Christmas Star Ornaments

This post originally appeared on By Hook or By Cook.

I was playing around with an idea one afternoon, trying to figure out how to fill in a star and these little guys just appeared, almost fully formed, on my hook. They work up very quickly and are a great gift in themselves or as a package embellishment.

Materials used
small amount of Red Heart^® Super Saver^® #324 (Bright Yellow)
I crochet hook (5.5 mm) for large star
1 steel crochet hook (2.75 mm) for small star

Gauge and Finished Size
Not essential to measure. The large star is about 4" tall and the small one is about 1½" tall, but really, they can be any size.

Skill Level
Beginner

Large Star

click photo for larger image       

Pattern is worked with two strands of yarn held together.
Rnd 1: Using the Magic Adjustable Ring technique, make 5 sc in loop. Do not join.
Rnd 2: Make 2 sc in ea sc around (10 sc). Do not join.
Rnd 3: *Sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc* around (15 sc). Join with slst in first sc. Circle complete.
Rnd 4: Slst in 1st sc. *[Ch5, slst in 2nd lp from hook, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next st] point made. Sk next sc in circle and slst in next 2 sc. Rep from * around circle, after last point, make only 1 slst.
Rnd 5: Ch 1, sc in ea st around (50 sc).
Bind off ends, tucking tails into right side of fabric.

Match stars with right sides facing in. Beginning at the top of one point and leaving a 5” tail, whipstitch around in the back (inside) loops only for each stitch around. Tuck ends beneath the top stitch from opposite directions and knot. Knot again several inches above star to form hanging loop.

Small Star

click photo for larger image       

Rnd 1: Using the Magic Adjustable Ring technique, make 5 sc in loop. Do not join.
Rnd 2: Make 3 sc in ea sc around (15 sc). Join with slst in first sc. Circle complete.
Rnd 3: Slst in 1st sc. *[Ch5, slst in 2nd lp from hook, hdc in next 2 sts, dc in next st] point made. Sk next sc in circle and slst in next 2 sc. Rep from * around circle, after last point, make only 1 slst.
Bind off ends, tucking tails into right side of fabric.

Match stars with right sides facing in. Beginning at the top of one point and leaving a 3” tail, whipstitch around in the front (outside) loops only for each stitch around. Tuck ends beneath the top stitch from opposite directions and knot. Knot again several inches above star to form hanging loop.

Works for Me: Homemade Christmas

This week's theme is Last-Minute Christmas Tips. If you're trying to find something easy and inexpensive, but still with that homemade touch, take a look at what we did.

This year for Christmas, Adam and I gave our friends dinner baskets filled with homemade mixes, a small bottle of wine, and a coupon for dessert.

Dinner is Vegetarian 3-Bean Chili (mix recipe and directions here) and cornbread. I designed the apple-shaped coupons to round out the meal. They read, "This coupon entitles you to one scrumptious dessert made fresh in [Adam & Amy’s] kitchen."

I packaged the mixes in Wilton^® Clear Party Bags, but they could just have easily gone in canning jars or even plastic zipper bags. The chili mix includes a small spice packet and a can of tomatoes. To make them look a little prettier, I placed the bag containing the spices on top of the tomato can and covered both with a crocheted cap that Adam made--doesn't it look great? The star ornament is my handiwork. It does double duty as both another small gift and a package embellishment. I posted a pattern for the star here (it's the Small Star).

To find more Christmas tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Comment Etiquette

Okay, I've been a blogger for more than a year now, and I have to just come out and admit it. This commenting thing confuses me.

I know there are various ways to deal with comments. I could respond individually by e-mail (to those people who have included an e-mail address). I could do that, but I really don't see it happening.

Another choice is to respond in the comments section of the post. I have done that on occasion. But most of my posts don't seem especially controversial. Certainly not enough to bring in the sort of comments that inspire ongoing responses back and forth. Plus, how many of you actually come back to read again?

Or I could respond by leaving a comment myself at the blog of the individual who commented here. This one just seems a little strange to me. Unless it's part of a carnival or meme, I don't usually do this. I almost always visit the blogs of people who've commented, and will often comment on something there which piques my interest, but I've always felt a little awkward leaving a note that says "thanks for visiting my blog."

