My Postal Worker Doubles As A Snowy White Owl

I finished up some more Harry Potter Gryffindor quilts!

This one is 34" x 44"...

.... this one is 28" x 35"... 

... and this one is also 34" x 44".

A lovely customer already bought one that is not pictured;

now, how did I get that wrapped up and sent?

Well, when I was first joined Etsy, I bought this funky little pin

from the seller foundthings.

When the pin came in the mail, the lovely Emmy T. had wrapped it in cool tissue paper,

and used a handmade envelope from a recycled map.

It wasn't just like getting an impersonal item in the mail,

it was like getting a present!

So when I started selling through Etsy, I also decided to make getting an item

from BadBabyQuilts feel like a special gift.

The bulk of the items I sell from my shop are fabric tissue holders...

... which are small enough to send in an envelope with a first class stamp.

Scott over at BucketOBolts tipped me off that Hallmark

has scads of colorful leftover envelopes that they sell dirt cheap.

Every few months I swing by and refill my stash.

For the envelopes, I commissioned a special sticker

from the delightful Russ at WaddlinOnion...

 ... because I wanted the recipients to open their mailboxes and be all, 

"Cool! My Etsy goody is here!"

Over the years, I've also received little nifty gifties with my Etsy items.

So I decided to slip a few stickers in with the tissue holders;

I also got these from WaddlinOnion 's shop.

When I first was selling my tissue holders, I would either wrap them in tissue paper

or put them in a little Ziploc bag.

I soon realized that Target, Joann Fabrics, and Michaels

often had inexpensive cello treat bags

that are just the right size for the tissue holders.

I stock up on them; sometimes they're even cheaper post-holidays.

But what about larger items, like my quilts and banners?

Well, I found something handy at Home Depot: masking paper!

This stuff is dirt cheap; at Lowe's, it's only $4.00 for 60 yards!

I just tie it with some pretty sale yarn or some vintage bias tape I bought off of Etsy.

But back to my Harry Potter quilts.

I wanted to wrap them especially nice,

so when my customer bought a baby quilt, I downloaded an "owl post" image...

... and made a cool sticker to put on the package.

I used the masking paper, some brown bias tape, and...

Accio, mail carrier!

As an extra little gift, I included a Gryffindor tissue holder,

which I placed in a super-cute owl cello bag I found on sale at Cost Plus.

How perfect is this?

I think even Dudley would approve.

Cupcake Countdown!

'Member when you were a kid,

and waiting for Christmas took for-ev-er?

So a teacher or parent would help you make an advent chain, 

to help you count down the days?

Well, those chains aren't just for antsy kids!

I'm about a third into thirty-five days of medical treatment,

that while it isn't the least bit painful, unpleasant, or even time-consuming,

IT IS...

about seven weeks' worth of five-day-a-week doctor visits.

So I figured I'd do my own chain!

I just borrowed some nice paper from the crafty Sweet Man,

and made a link for every visit.

It was daunting to see how many links I needed to make it,

but it's been shortening up pretty quickly.

I told myself when I clipped off a brown one,

I'd do something nice for myself:

buy a cupcake, or a new book, or a cup of chai latte.

When I get to that last link?

It will be a par-tay!

Or at least an extra cupcake.

I Would Walk... er...Drive 500 Miles!

Happy 2013!!!

How did I finish off the old year?

I experienced a strange white substance...

... and listened to a couple hours worth of  the filthy and funny ravings of this guy:

(Patton Oswalt, you made a crazy-long car trip bearable.)

I saw DEAD BODIES that were hundreds of years old...

.... courtesy of this museum exhibition:

(Thanks, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

 and my ticket-procuring sister-in-law for making a long-held dream a reality!)

I received a potentially LETHAL gift...

... but safely neutralized it:

(A mirror will keep a Weeping Angel immobilized, doncha know.)

Along with Pompeii, I thought I had a sighting of another one of my obsessions:

a trio of SISTER WIVES!

But based on their hair, head coverings, and accompanying adults,

I soon figured out they were only modestly dressed Mennonite siblings.

(No, these aren't the actual sisters.  

Although The Girl and I were so thrilled at the prospect of a polygamy sighting

that we were practically vibrating with excitement,

I managed to stop myself from snapping a photo of three complete strangers

when The Girl hissed, "Be cool, Mom!  Be cool!")

