Ghosts of Christmas Past - Mine

For Christmas, we went to Illinois to stay with my folks.  It had been a few years since we had done this and when I stepped into their home, I found myself thrown back in time.  I had forgotten all the crafts I had made for them over the years and it was wonderful to see my crafting Christmas past.  I wish I had kept some of these for myself when I created them long ago but at the time when you make 100 of something, you are really sick of looking at it. It was at the time in my crafting career when I was doing lots of craft shows.

 Santa stuck in a chimney.

 

 

 A Lucia commemorating my mother's Swedish heritage.

For breakfast one morning we went to the Stockholm Inn.  It was Christmas Eve and packed.  We came in the back way and we could tell it was going to be a long wait.  I asked the hostess how long the wait would be and was told 40 minutes to an hour.  We decided that would be too long (I'm so impatient when it comes to things like this) and we made our way through the restaurant to the back entrance.

Right by the back door was a long counter with only a few taken seats.  Even though we could sit across from each other, we could sit next to each other .  I suggested eating there and we all agreed.  The waitress, Carmen, was a hoot and put on quite a show for us as the chairs quickly filled.  We had to wait a long time (30 minutes) for our food but it was worth the wait.

A gentleman sitting down from us sat down and asked Carmen if she had any Wheaties or Cheerios.  She said, "Honey, if you came in for that kind of food, you better just get up and head out to the nearest grocery store and make it yourself.  We don't serve that kind of food here."  She was hilarious. 

Rocketman isn't the type of guy to split a meal but it's a favorite thing I do with my mom.  We both get plenty of food without leftovers.  We went with a bacon and cheese omelet and it was delicious.  My Dad got their famous Swedish pancakes and Rocketman went for a ham and cheese omelet.  We even were serenaded for a time and sang a round of "Jingle Bells." 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!  This was given to me by a friend who knew I would appreciate the craftiness!  May all your Christmas wishes come come true.

Thank You Grandma

I was out the other day shoveling the coating of snow we had received the night before when I noticed a couple bird flocking to the huge tree in our front yard.  As I shoveled back and forth down our driveway, I noticed more and more birds in the tree.

What surprised me the most was that I was basically scraping the driveway with each pass making a loud scraping noise.  Usually this would drive birds away.  Soon I found the top of the tree covered with birds.  It was a pretty windy day and they were holding on for dear life.  I ran to grab my camera to get a shot of it.

It made me think of my Grandma whose been gone for many years now and how she loved to watch the birds outside her window.  They brought her so much joy along with of course, "Days of Our Lives."  I just knew she sent them to me to let me know that she was thinking of me.  It made the shoveling go a lot faster thinking of her and the memories we shared.  Thank you, Grandma.  I miss you so much!

I Miss...

                  I miss the cute Christmas cakes you would find at the Baskin Robbins in Korea.

I miss my girls: Jennifer, Hannah and Hellena.  I don't know how I would have survived South Korea without them.

I got my first Korean Christmas card from Choi.  He was my yoga buddy and friend.  I miss him and his adorable family too.

He even printed out his own greeting instead of the Korean greeting the card came with. 

We spent Christmas last year in Myeongdong, South Korea.  This year it will be spent with family back here in the States.  It's good to be home and cuddling grandbabies. I've been baking up a storm and you can get the recipes over at my cooking blog. 

Snowman Polymer Clay Ornament Project!

Last Friday, the day of the horrific killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School I went to Noah, our grandson's 1st grade class to teach them how to make this polymer clay ornament.  I thank God that I had errands to run before the class and that I did not know what had occurred until I returned home later that day.  I don't know how I would have gotten through the class without tears and sobs.  The children killed were the same age as my grandson and his classmates. 

 Snowman Face Ornament

by Becky Meverden copyright 2012

 

Materials:

Polymer clay: white, orange and black

Toothpick

Plastic straw

Blush and cotton swab

Red ribbon

 

When working with children and especially white polymer clay, make sure their hands are clean.  The white clay picks up everything and will get quite dirty.  Luckily, I brought papertowels and waterless handcleaner.

 

Instructions:

1.  Flatten a 1" white ball of clay into a circle.

2.  For eyes, roll two 1/8" black balls and press onto face.

3.  For squint lines, use toothpick to indent two lines next to each eye.

4.  For nose, roll a 3/8" orange ball into a oval.  Press onto face just under the eyes.

5.  Use toothpick to indent the mouth.  I start in the center of the nose and go out each side from there to insure that the mouth is even on both sides.

