add up over the month. I made myself a template (Download Leaves) and printed it out onto different colored paper. Then I used some more paper, a mix of big alphabet stamps and some string to hang a little banner in the branches...

 

Okay back to a chilly night filled with patterned paper. :)

Gifts...

I have some more wrapping to share for upcoming gift giving...

 

Shh this is for my brother who turns old this weekend (I can say this since I am unfortunately so much older) He reads this thing every once in awhile so I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to a recent Facebook post he made about a speeding ticket...

Dear Rory,

The "red rocket" should not be going "hundo".

Love,

Your sister born in 1976

Okay moving on to other gifts...

This one is a very belated birthday gift for a friend who we will hopefully be having lunch with in a couple of weeks (since we're all teachers and students and want to take advantage of our newfound Thanksgiving week freedom)...

I used my mom's birthday hat as an excuse to buy way too much festooning several months ago...but now wrapping it around packages is my new favorite thing.

Crocheted dishcloths for my dad's wife who's birthday was earlier this month. Trying to ask my dad what her favorite colors were was interesting..."Uh firethorn" he explained it was the color in their dining room.

And speaking of Dad...

His birthday is next week so he'll be receiving this...

He asked me to print out photos for him months ago so he could have some to carry around...of course I had to make him something to carry them around in.

Oh wait before you start thinking I have any construction skills let me explain that I got the accordion book here...the bag it goes in is all me though (always a little too proud of myself when I sew a few simple almost straight lines)

So thankful #10 & #11...

#10 In the last two days I have been thankful for Mac wanting me to crochet him a scarf (and especially that he liked the yarn I chose considering his increasingly persnickety sense of style). I am also thankful for this yarn that comes together very quickly. I am trying to get this done for him by Friday to offer a little comfort after his scheduled H1N1 shot that morning.(Mac HATES injections)

#11 I am thankful that my paper progress might actually get somewhere besides a random conglomeration of sentences...man do I have a lot of work still to do though.

#11.5 I am very thankful that I have a dear, sweet, crafty husband who will sit with me cutting and punching tag making supplies as I type out my thoughts at a painfully slow pace.

So Thankful #9...

Oh today...darn Monday...I am getting nowhere near done in relation to what needs to be finished around here.

However I stood at the kitchen counter for 10 minutes and turned last night's dinner rolls into breadcrumbs to freeze. 

It's probably silly to be grateful for breadcrumbs, but it goes beyond that. I'm grateful to have a kitchen I love (even with it's 1976 tile countertop)...I'm grateful that I really enjoy every aspect of cooking...and I'm grateful that I have domestic tasks like this that help me be productive when I'm avoiding writing a fifteen page paper about domesticity and feminism.

Paper plates...

Since Friendsgiving was on a Sunday late afternoon we opted for paper plates to make clean up on a school night so much easier...we joked with our friends hoping they would still show up considering we were being so tacky. 

Despite the easier paper plates I still got out the cloth napkins and made some napkin ring place cards on Saturday night...

And we now have a tradition of making a CD for everyone with the music played during dinner...

 

Last night made me look forward to Thanksgiving even more...just have to get through some major schoolwork before I can start crafting for it.

So thankful #5-8...

So I have been a little busy this weekend and am behind in recording my thankfulness...

#5 Having a house full of groceries...since the beginning of the school year I have taken ov er the grocery shopping on Thursday so we don't have it hanging over our heads on the weekends...I've been reminded I really enjoy it...trying to get the most for our money (I always send Sean a text announcing our spent/saved ratio) and planning meals...and wandering the aisles just a little...oh and reorganizing the kitchen when I get home. I'm guessing I'm just a real nerd.

#6 Having Sean to commiserate and problem solve with...for instance when we're thrown challenges like his district canceling all of summer school (that he always teaches) or finding out that I wasn't enrolled for the spring semester at CSUF since I was supposed to be done this fall.

#7 Walking into the men's shoe department at Nordstroms and watching Mac get the Vans he's wanted forever. It is extremely tricky to fit him for shoes with the brace he has to wear because of his cerebral palsy. He has always required two different sizes and Nordstroms is the only store that will split sizes for us. It has meant he was limited in the children's shoe dept. and has only been able to fit into their small selection of Converse shoes. Now that he's officially into men's sizes they had Vans that worked (after the amazingly kind and patient salesman helped Mac try on at least a dozen pairs to get the right fit) Mac was beaming over those shoes.

#8 We had our annual "Friendsgiving" (here's 2007 & 2008) dinner today and all the preparations went really well...it is always such a relief to confirm that the turkey (23.76 pounds) is cooked just right. And I was especially grateful that Mac helped me with the gravy...which will make him the fourth generation contributing to obsessive gravy making...my grandma and mom taught me so it was really neat to tell Mac about it as we carefully stirred the concoction together.

I'll share the little bits of crafting I did for Friendsgiving tomorrow.

Gift Tag Class...

 

Two weeks from tonight I will be teaching another holiday tag class at the Scrapbook Oasis...all the details are on their blog and you can reserve a spot in the class here (or purchase the kit if you can't make it that night)...you can also call the store at (949) 756-2729.