Then there is the just-ignore-them-and-hope-they'll-come-back method I've been employing lately. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I really do like your comments. I do read them. I just don't really do much else about them.

So here is my question: What is your comment etiquette? Do you respond to comments regularly? Do you expect other bloggers to respond to your comments? If so, how?

What You Think It Means

One of my favorite quotable movies of all time is The Princess Bride. There is one scene where the kidnappers (Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo Montoya) have just carried Princess Buttercup up the Cliffs of Insanity. They reach the top and cut their rope only to discover that The Man in Black not only didn't fall to his death, but is actually scaling the sheer rock face to reach them. Vizzini and Inigo stare down from atop the cliff. Vizzini shouts his trademark, "Inconceivable!" To which Inigo replies, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

The same, I believe, can be said of the word "communication." We all use it; we bandy it about as though we understand what it means to communicate with family, friends, co-workers ... but do we really?

In general usage, communicate can mean two slightly different, but very distinct things. In the first sense, you can communicate your thoughts, desires or dreams to someone else. That is the way most of us think about communication--talking with one another about how we feel inside. The second meaning of the word is a little trickier in real life. Merriam-Webster says it means "to transmit information, thought, or feeling so that it is satisfactorily received or understood."

We skip that last part a lot, don't we? I know I do. And it's not just a matter of not being clear in my own speech. I have that problem, too, but more often than not, my breakdown in communication comes from listening poorly. I think I've heard what someone (usually Adam) has said and I respond or act on what I think he meant. But, what happens if that isn't really what he meant? What if, when I understood what he said, I got it mixed up? All of a sudden, I'm starting fires in the microwave.

Confused?

When I was about 10, we got our first microwave oven. My mom loved the speediness at which she could now cook--potatoes no longer needed an hour to bake, just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and they're done! Personally, I preferred the chocolate chip bar cookies made from the recipe printed in the manual. In any case, one evening we were sitting down to dinner and my brother got a delivery call (he worked for the local pizza place a few nights a week). He dashed out the door leaving his food untouched. An hour or so later, we got a call that he was on his way home. My mom asked me to reheat his dinner for him in the microwave. I asked how long the potato needed to cook and I set the timer for the 15 minutes I thought she'd told me. About 8 minutes later, my mom glanced from the family room into the kitchen and saw flames shooting out of her new oven.

We were able to put the fire out quickly enough, and after a cleaning, the microwave looked almost as good as new. When my brother got home, we were all scratching our heads trying to figure out why the potato would just burst into flames like that. Mom must have asked me half a dozen times if I'd set the timer properly. I told her I had; I was sure of it. Finally, someone thought to simply ask me how long I'd cooked the potato. "Amy," Mom shouted, when I told her, "it only needed to be in there for three minutes!" Whoops.

The same thing happens, though, in conversation with spouses, parents, children, friends: I think I hear one thing, respond to it, and suddenly a burning argument needs to be resolved. Maybe one of these days, I'll learn to curb my temper and just ask, "Does this mean what I think it means?" before bursting into flames.

Ramblin' Woman

I just checked the date of my last post and realized it's been nearly three weeks since I've written anything. It's been a crazy three weeks, so I'm only sharing the highest and lowest lights, not all the in-between days.

In good news, Adam has been getting a lot of calls for interviews lately. He finished his course with the executive coach he's been seeing and the new résumé really seems to be garnering more attention on the job sites.

Not so joyfully, I had another miscarriage. On the plus side, I had known I was pregnant and had a full week to enjoy the little life I carried. But a loss is still a loss and death is still death, even if it occurs before life legally begins. Grief is still grief. Life is still life, too, though, so I'm pointed forward again, at least.

I simply can't believe that Christmas is in less than two weeks. All of the Advent waiting that I had in mind when I wrote last has gotten a bit sidetracked amidst the chaos that has surrounded us the past few weeks.

Anyway, I mostly wanted to just check in and say I'm here and hanging in there. Let's see if I can get back to blogging a little more regularly again, shall we?

