right now

right now

Nov 26, 2011

Kicking off my favorite time of year!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

It was a quiet day here, we are a thousand miles from family again this year, but we didn't let that stop us from doing the "dinner" thing.  We may take some flak for this, but I made a HAM instead of turkey this year.  Although I do love turkey, I don't like the smell of it cooking all day, and the only thing I detest more on that day than cleaning a bird carcass is the thought of wasting the bird carcass LOL, so I decided to avoid it all and do the ham :)  Tomorrow I will use the leftovers for a ham and bean soup that I can pressure can also if I have enough.

The night before the big dinner day we decided to forgo cooking and head to our favorite salad bar place for dinner.  When we got there it was sunny out, but when we left they had just done the illumination of Town Center, so that put me in a bit of a holiday mood, even though hubby was wearing shorts!  Yes, it was in the 70's again, yuck!


Lots of things to be thankful for this year, but I'm especially thankful for a child that will actually wear the sweater out to play that mom knit :)


I decided to try Cake Pops for the first time...


Not too bad for the first attempt!


I will admit to shopping ON Thanksgiving Day!!!!  I can see you cringing right now, but hey - it was a craft store so does that make it any better?  I didn't think so.  80% off an item I had been coveting for 6 months made it okay for me :)

One thing I found interesting was possibly a sign of the current economic times - I passed Target which opened in the evening and the parking lot was almost empty, but when I pulled into Michael's at 6 pm there were lots of cars and several more pulling in behind me.  I'd like to think that means more people are instead spending money on their crafts, hobbies, their own home and making gifts than in years before.  I know I don't have the cash for new tv's, gaming systems and the like, but I sure can find a few dollars for some yarn for a knitted gift :)  Funny thing too, everyone in there was pleasant and chatting with strangers instead of pushing and shoving!



Then it was time to dig out the Christmas Gear...



And decorate the tree!  It's never too early for military families to decorate.  Last year many of us military spouses had our Christmas stuff out after Halloween LOL, I think that may have had something to do with the fact that our spouses were on deployment and due to return just a couple of days before Christmas, we were just a bit excited :)  Remember last year here?  Hubby had to climb in the car and drive 1250 miles just hours after stepping foot on dry land!

Oh yeah... WHAT could have possibly had me out shopping on Thanksgiving night?  That white carousel below - reg price $40 - with the sale and coupons, I snatched it up for under $10!  I can't wait to stock it up with crafting nonsense :)


Today's agenda:  sending the kids outside to play with daddy, hot chocolate and pattern cutting for me!

Tina over at Our Rustic Roots asked the other day about crafty/sewing spaces, so I'm going to do a post later on about my space.  I meant to do a post about my sewing/crafting space saving setup last year but never got around to it, although I did do one on my yarn storage "hallway".  I even had the photos grouped on my old Mac's desktop but we all know what happened to that thing.  Maybe if everyone has time in the next few days they could post a few pics of their setup for whatever the wintertime hobby may be - large rooms, tiny rooms, kitchen table sewing, whatever space you have, show us how you set it up!  I know this time last year I was a freak show with my newfound obsession with my search for a sewing machine and learning how to sew, and creating a place for it all naturally became entwined with all that.  Besides looking at peoples' pantries, is there anything better than snooping at crafty spaces?  I think not.

21 comments:

  1. Wow, that white carousel thingie looks pretty darn handy. And you sure know how to get a bargain, Girl!

    I'm struggling getting my Christmas decorations up because of the change in rooms, layout, furniture, no living room area, etc. this year. Nothing goes where it always has gone. (Huh?) Your tree looks great!

    I've posted pictures of my quilt studio before but if you promise I won't get booted out of Blogland for being BOR-ing, I'll put up some pictures again. Looking forward to seeing what space you've carved out of your house for your crafting.

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  2. I think I would've gone shopping on Thanksgiving for a deal like that, too! I get tired of jury-rigged storage/organizers. Sure they're free, but when you're tight on space, a purpose-made organizer that fits twice as much into half the space is worth every penny spent on it!

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  3. Well I am glad you told us what you did venture out on Thanksgiving to get. I got a little nervous there for a minute when you didnt say at first ;)

    I see those ads for cake pops all the time. I guess they really do work.

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  4. Mama Pea, never boring! I think we all benefit from a yearly (at least) glance at others' crafty spaces. There's always someone just taking up a hobby and looking for ideas and others of us who just like new ideas and a good snoop LOL!
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    Alison, I couldn't pass it up LOL! There's no way I can afford cool stuff like this unless I take advantage of those sales. That new carousel now makes all the other random repurposed boxes on my desk look good again, now I feel like sprucing the old ones up with fabric or ribbon!

