Crafting and Cooking at the Carlson Crib...Part 2

Yes, I really am on my computer writing at 6 am. Actually, I was on the computer writing at 5 am. But then Tony and Justin got up because they are running in a race, and I didn't want Tony to see me on the computer so early in the morning and think I need an intervention. Insomnia sucks! The sky is still dark, and I've already watched a movie, thrown a load of clothes in the dryer, eaten a piece of apple pie, and cleaned up dog puke. (Not in that order). Yesterday was full of creating and today may be full of napping.

I think I may have cured Rachel of her "I want to make something today" for quite a while. I'm sure you all (all 3 of you who read my blog!) are dying with anticipation to know what we did yesterday with that hodge podge of stuff. Well, I'll stop leaving you in suspense. :-) Before I show the finished products, I have to show the process. I had to take pictures of it all since Lauren is usually not into girly things like crafting, and she had a blast.




She doesn't much look like she's having a blast, does she? But trust me, she was. She did ask me though to please not post the pictures on Facebook. I guess she doesn't want to ruin her image.
Here's Rachel:



And now...TA DA! Here is what they made:



How cute are those? I wish I could take credit for being the creative soul who came up with that idea, but I cannot. I saw it on a blog last week, and knew it was the perfect thing for the girls to make as Christmas gifts for their friends. They both have too many friends they want to exchange gifts with, and I was starting to panic and wonder how I was going to fit that into our Christmas budget. I do have to brag a bit and say these are the cheapest gifts ever. I found the socks for $2, and the paper is left over from my scrapbooking days. So we made 8 gifts for $16. Most everyone who knows me knows how thrifty (cheap!) I am, so this was right up my alley. They will also be giving their friends some homemade treats along with the socks.

Onto the next thing. Although this one so far is on the fail list. I am trying to come up with a plan B for this project. First some more pictures:













That pictorial should have ended with a stack of cute little plastic containers of cherry lemonade lipgloss. But it didn't. The little plastic containers sit empty because the recipe I found online for homemade lipgloss flavored with Kool Aid didn't quite turn out. In fact, the flavoring part of the lipgloss settled into a rock hard clump at the bottom of that Christmas bowl, leaving a layer of pink tinted Vaseline sitting on top. And it doesn't taste anything like cherry lemonade. Trust me. I tasted it. Blech. So all the chopping of lipstick...the microwaving of Vaseline that overflowed making a pink slimy mess was for nothing. So I will either give up on the homemade lipgloss or find a way to make it work. I hope I find a way to make it work. Stay tuned.

And the projects weren't finished. Oh no. We moved onto a much more foolproof one after the lipgloss mess.





Finally, we made peppermint bark.

Whew.

One last picture, which made the whole day of messes totally worth it:


Moments like these don't happen often with these two, and it was the best part of the day.

I do have one more picture to share:



Eight years ago, I started collecting angel Christmas ornaments. I haven't bought one for the past two years because because I just couldn't find one that "spoke" to me. This week, I found one. I was at Michaels, not even looking for ornaments, and this angel was hanging all by itself, and I had to have it. That picture doesn't do it justice, but when the lights on the tree are turned on, it looks like sparkling ice, and I love it.