Christmas Eve Will Find Me

Our daughter turns three in a few months, so we're beginning to think a little more deeply about holiday traditions, what they mean, and what she will remember from her childhood. As a kid, in my mind "Advent" was just a church term for the time leading up to Christmas. We didn't do anything special for the season beyond lighting the pink and purple candles on the dinner table that month. Not until I started attending an Anglican church did the concept of Advent mean anything much besides a good time to decorate the house and watch presents collect under the tree.

In the liturgical tradition, Advent is a time of penitence and waiting, rather akin to Lent. A couple of years ago, Adam and I fell into a wonderful way to make a practical statement of this.

It was our daughter's first Christmas and I had not yet learned to juggle the activities of childcare and feeding with much of anything else. The weeks before Christmas, I had planned to decorate with lights and ornaments as my parents' home had been. But, time passed quickly and the house remained unchanged. The day of Christmas Eve, I was quite sad that we hadn't managed to make the house look pretty. Christmas just didn't seem very celebratory without strings of lights and decorations on the tree. After our daughter went to sleep that evening, Adam pulled out the Christmas boxes from our storage room. We spent an hour or two putting up lights and bows and cards and glass balls.

After we'd finished, we sat in the glow of Christmas tree lights and started to talk about the transformation of the house. How fantastic it seemed to me that it now really looked and felt like Christmas. That evening, we decided to make the Christmas Eve decorating an annual tradition. We would allow ourselves the space to contemplate and anticipate during Advent, but, in a burst of activity, it is suddenly Christmas.

This year, our church is commemorating Advent with a series of services looking at some of the the individuals who surrounded Christ at his birth. Each week, we'll look in depth at Zechariah or Elizabeth or Mary and see a little bit more of the well-known story. I was thinking I would like to incorporate this same sort of storytelling into our family tradition.

The first Christmas Adam and I were married, I was seven months pregnant. I was not a happy, glowing pregnant woman riding the "blessed art thou among women" wave. We had agreed as a couple that year not to exchange gifts. On Christmas morning, I was rather taken aback when Adam handed me an envelope. Inside, he'd written a first-person account of Mary's pregnancy--fraught with struggles and frustrations, but ending in the joy of giving birth to Jesus, the Babe who would save the world.

I've always loved the book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The way the Herdmans react to the retelling of Christ's birth as they hear it for the first time inspires the narrator and her mother to take a fresh look at the traditional account as well. Over the next few years, as a family, I'd like to rewrite the stories of those who were a part of The Story. Maybe one person each year, taking a look beyond the glossed-over tradition to see the real people. Collecting these perspectives can offer a new insight on a story that should never (but sometimes seems to) grow old.

This post was written for the Carnival of Anglican Advent Traditions. Find out more about this carnival here.

At Last ...

Here's to Mr. Dragon and Miss Noah on their recent engagement.

Congratulations!

(Now, are you in the market for a cute blonde flower girl? She's really good at dropping things on the floor ☺)

Just Under the Wire

MamaLady is hosting a carnival of birth stories today! I just got the message, but I think I can make it in under the wire. Luckily, I already have my birth story posted. So, really this is just a heads up for anybody else who wants to join in the fun. You have two minutes left--get typing!

Special thanks to Jeanne for sharing.

Works for Me: Birthdays

Today is my birthday, and another Works for Me Wednesday: Backwards Day over at Rocks in My Dryer.

I'm planning a party this weekend for three of us who have birthdays all within a week and a half of each other. This year, the sum of our ages is 100, so we're celebrating together at a 100th Birthday Party. I'm excited for that, but I'm in charge of doing a lot of work for it, too.

What does your family do to make your birthday special? Especially if you're the one who generally makes the special stuff happen?

Thanks in advance for the thoughts. I'll be sure to pass them on to my husband and daughter!

Chocolate Cheese Fruit Tart

This post originally appeared on By Hook or By Cook.

I was looking for something fresh that would compliment an Italian meal we were making for company. I found some tart recipes, but none of them were quite right, so I combined a few elements of different recipes and made up my own.

Crust
½ c whole blanched almonds
1½ c flour, divided
2 T sugar
6 T butter, melted and cooled
1/3 c orange marmalade, melted
1 c chocolate chips

· Finely chop almonds, or grind in food processor with ½ c flour.
· Stir in remaining flour and sugar.
· Blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
· Press into 10" tart pan.
· Bake at 350°F until crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes.
· Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes.
· Spread bottom and sides with melted marmalade.
· Return to oven until marmalade is bubbly throughout, approx. 15 minutes.
· Immediately spread chocolate over bottom of crust only. Cool completely.

