Quilting Gone Wild

Nothing says Christmas like February!

It's raining, it's pouring, the two greyhounds are snoring. I'll be spending the weekend sewing, staring at the kitchen ceiling and spending time with friends. And in the spirit of friends and projects I bring you the pajama quilt.

Anyone out there who has any skills (computers, cars, knitting, sewing, etc...) will understand how this quilt came to be. I was sitting with my mom in the kitchen of our adopted family, eating dinner, decompressing from work when I heard the following words:

"Hey, could you do me a favor?"

Uhm, ok.

"Lexi has all these pajamas that she can't part with so I thought you could make something out of them."

Uhm, ok.

"Here's the bag."

Uhm, ok.

That bag sat for about two months in the same spot in the entry hall. I didn't move it. Mom didn't touch it. Finally one Saturday I opened it up, spread it out on the dining room table and saw what I had to work with. I moved the feetie pjs around like fabric swatches trying to figure out what would match what and what I could actually do with them.

And, in case you ever wondered, size 2T & 3T pjs don't give you a whole lot of usable fabric. You have to cut off the zipper, the cuffs and the feet. And, again, in case you were wondering, cutting up a small child's old pjs feels oddly rude. I mean, I was asked to do this, but I still felt like I was punching a teddy bear.

Without further ado, I present you with...

The pajama quilt! I have to admit, doing projects like this make me feel a little less odd about quilting. I mean, when you think quilting do you think of a fabulous 30-something who wears 4 inch heels on a daily basis. Sorry, off-topic, just something I think about.

Here's a close up:


Yes, this wee lady has a thing for dinosaurs. She LOVES dinosaurs. And Shamu.

For the back I just did a piece of baby blue minky fabric. For those of you who don't hang out in kids stores or fabric shops, this is minky:

You've seen the super soft nubby fabric. Yeah, this is it and its called minky (minkee? minkie?). I said I worked with it, I didn't say I knew the proper spelling of it.

I'd love to show you a picture of Lexi with her quilt but she was sick on Christmas so this had to travel to her house with one of Santa's volunteer elves. But, I did receive a plethora of texts about the quilt so I deem this project a success!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Keep them holiday gifts rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin'
Christmas!

Yeah, I just made that up.

Here at the cube farm there are many people who make my job possible. Several people I know call that "doing their job." Since, I'm also support staff, I understand that in theory, but, its still nice to say "thank you" and "please eat this." Besides, when I really need something I can say "would you like another cupcake?" and then magically files appear in my office. The people I work for think its my winning personality that gets them everything they need done in record time. The truth is my mom is an exceptional baker and I'd rather share than gain 100lbs.

Since it is the holidays, I wanted to give mom the weekend off (and besides I think violence would have occurred if I had tried to add to her already busy baking schedule) Therefore, today I handed out chocolate dipped hand-made marshmallows. They're fantastic, if I do say so myself. And, since I pretty much dislike everything I make, that's saying something.

Cute right? And I so don't do cute well.

You too can do this! And cheap!

Packaging:

• The boxes are from Smart & Final ($6 for about 50 - 100 of them).
• The gift tags are from Costco (seriously people if you're buying gift tags anywhere else, even those sticky ones for $3 at Target, stop now. 100 of these tags were $10. Aren't they cute? And, they have different ones every year. Next year pick them up. Seriously.)
• The stickers are from Target.
• In stuffing the boxes...you know those wax paper sheets they use at the bakery to give you your muffin? Yeah, you can buy a box of those for $6 at Smart & Final as well. Voila! Instant non-stick paper for the gift and it looks fancy too.

The actual gift:

Ok, you already have the link to the recipe (which I'm printing again right now since mine is covered in Pam.) Here's how we do it my house, with a few tips the recipe doesn't give you but my mom gave me.

