I think it's time I create a new catagory for my craft stuff. I want to call it art, but it's... not, really? I bet crafters would argue that crafting really is art, but I see it on a different level from the "fine" art that I also do.

Does that make me racist? Or... art...ist? Now I'm all confused.

BUT. I really did start this post for a reason other than confusing myself and anyone reading. I wanted to share with the world the wonder of MINI MITTENS. That's right; you heard me. Mini mittens. They're the greatest thing since buttered toast.

Wow, I'm amazingly silly today! I hope that doesn't offend anyone.

So, right. I've been on this huge Christmas kick since the beginning of October. The Christmas we had last year was really tight because Chad (aka Cat) was out of a job, and we had decided that I would continue to stay home until things got really bad, so the only income we had was unemployment. It was scary. But most of all, I was worried about Christmas. I mean, that's the one time of the year where you open your wallet and pay people until they love you, right?

Ok, so that's not really how I feel. It's true that I do love going all out at Christmas, but it's because I love getting into the tradition of things and doing things for people I really care about.

So last Christmas, I wasn't going to let a tight budget get in the way of getting into the traditions that I love so much. Since I'm incredibly crafty, clever and always have some great new idea, we made most of the gifts we gave last year. Chad's mom collects little wooden houses, so we made one of her house and gave it to her. She loved it!

And even though Chad has a great job now and is making more than he ever has, I learned a lot about life from the six months he was unemployed. I learned that living frugal isn't a bad thing. That you don't have to pay a fortune to show someone you love them. That there's no shame in using things you have instead of buying something new. And most of all, I learned that happiness isn't found at the bottom of a plastic grocery bag. That's why I'm going to be making a bunch of Christmas gifts again this year. I want people to know that I love them so much that I spent some time on their gifts.

One of the things I'm doing this year for everyone I know, as well as for decoration for my house, is mini mittens. Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I have a strange obsession with mini things. I squeal with delight when I see a doll house. Kittens make me deliriously happy. So when I saw, somewhere, some mini mittens someone had made as an ornament, I knew I had to find that pattern. And I did a ton of research. But I finally found a pattern that I really like. It's fast and extremely easy.



CUTE! Right? And they only take about half an hour to make (for each one). Which is really important for a girl who can't pay attention long enough to put on both socks in the morning.

I made two sizes, basically the same thing except the smaller ones are done with smaller needles and yarn.



So by now, I bet you're dying for the pattern, right? Of course you are! I guess this pattern was on the cover of the WEBS catalog a couple of years ago, and so many people emailed them for the pattern that they put it up. Now, this pattern has moved over the years to a different URL, so if you like this, I would suggest you print it off or save it to your computer. If you're reading this post in the distant future and the link doesn't work, give me a ping and I'll send it your way!

You can get the pattern here.

I'm going to give you my secret, though. When I knit these up, I do it differently than the pattern says. Here's what my finished mitten looks like:



I start with Worsted weight yarn and size 3 needles (I use double pointed needles, just because it makes things a little less clumsy). Then, in the pattern, I take out rows 2, 4, 9, and 11 of the lower mitten, one of the rows in the thumb, and two of the rows in the upper section. So it should go:

Lower:
R1-4: ♥ K1, P1 ♥; rep. from ♥
R5: P4, m1, p4, m1, p4. (14 sts)
R6: K6, m1, k2, m1, k6. (16 sts)
R7: P6, m1, p4, m1, p6. (18 sts)
R8: K12, turn work

Thumb:
R1: P6, turn work
R2: K6, turn work.
R3: [P2tog] 3 times

Upper:
Rows 1, 3, 5: Purl
Rows 2, 4: Knit

Basically, I just take out a couple of rows here and there to make the mitten shorter. Using smaller needles also ensures that the mittens are smaller! I also experimented doing it with baby yarn and size 1 or 0 needles, and the results are adorable:



For those, though, I followed the pattern exactly. I just finished a pair today, though, where I used my altered version, and they're absolutely adorable!

Anyway, that's enough of that for today. Enjoy!

Everything I do is artistic. I just can't get away from that. Christmas gifts are usually homemade because it gives me a chance to be crafty, cards are handmade, and whenever someone's birthday comes up, I squeal inside. There's just something so exciting about all the possibilities a cake represents! Oh, I could do this, or that, or add colors, or, or.... OR!

