Yay Thanksgiving!

My daughter really loves telling people where to sit when we eat together. So I let her color some feathers that I added names to. Then She placed one on each plate so everyone sat in the “right” place.

Things continue to flow pretty smoothly around here. Even with hosting Thanksgiving, I have still been able to fit in creative time here and there. So here is what we have been up to.

Layers of acrylic and tissue paper make a great base. Now I just need to add drawings and more paint.

I’m been trying to focus more and more of my energy towards painting. I do like sewing and crocheting, but they just don’t give me the same satisfaction when I am done. Now I have half a dozen canvases in progress, and it has been feeling great to get to work on them. I still have a few Christmas things to wrap up, but they are all fairly minor. My daughter has been having fun because I have been letting her help here and there. Letting her choose pieces of tissue paper really makes her day.

The bare bones house before I let the kiddo loose on it.

Nothing makes a three-year-old happy like glue.

In the area of kid crafts, we also had some major success in keeping her occupied. She has been bugging me for months to get her a dollhouse. For a few reasons, she is not getting one. Not in the forseeable future anyway. So instead, I made one for her. I took one shoebox and cut it into 4 pieces. Then I taped those to another box to create a few rooms and a roof. Then I set her loose with crayons, pencils, markers, rhinestones, glue, pompoms, popsicle sticks and holographic tape. I know this project was a hit because as soon as she got it, that is all she did all day. Literally all day. No blocks, no reading, just taping and drawing. She then spent the next three days adding to it and playing with it. I’m just happy to see she can self-motivate so well.

This little guy is the perfect amount of fuzzy. I have to say I am pretty proud I completed this.

I did get one of the projects I was most excited for done. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I saw a version of this cow at a local fabric store. I bought the pattern and materials, and then never made it. Since I am trying to work out of my stash more and finish projects, it seemed natural to put these goodies to use. This pattern was pretty challenging, especially since I used minky for the first time ever. But (minus a few mistakes) I am happy with how it turned out. And when my little guy gets bigger, I have a feeling he will like it.

I should never make these again. I could not control myself around them. They are so yummy and you don’t even really have to chew them.

Baking! Of course there was baking! We ended up moving our Thanksgiving celebration to this past Sunday because of hunting and conflicting work schedules. What’s the point of being Thankful with friends and family if half of them can’t make it? So on Thursday, I made a batch of cocoa meringues. They were super easy and so yummy. If you want to make them, the recipe is from Take a Megabite.

Now that it’s December, not only is Christmas just around the corner, but so is my birthday. My 30th birthday. My 30 by 30 list is nowhere near done, but I’m not going to stress about it. I knew not all of it would get done, and it did motivate me to do a few new things. Maybe I will get another one or two done, but things have been going really well the last two months, so I am happy.

Hopefully everything is going well with all of you and your holidays. Remember to not get stressed. If you feel overwhelmed, take a break and have some cocoa. That seems to fix everything.