Narwhal Jacket

So, the day before Christmas Eve, we went to a little local aquarium, located in a mall here.  Of course, Nora wore her new Narwhal jacket.

And, also, of course, I only got one picture of her wearing it, while her auntie was holding her, and she was impatient to go see the fishies (as were her 2 cousins).

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I'm Dreaming of...

...no more white than this.  It looks good, but travel is still safe.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Treasure your loved ones today.

Merry Christmas!

We got the tree up after Mark came home.  Can't have him missing out on our traditions.

And my grandmother's German glass icicles are up.  I love them.

Merry Christmas to all of you!  See you some time after the holiday....

Narwhals become....

a jacket!

 My friend GMarie suggested that I make a jacket, and then pointed me at a pattern - Simplicity 8759, from their "Baby Gear" line.

I didn't bother to try to gather a contrasting fleece to make the ruffle on the hood and sleeves; pregathered eyelet lace looked good to me, and saved plenty of time.  I also skipped a couple of their other instructions, because I felt that they would disturb the softness of the coat.

Don't you just love the narwhal on the back?  There's another one on each sleeve, too.

Finally, you'll indulge me; I can't get enough of the cuteness of this jacket, so I found a teddy bear to model it.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Edited to add: I forgot to say that this is for Nora!

.Monday Miscellany: It's all I do These Days

Our community center was holding a wreath making....class? party? get together?  Whatever.  My next door neighbor Judy and I went, the deal being pay $3, make a wreath for the Comm, and one for yourself.  The greens are donated by the local Christmas tree farms.  I made the bow at home; not bad for a rank amateur.
 

That caused Judy to invite me to go to the holiday formal, fondly known as "The Comm Prom", with her and her husband the next day.  Black tie affair: did I have a long dress?  Of course!  I had a new dress, and was all set!

Judy told her husband that he was escorting the 2 hottest babes in town.  He didn't disagree.

Meanwhile, back at home, I knew that Kellie was hosting the potluck Christmas dinner that her group of friends holds every year, rotating the host.  So I wanted to make her some Christmas napkins.  I made 12, and thought they were very festive.

Then I talked to her 3 days before the party, and discovered that she had 18 people coming!  Oh, no!  She would have to choose who was good enough to get a fancy napkin, and who had to live with a paper napkin.  Couldn't have that.  So off to the fabric store I raced, only to discover that my original fabric was gone.  I'd say my second dozen were a close enough coordinate to the originals.  I also made her 4 trivets to match, but, of course, no pictures of those.

Finally, I wanted to send a present to the relative in Denver.  Easy peasy! Trivets, a set of 8 napkins (I'm not gonna lie, I didn't get the cardinals positioned correctly; they all look like they're napping),

and a frilly apron (please don't mind the fact that I sewed the pocket upside down; think of it as cardinals doing gymnastic stunts).

Like I said, it's good to stay busy.

Up next: Adorableness involving narwhal fleece.  You'll see.  Adorableness that must be done by Friday!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Rocky Ran Up These Steps. I didn't.

But I did walk up them, and for that I should be commended, at least in my own mind.

 Jeff called me earlier in the week, and asked me to go to Philadelphia and be a tourist with him for a day.  We went to a Christmas Village - I only bought a bone for his dog; I wasn't hauling anything else through the city, cabs and who knows what else.  Then we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  That's the building that Rocky ran up and down in the movie.  There's a Rocky statue at the bottom and to the side of the steps, but I wasn't interested in standing in line with all of the other tourists to see it.

That's a honkin' lot of steps!  Somewhere around 100, I think, but I'm not positive.  I didn't count.

The museum is interesting in that it not only contains paintings and statues, but also rooms presumably salvaged from buildings being torn down, phenomenal doorways like this one,

and a whole room full of these fellows.  Might as well strike the pose, right? (Excuse my wrinkled dress.)

And when we left, shortly before 5, night was just falling, and the city looked as pretty as it ever does, from the top of the stairs,

and from the bottom.

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope your holiday preparations are moving along well!

Thursday Miscellany

That doesn't have the ring of Monday Miscellany, does it?  Ah, well, that's how my life is going these days.

I ordered myself a sewing subscription box, which includes a pattern fabric, thread, and notions to complete the project, along with the fabric and pattern for a little "extra" project.  One such project was a little travel bag, which was described by GMarie a little while back.

 The fabric I got was cute, but hardly adult, so after I made up the bag, I sent it to my oldest granddaughter (she'll be 3 in March; can you believe it?).  I told my daughter in law that it was for her crayons and valuables.  My girl looks delighted, doesn't she?

November's extra project was pot holder/trivets.  Since I only use my tile trivets and Pampered Chef oven mitts that go about to my elbows, I sent these to my daughter in law.  She seemed pretty pleased with them. 

Beyond the sewing box, I had made myself a dress in October.  There was just a bit of leftover fabric, so I made a quasi-matching dress for Maddie, and sent it to her.  My daughter in law said that she was so excited that she had to wear her dress to school the next day.  And she brought it for Thanksgiving weekend, so I got to see her in it.  It's a bit large, but she'll grow.

Finally, this weekend I'm meeting some old friends halfway between here and Connecticut for an afternoon; I decided that I should bring them presents, so I made them each 8 Christmas napkins. Oh, I'm not clever enough to have thought these up; I copied them from a set that GMarie gifted me several years back, but they're so pretty that I had to make them.

Trying to stay busy is good for me, and these were some fun project to make.  (And I am doing some cooking, including baking brownies or something similar when Ryan holds board game night with his friends on Tuesdays, and sometimes Mondays as well.)

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I hope you all have fun weekends planned!