Cat's birthday wasn't any different this year. I'll admit that these pictures are about a month old now, but that's alright! The cake may be long gone, but I still have the proof that it was made.

So this year, I decided to experiment with fondant again. I made a traditional fondant a couple of years ago when I was deciding what to do with my wedding cake, and it was just so horrible that I swore never to make it again. It was bland, waxy, and just... icky.

But I remembered seeing a handful of recipes that used sugar and marshmallows instead of shortening and sugar, and being the adventurous (and stubborn) kind of girl, I decided to someday give it a try. I mean, what's better than sculpting clay that you can eat? Marzipan is fun to work with, too, but I like to work with stuff that I have on hand. And marzipan is certainly not something that I have hanging around the house all the time.

So I got my Marshmallow Fondant recipe from Allrecipes, which is my favorite recipes site of all time. For extra oomph and tastiness, I added maple flavoring to the fondant!

Right, so on to the photos!

It seems to me that every time I look over my shoulder, the world gets a little stranger and harder to recognize. What's really hard for me to understand these days is technology and the amount of information that is being thrown around like penny candy at a fourth of July parade.

I'm only 25, for God sake, but I feel totally out of the loop when it comes to technology. I don't get Twitter. I mean, I understand the concept and I know how to use it (and try to a little), but I'm just not interested in all of the crap people are talking about. Don't we have enough on our own plates without being distracted by the chatter of millions of people with nothing better to do? The same goes for facebook and myspace. What's the deal?

Blogs I get and can understand for the most part. I've been blogging since 2000, back when LiveJournal was THE place to go. It's fun to just let loose and write, and some people are simply fascinating to read about. I'll admit that I stalked a couple of people back then, reading their blogs hoping that some of their coolness would rub off on me.

What I don't get is people who make blogging their job of choice. Give me a break. That's like trying to make a living off of competitive eating (and there are people who try that). Ok, alright, I know. Blogging is the new age media and I know it's great that there are people out there reporting the real stuff that the tv news people aren't talking about, but... I don't know. I guess there's a difference between living off your news reporting blog and living off your blog that describes your shopaholic lifestyle and all the things celebrities are doing this second. It feels... dishonorable.

I think what it all comes down to is the simple fact that my generation (and the youngsters below me, especially) have a huge ego thing going. We all have this streak of narcissism running through us that makes us believe that every little move we make is so important that the world is dying to know. Well, I think that's bull.

...says the girl writing in her blog.

I wonder what would happen if we stopped spending so much time on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and all the others, trying to make ourselves look better in the eyes of people that are too blind by their own reflections, and we started reaching out to people who needed help. Imagine, just for a moment, if everyone in the world spent just half of that time volunteering instead. Or spending with friends and family face to face. I think we're slowly losing sight of the big picture and what's really important.

Which I think is what it comes down to for me. I could be more into Twitter. I could probably be having a blast over at Facebook. But I would rather be spending time doing things that mean something to me. I'd rather be cooking, or crocheting, drawing, spending time goofing off with my husband. I'd really rather spend that time daydreaming.

So I let loose tonight and let myself do art finally. And it felt really, really good.

... This is the third time I've started this post. The other two times got destroyed in one way or another. I just don't understand what's wrong with me. It's like I'm trying to sabotage myself and my artistic pursuits. I don't know what to do with myself.

It's really too bad, too, because it was turning out to be a pretty good ramble about life and lost dreams. Why don't we see if we can recapture some of that, eh?

Life is a funny thing. When you're young, you're free to dream all you like because you have no life experience to stop you, and you haven't developed that nagging voice that tells you that you're not good enough or that you don't have it in you. I really wish, for just a few minutes, I had the same ambition I had when I was younger. I would keep my acquired skills, of course.

I found myself in the art supply isle at Michael's yesterday, staring at the large display of potential dreams. I used to be so giddy in that isle, and I knew that as soon as I got home with my new pencil, paper or marker, I'd be doing some new masterpiece. But yesterday, I just stared, feeling an emptiness inside myself that I've never felt before. I wished with all my heart that one of these shiny new things would cure all my problems, but I knew that it was futile. Nothing I would buy would solve any of my problems.

