Luggage Tags

I've blogged before about a luggage tag tutorial at My Longest Year that I thought was cute and easy. Now here's an blurb about my own foray into the world of luggage tag crafting.

I was inspired to craft some luggage tags when I saw the following:



Aren't they cool? I'm always on the lookout for good ways to make my luggage stand out from the crowd- our luggage is usually very standard-looking, and I hate trying to guess if a bag is mine as it comes at me on the belt at the airport. These tags seemed like a great idea, so I bookmarked the link and stuck the idea in that corner of my brain filled with crafty ideas I plan to realize someday.

Then, a couple of days ago, I was at the Dollar Tree, and I spotted these:



At 10 for a $1, I can make lots of luggage tags and ensure that I'm never again uncertain about whether or not a bag is mine! I'm making custom tags for my family members for the holidays-- I won't say much, so as not to ruin the surprise, but let's just say that these tags will feature zombies, sharks, shoes, workout gear, Montessori materials, cats and a sleeping guy. I'll post pictures after I give them away in December.

What Would You Do?

If you had this really cool empty can, what would you make out of it? I'm thinking of a pencil holder, but that seems so very predictable. Isn't it great? I don't even like canned peaches, but the "Dainty-Pak" label totally won me over.

And, just for the complete cuteness of it, a photo of my two cats sleeping on my office chair. FYI, I sat perched on the edge of the chair working at the computer for about 30 minutes so as not to disturb the cuteness. Finally my husband came in and moved the cats, muttering something about my carpel tunnel syndrome as he did so.

Beginning a Holiday Project: Pet Bed

I belong to a knitting group that has been very indulgent of my absences of late. I guess being in Mongolia is a pretty good excuse for not attending, but now that I'm back, I'm ready to join the madness again. Anyway, one of the excellent knitters in our group, Deb, suggested that we all work on projects to be donated this holiday season, and even connected us to a particular project- knitted pet beds for the local SPCA (so that the animals have some warmth in their cages during the long Buffalo winter).

I'm not sure exactly what the finished product will look like, but I hope it might knit up like the above photo. Of course, I'll post pictures of my finished product. I just hope Mochi doesn't web with my yarn for this project!

Stupid Sock Creatures, Revisited

Yesterday I got an e-mail from my colleague and friend Susan, who shared the above photo of her Thanksgiving weekend crafting adventures. She wrote:

Hi Rachel,

I thought of you last night as we spent the evening crafting with socks. When we were Christmas shopping yesterday we bought a “Stupid Sock Creatures” book and kit (by John Murphy) for my sister-in-law and her husband. It looked like so much fun that we made our own stupid sock monsters to send along. Here is a photo of our creations. Jason made the big headed guy on the left, I made the strange creation in the middle, and Chloe’s creature on the right is still in progress.

Susan

Okay, now here's the crazy part. Although I'd never mentioned this to Susan before, I actually met John Murphy several years ago (maybe in 2002 or 2003, I'm not sure) and commissioned him to make stupid sock creatures for me, my sister and my brother!

Here's the link to the book and kit, in case you want to make your own. In the meantime, I'll try to scare up some photos of our stupid sock creatures. Mine is named "Sharky the Intrepid," FYI!

Oh, What a Tangled Web...

The webspinner inspecting her work

One of my cats, Mochi, loves to eat wool and other natural fibers (particularly cashmere). In addition to this not-so-charming behavior, she has another yarn-related habit that is pretty cute. If she finds a ball of yarn, she will carry it in her mouth, dragging the tail of the yarn until she weaves an intricate web throughout our house. Generally these webs begin near a table. She weaves the yarn around the legs of that piece of furniture and then carries the ball to another room, where she proceeds to web some more. This is often a nocturnal activity for Mochi, so we have to be careful not to get trapped in her tangled web when we wake up in the mornings.

A close-up of the web at its origins

The web continues into the dining room; notice that it divides into two paths at this point

Path one: Masterful weaving around a dining room chair

Path two: From the dining room into the pantry and kitchen (she ran out of yarn at this point)

Gratitude and Feasting

Yesterday I hosted my second-ever Thanksgiving. It was a rousing success- or at least there were no major calamities (no lumpy mashed potatoes, no too-dry turkey, no burnt stuffing, etc!)

I was so busy cooking that I didn't take any photos. But despite the lack of photographic evidence, I'll state for the record that I am ever grateful to have shared a feast with 10 of my nearest and dearest. After all of our recent adventures overseas, it felt really nice to be gathered around the table with loved ones. For those who might be interested, my menu:

Turkey, stuffing, gravy
Mixed greens salad with pears, pecans and dried cranberries
Mashed potatoes (with sour cream, heavy cream and butter- not an everyday food!)
Sweet potatoes
Purple cauliflower* and (regular, orange) carrots
Green beans with onions
Squash stuffed with cranberries and apples (made by my sister Sarah!)
Traditional cranberry sauce and cranberry chutney
Sweet potato pie
Pumpkin pie
Apple pie (made by my sister Sarah!)

I have to admit that while I orchestrated the whole dinner, I had massive amounts of help from my mom, who actually spent the night and woke at 5 AM to put the turkey in the oven (it was a big turkey, and since we eat early-- at 1 PM-- we had to get it started in the early morn).

Anyway, I hope your holiday was as much fun as ours!


*According to Wikipedia: Purple cauliflower exists naturally. The purple color is caused by the presence of the antioxidant group anthocyanin, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine. Varieties include 'Graffiti' and 'Purple Cape'.

One Potato, Two Potato...

In honor of the 10 lbs. of potatoes I peeled today (for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner), I present potato-related crafts:

1. Potato Dough
2. Potato Necklace
3. Potato Printing
4. Baked Potato Bag

Happy Eating and Crafting!

Added: an excellent potato video from the 1970s by Rita Pavone, courtesy of mely. Thanks so much- this is awesome!