Where The Heck Is That Barbie Hiding!?!

 

I remember growing up with a mother who would forget where she hid Christmas presents.  I can’t remember what the presents were, but I distinctly remember being puzzled by how in the world someone could forget something like that, especially in a small house which was occupied by 5 people.

To give myself a little credit, our house is much bigger than the house I grew up in.  Therefore, there are more hiding places available.

To my discredit though, the gift that is missing didn’t need to be hidden, because Rachel knew she was receiving it as a gift, just like she’s received it for the last 10 years.

I know I bought this several months ago ….

It’s the 2010 Hallmark Barbie Ornament.

Rachel has received the Hallmark Barbie Ornament every year since they first appeared 11 years ago.

I know she’s somewhere in this house.  I just don’t know where I put her after she arrived here.

I wouldn’t have hidden it anywhere.  I would have put it upstairs in our bedroom just to store it out of the way.  But. it’s. not. in. our. bedroom.

Oh, I’ve searched.  And then I searched more.  Then yesterday I cleaned and searched.  I found some missing socks, Jen’s old  swimsuit, Rachel’s favorite jeans that has a hole I needed to patch…about 3 years ago.  But Barbie is still missing.  I know for sure where Barbie is NOT hiding. 

To make it worse, I’m reading the new Stephen King book.  His books always give me creepy ideas in my head, long after I’ve finished reading the book.  I can imagine the hidden Barbie ornament … well, I won’t go into Stephen King details but basically, it involves rats and maggots and lots of bad smells and sinister noises.

I must find that missing Barbie before Stephen King does!

So I’m making myself crazy trying to figure where the heck I could have put that little ornament box.  The daughters are going to have a fine fun time making fun of me for this one.

I’m telling myself right now; I’m going to search for it a little more today and if it doesn’t turn up, I’m going online to order another one.

I know what’s going to happen when I order a new one though …

the missing one will turn up.

So if any of you happen to know where I put that missing Barbie ornament, please let me know.  I would appreciate some help!

In other Christmas news …

How could someone not want to receive a brand spanking new Apple IPad for a Christmas gift? 

That’s the big gifts that hubby and I gave our two daughters for Christmas.

One daughter was more excited than the other to receive it.  It was a huge surprise for both of them though.  Jen and Jason love it and Rachel, preferring her laptop, isn’t quite as thrilled with hers, but I’m sure once she uses it more, she’ll love it too.

If anyone out there reading this has an IPad, and knows of some good interesting Apps that you can’t live without, let me know. 

Rach found a police scanner App and the other night we learned that someone had a flat tire on the turnpike and somewhere close by, a 65 year old woman had a hematoma.  All of that fascinated her for some reason.

All in all, it was a really nice Christmas.  I’m glad it’s over though.  Once the tree and decorations are put away, things can get back to normal …well, at least as normal as it can be after reading a Stephen King book.

 

Happy Day everyone! …. and if anyone can tell me where that darned Barbie is in my house, I’ll love you forever!

Putting on the Merry Christmas Present Face

So today is the day, finally!
Every year, all of us spend so much time preparing for this day.
The shopping, the cleaning, the decorating, the baking and cooking.
Just for one day.
But once that day comes, you’re more than glad that you did all of that preparation because it’s all of those family traditional things that we do that keeps the spirit alive.
It’s not even about the gifts. 
But I do have to say, having a little one around sure does make the day even better.  The grandson is at that perfect age .. he understands what’s going on and no matter what present he gets, he loves it.
This year, while waiting for the family to all gather at our house, I’m a bit worried though about the present that my husband and I are giving to our daughters and son-in-law.
It’s something that they’ve not asked for … I don’t think they would ever expect it from us.  That’s what makes it exciting …to see them open up their very special gift and then the surprised and joyous faces they make which will make all that work and effort and $$ worth every stinking bit.
But, there’s also a  chance that they won’t appreciate it, like I hope.
It’s then, when they open the gift, that I’ll see that “look”.
I know both of them well enough to know exactly what the “look” looks like.
It’s that look that I saw when one of them came home from work the other day holding their Christmas bonus.  It was a Spiral Cut Ham, with glaze.  She hates ham and I don’t think many single, 21 year olds  would appreciate a ham for a Christmas bonus. (I, however, was thrilled with it.)
I saw that look on both their faces, several years ago, when they opened their present of pajamas .
I thought the Pjs were wonderful, but they told me almost right away that they were old lady pjs. 
I hope, when they open their gifts today, I’ll see that look of joy and total shocked surprise on their faces.
And not the “Present Face”

 
Wishing you all a joyous Christmas with your loved ones … and absolutely NO “Present Faces”!

