the cooking fairy

recycling has been very important to me personally and a significant part of daily life. i believe in re-using things, finding purpose for things useless at first glance... because ultimately those things take place of potential new arrivals. i like to eliminate the need to acquire. the cooking fairy now occupies a nail in the kitchen which would otherwise call out for a painting, photo frame or some such thing currently on a shelf in some store. the fairy plum is a tutti frutti, a holiday ornament from Gramercy Park flower shop from many years ago. he holds a bowl, stirring batter. a glass dragonfly covers a missing foot and a glued back together ceramic half-plate serves as backdrop. the cooking fairy now oversees the kitchen and watches over the stove and all its pots. i love to see the glue in the broken edges - it emphasizes the second/third generation of purpose for the same thing. i don't want to let go and discard these witnesses of years past who have been intimate participants of our everyday.

the crown

ever since the concept of the crest for the rooster costume manifested itself in a crocheted pattern which i would not be able to reproduce, i have been thinking about other ways to use up some of the yarn for play clothes which i in turn would also not be able to repeat....

snowmen family

it's all in the pictures. the snow was excellent in quebec that day.

stockings

much belated christmas stocking pattern: cut boot shape (i prefer small size) in red, white or green basic fleece. embellish with desired design on one side, snowman (2 white circles of varying sizes), pine tree (green, the more rustic the cut the better), lettering, a combination of the above, etc. i used blanket stitch on the those as well as all around. with some left over gems and beeds it is easy to make decorations: snowflakes, tree deco, etc. put on a loop at the top to hang - done. to make two of these in an evening is quite possible, i think. the hooks ended up having to be made as well. a damaged but favorite plate with some other ceramic bits and pieces, holiday deco balls, beeds, etc and basic hanging hooks.

Magog

It is not a crazy idea to take a 4 year old and a 2 year old cross country skiing for a week. You just need a lot of adults to tend to all the little details. Just dressing and undressing can be a major challenge and take up to 40 min, especially if there is an unwilling party. Though once outside, very little grown-up participation is required. Snow and child are completely mutually fulfilling. I could never have guessed (although i might have remembered) that a 4 year old could spend 2-4 hours outside utterly pleased just falling through snow and trying to get out.
More to say, but i will leave it for tomorrow. Must finish Balzac, begin Wilde and read 3 tomes of Bell.

holiday centerpiece class

after many seasons of talking about, i am offering a floral design class this december. in time for our holiday dinner tables, it will be a 3 hour centerpiece design class which will allow us to make our christmas/holiday floral arrangements and show them off to family on the day. sign up for a december 21st (sunday) 10am-1pm class in pennington. we'll have 10 spots, 9 are still available. it will cost $135 (cash or check) including the materials and you'll take a beautiful centerpiece home. we'll learn how to select, care for, clean and cut fresh flowers, how to prepare and green a container and how to make a natural look holiday centerpiece. we'll learn about vase life for different flowers and greens; how to make and use bows and other decorations in a floral arrangement, etc. all this right in time for the first day of hanukkah (monday the 22nd) and christmas is thursday the 25th.
bring your favorite low container or use one of ours. sign up here in comments or e-mail me at pensive.weeds@gmail.com with any questions. hope to see you there.

fun and games

this rooster costume was requested a long time ago by Fedia and he stuck to his selection. so about a week before the princeton parade i started making it with absolutely no idea of how to accomplish the look. the crest, the hardest bit, worked out as so many things in our lives thanks to t.Ira. she left me some bright red yarn that turned out to be perfect for this project. it was thick enough. i chrocheted without a pattern adding on every stitch in the third row to achieve the right curve. i reinforced on either side to help it stand up, but in hind sight should have crocheted a wire right into the backing. as it is, the wire is threaded in, sewn at the bottom and the crest still kind of flops over. the feathers were easy. an old sweater, fabric glue....a long evening, though after having done it and seen how hard and shrinky the garment itself got, i should have sewn them individually. the tail was a lot of fun. large feathers from a craft store, wicker-srapped wire and red fleece to make shorts to attach the tail. cannot do anything without a glue gun. red rubbery fabric to wrap old rainboots in and we were done. he actually liked it. i thought he may not want to wear it, but we are even keeping it all for dress up.

sonia was a frog. we have used this costume for the 3rd year in a row. it was too small. i forgot that i got it for fedia's 12-18 months. next year we'll have two make two and i cannot wait.