Let’s face it, babies at bathtime are already adorable.  How about wrapping up with a fun hooded towel to top it off?

I often make these for baby shower gifts, and this time it was for twins!  These plush towels are larger and fluffier than the typical store-bought hooded towel.  Everyone seems to love them, plus, I’ve heard friends say their children use them for years.

I used striped towels for a little zing.  Recently, I’ve started adding hang-tags to them.  Previously, I have sewn a length of wide grosgrain ribbon along the back where the hood joins the towel, covering the seam, and left a little space un-sewn for the hang-tag.  For these, I thought I’d experiment and put the tag on the top in an accent color.  Spunky!  I wonder if my friends appreciate me experimenting on them.. hmm.

My husband says I should sell these on Etsy.  Thinking about it…

Creativity Question:  Do you ever use creativity as an escape or a means of comfort?

For me, it can be both, at times.  I remember writing poetry when I was younger - to encapsulate emotions I couldn’t contain.  And, I certainly prefer doing something creative over cleaning my house, so in that way it’s an escape.  But, I have also found painting, drawing, etc - immersing myself in something creative for a while helps to heal, comf0rt and console.

Ok, so I’m a bit late posting this, and I didn’t take a lot of photos of Thanksgiving - this is it, really. It’s difficult to play hostess and photographer simultaneously. Anyway, I did, at least have a little fun with the food. See?

Cherry pie - not with canned pie filling, mind you. I used frozen cherries. It was really tasty - I’d probably try a little less sugar next time, for that extra zip of tart.  I cut the swirly shapes with a knife, the leaves with a mini-cookie cutter.

Homemade cranberry sauce. I don’t know why I keep making it. It never gets devoured like everything else. I like it, though. Maybe I should just reduce the recipe next time. It has fresh cranberries, orange juice and zest, and sugar. It simmers together until the cranberries burst and it coagulates a bit. Yum. Way better than the canned stuff, in my opinion. I like to put it on my rolls instead of jelly.

No photos of these, but I was quite domestic this Thanksgiving. I also cooked a huge turkey. The roaster oven made it easy, and boy, did it cook quickly! Only two hours for the nearly 19 pound bird - I was astounded. Also: real mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, stuffing, homemade rolls, honey butter, broccoli slaw, sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce, the cherry pie, two pumpkin pies, a pecan pie, a french silk chocolate pie, which Hana decorated, but I neglected to take a photo of (grr), and non-dairy brown-rice pudding. Some of the guests brought a few other things, but those are what I made.

Whew! It was a lot of work, but it turned out so nicely, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Even me. And so, it’s worth it.

Creativity Question: Have you any creative Thanksgiving traditions? Meaning, something you make or create either yourself or as a family? Or something you did this year, if it’s not a tradition?

I didn’t do any crafts, and I don’t decorate for Thanksgiving, aside from the table and serving areas - my decor consisted of wired ribbon (I, the ribbon addict, already had it) in a deep burgundy color with gold accents, a few pine cones, some of them gold, and some other little earthy things I had in my stash - oh, and the 6 ears of Indian corn for 50 cents. It doesn’t take much to make it look nice. In the center, iron scroll-work with a white serving dish filled with rolls. The tablecloth was way too big, so I bunched up the parts that fell to the floor and billowed them a bit and pinned them around the four legs, then tied with ribbon. I was going for “I meant to do that” rather than “oops, the tablecloth is too long and I don’t want you to trip”. I think it worked. I suppose for Thanksgiving, my creativity tradition is homemade foods and inexpensive but nice table decor which I usually throw together last minute. BTW- eating on real plates was sooo nice! 

So tell me YOUR traditions - probably much more interesting than mine.

I know, I know - it’s been a while.  I really didn’t intend to wait an entire month between posts.  I’ll try to do better this time (again).  But, don’t think for a second that I haven’t been doing anything…

A program for my niece’s baptism (click photo to enlarge).  I shot the photo, created the graphics in Illustrator, then the layout in InDesign.  I’m happy with the way it turned out - that was a lot of information to fit on a half a sheet of paper, plus the photo.   A lot of design is about organization of information. (Wish my house were so well organized!)

I wanted to make something special for my niece, so I made this necklace.  Actually, Hana strung the beads on there for me (I was really short on time, so she helped), and I made the initials “CTR”  (Choose The Right).  It’s a little reminder of her baptism promises.  I probably made about 6 of them poorly before I got a decent one.  She likes it, and that’s what matters most.  Copper wire with glass beads on plastic-coated jewelry wire.

I have also started a new encaustic painting which has been taking up a lot of my time.  But, you’ll have to wait for photos on that - I am hoping to have the painting done by the end of next week, and then post soon after that.

Creativity Question:  Do you allow yourself to say “no” sometimes so you can have time to fulfill your own creative dreams/goals?

This is a tough one, isn’t it?  We all want to be helpful to those in need and do what needs to be done.  We don’t want to feel like we’re being selfish.  But is it sometimes too much?  Should we really stretch ourselves that thin?  The words that keep going through my head are “you can’t draw water from an empty well”.  It is true of wells, and it is true of our souls.  We need to take the time to re-fill them, replenish them and nurture their desires for creativity, or else how can we truly help others?