tis the season

Well, the holidays are officially in full bloom around the house. I've been putting together Christmas gifts on and off again for a while, but I'm feeling the spirit of the season... it's probably the pine scent from bringing our beautiful Christmas Tree inside! Owen and I baked a lot for Thanksgiving with Val and her family... and that probably helped as well. Owen and I also made some felt rocks like I've seen on Etsy by reyaveltman... mostly I wanted to see (a) if I could make one and (b) to see if it was something I could do with Owen... so we each made one... not bad! O. wanted to pull at the felt before it was done a bit, so had to be distracted periodically, but mostly really enjoyed the frothy soapy wet mess. While we were running around this weekend (and speaking of felt), we made it to the Mill End Store and picked up some felt to attempt a variation of pillow I saw by Looolo... anyhow Brian has been using what he calls "the best $12 craft supply you have ever purchased" which is a circle cutter and put together this pillow case! I still need to make the pillow part... I just made the cover without thought as to where I'd get the fill, I guess I'll have to make one to fit. It was so much fun, I think we will be making a few more to fill out our Christmas gifts. Brian cuts the circles... I sew them on... it's a nice family project :)

Today, I headed to a few Craft shows with Robyn... we had a good time. I picked up a few cute hats and some letterpress bookplates and ornaments. We've been doing our part this weekend to be good consumers, but I'm looking forward to sticking around home and finishing up a bunch of our "projects"... including another set of potholders. Brian picked up the knitting needles again after a several year hiatus... he knits a bit tighter than I do... can you tell? We'll see how they look after they are felted. Maybe they'll even out a bit.
Hmm, I just like this picture, we are trying out our new waterproof camera. It's funny to me that pool season is as soon as it is too yucky or cold out to play outside. The indoor pools are awesome around here. We love them... other than smelling like chlorine for days, it's the perfect way to spend a drizzly afternoon.