Random 5 Friday

Nothing but anticipation in the week prior to Christmas, but I've tried my best and I think been much more organized this season than last.  What does one do this final week before the kids are on Christmas break?

1.  Treat making:  We got our Christmas cookies made, 10 dozen dusted snowballs and chocolate dipped pecan shortbread.  Some for gift giving, and far too many for us!  I used some caramels that I made with a friend and melted them down to make caramel coated pears.  As a last minute thing I tried a simple recipe for Gingerbread Spiced Nuts.  They are so good, I may just have to make a batch to bring with us to KS next week (along with another batch of peppermint marshmallows as promised for my BIL Mark :)

2.  Winter White:  maybe because we will be gone through New Years, or maybe because our weather has been so very cold, but I have made real progress making seasonal decor for the house to replace the festive holiday items.  I am obsessed with the beauty of winter whites to help bring some rustic and bright cheer to the post Christmas house.  It also has such a clean feel which feeds into my annual new year deep cleaning (which I started early with our travel schedule).

3.  Poor Kiddo:  Sid came home from school on Monday with a horrible sore throat and fever.  As it turned out a first time case of strep.  Yuck, never seen a kid get so sick so fast.  I'm happy to say that with 1750 mg of Amoxicillin a day she is feeling much better!  Now I am just praying that the belligerent hand washing, laundry and dish cleaning, and vitamin taking will protect the rest of my clan before the holiday.

4.  Crazy Active Weather:  We have run the gamut of weather already this season.  Overnight we began with freezing rain that is predicted to last most of the day and then we are readying for what may be a decent winter storm for Sunday!  The bright side, the second Christmas morning in 13 years that we will be at home in Wisconsin, will prove to be white!

5.  5 Things Left To Do Before Christmas & Staying Zen:  friend visits and cheer, family games and movies, menu plans, year end wrap up at work, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  

Linking up with Nancy at A Rural Journal, what have you been up to this week?  Please join in!

Just Sit And Create

We are on Thanksgiving break this week and due to a number of circumstances, we are spending it at home this year as just our immediate family.  The last few days have been peppered with sleep overs and play dates.  Last night, Sidney and her friend were up until 1:20 am diligently working on a duck tape project.

They each made their own unique purses and wallets.  Sid's reflected what most consumes her thoughts these days...can you guess?

I was stunned at the thought that went into these, and how they just made up the patterns and went with it.  Sidney even has an iPod holder (pocket) built into her bag!

Now, I love to craft, but this pure ability to just sit and create, from nothing?  It is all hers, and I am so proud!

Evolution Of The Gourd Lantern

One of the plans that B brainstormed while the gourds were drying was to making lanterns from them.  When I came home from a field trip with Charles' class last Friday, he had managed to fulfill phase one of his lantern vision.  Using a dremel tool, he cut two holes in the gourds and pulled out what remained of the dry innerds (very loofah looking hugh?).

Then using a string of Christmas lights, he created a cozy fall setting over our porch table.  The look of it was fantastic, bet he wasn't done yet.

He decided that he wanted a warmer more transluscent feel to the gourds to highlight the natural variations in their shells.  Using a combination of boiled linseed oil and and mineral spirits, he began to soak the gourds for several hours each and then laid them out to dry.

With this little bit of added creativity, this is what we were left with.   I so love this! 

Since this is our first time experimenting with gourds, we didn't plant any this year, we wanted to see what we would end up doing with all of the ones we had finishing from last season.   We are pretty excited with all of the ideas that are flowing on what to do with them.  We may just need to find a bunch of gourds from a local farm to dry out for next year until we plant another batch to dry for 2013.   Who wants one??