High-Speed Summary

So, in the almost three months since I've written, a TON of awesome stuff has been happening.

I completed my quest to make a perfect baby hat!

Not one of these hats could conceivably be described as perfect - in fact, they're all far too large for a newborn. The pink one went to little Miss M, who is presently almost 14 months old, and it fits her just about right.

I got to celebrate Miss M's first birthday. I picked out this outfit for her - and spent the rest of my time at Old Navy wishing they had it in my size!

I also got to go to TWO baby showers, both of which were totally filled with joy. Both of these babies are here now, and they are happy and healthy, which is truly wonderful news! I made this blanket, which I'm sure the little man is enjoying!

I also spent some time writing and mailing Christmas cards. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards, and I know you've got to send 'em in order to receive 'em!

And, speaking of Christmas, I celebrated with my family as I always do. Here's the Christmas tree at the Marvelous house!

Santa brought us lots of wonderful things - including the new laptop I'm using to write these blog posts. Awesome!

I also hosted a small gathering of a few friends on New Year's Eve. While I don't usually host, and I had been invited to a party elsewhere, it seemed to me that I'd have a more relaxed evening at home.

While I thought about making some kind of charming decorations, I decided to spring for this banner when I spotted it at Walgreen's for a buck. It worked out really well!

With a great diversity of guests - including kids, a pregnant lady, other healthy adults, and me - we rang in the New Year with champagne and non-champagne.

Oh, and of course, some raspberry ginger ale, which this group of friends always loves to drink!

After the clock struck midnight, we toasted and ate fortune cookies, thinking about the year to come.

This was my fortune - if it came true, I haven't noticed yet!

There were also lots of exciting moments I didn't get to capture with photos. I attended a bachelorette party and a wedding. I've known the bride from these events for the last 10 years, as she was my classmate in college and in grad school. It was so fun to be included and to take a break from my own stuff to go out and celebrate!

My dad also had knee replacement surgery in January. I forgot how tiring it is to have a loved one in the hospital - some days, it seemed more tiring than it was when I was actually the patient back in December. While there were some days that were long, and some days that were stressful, and unfortunately, some that were both, Dad came home from the hospital 8 days after his operation and is making a great recovery! 

All in all, the last three months have flown by in a whirlwind. I'll leave you for today with an image of how my desk looked recently. Seriously.

It did take me about a week to amass the collection for this pyramid. But, I can happily say that these cans have been trashed as things have been returning to normal. Now, some of my office mates have begun a no-pop pledge for the Lenten season, so there won't be any more conspicuous displays on my part of just how much pop I've been drinking. But, since these cans were on my desk, I guess it's a good thing that I recycled them - now I actually have a place to put my work!

Knock knock!

Is anyone there? Still? REALLY? It's been almost three months since I've written a post on this blog. And you've hung in there this whole time? Thanks a million! I'm back!!!

As you might recall, I began a break from writing at the beginning of December. I spent some time getting ready for surgery, including a preliminary hospital visit. They put a bracelet on me that I though I'd be hanging on to during my admission. Just after leaving the hospital, I ran into my friend and former boss, Lisa, when I stopped by my alma mater to drop something off. She happened to have this bling in her desk and she set me up!

Unfortunately, this bracelet had to be replaced when I got to the hospital for surgery - not because of the bling, but for other reasons. The surgery took more time than the surgeon had expected, but was free of complications. Hooray! I spent six days in the hospital in downtown St. Paul recovering.

I was lucky to have a great care team, but by the time my 6 days were up, I was very excited to go home! While I was looking forward to returning to my apartment, I wound up going to my parents' house and recovering there until just before Christmas. Some great co-workers and friends sent me wonderful cards and gifts of encouragement.

Love these flowers! I can almost smell them just looking back at the photo!

And these guys came with a sweet balloon:

Yay! I spent most of December hanging out with my family, resting A TON, reading blogs, knitting a little, and watching lots and LOTS of Hulu and Netflix on the computer. My energy came back slowly but surely, and I was able to go back to my apartment before Christmas. Once I got home, I was lucky to be the recipient of gifts of food (which meant a ton!) along with plenty of visitors. It reminded me of just how very lucky I am to have so many great friends in my life.

I returned to work pretty much right on schedule on January 7. I spent a few weeks working reduced hours, though I'm now back to full-time. I had hoped to resume blogging around the start of the year, but it took quite a while for me to re-adjust to going to work for 8 hours each day. The best news is that the day is here! I'm looking forward to writing a few more posts this week and will hopefully be back to full strength here very soon! Thanks so much to everyone reading for hanging in there with me. You're here and I'm amazed. The best is yet to come!

Food Drive

Each year, my alumni association hosts a Christmas Party on campus at my graduate school. I've been lucky enough to be involved with the alumni association since 2010 (having graduated in 2009). My friend, Calla Lily, and I have taken the lead in planning a collection of items for the food shelf during the party as a way of giving back during the holiday season. Last year, I decided I wanted to make us a sign that we could re-use from year to year, but I didn't get things arranged in time.This year, I had a lot of time to get ready, so I went for it!