The problem is that I'm shutting off from my emotions. I numb myself with hours of house work, followed by mindless gaming and reading silly, meaningless crap on the internet. I'm no longer in touch with the person that I know I am. I'm an emotional, deeply feeling person! I cry at the drop of a hat, both in sadness and joy. My heart is perpetually on my sleeve, and I feel badly for hours after I miss a chance to help someone out.

Where have I put this person? Why am I denying my feelings? What's wrong with being open and free with oneself?

I feel constrained with my art and writing. I write this blog as if someone is going to read it. That sounds ridiculous, because that's what a blog is about, but people act differently when they know someone is watching. I try to write about things that I think you'll be interested in, but you know what? That just makes it harder for me to write, and of course I end up just abandoning it altogether. So screw that.

I'm the same with my art. Every singe piece of art that I've done in the last two or three years has been taken to a final version. Do you understand what I'm saying? I never sketch, never doodle or goof around. I never experiment or draft or draw simply for the pleasure of it. I feel as though I'm being more professional, but in truth all I'm doing is driving my muse away. And it's already very fragile as it is.

What am I doing?

So to heck with the crowd. I'm done trying to please people that don't pay attention anyway. From now on I'm just doing this for me.

So you remember that snow I was talking about yesterday? Well, it started around 10 in the morning, and I don't believe it ever stopped. It's still snowing now, honestly.



There's Cat in his little bug, going off to work.

Anyway, it's sickening as well as good all rolled up together. I hate that we're getting loads of snow in the middle of OCTOBER, but on the other hand, snow has always made me feel very peaceful and calm, so I can't get too angry.

I'm still sick today though, so that's all.

Look out your window. If you're far enough north, it may be snowing. It's snowing here today, and I'm shocked and awed. And mildly delighted, but don't tell anyone.

I'm feeling sickly today though, so that's all you get for a blog post.

So. I'm writing in my paper journal almost daily, and here I am, letting my blog get covered with dust.

To be honest, I'm writing about little, boring daily things in my paper journal. I never feel like I have anything interesting to say on my blog. My Official Blog. For the Whole World to See. That's a little more intimidating than a journal that might get read out loud to Cat when something clever is written.

But on the other hand, there are tons of blogs out there with nothing of much interest on them that still get read every day buy hundreds of people. Does that blow your mind? Maybe it has something to do with the way they're written rather than the actual content. Some people just have an awesome ability to tell a story, after all.

But anyway, today I clean. I've realized that, somewhere along the way, I became allergic to cats. Which is a shame, since I love and live with two cats and probably always will. So now I have to religiously vacuum every inch of our house in order to be in full, nonsniffly health.

Which would be easier if I had an attention span longer than two minutes.

Leaves are a mysterious and beautiful lesson on life. You don't believe me? Perhaps you should pay a little more attention.

Leaves start their lives as bright, supple, perfect creations of nature. They have no flaws to be seen; they're a lovely reminder of God's talents. A new leaf is like a little gem of happiness, a gift from our Sacred Mother to show us that all life is precious.

But as the summer wears on, the leaves become hardened. They lose that brightness that made them so special. They're no longer soft and smooth to the touch. Also, by then, little critters have begun chewing on them, fungi take hold of them, and dust hangs around them like a cloak. But they're hard working leaves, taking in all the sunlight that the mighty tree needs to survive, and so I'm sure they're happy.

Summer fades into fall, and the leaves become their most beautiful. It's not just that the leaves turn colors and become lovely; the truth is that the colors were there all along, but the green chlorophyll of youth was masking the deep and stunning gem tones of the leaves' final days. And how amazing it is to finally have those secrets revealed, even though the leaf itself is chewed on, leathery and torn. In those moments we see that its the shades of the heart that matter instead of the shape of the body.

Isn't it funny how much the life of a leave mirrors our own. A lot of things like that can teach us important lessons about life if we just pay attention. I realized recently that I haven't been paying much attention lately, and it made me pretty sad.

I have a very healthy crop of green tomatoes this year. We're probably going to be eating green fried tomatoes until the first frost. It's just a shame that I don't like them.

But I can't complain, really. No one had a very good crop this year, except for the neighbor across the street with a dozen tomato plants hanging with red ripe tomatoes. I don't know how he does it!! He must be hiding huge plant lights behind his bushes. Or maybe he's got mirrors and magnifying glasses on his roof.

