I bundled up in my favorite red scarf, grabbed my guy and we scooted over to Hollywood for a night of rock & 12 oz brews in a Xanadu-like setting. I wanted to throw on some roller skates like you wouldn't believe! Wheee! Little did I know that in the coming days I could easily lead Santa's sleigh. =( Putting aside that the sound in the place was nothing to write home about, the band was fantastic & we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The next day I then ventured to my local craft store and picked up a few goodies for a little project my dear Mom suggested to me. Oh what fun, thanks for the clever idea Mom! My inner super geek joyfully emerged. Crafts generally excite me as much as knitting. Unfortunately I don't have any children to use an excuse for doing it. ;) So I took a little knitting break and whipped up a batch of homemade scented ornaments. Easy peasy. If you'd like to try it...here's what I did -
In a bowl, mix together:
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup cinnamon
- 1 tspn allspice
- 1 tspn nutmeg
- 2 tbspns white glue
- have cookie cutters or an artisitic hand, wax paper, a rolling pin & some puffy paint handy
If you eliminate the allspice & nutmeg, that's fine. I added the extras for fun. This makes your dough. Mix this together until it's well combined. If the dough is too moist/sticky, gradually add cinnamon and work the dough with your hands. If too dry, do the same adding a dollop of applesauce instead. Lay some wax paper on the counter (there's glue involved...better safe than sorry.) Sprinkle some cinnamon down & rub some on your rolling pin as well. Use the cinnamon like flour as if you were baking cookies. You want to roll out the dough until it's approximately 1/8" to 1/4" thick. I went the thinner route. Dry time was cut in half, but breakability increases. Your call. 24 - 48 hours dry time. You'll see when they're dry...it's not rocket science. Freehand shapes are so fun if you're so blessed with an artistic hand - me not so much. Worst case scenario, reroll the dough and try again. I have no drawing ability whatsoever, but it's a nice change from the standard cookie cutters. Make sure to puncture holes for hanging before it dries! A straw, chopsticks or a q-tip cut in half works well. As much as it looks like a 5 year old made it, I love my snowman ornament. =)
The cute meter is officially busted. I had to continuously remind the man of the house that they're not edible. ;) I owe him a few batches of Christmas cookies and an extra one for taking such good care of me this week. So, that to me was the stamp of approval that they came out well. Puffy paint borders - I was torn here. I love the way they look plain, but they won't be noticeable on the tree without some kind of accent. So once they were all dried, puffy paint frames it was. I used some cloves for gingerbread buttons (do this before they dry or you'll need to glue them). I also took a good chunk of the gingerbread men and put 2 holes near their hands. I wanted to make a mini garland for a cute wooden bucket I have that needed some holiday lovin'. I just threaded some green yarn through them and added a red bow to finish. (tinsel could be cute here too!)
I love how they came out! It smells divine in the house! This made a generous amount. Feel free to decorate however your little heart desires. I personally hate glitter with a passion, but I've got to admit it would be cute here. There's plenty left for our Christmas tree. Oh that, well...2 days after making these delightful little guys I came down with a nasty bug that had me bedridden all week and put a damper on our Christmas tree hunt. Ugh. Perhaps it was the sardine effect in the venue on what was the coldest night we can remember here in CA. Nothing says germfest like a sold out concert in December. I wound up with a fever of 102, a throat that feels like it was repeatedly raked with knives and then stuffed with large objects, a cough that wouldn't quit, stuffy sinuses and a lovely migraine to top it off. My head felt like it was counting down to explode. Today is the first day I'm feeling somewhat human again...well, a hoarse human, but human nonetheless. My knitting's been on the back burner...all I've wanted to do is sleep. I finished up Ryan's hat - he looks deliciously cute in it. I still need to get a few pics. The last thing I was working on was a super cute lacework scarf aka "Flutter."
I'll return to my knitting when I'm feeling better. I don't recall the last time I felt this miserable, but I'm trying my best to keep it contained to me only...so far so good. Being a clean freak has it's good points. =) I really shouldn't complain. In 10 years this is only the 2nd time I can recall being sick. Quite a difference from living in NJ where you're pretty much guaranteed to get a bug at least once a year. Hopefully this coming week I'll be well enough and sniffing out our Christmas tree with my sweet. Winter, you're still my favorite season, sore, red nose, sniffles and all. Don't get jealous autumn...you're a close 2nd.