As always, I started my craft project browsing at Michaels. I'd seen these glittery red letters on a previous trip and had been mulling over using them for this project. By the time I got serious about accomplishing this project this year, these letters were already on clearance. While I was at first imagining some kind of garland, I didn't have a good plan about how I might attach the letters to the garland - especially since I don't have a drill in my arsenal. But, the letters were on display right by the snowflake, and then it struck me!

 I brought the snowflake home, and first painted it with two coats of plain white paint.

 

 I neglected to take a "before" picture, but this shot of the back side should do the trick. Oh, particle board, you are the reason we are so thankful for paint!

 Next, I covered the white with this glitter paint. Though it might look like it's white in the bottle, it really isn't. The paint is basically clear, with some glitter. I did only one coat.

Then, I glued on the red letters, which were covered with glitter when I bought them. I used Elmer's Glue-All for this project. The applicator tip on my bottle doesn't work the way it should. Despite my best efforts, I have no idea why this is, but I was able to get around it by applying the glue with a paint brush. I put down the plastic bag underneath the project because the glue got all over the place, especially when it came to attaching the outermost letters.

While I was at my parents' house over the Thanksgiving holiday, I sprayed on a fixative because I was worried about the glitter flaking off. Here's the finished product:

One of the concerns when I was getting this sign ready to go was how we were going to display it. Usually, we collect the food on a table that is covered with a standard-issue catering table cloth. There's nothing wrong with that, but we can't really tape anything down. I had a flash of inspiration when I was working on this about just how we could display it!

We're collecting canned goods, right? We'll just use one of them! I bought this jar of spaghetti sauce to use with the sign, and we can either donate it this year or save it for next. I think it will work out perfectly!
While I'd hoped to make this post only after the food drive was over, I've recently learned that I won't be able to make it to the Christmas party because I'll be in the hospital recovering from surgery. That said, I hope that this year's Food Drive participation is awesome. I know you guys won't be at that party, but I hope you'll keep the hungry in mind as you prepare for your Christmas celebrations. Your local food shelf would be happy to have your donation!

Jewelry Workshop

Over the last few weeks, I've noticed a strange accumulation in my apartment. If you've been visiting my little corner of the internet, you might have noticed that I've been making more and more jewelry as this year has gone on. One little problem with the homemade jewelry is that it's less durable than what you might buy at a shop. The good news is that it's not hard to repair!

 The storm cloud pearl necklace separated from its clasp. Unfortunately, this happened while I was at work, but at least the beads were totally contained on the strand.

. I grabbed my pliers and booked it back up. Good as new!

 You might also remember that I made this very simple necklace with the single charm, engraved with the word "Believe." I wanted it to be on an especially fine chain. I was able to make a necklace that was really cute, but the thin chain was quite difficult to work with, even though it looked just right.The clasp fell off, I think because the hardware was too big for the links in the chain.

I made several attempts to get the hardware back on the chain, but ultimately, I think it was just too fine. I had some larger chain in my stash and ultimately realized it would be best to adjust my expectations and use it. It's great!

While I had all my tools out, I decided to work on a couple of other simple projects where I added a charm to a chain!

 I found this cute little C charm at the Bead Monkey on a recent visit. I decided to add a couple of beads to give it a little more depth. I'm a little worried they're going to block the letter, but I thought I would give it a try.

I found this large rhinestone pave pendant at JoAnn as part of the Tori Spelling collection - yikes. I guess they recommend incorporating it with her other pieces to create a huge, loud necklace which just isn't really my style. But, given how much I like this pendant, I decided it was worth it to string it on a plain chain and just wear it by itself. I like it!

Though I procrastinated on making these repairs, I was sure proud when I stood up from the table: four "new" necklaces to put into rotation!

Twinkle

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving yesterday! I spent mine with my immediate family, hanging out at home, eating, watching the parade and dog show on TV, and relaxing. I know there are lots of families out there who celebrate the end of Thanksgiving with some holiday shopping. Mine is not one of them. However, it is a tradition in the Marvelous family to begin decorating for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving (apparently, now always referred to as Black Friday, a name that bums me out).

Today, as usual, I am with my parents helping them decorate at their house. Usually, after I come back to my apartment, I spend Saturday or Sunday decorating my place for the holiday. Because of my surgical schedule, I had to do this task early this year. But, I decided to save the pictures until today so we can all get in the Christmas spirit together!

 First, I got out the "big" tree. Trust me, I recognize that this tree is pretty darn small. It's maybe 3 feet tall (on a good day), but it's the biggest one I have. I'm looking forward to the day when I'm in a more permanent residence and can get a bigger tree. It's coming, I can feel it! For now, I'm using this good ol' boy, which I've been setting up since my sophomore year of college. It used to belong to my grandma, and she's the one who set up the lights, which are clipped to the branches. It's holding up pretty well for its age!

