If all else fails, make something good

Yesterday I decided enough was enough. Christmas was coming. Since though those around me weren't spreading joy and cheer, I was going to have to muster up some of my own. If all else fails, make something good, right? (Or take a hot shower or drink margaritas or participate in retail therapy.)

I had spied two projects that I thought were both manageable and up my alley style-wise. 'Cause we all know that Chez Ragged is all about style. (Cough. Cough.) On the way home last night I picked up a few supplies were we lacking. After dinner I went to work.

There are no photos at this point, Old Man Winter stole all of our morning and afternoon light, but hoping to get some posted soon. In the meantime, close your eyes and imagine. (Guess that won't work since you have to read the post to know what I made, but you get the point.)

First off, I made my very own button tree. If it is good enough for Madretz, it's good enough for me. Hers is ever so lovely and coordinated and contemporary. My button supply was less glamorous and slightly less imaginative. Unable to find a suitable button selection at two stores, I resorted to my personal stash and a tube of mismatched buttons, along with some little red ones I snagged at the fabric shop. I also was wanting for pins and settled for white as they contrasted nicely with the old dark buttons. I spilled my buttons, thanks to Mad's suggestion, into a pyrex casserole dish and started pinning. Two hours and a sore back later, and voila! We had a vintage-esque button tree. Enough to make me proud and enough to make Cynical wonder about my sanity.

My next project, (which I had planned for the weekend but I was on a roll, so I went with it), was a mobile/windchime made out of an embroidery hoop, ribbon and cookie cutters. No idea where I saw this. Even tried to find it online, but where-ever I spied the image, it was enough to catch my attention and lead me into creating it. I found some cool ribbon: one was embroidered with lime green, the other was white with red stitching down each side. I used star-shaped cookie cutters and found a bargain embroidery hoop. I looped the ribbon through each star, sewing a little so it would hang. then came the hardest part: placing the ribbon through the two hoops and getting everything at the right length and level. I used a ring to loop the ribbon through, hung a star from two joined ribbons in the center and at about 10 p.m. last night I was hanging it above our kitchen sink, with Cynical laughing at me.

And you know what, I am certain the Christmas spirit infected me. I am sure someone will provide a vaccine, but for now, I'll welcome the fever.

Next up: taking the branches we had to cut off the bottom of the tree and turning them into a hanging for our porch. Sure to make Cynical snicker.