AfricanKelli

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I did it; I got up with the crazies this morning and stood in line before our neighborhood JoAnn’s with my 20% off coupon in hand a visions of fleece and flannel dancing through my head. I actually ran to the right section, grabbed with might and within 20 minutes was waiting for my stash to be cut. Would you believe I was within the first 15 in the store and it still took an hour? There were people with carts full of bolts in front of me and four taxed women with scissors blazing behind the counter.

It was fun to hear what others were working on — many were dashing through the aisles to gather greatly discounted supplies for charity projects. There was much chatter about different hospital groups and cancer patients receiving soft, sweet new blankets soon.

Although I would have loved the search the racks at Tarjay for some new clothing and books, I headed home to get to sewing. I’ve got enough fabric here for 10 Christmas gifts and a little more than three weeks to make this happen. Nothing like a deadline and a deal to get me motivated. This fleece was $6 a yard, but today $1.49 and with my coupon I got the entire lot for less than $70. Just doing my part to help the economy, that is.

Hope your Thanksgiving was plentiful and peaceful!

~K

May you be blessed with Faith
Faith that casts out fear and gives hope.
May you be blessed with Friends.
Friends to share your love and bless you with theirs.
May you be blessed with Love.
Love to share in joy and comfort in need.
And may you have Peace.
That nothing may disturb you.

– Irish prayer

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Kelli

Dear Fin,

Hello dahling! How are you? I am so, so happy this morning. I was able to sleep in and woke up to the sound of rain. In Arizona, this is one of the most precious sounds. I was thrilled! My dad arrived last night and even though our plans of taking a lovely desert hike were drenched, we decided to hit the gym for a bit before heading off to breakfast. We’ll see a movie today and maybe go bowling.

I LOVE Father/Daughter days. It has been forever since we’ve had one. But back to the details: I finished our project! I sewed these up as sample Christmas cards. I know how much you love, ahem, Christmas swag. But you’ll have to admit these are pretty cute thanks to my new Martha Stewart birdie stamps. And your cards came out super cute. I thought maybe you’d rock the Hanukkah cards with the star pattern, but you went an entirely different (and pretty) direction.

So, what will we do next? I think we need some fantastic new sew-along idea to balance out how much this book has bummed me out. It just didn’t live up to its potential. Am I the only one that feels this way? It doesn’t help that last year’s sew-along book and projects were simply SO rad! Ideas?

Okay, off to breakfast and movies and bowling. Got to run! Love you mucho and hope you and Bubba have a fabulous, 1980s-themed Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

Donk

I’m in a serious baking groove this week — 10 loaves so far with plans for 4 more. This pumpkin zucchini batch will be delivered tomorrow to celebrate my favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving.

Oh, Thanksgiving, how I love thee. All the joys of Christmas without the awkward gift-giving, topped with a dollop of vacation days, time to shop and the perfect excuse to craft with girlfriends. Have I mentioned I’m also a wee bit excited my dad arrives tomorrow? My mom will soon follow. It is going to be a family feast and I cannot wait to dig in.

~K

Do you have men in your life who you want to treat to homemade gifts but who recoil at the thought of anything crafted? Yeah. I’ve got a bunch of those too. I’ve spent way, way too much time and energy in the past trying to change their minds with felted pencil holders, embroidered pot holders, and even a man bag or two. I haven’t known my audience well.

When J asked me last week if I’d ever heard of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, I knew what the next Jars of Renewal project would be. Jason is the husband of one of my best friends and father to a small cadre of children who I adore. He is also the brains behind the design of this site and worthy of all the tailored spoiling I can muster.

I bought a large jar of roasted sunflower seeds, two large dark chocolate Hershey’s bars and threw them together on a cookie sheet. This then went in the freezer for an hour and then I carefully broke the pieces apart by hand before filling the jars. A simple, salty-sweet treat I’m guessing most men (women, children, monkeys) would love.

~K