Our Driveway Is Brutal, Watch Out!

Ok, so last year, our mail carrier had an incident on our driveway that lead to her refusal to ever drive up our driveway ever again when there is any snow.  Mind you, she has a 4wheel drive vehicle and is known to drive too fast, but yet, she blames our driveway.  She got stuck in deep snow because she was gunning her engine on a plowed but a little icy driveway.

So, yesterday, we had a package delivery.  Now, why this guy decided to back down our driveway instead of turning around is really unknown, but our driveway was plowed and not icy and this happened:

While backing away, the driver somehow managed to go completely off the driveway and got stuck at the top of the hill bank.  His back truck tires were literally teetering on the edge of one railroad tie.  Thankfully, the truck didn’t roll down the hill but if he had tried to spin his tires to get unstuck any more, he would have flipped over the side.

He was a super nice guy and I felt so bad because I know these drivers work hard during the holidays and any delays like this,  put him way off schedule.

So he waited around for over an hour for the tow truck to arrive…

They pulled him out, but not easily.

Rachel, home for a little lunch break and I decided that if the truck flipped over the hill, we would go out and help by bringing all the packages up to the house.  Of course we’d need to open them all just to make sure nothing was broken or damaged.

Once the truck was finally pulled out we discovered the real reason why the truck got stuck in the first place.

The driver obviously did not know how to drive his truck in reverse.

Even on a completely straight and flat section of the drive, the towtruck driver had to walk along with this guy to yell directions.

Without the towtruck driver there to help him, he would have gotten stuck several more times after knocking down big pine tree branches and running completely over my flower bed.

He’s safely on his way, and I’m glad that I have no more deliveries coming from this company any time soon.

The good thing about all this is that he delivered some real goodies for me…

Wool!   Lots of beautiful thick black tweedy wool!

I ordered this from my wool company a while back but it was on back order for a long time until they finally cancelled the order saying that it was going to be out of stock for too long.

So I called the company.  This wool is gorgeous and I had used most of my supply to fill orders for the “Jingle Bell Candy Canes” candle mat kits.  I needed more of the amazing wool to use for myself.

They told me on the phone that all they had left was remnants.  To make a long story short, I got 5 huge pieces of wool at a discounted price with free delivery because they were so apologetic that they couldn’t fill my original order.

  Just an amazing deal!

 

I know y’all don’t want to hear this because everyone is right in the middle of the big Christmas hustle bustle rush, but I’m working on Valentine designs now.  I will have two really cute designs ready to sell as patterns within the next week or so.  Be sure to keep watch!

 

Happy Day!