1. Spray any utensil you plan on using with Pam. I don't know how you're getting your marshmallows out otherwise.
2. Senior Brown uses a metal baking pan, we used our silicon baking pan. Honestly we haven't loved how many of our baked goods have cooked in ours (hence our sacrificing it to the marshmallow doGs) but nothing sticks to it. Its sort of brilliant. Don't get me wrong, you need to do the Pam & the powered sugar/cornstarch lining to it. But, when my marshmallows got a wee out of control and went up over the side to the other side of the pan, I peeled it right off...no drama!
3. Cleaning your stuff is super easy. Two words: Hot Water. I found this to be an easier clean-up than making cookies.
4. You need a Kitchen-Aid mixer. I'm sorry, it won't be the same otherwise. You need a big engine and the ability to flog your machine to mix on high for 12-15 minutes. Any other mixer in our house would have caught fire from trying this. I'm not trying to be a brand snob here people; I'm just looking out for your safety.
5. Follow the recipe. Since this is complete chemistry if you do something silly like mix the marshmallows on low instead of high you'll end up with taffy, er, so I heard.

As for the chocolate dipped part...

• Let the marshmallows set for at least 3 hours. We usually do overnight but I didn't have that much time and 3 hours did nicely.
• Get a big knife and, all together now, spray it with Pam. Then, cut whatever size you like!
• Mom picked up a bar of Bittersweet chocolate at our brand new Trader Joe's but you can use anything. My absolute favorite was mint chocolate chips. Mmmmmmm.
• If you're not using chips, chop up some chocolate (about a cup's worth), as small as you can, put it in a small bowl, nuke it for a minute, stir and if its not melted keep nuking in 30 second increments.
• Make sure your marshmallow is dusted on all sides (again, not that I made this mistake or anything) with the sugar/cornstarch mixture, then dip into chocolate and let it set on a wire cooling rack (wax paper will do if you don't have the wire cookie cooling rack thingies.)

My mom did the math and I think all 20 of my boxes cost me a total of about $20 since everything except the containers were on hand. But really, if you had to buy all of the ingrediants that might set you back like $10.

I have a few extra...please come visit me and take them away before I eat the leftovers. .

Where the wild things are...

One aspect of gift-giving that I spend an embarrassing amount of time trying to wrap my head around is that the gift be something the person wants and not something I just want to give.

As you've seen from my pictures, my knitted gifts are pretty vanilla. I mean, other than me, I can't imagine many people wanting a HUGE dayglow yellow and green bag with pink flowers or a sweater that can be worn to work or as part of a Freddy Kruger costume. Personally, I think that's where the loving hands at home thing gets a bad rap. Many people think that everyone likes what they like.

But, that gift theory goes beyond crafty gifts. My Amazon wish list started because one year my dad gave me books about Hasidic Judaism. I'm not kidding. Boychiks in the Hood was an actual gift for a twenty-something working high-end retail. I totally understood the thought involved. Dad was in his Jewish phase and he was really moved by this book and wanted to share it. I get it. I tried to read it. After my dictionary failed to have some of the terminology I needed to understand the book, I started my Amazon list. How about you get me books/cds/dvds/stuff that I want? So, I try desperately to employ that thinking for others. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. But, if thought counts, crazy lady here wins.

On to today's finished object....

Its a bird, its a plane, its...


...a happy bear made out of organic cotton.

Ok Allison, you win. Organic cotton really does kick regular cotton's booty. I picked this up when Supercrafty was moving from L.A. to PA and Allison was having a sale. Now I'm hooked. I don't think I can make baby things out of anything besides organic cotton. It didn't hurt my hands as much as regular cotton does and after I washed the bear once to get my stitches even, I wanted to keep it....sooooo soft.

This little guy is going to a 20 month old with parents who I know will approve of the colors and the organic cotton. At least, I hope everyone likes it. Crazy lady strikes again!

A Moment of Thanks - A Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Obviously, I'm thankful for my friends, my family, my dogs, my home, my job, my Miu Miu shoes. With that in mind, here is what I was most thankful for this holiday weekend:

As you've read by now, Regina has created some unbelievable holiday hats. I'm thankful that she allowed me to share in her fabulousness and I was able to model my very own pie fascinator at our modest dinner for 41.