Even the local Amish are complaining about the very bad growing season this year. And when they complain, you'd better listen. It makes me wonder if we've got a hard, nasty winter headed our way, or if the price of certain foods will go up. I don't think everyone had such a crappy summer, though, so it's probably just local food that suffered.

I'm not too disappointed, though. Even though I only got one squash, one cucumber (so far), two tomatoes, and a couple of small peppers still ripening, I gained a ton of experience. Next year, my garden's really going to flourish because I already know what I need to do and when. Like next year, I won't get antsy and plant my seeds inside in FEBRUARY. I think I'll wait until, say, April or May, when I was supposed to. Goodness. That means I've been watching over those plants for almost nine months. No wonder I feel so close to them. They're like my children!

In a way, actually, I'm glad that fall is here. It means that I can stop hovering over the plants and let them go back to the earth. Give the poor things a rest.

Oh yeah, and yesterday was my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I turned 25, and it struck me how old I suddenly feel. 25 was always the mark in my mind, kind of the dividing line between Young and No Longer Young (which is different from Old). I still feel like me, but something tells me that I shouldn't feel like a kid anymore. I'm friggin' 25! Sigh. Time flies when you're not trying to enjoy every minute.

Ahh, September! My favorite month. The days are shorter, the air a little crisper, and things start to settle down a little bit. And wouldn't you know it; it's been raining all summer long, practically, and the very first day of September is GORGEOUS! Bright, warm(ish) and peaceful. What a day. What a month!

Of course, another reason I love September so much is because it's the month of my birth, my husband's birth, and our glorious anniversary! We'll have reached two years on the 22nd. I'm surprised it's been that long, honestly. I feel like I'm still a newlywed. Lord knows we act like it. I'm sure we make lots of people sick with how sweet we are

So now that summer has passed (at least in my mind), I'm ready to settle down and start working on my blog and Etsy again. I said I might share with you all why I went away, but I think I'm going to keep it to myself. But it was business related, and it was a tough decision. I got some good advice, though, and know which course I'm going to take. I'm excited about getting back to work and my normal life!

But I should go. I've got some Swedish rye bread in the oven and it's starting to smell done. Mm!

I'm not dead, and I'm not dropping out of the scene again. I'm just taking a break from Etsy and my blog for a while to figure something out that's rather important. When I make up my mind about things, I'll be back and maybe I'll even explain. <3

Weren't you supposed to warn us before the flood came? Man, God's gonna be mad at you.

So yeah. Rain. I swear that we have gotten more rain in the last two weeks than we have all summer, and I'm not exaggerating. It's so wet in our back yard that, when I walk across it, I leave foot prints. The grass is turning brown because it's drowning. My onions are under two inches of water. Oh yeah, and our basement is starting to look like a swamp (thankfully there's a drain down there just for that reason, unlike a couple of our neighbors). I'm sick and tired of this rain, and I really wish it would go where it's needed. Surely there's a drought somewhere that it could be spilling itself over instead of here.

I got an email last night from someone having a get-together. They said that the main road to their house is flooded, so you'll have to take the back way.

So as you can guess, I'm ready for some hot dry weather. Bring on the dog days of summer! Before I strangle someone out of sheer frustration!

Ahhh, summer. I think, anyway. Here it is, August, and we don't even need the fans out. I'm wearing pants. And long sleeves! As a matter of fact, I haven't felt the heat of summer but once or twice this season, maybe three times, and summer is almost over. But then, scientists have said that it has actually been COOLING for the last ten years, rather than warming. And I believe it. I remember the summers as a kid, and man, were they HOT! Not like the mild stuff we've gotten lately.

Anyway, after three long years of trying, and lots of tricks and sneaky techniques (but all organic and nontoxic!), my garden is finally flourishing! I finally got rid of the slugs, Japanese beetles and leaf hoppers, and will be able to enjoy summer's bounty. If it ripens before the first frost, that is.

When I started my Etsy shop last year, I had this crazy idea that, hey, I bet I could save a TON of money on shipping supplies and be good to the environment at the same time! I spread my idea around to feel out how people would feel about it, and everyone thought I was totally crazy.

And being the adventurous kind of girl I am, I tried the idea anyway. On someone in Canada. I figured if it made it through the border, it would make it through anything.

So I bet you're wondering what my big idea was. I really like drawing things out. It gives me a bit of a thrill.