I will not be selling any tag kits in my Etsy shop until November 23rd and I will not be able to offer a kit anywhere near this large so if you would like it all (and the Catslife Press stamp too) it's best to purchase the kit through the store and they will be happy to ship it out to you.

I'm working on the kit right now and am very happy with how it's coming together so far...lots of fun holiday details.

Hope I will get to see you at the class in a couple of weeks! :)

Starred...

  

1. kitchen, 2. Dining, 3. Little Bouquet, 4. halloween flags | hambly, 5. diy packaging., 6. lovely package, 7. ( it's my bag ), 8. guest room now, 9. autumn smells, 10. Cozy in the Corner, 11. Untitled, 12. Hexagons, 13. Dream in progress... part 10, 14. x mas tree, 15. our banner, 16. kitchen, 17. snippets of color..., 18. snippets of color..., 19. snippets of color..., 20. olive's garland..., 21. dusting & rearranging..., 22. garlands and trees..., 23. hot pads, 24. autumn, 25. boj, 26. livingetc 2-09 pinkmod3, 27. Untitled, 28. wood type, 29. Saturday morning picks, 30. number the tea cups, 31. Untitled, 32. 017, 33. leaves for fall, 34. making sauce, 35. paper feathers., 36. Garland

Time again to share new favorite finds...

• Considering I am an official dishcloth crocheter this caught my eye...then I went to the esty shop and hit the motherlode of inspiration
• signed up for e-mail's about my very favorite holiday
• my wandering led me to check out this year's new holiday postal stamps which makes me look forward to making cards (oh and back to Thanksgiving look at these!) am I a nerd for loving postage stamps this much?
• Found some good information to put to use when using cleaning tasks as a way to procrastinate on schoolwork
• Or I could reorganize things around the house instead of writing papers
• This has been a goal lately so I was happy to read about it
• I want to try this recipe and this one too 
• Oh do I want to scrapbook or just layer paper or make cards and a wreath too 

So thankful #4...

That I got to spend a couple of hours today having fun with these three people...

And I'm grateful that my mom had the great idea to get the kids throwing leaves so I could get some photos.

So thankful #3...

Today was a great day, but by far the aspect I am most thankful for is that my big group project on Masculinity went really well. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activities we planned (like taking time to write favorite quotes from the readings and responses from the first activity all over the walls) and there was so much discussion around the room that every minute of the class was packed. Just walking around the classroom I was reminded of how much I want to teach...it reignited my desire to lead college classes and reminded me what I am lucky enough to be working for.

Ready...

Now that I bought an obscene amount of wrapping paper I have all the Christmas wrapping supplies out, organized, and ready to go. (keep in mind that I have already shared how I have a shameful amount) 

A couple of years ago I invested in a few drawer boxes to store everything in. All of my holiday wrapping supplies stay organized from year to year and when they are not in use I just tape the drawers shut, cover them in a garbage bag, and store them in our attic.

So as I get started on wrapping some gifts I thought I'd share two more pages to help you keep your giving organized this year.

A list to brainstorm ideas for everyone...

Download Planner--Gift Ideas

And a place to keep track of what you give this year...

Download The Gifts We Gave

I still have some covers available if you need a place to keep all these lists together. 

So Thankful #2...

So thankful for productivity today...finding a green mouse on sale (only $14) at Target and getting it set up on the netbook I got a couple of weeks ago. Wrapping Christmas gifts since I knew that would help me generate ideas for tags and then getting to work on them. Grateful to go to bed knowing a crossed a bunch of stuff of my long to-do list for the week.

Important stuff...

November will be full...very, very full. Lots of double booking on the weekends, more schoolwork than I want to think about right now, a ton of crafting and preparations to teach a class in a few weeks and then there's all the fun stuff.

Speaking of that fun stuff I indulged in one of my addictions today...

Holiday wrapping paper (actually all wrapping paper is an addiction)

Between The Container Store (and my 20% off coupon) and Hallmark (which had a buy one roll get another for 99 cents deal) I was able to get way more than I needed. Oh am I ready to wrap now. :)

One of my other fun plans for November is keeping track of daily thankfulness since Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. I am cutting out leaves for a little tree project in our entry way and I have a goal of posting daily on here with the various things I am so thankful for. I foresee a lot of quick posts with iPhone photos, but I am eager to concentrate on the little things as I tackle the important stuff.

Therefore my So thankful #1 is having so many great things to look forward to this month.

Using my hour now...

It's pretty much one in the morning so I guess I've already used up my time change hour by staying up way too late...but I wanted to look through Halloween photos...

 

We had such a great time tonight...the seven pumpkins Mac and Sean carved last night we're lining our front porch...I dressed up as a witch (I know, it was a stretch), Mac was Peter Pan and Sean was a head to toe Oregon Ducks fan...we had the house full with family and neighbors...I attempted to paint my sister's pregnant stomach like a pumpkin...I got to trick-or-treat with my niece and nephew and was reminded that few things are better than hearing a two year old say "trick-or-treat" or watching a little Minnie Mouse hold her Uncle Sean's hand.

Off to bed...