Filling
6 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T sugar
1 T milk

· Whip together.
· Spread over bottom of cooled crust.

Topping
½ pint fresh raspberries
1-10½ oz can mandarin oranges, packed in juice
1 c orange marmalade, melted

· Arrange fruit on top of cream cheese mixture.
· Brush melted marmalade over fruit until it is completely covered. Let cool.
· Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 1¾" slice (86g) Serving per Recipe 18
Amount per Serving Calories 207 Calories from Fat 91
	% DV
Total Fat 10g Saturated Fat 6g Monounsaturated Fat 3g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g Cholesterol 21mg Sodium 68mg Total Carbohydrates 29.5g Dietary Fiber 2g Sugars 21g Protein 2.5g	16% 31% 3% 3% 10% 8%

"All" About Me

I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine with all sorts of personal, but not especially intimate questions. I thought it would make a nice quick blog post.

• Were you named after anyone?
  My great-mother, grandmother, and father
  
• When was the last time you cried?
  Sunday night
  
• Do you like your handwriting?
  Yes
  
• What is your favorite lunchmeat?
  Roasted chicken, I guess (I'm not much of a lunchmeat fan)
  
• Do you have kids?
  One
  
• If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
  Yes, but I would probably annoy me
  
• Do you still have your tonsils?
  Yes
  
• Do you use sarcasm a lot?
  I'm trying to cut down
  
• Would you bungee jump?
  Maybe--not by my feet, though
  
• What is your favorite cereal?
  Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds
  
• Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
  No
  
• Do you think you are strong?
  I think I have a strong character
  
• What is your favorite ice cream?
  Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby
  
• What is the first thing you notice about people?
  I don't really know (according to Adam, it's "whether they're organized or not")
  
• Red or pink?
  Red, almost always
  
• What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
  My belly fat
  
• Who do you miss the most?
  My mom
  
• What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
  Black pants and white shoes
  
• What was the last thing you ate?
  Beef stew and wheat bread
  
• What are you listening to right now?
  Divorce Court (Adam's watching TV)
  
• If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
  I've always liked Burnt Sienna
  
• What is your favorite smell?
  Fresh bread, new books, and warm cider
  
• Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?
  My daughter's Sunday school teacher
  
• Do you like the person who sent this to you?
  Hmmm ... just kidding, Clare!!
  
• What is your favorite sport to watch?
  Football--especially if the Bears are actually winning
  
• What color is your hair?
  No longer blonde
  
• What color are your eyes?
  Hazel, but mostly brown
  
• Do you wear contact lenses?
  Not until I get a new prescription
  
• What is your favorite food?
  Appetizers
  
• Scary movies or happy endings?
  Happy endings, no question
  
• What is the last movie you watched?
  The Prince & Me (Adam picked it because he figured I'd like it)
  
• What color shirt are you wearing?
  Salmon
  
• Do you prefer summer or winter?
  I like the sunlight and carefree attitude of summer, but the snow and holidays of winter
  
• Hugs or kisses?
  Hugs
  
• What is your favorite dessert?
  Chocolate cheese fruit tart (see the recipe here)
  
• What book are you reading now?
  My sidebar says The Blind Assassin, but I'm not really reading anything at the moment
  
• What is on your mouse pad?
  My mouse
  
• What did you watch on TV last night?
  Part of Still Standing and That '70s Show
  
• What is your favorite sound?
  I love the sound of snow, the way it muffles everything when it first falls
  
• Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
  Not really a fan of either; if I had to choose, probably the Stones
  
• What is the farthest you have been away from home?
  8837 miles (Sydney, Australia)
  
• Do you have a special talent?
  I can curl my tongue into three "leaves"
  
• Where were you born?
  Michigan
  
• Who will you tag to go next?
  Angela from Purple Puzzle Place (I think it's time for more of your eleventy-one things)
  

Ohh, the Sinus Pressure!

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm sick and crabby--so really, right now, my continuing to not post regularly is for your benefit.
☺

Take good care of yourself!