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  5. Wow! You sure do put your tree up early. I keep getting Michael's flyers but the store is a 4 hour drive away so all I get to do is drool over all the stuff in the flyer.
    Nothing wrong with having ham on Thanksgiving. And those cake pops look delicious. I bet the boys had fun making them.
    Craft/sewing area? What's that? I could show you the closet and storage locker that all my stuff is stored in. Does that count?

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  6. I look a Grinch next to you! Although I admit to a bit of shopping on Friday -- needed a new watch and got one for $10.

    I dream of a crafty space, but the kids are going to have to leave home first. Sigh. And our house has no hallways, so that's out!! Yours is pretty great, I bet. Can't wait to see it.

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  7. It looks like you had a really nice Thanksgiving with your family, and some fun shopping. :) I love how you manage to pack a lot into your small space. Can't wait to see your craft area!

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  8. You're not going to catch any flak from me about the ham - we have ham every Thanksgiving. :-) Hubby is not really crazy about turkey, so we always have a ham and a turkey breast. Everybody gets what they want and we have leftovers for days...
    I LOVE your tree! Very cheery and bright, it's beautiful! We got all the decorations out on Friday, but since we're getting a real tree, that will have to wait another week or two. I do want the tree to have some needles left by Christmas... ;-)

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  9. This was our first year NOT having ham----hubby has been a very good boy, so I made a turkey for him (BLECH!) God, the smell of it baking FOR HOURS. GAG! Next year, back to ham. I can do that---ERIN does!
    :D

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  10. Nothing wrong with having ham. In the past, when we got together at my grandmother's house with all the cousins, we used to have both.
    Great deal on that organizer but I'm not sure I would have ventured out on Thanksgiving Day. We did head out to the fabric store today. I would have gone yesterday but the quilting cotton was on sale today only. I LOVE it when with coupons and sales we saved more than we spent.
    We have yet to break out the tree- I'm just not sure I'm ready yet.
    Judy

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  11. Beautiful sweater and awesome cake pops! I am glad to see your tree. I am thinking ours will get up quite late this year... so I'll enjoy the pictures of yours! :)

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  12. I'm gonna have to try my hand at those cake pops. They look like great fun!

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  13. Your tree looks beautiful. I am so jealous you got that carousel for so cheap. I have looked at it many times while in Michael's but never wanted to pay the price. Yay for good deals!

    My sewing/crafting space has moved around the house 3 times and is on it's way to a 4th if I can get to the store and get some paint for the room. I can't wait to see your space!

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  14. OH,WOW ,WHAT A BLOG AND I ONLY HAVE TIME TO COMMENT ON HOW I'VE MISSED YOUR BLOG AND I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN BUSY,CUS,GUESS WHAT ME TOO,NICE EVERYTHING ERIN

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  15. Jane, those pans do work, but I'm not sure it's any easier than the regular way to make cake pops by hand, was still a bit of a hassle!
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    Sparkless, I love to put the tree up as a family right after Thanksgiving dinner! Especially this year since we are staying here, we normally don't even have a tree since we are in MN for the holidays, so we were eager to get it up.
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    Stefaneener, here too, I won't get my "own" crafty space until the kids leave home!
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    Patty, it was nice!

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  16. Anke, Sue & Judy, nice to know I'm not alone on the ham thing!
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    Mama Tea, you have good reason to be waiting on digging out all the Christmas mess this year!
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    Dani, the cake pops are fun, but I found out the hard way that it IS worth it to invest in the little melter thingie that keeps the candy coating at the right temp, mine was a mess and I had to waste a lot of candy melts!
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  17. Melissa, LOL that's how I knew that it was worth it to go shopping Thanksgiving night - I've been wanting that thing forever LOL!
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    Judy, I hope all has been well with you!

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  18. Daughter and I had planned on shopping Black Friday, then I had to go and get sick. Thank heavens there was a Cyber Sunday, so I purchased my new kitchen TV on line and had Amy pick it up at the store for me. Now I no longer have to hit the TV to make it work, I saved about $60 and I didn't even have to leave the house.

    I love, love LOVE the sweater!

    I can't decorate my house until after I get all the AZ stuff unpacked and put away. That gives me a goal for the holidays.

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  19. I am trying to get into the spirit of the holidays and, so far, I'm kicking and moaning the whole way. I love your tree - it's beautiful! And what a deal on that carousel! I tend to not leave the house on BF as it seems to bring out all the stressed loonies on the road.

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  20. I am so happy you got just what you wanted on Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see your space in the upcoming post!

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  21. Gran, you definitely deserve a tv you don't have to bang on, congrats!
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    Susan, I'm lucky about the loonies I think, I live only about 3 minutes from the store I went to LOL
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    Kelly, yep, that's my Christmas present, I can never seem to wait until Christmas :)

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