 Here's the mini tree! This one is more like 2 feet tall. I've had this since my first year of college. While I don't get the chance to set it up every year, it makes the place feel more cheery. I decided I could use a little extra this year, so I went for it.

 Alright, the big tree has been dressed with garland! I don't think I would have chosen this puffy silver garland, but Grandma had it, so I've hung onto it. The tree's so short, one strand does the trick!

And here's the little tree, all decked to the nines. I love the red beaded garland. It's a bit expensive for a full-sized tree - though that might not stop me once I have such a tree - but I think it works just perfectly on this little bitty one. Some of these ornaments used to hang on the miniature tree that I had in my room when I was a kid.

And here's a shot of the big tree, all dressed for the season. I love this Christmas-themed bullseye, which has been part of the collection for a long time. With that, the tree house apartment is ready for the Christmas season!

The Queen's Lover

Several months ago, I read a review of this novel, by Francine Duplessix Gray, that made me interested in reading this book. I have NO idea what the review said, and when my request at the library was fulfilled, and the book became available, I hadn't a clue why I thought I'd be interested in this book.

Well, I must have known what I was doing, because I loved this book! Seriously, when I picked it up from the library and read the inside cover, I almost returned it immediately because I was very worried it was going to be boring. This is a novel about Marie Antoinette. The title character is Axel von Fersen, a Swedish noble who spent most of his adult life in France. He and the Queen engaged in an affair, though this book is mostly the story of the French Revolution from the perspective of the nobility.

While this book is a novel, most of the characters in the book are real people. The book's format alternates between diary entries written by Axel and those written by his sister, Sophie. She provides a lot of important background information and addresses some of the more difficult topics, like Marie Antoinette's execution. These journal entries, coupled with some letters, are based on actual collections maintained by the French and Swedish governments. Though I majored in French in college, I've always felt that my understanding of the French Revolution was pretty minimal - sometimes, I'm surprised they let me graduate with the major given how little I understand it. I absolutely learned a lot when I read this book, and I bet you would too! Nonetheless, I was engaged in the story and read the book in just a few days. While it's not really "plot driven" - since we already know what's going to happen to Marie Antoinette - it was engaging and provided just the right amount of detail.

My favorite aspect of this book was the interesting perspective of a Swede in France, especially during the era of the Revolution. The cultures of these two nations are different in almost every way. While these differences are tough to put into words, this novel reminded me of my experience arriving in France to study abroad after having spent the previous semester in Norway. It was major culture shock. This cultural divide is illustrated mostly in the chapters narrated by Sophie. One example that stays with me now is her description of Paris as super stinky - the city, as well as the people. She mentions the importance of perfume at Marie Antoinette's court to keep people from passing out. Sweden, however, is described as pristine and orderly; the polar opposite of Versailles.  Sweden, like its neighbors Norway and Denmark, has a well-established tradition of a monarchy whose power is strictly circumscribed. This, of course, was a stark contrast to the excesses of the French regime. While these issues were mentioned in the book as a backdrop, probably to show us why it was so enthralling for Axel to remain in France, they really resonated with me.

This book was a fairly quick read, with an engaging story, and brought to life an interesting situation in Western history. I'd highly recommend it!

Daisy's Birthday

So, a few weeks ago, I got a wild hair about making a set of wine glass charms for Daisy as a birthday gift. I didn't really know what kind of supplies I would need or how I would go about actually making them. But, given how simple they are, I figured a little google research would do the trick. I was right!

I watched this video, which was very helpful. You'll need 20 gauge wire, your typical array of jewelry making pliers, and whatever beads or charms you want to decorate!

 I figured choosing the charms was going to be the most difficult part, and that was certainly true. It seems like my average bead shopping locations really want to sell you 6, or 12, or more of the same charm. That wasn't going to cut it for my design. Luckily, at Michaels, I found the card above with 6 unique charms. These charms are definitely Daisy's style!

 The alternative to unique charms would have been to have multiple bead colors. Unfortunately, its hard to get quantities much smaller than this - of which I used just a tiny fraction to make 6 charms. I figured these variegated red beads would be a great match with the black charms and would be just right for Daisy!

 Here I am sorting through the beads and loading them onto the ring.

 As is explained more clearly in the video, you cut your wire at an appropriate length (mine was 5") and then wrap it around a circular object to form the ring. The video suggests a 1" dowel. Not having that, I chose the next thing: a pill bottle. The wire needs to be long enough that when it is wrapped around the mold, there is some excess at the ends. You then cross these ends and make the hook end on one side: simply grasp the wire with your round nose pliers and bend it back. The video has an excellent demonstration.

 Here they are all together! I sorted through the variegated beads to make different designs. Unfortunately, they are a little bit difficult to see in these photos. Solid colored beads would probably have worked equally well for this project.

 And here's an example of what you'll find at Daisy's next party!

I decided to pair the charms with a bottle of wine, which I picked up at World Market. While there, I found a miniature, decorative Chinese take-out style box which I thought would be a good home for the charms. 

 I know some people say pink and red clash, but I love them! I hope you do to!