Well, you know when you finish a box of crackers, you have this box left over? Or a box of stuffing, or cereal, or just about any food stuffs these days. There's this perfect empty box just waiting for someone to do something with it, and instead of putting it to good use, most people throw it away. Not me. I'm cheap as hell and crafty to boot.

So what I did was I took the box apart. I thought, "Hey, I bet I could turn this inside out and then glue it back together, make it a generic box on the outside and kind of funky cool on the inside." Plus, it's a huge savings for me in shipping, both because I don't have to buy packaging, and because these boxes are much lighter than their cardboard brothers.

And being the generous and loving person I am, I decided to share my idea with all of you! With picture instructions, of course, because it's fun to look at pictures.

For this project, you'll need three things:

-Empty box
-Hot glue gun
-Hot glue

For the box, you want one the size of, say, stove top stuffing, crackers (not saltines), or those small boxes of granola. You can use something bigger like a cereal box, but they're way too big to be shipping small stuff in. Although you CAN cut these boxes down, it takes practice to get it right. I'll have to post how to do that another time.



Oh yeah, just click on these images if you want to get a better look at what I'm doing. I thought it would be kind of mean to have all these pictures in their original sizes sitting around to attack your internet speed.

After you get your box, it's time to dismantle it. The first thing you want to take apart are the bottom flaps. Those are pretty easy to unstick.



Once that's done, the next step is to look along the side of the box for the magical seam that gives it its boxy shape. It's usually a little hard to find at first, but keep looking. This seam is a little harder to take apart, so you might try putting an envelope opener in it, or maybe a sharp knife. But DON'T CUT THE BOX! You just want to unglue it, not cut any part of it off.



When you're done, you should have something that looks like this!



That wasn't too hard, right? Ok, we're about half way through already. The next step is just folding all the folds in the opposite direction, essentially turning the box inside out.



Next, get out your handy dandy glue gun. I use an ancient high temp gun I've had since I was about 12 (13 years!). You can count its age by the depth of the glue stuck on the outside of the gun.



Of course, you'll need glue sticks. This isn't so bad, though. You can get 100 glue sticks for something like $1 at Walmart, and since each box takes about half a stick, that means you only pay roughly half a penny per box. Not a bad price for packaging.



Now, when you start gluing, you do NOT want your box to end up looking like this:



Yeah. I totally wasn't paying attention because I was thinking in my head about what I would say in this post, and glued down all the flaps. Which is ok, except then you can't get anything into the box, and I really doubt your patrons want to get an empty box in the mail.

Instead, what you want to do is glue only the bottom three flaps of your box, so that it comes out looking like this:



The reason for gluing it like this is so that you have a top flap that you can fold down. And see, it has a little bit that overlaps, so it secures better when tape it.

Of course, next you want to package up your item and put it in the box! I always tie a little raffia around what I made and add a cute little handmade tag (also made out of old boxes!). Once that's done, I wrap it in tissue paper and bundle it all together.



And that's about it! The boxes are just the right size so you can simply wrap clear packing tape all around the narrow side panels to secure it. I generally add a little extra to the top and fold it down over the overlapping flap. Just in case.

You probably wouldn't want to do this for packaging if you were shipping, say, five things a day. You'd run out of boxes pretty quick. But two or three a week wouldn't be a stretch. I've often thought about using really little boxes, like soap boxes and butter boxes, but I have no idea how small a box the PO will send. But seeing as they'll send things like bananas and shoes, I can't see why they wouldn't send a little box.

Also, if you're paranoid (like I was when I first started making these), you can reinforce the corners with pieces of cardboard. Just cut the cardboard to the height of the box, and maybe two inches wide. Then fold the cardboard in half, so that it fits snugly into the corner of your box, and simply glue it down. I also would glue the box shut once I got the items in it, but I decided that was probably a bad thing. I hate having to tear a box to shreds to get into it, and I'm sure everyone else does!

Ok, so BIG WARNING!! Do not ship anything fragile in these boxes. There is a chance for them to get crushed, and so fragile or heavy items should be shipped in a larger, sturdier cardboard box! They work perfectly for me because my items are soft and squishy, and because they fit snugly into the boxes and leave no room for the box to get crushed. Just a warning so that if you complain, I can tell you that I told you so

So off you go to save the world from clutter, one box at a time!