I Can't Get Off!

Remember when we were kids back in the 50s and everyone had a train that went around the bottom of their Christmas tree? Well, actually, our family never did, but I saw it on just about every Christmas movie made during that era (not to mention the fact that at 29 years of age, I'm MUCH, MUCH too young to know anything about the 50s!).

So anyway, I was thinking on my drive home from work tonight that around this time of the year, I feel like I'm a passenger on one of those trains just going around and around in circles. My days seem to consist of a never-ending loop of JoAnn's, Michael's, the grocery store, JoAnn's, Michael's, the grocery store. Despite having gone grocery shopping on Friday night and thinking there wasn't anything else I could possibly need between then and the day after Thanksgiving, guess what? I spent more quality time tonight in the grocery store, racking up another triple-digit grocery bill. On what?! Sheesh! And during my lunch hour? JoAnn's, yet again, hoping to find silicone-dipped light bulbs but coming up empty--except for that bag I hauled out with me of stuff I didn't know I needed until I saw it. ARGH!

This snowman toy was one of those things I didn't know I needed. An obvious impulse buy. He reminds me of childhood toys--you push on the bottom and he collapses forward. Hours and hours of entertainment, particularly on whatever night I decide to try that Red Christmas Glog I've been "aging" in a large container in the kitchen. Ah, and this brings me to tonight's crafty activities. Remember the bottle brush trees I bleached? (Fun with chemicals!) Tonight I glittered them by painting glue on the brush tips and rolling them in micca glitter--micca is that old-fashioned looking glitter that comes in flakes. I bought a baggie on eBay or Etsy last year, and having no idea about the weight/volume ratio of micca glitter when I ordered it, I didn't realize I would be getting enough micca to glitter the Sacramento skyline. I foresee a lot of trees and other glittery goodies in my future!

Kind of cool, though, huh? The last step will be adding "ornaments" to the trees. See the red "ball" poking in on the left side of the photo? I think that will be one of them--I've been looking for something appropriate and I think these are it. And my other little project tonight? Finishing up the bon bon bags I mentioned the other day. Now I have that cute little original stitchery version as well as four holly leaf and berry versions.

Seriously, I have a whole design wall I've pinned "containers" on; now I need to come up with stuff to fill them.

Finally--are you still with me?--the winner of the Bon Bon pattern is . . . Anonymous (aka Zel)! Hubby picked number 21, and that turned out to be Zelda's entry. Please send me your snail mail address, Zelda, and I'll get the pattern in the mail to you! (If anyone else wants info about the pattern, it's called Christmas Bon Bon by Australian designer Hatched and Patched. If you're here in the Sacramento area, Bearpaws & Hollyhocks carries it--or if you're outside the area, you can call the shop and arrange to order it from them.)

Thanks for stopping by to visit! See you again soon!