Stringing Popcorn For Da Tree

I just realized that I haven’t blogged for about a week! 
Gosh, where did the time go?!?
Honestly, I told myself this time last year that I would try to take it easy this year so that I would have more time to get things done to prepare for Christmas and then be able to relax a bit.  It’s not quite so bad this year but it’s still too much too close to Christmas.
I just finished up my last order last night ….
And those jingle bells in the center represent the very last ones I have left so hopefully, I’ll be able to find them somewhere so I can stock up and have more available next year.  I know they’re hard to find at the craft stores now, but perhaps they’ll be discounted online after Christmas. 
This pattern (the Jingle Bell Candy Cane candle mat)has been REALLY surprisingly popular.  I wish I had finished the design earlier so more of you could have had the time to finish it for the holidays, but… the good thing is that I have new designs all drawn out and ready to go for next Christmas so I’ll be able to sell them waaaay before the holidays next year.
So,  I’m done with orders now for finished candle mats and have time now to do the baking, cleaning and finish decorating the tree.
The grandson has been pestering me to finish the tree so that he can help to decorate it, but I have to put the popcorn strands on it first.  My fingers only had time to stitch thread on wool and no time to stitch popcorn on thread, so it had to wait.
I did get a start the other day …
and it was just enough on the lower branches to allow him to put the candy canes on.   The silly boy ended up decorating the lower branches nicely with every single one of the candy canes.  The upper branches will be caneless this year, I guess.
So, this stringing popcorn has been a tradition for me for …
well, forever. 
We have 10 foot high ceilings so we used to always get huge trees.  The bigger the tree ,  the more popcorn. 
Nowadays, it’s a much smaller tree, so not quite as much popcorn stringing, but it’s still time consuming.  I don’t hate doing it, it’s just that I could be doing so many other things instead, so I put off doing it.  But really, it wouldn’t be our tree without the popcorn, so I HAVE to do it
I go through lots of popcorn.  So some tricks to get it done fast?
First of all, I always pop it on the stove, using Orville popcorn.
I don’t use microwave popcorn.  The Orville popcorn popped in a pan on the stove make large fluffy popcorn which is easier to string.
Secondly, I always use dental floss instead of thread to string the popcorn. I use the waxed mint cause I like the mint scent while I’m stringing. :)  With dental floss, you never have problems with the thread breaking … it never breaks.  Heck, we used to have a golden retriever that would hide behind the tree and crunch away at the popcorn.  The string never broke and she easily ate it without messing up the rest of the strand.  Sheesh, I miss that dog.  Best dog ever …
Anyway, that’s pretty much all the tricks for stringing.
I meant to post this a while ago but I forgot…
If you go to Amazon.com HERE they’re giving away FREE, one holiday song each day until Christmas.  There’s some really good music there that is absolutely free! 
I guess they do this every year, but this is the first year for me.  We’ll have to remember to watch for it next year.  Someone remind me, ok?

Ok, ladies.  I’m off to fight the crowds at the mall with hubby.  I really really hate doing any shopping this close to Christmas, but hubby will be with me to keep my crowd claustrophobia under control.

Oh, and I’m a bit disappointed that more of you haven’t advertised your Ebay and Etsy sites in my last blog post.  Thanks to those of you that did, but it’s not too late to give your website a little boost in sales.
Go down to my last post and let everyone know what you’re selling, give the link and wait for the big bucks to come in!
Ok, so maybe you won’t be bombarded with hits, but I’m trying!

Happy Day everyone ! …. I’m going to try to get through this shopping day without becoming frazzled! 

Ebay, Etsy Selling! Let’s Do Some Shopping!

Do you sell your handmade goodies on Ebay or Etsy? 
Everyone should know what Ebay is by now, but oddly, there’s a lot of people who don’t know what Etsy is.
Etsy is almost like Ebay except it’s specifically for handmade/homemade/artist type items.
Etsy, at least for me, is a great place to go to be entertained.
Odd items can be found there that make you think, “Ummm…what the heck?” and “wow, someone actually bought that?”

Here’s a good example …. This ….

Well, what can I say?  It’s self explanatory.  It was sold as a pattern on Etsy.  Someone out there owns a pattern to make this.
I really like how the tie strings have the turkey feet at the bottom.
We all probably know someone who would have the personality to be able to pull off wearing this in public.  
My sister would probably wear this at work.

Once you’re at the Etsy site, just use the search bar to find whatever you need.
I easily found this gem when I typed “earrings” into the search bar…..
I do believe that these are cut off Barbie arms that are made into earrings.    I wish, like the turkey hat, this seller would have shown how these actually look on the ears.  I think seeing them dangling from the ears would help to sell them better.
So to go along with the earrings, I accidently found this when I typed “shoes” in the search bar…..
My sister would probably wear both the arm earrings and the leg necklace to work too.  Carol, don’t look at this, it’s supposed to be a surprise Christmas gift.

But really, Ebay and Etsy are great places to shop for really beautiful handmade things.  So many bloggers are Ebay and/or Etsy sellers, just like me, so I’m going to give all of you a chance to advertise your things in the comments.
I can’t personally list all of your names … I don’t want to hurt feelings if I forget a name.
I will name the bad sellers though …. ….
nah, I won’t publicly name you, so calm down.  Those of you who wish to know the ones to stay away from, just email me for the names.  :)
So, in the comments, give me a link to either your Ebay/Etsy selling site or give me a link to one of your favorite sellers whom you really admire for their quality items.
Ok?  Let’s do some Christmas shopping!
Happy Day everyone and have a grand weekend!