6.  Blush cheeks.

7.  Use straw to make hole for hanging.
8.  Bake in a 265 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool.

9.  String with ribbon.

 



Here are Noah's classmates creations.  They all wanted to do the blush themselves and as you can see, a few really went crazy with it.  When I asked why they put it all over the face, they told me that it was because the snowman had been to the tanning salon and had a sunburn.  I had to giggle over that one.

Even Noah's teacher made one and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  I love how unique and different each one is.

I can't tell you how many hugs I got that day from the kids.  A couple of girls even told me that they wished I was their grandmother.

This is Noah's.  He was over the moon to have me there.  As soon as I walked in, he ran over with a huge smile on his face and gave me a huge hug.  I treasure these days because I know how fast time goes.  It doesn't seem so long ago that I was coming in to teach a clay class with his mother and his uncle.  I was also fortunate to have my sister live close so I continued the tradition with her children too. 

Tis the Season....Pooping and Farting Edition

I don't know what it is about this 2012 Christmas season but everywhere I go, I find this.  Toys that poo.  These were in my local Joann's.

I found this pooping penguin at Macy's of all place.  We were in South Korea last Christmas so maybe this is nothing new to anyone else.  Poo has always been a big thing in Korea.  There are tons of children's books on it, poo stuffed animals (I have several) and even the old Korean mayor of Suwon built a "toilet house."  We even went to see it and you can read about it here.

So I thought this would be the perfect post to show off my farting Korean dolls.  My Korean girlfriend, Hannah bought them for me and sent them over.  I did a little video on them.
Here is the original Korean commercial on the dolls.  Tis the Season!!!

Sparkly Words Christmas Ornament Project!

Sparkly Words Christmas Ornament

by Becky Meverden Copyright 2012

 

Materials

Twine

Elmer's Glue

Glitter

Lame or ribbon for hanging

Scissors

Small bowl and plastic wrap

Wax paper

 

Instructions

1.  Choose the word you want to make.  You can make anything.

2.  I wrote the word in my cursive handwriting style.  You will notice that doing a word like "Hope," I write the "H," lift my pen and write the rest of the word.  This means that I cut the pieces for the "H" first.  Decide how large you want the word and cut the three pieces of twine for the "H."  If you use a word like "Love," you won't need this step.

3.  Using the twine, write out the rest or entire word.  Use your fingers to mark the end of the word and and add an extra inch or two and cut.

4.  Take a small bowl and cover with two layers of plastic wrap so that when you are finished you just remove the wrap and throw it away.

5.  Fill the bowl with some glue.

6.  Take the twine for the first letter (if doing a word like "Hope") and place into glue.  Make sure it is thoroughly covered and soaked.  Remove each piece and use your fingers to remove excess glue and position on a piece of wax paper in the shape of the letter needed.  It's messy so don't worry.

7.  Place the rest of the word (or the whole word if you are doing a word like "Love") into the glue and shape into the rest of the word making.

8.  Sprinkle glitter all over letters and let  dry.

9.  Carefully peal from the wax paper.  Reglue any areas that how come apart.  String with lame or ribbon and it's ready for the tree.



 

This is what happened over the weekend.  We went from no snow to 14 inches!  Thankfully Rocketman is home and not traveling right now and the snow blower worked. 

Cookie Cutter Ornament Project!

Cookie Cutter Ornament Project

by Becky Meverden  Copyright 2012 

Materials:

Christmas tree cookie cutter

Fabric scrap

Rick rack

Buttons (I switched out the rhinestones at the last minute

Adhesive

Thin lined marker

Scissors

Cording or string

1. Place a line of glue around the back perimeter of the cookie cutter and place onto fabric.  Let dry.
2.  Cut excess fabric around entire cookie cutter.  Don't worry if fabric pulls away from the cutter, you can reapply the glue when you are finished.

 3.  Place a line of glue around the entire side of the cookie cutter.  Follow with the rick rack, starting at the bottom of the cutter.  Cut off excess.

 4.  Glue buttons on each side.

5.  Press the top fabric out to allow a hole for the cording. 

6.  String with cording.

The Front Page!

I was contacted a few weeks ago by an editor at our local newspaper wanting to do a feature on me.  I was really excited to talk about Korea and all the things I did there.  We did the interview over the phone and I followed up by sending her some photos. 

I had not restarted our subscription to the Press so when I found out it was in this week's paper I drove to the Press to restart our subscription and to pick up a few copies for me and the extended family.

                Only when I arrived home did I unfold the paper to find ME on the front page.

         The article continued on the back page of the newspaper along with a few more pictures.

You can also find the article online here.  It was really a thrill to see it and Kristine did a wonderful job of taking a hour long conversation and condensing it into wonderful story.  I hope you all enjoy it.