I'm thankful no one caught me in the bathroom taking headshots of myself.

I'm thankful for untraditional Black Friday sales at Wildfiber, A Mano, Giant Robot, Cusp and J.Crew. Not that I bought anything at the above stores, I'm, uhm, just thankful for them generally.

I'm thankful for the 3 pies I was able to score on Friday night. I made a call to my dealer (aka the scene of our Thanksgiving) for a piece of leftover pie and was sent home with 3 pies and homemade ice cream. (OK, the ice cream I lifted, but whatever, I left the other flavors behind.)

I'm thankful that I still have two dogs after one of them allegedly ate about 3 lbs of turkey off the kitchen counter on Saturday. Not that I'm naming names or anything...


I'm thankful that I live with a chef who felt the need to make mashed potatoes, Waldorf salad, and soup to go with the last of the turkey I was able to salvage from the above-mentioned turkey incident.

I'm thankful for two days of errands, dog walking, left-overs and knitting with nowhere really to be, no time to really be awake, and no tight fitting pants really to wear.

Now, I need to be thankful for a treadmill.

And the countdown begins

That's right kids, we're just one month shy of Christmas. So, the crafters out there are either smiling smugly or panicking right now. I'm oddly in between. Between my own projects and the elves I've employed, the only panic that set in for a moment this morning was the fact that I almost forgot a short person in my life. Its not Christmas crushing as I picked out the gift my mom is getting her (that and she's not yet two so she wouldn't remember or hold it against me) but still, I forgot. Not good.

Moving on...


Here is my first complete gift, safely posted here on the interwebs as the recipient feels the internets is a waste of time and if she were to log on it would suck her into the great Matrix and never let her out. (I exaggerate, only mildly.)

Yup, my first pair of completed socks. Now, this isn't the first pair I've attempted or the first pair on needles, but the first pair done. Woo!

These are from the worst book ever named but the best for fabulous basic men's patterns. Seriously. The pattern is called Plain Old Rag Socks (link here for the Ravelers out there.) For anyone afraid of socks because a) they don't want to knit with needles the size of toothpicks, b) they don't want to work with yarn the width of dental floss, and c) don't want to spend 2 weeks on a project that will be destroyed by the recipient, these are the socks for you. They're on size 7 needles using a worsted weight yarn. The first one took me a bit to figure out the heel turn and all of that but the second one took me the flight home from Minneapolis to L.A. and that was after my flight from London....we're not talking about full brain power.

I only ran into one snag. You see those fabulous green toes? Super cute right? Well, yeah. The pattern might just underestimate how much yarn you need. Unless you want to stash bust using a different yarn for the heel and toe, do not try to use one skein of gorgeous hand-dyed yarn that you dyed yourself and were super proud to use on this project only to see you're 10 rows short. yeah. Not good. You're going to need 1.2 skeins of yarn.

Woo!

Good Enough

I try to keep this blog sunshine and moonbeams but I can't be adequately thankful for this past year without being completely honest about how this past year ended.

Its been an incredible year filled with a new job, new friends, travel, love and really just about anything a girl could want.*

Christmas held family and friends, even a logical sighting at Xian (the only yummy restaurant open in Beverly Hills on Christmas) and more gift cards and knitting books than I can still wrap my head around.

My birthday began at the Bel Air Hotel where we sat next to the Divine Miss M but ended almost going to the emergency room. I didn't go...I'm lucky to have the only pulmonologist on call during his vacation and he walked me through the medications needed to breathe again....medications I hate and will tell each and every one of you not to take unless its those medications or the hospital. But they work. And I blog now after 36 of the toughest hours I've had all year.

Therefore, I begin 2008 humbled and grateful for all that I have.

To my loyal blog readers, I thank you. I hope your 2008 extraordinary.