I did all this by logging an ungodly amount of car miles travelling from 

California to Colorado and back again...

...and now would like nothing better than sitting for an hour or six in a Jacuzzi,

with a jet aimed at my travel-weary booty.

How about the rest of you?

How did YOU ring out 2012?

Quick Gift, Take Two!

 Christmas is bearing down on us like a runaway train!

Augh!!!  Is Macy's still open!? 

But if you live close to a Trader Joe's

(and if you don't, I'm sorry, because it's FANTASTIC)

then an easy gift is a Trader Joe's gift bag!

What makes this gift bag super-cool is I filled it with goodies I knew the recipient would like,

and

I made it a "Trader Joe's" gift bag by cutting out the TJ's logo from one of their bags,

and gluing it to a pretty holiday craft bag.

The tags, btw, are from one of my favorite charities:  Heifer International.

If you've waited too long and want to get me something for Christmas,

you could buy a goat (or part of a goat) for a little girl in Africa.

Because, how awesome are goats?

The answer is LOTS.

Goats are LOTS awesome.

AUGH! CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!

You need something for little Christmas gifts, STAT!

Not something too big;

not something that will make people feel like, "Dang, I didn't get anything for HER."

But, not something so impersonal that folks will say,

"Oh, you SHOULDN'T have stopped off at the gas station on the way here."

So, people, I give you the Tiny Gift sweet spot:

Snowman Poop.

I found the snowman graphic here,

printed them out on cardstock,

trimmed them to 1 1/2" by 4 1/4"

and stuck them to a Tic Tac container with two-sided scrapbooking tape.

I passed them out at work,

and included them with the gift cards I gave my family.

They got an appreciative giggle wherever they went.

P.S.  I got the original idea here for jack-o-lantern "seeds," 

and just changed it to poop.  As one does.

Christmas Without The Crazy

I can approach Christmas like one big ole' crybaby whinypants...

... but one of the things I do enjoy is Christmas lights.

My goal when putting them up is results somewhere between

"I don't give a rat's booty" ...

... and "Why, yes, I do start my day with an intravenous drip of espresso!"

How do I hit that holiday sweet spot?

By following

a 

few 

easy 

steps.

FIRST STEP!

Twinkle lights are your friends

as is just heaping the strings in piles on potted plants.

There are probably half a dozen lights out on this C7 string,

but it's not noticeable since their neighbors are flashing off and on anyway.

SECOND STEP!

Net lights are also a terrific invention; 

without any tedious wrapping they can easily cover a bush in seconds.

Yeah, it's not a great picture.  They do look cool in real life, though.

THIRD STEP!

Forget tall ladders!

If I can't reach it with a small stepstool, I don't bother.  

I used to climb all over the roof like a crazed spider monkey, and it took FOR-EV-ER

to finish with all the decorating.  No more!

FOURTH STEP!

Use what you have, so there's not a lot of clean-up/storage afterwards.

I have this cool felt Santa that goes over a lighted tomato cage,

that I place next to another light-wrapped, Christmas tree wannabe tomato cage.

As I said in another post,

I also drape lights over my leftover Halloween pumpkins for a fast and easy display.

After Christmas, the tomato cages will go back with the gardening supplies,

and the pumpkins?  Eh, I might leave the lights on for a bit longer.

FIFTH STEP!

Instead of tasteful, dainty white lights carefully strung around every bush and window,

focus on the entryway with lots of color and big lights.

Make your porch the focus of your house!

And now, 

THE LAST STEP!

If you take away nothing else from this entry but this last step,

you will thank me later.

It is the key to keeping myself from stressing out

over this Christmas chore  decorating opportunity.

What do I do when it is time to haul out the strings of C7s?

I wait until the daylight is almost gone, say, 4:30 pm or so...

... and THAT'S when I start decorating.

Yup, that way I have about an hour before it's too dark to see.

And when I can't see to work anymore?

I pack up whatever unstrung decorations are left, and put them away for the year.

That's it!

It's what I call "The Lazy Martha" approach!

(OF COURSE there are no images of "lazy Martha," 

so just try to imagine her in sweat pants and a ponytail.)