A little of this a little of that...

First, today is Friday an we have to cover Friday Feast. And that's because I made something I never made before last night, so it fits right in with my plans:

That is Twice-Baked Potatoes that you see before you that I made for my New Years Party last night. Simple, easy to do and a huge hit. But, they were new to me!




Chad also did one, improvising a wing recipe for wings we had at the party (in the dishes on the right) because we didn't have the molasses we needed.


Next we have many of the holiday crafts that have finally been given out!

Chad's Jewelry box he mad for his niece:



This is the gift I gave to many of my friends - a dinner and movie night basket:

The Soup for dinner:
And Butterscotch Brownies for dessert:
This all started because I was going to do this for one couple since we are not close enough to offer them a chance to go out to dinner without their children in tow so I thought I would bring the date to them. After that it was such a good idea that many have gotten it.

Next is a present I made for a very special little one I took care of this year:
I should have weighed the bear to find out if it weighed more or less than "my" little one at birth. His family lives locally and I still get to see them all (I love them!).

After that we have my mother's purse and I must say that my friend Sue had told me a few tricks that I finally got to use in making this purse, (use of a rotary cutter for the pattern and using my walking foot to do the purse) that made it so much easier for me to make that I am excited to do more sewing and can't wait to organize myself to see where my next project falls in line!



The strange thing you see behind that is this:Now, for those of you who totally don't get this, let me explain. My brother loves Nintendo. Always has. Knitters and crocheters can be dorks. Therefore there are a ton of knitting patterns for Mario related items. So much so that I have too many ideas for both him and his wife in gift giving occasions.

What you see above you is the hat version of Mario's Chain Chomp. It's just quirky enough that my brother's face was so worth it. And he indulged me too. Here's the full bite view:



And straight on:
His wife is sure to love it as well, I wonder who will end up with it.

I love that I have so many appreciative people in my life to give handmade gifts to! I don't have near the problems other crafters do with giving these types of gifts. Now, if I can get myself in gear, 2010 gift giving will be a blast!

There is one more handmade gift you haven't seen yet that's worth showing, but this person ready my blog and hasn't had the chance to receive it yet so you have to wait for that one. I also have to still play a little bit of catch up and finish four gifts that I make entirely on the computer. I want to get them sent this week so that the year doesn't drudge on with them over my head.

Now that crafts are covered, let's move on to New Years:

You saw my plan last week on this post and I am in swing there with that plan. Slowly with some of it, but I'd rather take the time and feel right about it all than not. Plus, as we see every year at this time, it always takes me longer to do things than I want them too.

I mentioned I may be changing the blog up some, but I don't think I will too much. I enjoy most of my "set" topics as it helps to give me something to think about to post. In jeopardy are the topics for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. For now I'm going to try to plan better to pull of the Tuesday teachings. Thursday I am scraping to be a random thought day, and Saturday I am leaving alone as well.

That means we will try this:
Sunday Weekly Update (news specific to Chad and me)
Monday Images
Tuesday Teachings
WIP Wednesday
Random Thursday
Feast Friday
Saturday Newsday

I'll let you know what I think in a few weeks.

I'm also looking for a new blog layout as I dislike the one I have now. I wish I had the drive to figure out how to make one myself, but I'm not that good and don't have anyone I can talk into it right now. I'm sure it's simple but I have other things to do so... But, don't be surprised if you see things changing again. I know many of you read this through my RSS feed on facebook, so it may not even apply to you.

Plus, another month gone and I've continued blogging. I only missed two posts this month (the one that blogger mysteriously ate and this past Wednesday) so I'm impressed with myself. Let's see how January goes!

Now, this should do me for now as I believe I've caught you up. I'm off to do my 30 minutes of housework and to read.

Welcome to 2010 everyone!