T Tuesday: Christmas rhyme edition | Halle's Hobbies

T’was the Tuesday before Christmas and the day before break,

my mind was a whirl with all I’ve yet to make.

 

The presents are wrapped, all tied up in bows,

 the cookies are baked, but calories? Who knows

 

The tree lights are twinkling and sweet treats abound,

it really makes more sense when there’s snow on the ground.

 

So I looked out the window, and what did I see?

A dusting of snow! I squealed with glee.

 

So funny how quickly my mood turned bright,

and all it took was a light coat of white.

 

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends,

I bid you adieu as my rhyme has reached it’s end.

Merry Christmas from Halle's Hobbies

 

 

I’m not exactly sure why but I’m having a really hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. It could be that our Minnesota winter has yet to arrive. We’ve had temps well above freezing and even a thunder storm on Monday. Super strange.

Bah Humbug | Halle's Hobbies

Last night and this morning we finally had a little bit of snow…very little. When I stepped outside this morning my first thought was “great…now it’s too cold to snow.”  If your not from around this neck of the woods that last statement doesn’t make a bit of sense. Too cold to snow!! Why yes, yes that is a thing that happens. I was right…the flurries didn’t start until it actually warmed up a little bit and didn’t last anytime at all. I’m pretty sure we will not be having a white Christmas.

Since I’m feeling all Bah Humbug I thought it was a good time to share some postcards I made ages ago for a swap. I wish I had taken better or more high quality scans of these so long ago before passing them along.

Bah Humbug | Halle's Hobbies

Bah Humbug | Halle's Hobbies

Bah Humbug | Halle's Hobbies

Bah Humbug | Halle's Hobbies

These were really fun. Perhaps this will get my snarky muse into gear as long as my regular one is either pouting under the Christmas tree or hibernating.

**** Merry Christmas ****

in case I don’t get another post up before then!!

Last Friday I received a nice surprise in my mailbox! A birthday gift from our lovely hostess for T stands for Tuesday.

gift edition

Her post office never postmarks the postage…so weird.

T Tuesday: gift edition

Elizabeth sent me some collage fodder and a stack of her wonderful handmade paper!! Love this stuff!!! I use it in cards, mixed media, altered books/journals..pretty much everything! I haven’t tried running it through my Cuttlebug or Silhouette yet. I haven’t wanted to waste it in case it is a major failure.

In addition hidden among the sheets of handmade paper was Elizabeth’s annual Christmas tip-in.

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You rock! I am not a pre-planner and hold those who do in awe.

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Thirteen years!! Wowsers! I have Christmas tip-ins dating back to 2006 from Elizabeth.

I have to say that I so value the longevity and depth of friendship between the two of us. We have shared so very much over the years even though we’ve never met face to face…darn it anyway. A tumble on the stairs kept me from seeing Dr. E at the airport several years ago during a layover.

Happy T day!

After going through the drop off lane at our local Goodwill store I always step inside to see what treasures I can find.  At the bottom of the donation tax receipt is a coupon. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

coupon

But the deal of the day was sweet even without using the coupon.

steal of a deal books

I’m looking for a couple specific books, so I always take a close look. Even though I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I couldn’t pass up these treasures. The novel is for the boys, the knitting directory looked like a really awesome resource and the pink Readers Digest condensed book will become a journal after I remove the text block and replace with my own papers. I simply loved the cover design. I always peek under the dust jackets of those condensed books…sometimes the covers are lovely!

And for the price…

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even without using my coupon…it was a steal!

Do you visit thrift stores, second hand shops and rummage sales for bargains? What was your best or most recent deal that had you smiling?

A good friend of mine commissioned me to make a wreath as a Christmas gift.

wire wreath | Halle's Hobbies

I think it turned out quite nice.

Today for T stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a bit of my Norwegian heritage.

t tuesday: lefse edition | Halles Hobbies

LEFSE

Lefse is made from potatoes, evaporated milk, butter, flour and a touch of sugar and salt.

It’s a two day process. The first day you boil the potatoes and add everything but the flour. The potatoes then have to sit overnight to cool. I make my mashed potatoes as if I’m going to to be making lefse…that way if there are leftovers and I’m so inclined they are ready to go.

I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to stir in the flour. That mixer was our very first major purchase as a married couple even though we really couldn’t afford it at the time.  I told Mr. G that I was going to need one to be as good of cook as my mom.  I use it all the time!  We’ve definitely gotten our money’s worth out of that machine.

t tuesday: lefse edition | Halles Hobbies

The trick to good lefse is rolling them very thin without using a ton of flour.  Its a balancing act between having the potatoes to wet and sticky and having a dry flavorless lefse.

t tuesday: lefse edition | Halles Hobbies

The thin lefse is rolled onto the turning stick (to the right in the photo) then placed on the grill. I got this grill at an auction almost 20 years ago for $7 and it was brand new still in the box! They retail for well over $100.

The lefse is cooked on each side for 1-2 minutes.

There is nothing low cal, low carb about this treat. I like just butter on mine before rolling and inhaling eating. Many use butter and sugar, some cinnamon sugar. It’s really a personal preference and usually a family traditional way to serve them.

Big J drove me to deliver some to a few special Norwegians around here yesterday afternoon. It’s always nice to see those smiling faces when I hand over this decadent treat. Makes the work totally worth it!

We’ve got freezing drizzle coming down today so I’m likely sticking close to home.

What are you doing today?

Over the past few years I’ve started collecting Christmas trees. Mostly because I keep making a new kind each year but I’m not opposed to buying one at a thrift store or garage sale if it really speaks to me.

This year I was inspired by Mini-me. She had to film a tutorial for her technology class. Her group of three girls each picked a different Christmas craft and bought enough material for the three of them to each create their own.  She was inspired by this tree.

inspiration tree | Halle's Hobbies

Her version used smaller pieces of cardstock. It got very tedious for her towards the end of both punching all the scallops and hot gluing them to the paper cone. It was her punching all those pieces that had Mr. G prompting me to try my Silhouette machine again.

Speaking of paper cones…I made the cones from poster board after first seeing the price of a craft store foam version and then realizing that the foam would melt with hot glue. Glad I thought that one through before starting!!

lace wrapped tree materials | Halle's Hobbies

This tree came together really quickly.

vintage lace trim for lace wrapped tree | Halle's Hobbies

This vintage trim was in the bottom of my sewing box likely bought for some project my mom had intended to make in the 1970’s. At least it’s getting used now! lace wrapped Christmas tree| Halle's Hobbies

Isn’t it sweet. I had the tiny glass ornaments in my stash as well. All it needed was a topper. I auditioned several ideas but finally decided a star was in order.handmade star for lace wrapped tree| Halle's Hobbies

I drew a star on a piece of paper so I’d have a guide to do my bending. I used a twisted piece of 22 gauge wire. I had to “tie” the star at the crossover points “barbwire style” for stability.

The second tree (well technically it was the first one) was yarn wrapped.

yarn wrapped tree| Halle's Hobbies

I used a leftover partial skein of acrylic yarn for this one. Again I had some tiny trims in my stash to give the tree a finished look.

Nothing I love more than to use stash items! No cost…no trip to the store…AWESOME!

Tree collection | Halle's Hobbies

My humble little collection in our game area of the family room. You may be able to see both my Suess tree and cork tree. Additionally you also may be able to see the recycled Christmas card balls I made last year and the 12 days of Christmas swap book from several years ago adorning the table.

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