XOXO,
Jenna

*I must admit, I am still waiting for that Mini Cooper to appear in my driveway, with keys and a title in my name.

Chaos & Anarchy Rule

at the mall.

OMG, I haven't seen that many people at the mall in years. Seriously. Wall to wall people. People shopping and spending money and carrying bags; kids running amuck; couples arm in arm.

Isn't that supposed to happen before Christmas? I'm just sayin'.

So yeah, if you're aching to go shopping (*coughcoughmelissastevecoughcough*) there are defiantely deals to be had.

Merry Christmas to all

I didn't go to Disneyland for Christmas but I did wear this fine hat today.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

The Design has finally been approved.

I don't know about you, but the holidays stress me out just a wee bit.

Its not the gifts or the wrapping, the food or the parties. Its my holiday card.

Once we added the pups to the family, we finally had an excuse to torture everyone with pictures of our "kids," I mean, send out holiday greetings and best wishes.

When I started, I'd style the card around the personality of the dogs. The picture on the card probably didn't make sense to anyone but me. But, really, the cards were going to dog people so as long as the dog looked cute, they never cared.

So you're saying to yourself, what's so stressful about pictures of your dogs and inside jokes to yourself that no one else needs to understand.

I'll answer that inquiry.

Once Dick joined our family, I made the mistake of being very clever and witty on the annual card. I mean, my dogs are named Dick and Jane, that BEGS for a fabulous holiday card. Since then, I've been expected to go bigger and brighter with each card. And, because I'm me, I do. I'm big on rising to the occasion.

First year, we did a simple Dick & Jane, styled completely in the era of the children's books. The second year we went multi-cultural with Ricardo & Juanita, with the picture and card in Spanish. (Translation was available on the flip side of the card.) The third year (last year), I brought in professional help which was a HUGE hit. That brings us to this joyous holiday season.

My head has ached at the thought of coming up with something fabulous. So, I went old school and decided to do something that would make me happy. I came up with cute and different which required me to draw and plan and embroider.

Yeah, the peanut gallery shot that down. Now, keep in mind, for this endeavor, I'm the creative director, finance, set design and photographer; I'm not real big on input from anyone else. I ignored the voices when I named my dog Dick, I ignored them when I did the first holiday card, I ignore them on a daily basis. This time they wouldn't relent.

"I don't get it."

That's ok. I do.

"But I don't understand."

You don't need to understand until its done.

This conversation was repeated in my kitchen so many times I relented and went back to the drawing board.

Finally, lightening struck twice and I came up with a different idea. And thank you doG, the peanut gallery liked the idea.

Now I just have to pull it together, figure out the layout, set design, actor attitude and capture the magic on film and we'll have ourselves a holiday card.

Isn't this time of year fun?!?

I need a nap.

(If you want to be on the happy holiday card list and you're not on it already, email me your address and a little piece of holiday goodness can be yours.)

31 days until Christmas

11 days until Hanukkah.

You're welcome.

Martha's got nothing on us

Seriously.

A Picture is Worth 11 Words

Ok, so that covers work.

Fast forward to dinner time...its about 6:30pm and Dick & Jane and I are out for our nightly walk. Its quiet out. Eerie quiet. Weird quiet. Dick is on high alert, I'm a little freaked out and Jane is just fine, limping along sticking her nose everywhere it shouldn't be. It was like a scene out of a Stephen King novel. Here we are in the middle of this HUGE city and its just silent out, no movement, no noise. Either the world is ending or everyone is out to dinner. Jane, as taught by the zen-master Hanna, knows everyone is out to dinner. Dick & I still aren't so sure.

Happy Valentine's Day - - - hope yours was filled with pretty flowers, yummy treats and lots of people and/or dogs and/or cats to love and torment.

Two posts in one day!

Yes, this may be a sign of the apocalypse. But, I just had to share my new fabulous light up (yes, it has an on/off switch for the LIGHTS!) hat.

I hope you had a very merry Christmas!