Christmastime is here

I finally feel like it's Christmas. I've been trying to get the holiday spirit since Thanksgiving: listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts, decorating my cube at work, watching Christmas specials on TV, etc. But nothing was working. It felt like any other time of year, only slightly colder (I do live in LA, you know, so it's a brr cold 65 degrees).

But yesterday, Richard braved a trip to the Home Depot tree lot and brought home a super-fresh Noble fir. The smell of the tree automatically transported me into Christmas Town.

We managed to get the tree set up, complete with lights and gold ribbon, while Vivian was taking her afternoon nap. This was great because we didn't have to worry about her getting underfoot while positioning the tree. However, we didn't anticipate Vivian freaking out when she saw the tree in the living room! It is a major change to her living space, so we should have guessed that she would be apprehensive, but oh well.

Rich & I had grand hopes of Vivian actually helping to decorate the tree this year, but we were a bit too optimistic. She loved how pretty the ornaments were, but she didn't understand why we wanted to take them out of her hands to put on the tree. She spent most of our decorating time walking around holding 2-3 different ornaments. She only broke 2—one cheap ball that shattered when she tried to bounce it, and a glass angel whose wing snapped off when she tripped. The angel can be fixed, assuming that I can find the super glue.

After we finished decorating the tree, I looked for our Santa tree topper. I normally pack it separately because it doesn't fit into our ornament storage boxes. Unfortunately, it wasn't in any of my normal hiding/storage spots: Vivian's closet, the space above my wardrobe, the high shelf in my craft closet. It appears to be gone, which makes me sad because it's the topper Richard & I have used since we graduated college.

Well, I may have been sad, but I couldn't have our tree be naked on top. So I flipped through some vintage Christmas craft magazines, hoping to be inspired to make a topper. A 1964 McCall's Christmas Make-It magazine showed a cool and kind of creepy St. Nick on the cover that I really liked. I didn't have the materials to copy it exactly, but it did have the look I wanted.

So I decided to raid my craft supply stash to make a vintage-inspired angel tree topper. I figured an angel has more leeway than a Santa in how it looks, so I was more free to make use of available supplies. (good thing I have a craft supply stash—you just never know when you'll have a crafting emergency like this!)

And here is what we ended up with: a geisha-style, vintage-inspired angel. Made from the inner tube of a paper towel roll, foam, an old pair of nylons, a piece of peach-colored silk, felt, wool roving, wired ribbon, a rubber band, vintage millinery feathers and glue. I am really happy with how she turned out. I think she fits in well with our tree.



No naked tree here!

New project wander lust

It's starting to get down to the wire, holiday-craft-wise. My first crafts have to be done by next Friday, as we are heading up to the Bay Area to do Christmas with my dad and my girlfriends. And yet I am still finding new project ideas that I have no business starting! So I am going to continue the list I started in my last post of things I can't start until after Christmas.

1. The very cool memory game that I first saw on Apartment Therapy's Ohdeeoh. How cool would it be to have a game made with pictures of things you actually remember! I definitely need to make this for Vivian at some point. She's a bit young to actually appreciate it yet, so maybe it's something I'll file away to do for Christmas next year.

2. This adorable baby poncho that was available on BabySteals (sold out, but still available at 45% off on the Skipping Hippos site). I may decide to make this as a present for one or more toddlers I know. I think I even have the fleece to make at least one; I'd just need the trim (because the trim is really what makes it so cute). I know that ponchos are a no-no for crawlers, but I think they can be a good solution for toddlers that don't like to put their arms in the sleeves of bulky coats.

Why does this happen to me? Why am I suddenly so dissatisfied with all of my Christmas projects? I actually like them all well enough, but I think the pressure of the fact that I need to finish them is overwhelming the fact that I want to finish them.

Grr.

Yes, I have the attention span of a gnat

I have a serious case of Short Attention Span Theater right now.

As I posted yesterday, I have several projects that I need to finish in less than a month. So why is my brain buzzing with new projects—ones that I patently cannot start until after the holidays?

In an effort to catalog them, and get them out of my system (at least for a month), I'm going to list those ideas here.

1. I've been inspired by this Apartment Therapy post to paint my boring Ikea wardrobe a bright yellow. A couple of months ago, I successfully stripped and painted a Victorian-style side table, so I know I can do it. I think it will help bring even more color and design to my bedroom.

2. My sister Jenny bought me a gift certificate to SuperCrafty! for my birthday and I just used to to buy some Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn in Sapphire Green. It's so beautiful. I am just itching to cast on for a Liesl sweater for me because I think it would be so yummy in this color.

3. I saw this beautiful letter quilt highlighted on the Spoonflower blog, and I want to make one for Vivian.

4. I'd love to make my winter coat before, you know, winter is over.

5. Every knitter I know is making cowls, which seem to be the must-have accessory this winter. I need one. I've got several skeins of sock yarn that will never be made into socks, no matter how many times I say I'm going to make them, so a cowl would be a good use.

Ok, I think that's it, at least those are the projects that I'm obsessing over right now. Gah!

I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.
I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.
I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.

Roller coaster

I have been dragging my feet regarding posting here, and I'm not sure why. Life here at Chez Reeve-Manfredi has been up and down.

Obama won! Yay!
Prop. 8 passed. Boo!
The holidays are coming! Yay!
Richard got laid off! Boo!
Friends Thanksgiving happened up in Seattle! Yay!
Vivian was a bear on the flights (a cute bear, but a bear, nonetheless), and I had a mini-nervous breakdown the first night in Seattle! Boo!
Richard and I had our 6th wedding anniversary! Yay!
And we both completely forgot about it until the next day! Boo!

So, um, yeah.

I am trying to stay focused on the positive. I am trying to be a crafty diva. Just about everyone will be receiving at least one crafted (sewn/knitted/crocheted) gift for Christmas, but of course that means I need to get busy.

I did manage to finish a cute skirt to wear for our Christmas photos, which we took on Saturday. I almost had a heart attack while making it, because it was supposed to be a vintage-inspired dress (made from an awesome vintage cotton that I picked up last year at the Pasadena City College flea market). But when I put the bodice together and had Richard pin it closed on me, it was awful. I'm not 100% sure what went wrong, but it was all wonky. Luckily, the dress had a circle skirt attached, so I just ditched the bodice and made a skirt and petticoat, and bought a sweater at Target.

I also made Vivian a winter (ok, LA-winter) coat out of an adorable vintage pattern. It was a size 2, and knowing that vintage patterns tend to run small, I figured that would be ok for her. Um, no. When I put it on her, she looked like the coroner from The Wizard of Oz. So, it will be coat for next year! Finally a project I'm early for!

I still have to finish two quilts, 1 sweater, 1 bag, 1 hat, 1 doll, 1 apron, placemats, table runners, 2 eye masks and probably more stuff that I can't remember right now. And I officially have 1 month to do it all. It may be a photo finish, but I'm feeling positive. I think I can do this.

Fateful last words, don't you think?