Christmas Presents

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I can now post pictures of the items I made as gifts. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I'm also glad that they liked them so much! It was also an interesting experience since I had to make two gifts of the gifts completely before leaving for break. The other one I had to have the body ready to finish when I got home. Boy, did my fingers hurt.

This gift was for my Mother. She mentioned something to me some day that she would like crocheted chilies. I guess she forgot because she was completely surprised. It now hangs on the shelves in the living room.

To be honest, I've always wanted to make something KC Chiefs related for my Dad. I was always worried though because they weren't doing so hot in the past. I figured he would say something like, 'Oh, this is cool. Too bad they suck.' I'm glad they're doing well. A part of me wishes that I had the time to do in single crochet stitches instead of double. Oh well. He still liked it.

My siblings and I would love to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together when we were younger. We even had one of them as a 'pseudo name' since there was four of us and them. Zak was Raphael; and he has continued to be his favorite of the four since. I really like how he turned out. I may have to make the other three. ;)

I was also able to get them some little things from the BYU Bookstore. They seemed to really like them. ^^

Christmas Decorations '10

It's that time of year again. I DECKED out the apartment this year. New things were made and the addition of a 6 ft. tree helped it seem more decorated than years in the past. Thanks for the tree, Gma! I made just about everything that will be seen in the slideshow. Other things were obviously purchased. My roommates didn't really do anything this year... I guess that left me in charge. I didn't even take photos of the wreath and t.v. set up this year. It's pretty much the same as last year. I like the decorated apartment. We'll see if it does well in the ward Christmas decoration contest. ;)

Christmas Presents

Now that I finally have the time I can write about the Christmas presents that I made for the family. I wanted to post them earlier but the end of break came so fast and then school started this week. I'm getting used to this weird schedule of mine.

I stared with my Mom's present first, the kokeshi doll. I made the pattern pretty easily and then used that same pattern for the rest of the family's gifts. Dad got the golfer; Zak got Indiana Jones; and Parker got the missionary.

I also made another ornament for mom going with the cowboy flare. She really liked the fact that it was a penguin and suggested that I made more in the future because it was the only one she had. xD Then I made Dad the Y keychain since he's big football fan. ;)

Christmas Decorations

Well, I posted on Facebook that I had decorated the apartment for Christmas (as much as I could) and my Mother then posted that she wanted to see pictures. I finally got around to making the last decorations but it still feels kind of vacant. I wanted some Christmas lights and to replace the ornaments that went on the ceiling last year, but that didn't happen. Maybe next year.

Sorry for the unsightly pictures. I thought these would give you the general idea.

T.V. wall. (There's a tiny Nativity on top of the t.v.)

Wall right of the t.v. and across the t.v.

Count down to Christmas and poinsettia I won at the Hostlers Christmas party.

Wreath and kitchen window.

Living room window/sliding door.

Snowy Days

It all started last Sunday (14th) when the snow started falling in Seattle. I called Dad because Mom wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas. He told me that church was canceled because of the snow. Of course, they're not used to snow here. So it was only about an inch or so and the people freaked. Poor Dad couldn't make it up the hill with his new car or Zak with his. They were down to just Mom's.

Then on Thursday (18th) I was finally leaving Utah to go home for Christmas. It was snowing a bit but then it stopped. However, in Seattle the snow was piling on. A flight that was supposed to leave at 11:05 a.m. left at 3:40 p.m. I spent most of that time waiting in the plane on the tarmac. Then it's just been snowing on a off the past few days. Dad still can't get out and Zak has only gotten out once or twice since then. Today we're down to one car. At the moment Dad is trying to boost the battery to make the car start. It looks like he may be able to get up the hill today.

Then the snow kept coming. There's at least 8" on the ground. Seattle is actually in a state emergency because they don't have enough snowplows. It's worse in the city than here.

Front of the house.

Side of the house.

Today Parker and I finally played in the snow. Dad was shoveling most of the time but occasionally throwing snowballs and what was on the shovel at us. I started making a snowman and Dad came up with the idea of using the pile as the bottom for the snowman. It all just went from there. I ended up making the most of him with the exception of Parker sometimes helping or Dad's pile effort. We put the snowman right next to the stairs where Mom backs up into the driveway. So... the snowman ended up an ode to Calvin and Hobbes snowmen. What do you think? Does he look like he doesn't want to get backed up in to? xD

Don't Look, Parker.

I hope you all got the hint that I gave you. I know that Amber probably did; and I'm sure Mom got it as well. This is a Rabbid from the Rayman Raving Rabbid series for the Wii. Parker absolutely loves these games. I just thought that he would like a rabbid of his own. xD

This is the third pattern that I've had to come up with, and I'm very excited about how this one turned out. I even wrote the pattern down so I could make more in the future. I might have to for me. xP You can't tell in this shot, but he does have thumbs and a belly. I like this a lot. =D

Don't Look, Zak.

Being in college, I really can't afford to buy Christmas presents. So I was thinking of ideas for Zak and Parker; and this is what I'm giving Zak. He loves the Zelda series and I thought that he might like a miniature Link of his own. He took some time to do. I only wish that I had some flesh colored yarn to make the body, but this worked. Now, all I have to do it travel with him and hope that nothing breaks. >.< I was being stupid and broke the shield right after it came out of this oven. I'm thankful to the person who invented superglue. Oh, and he has a sheath and ocarina. They're just hard to see in this picture.

Hint for Parker's gift: BAAHHH! *throws plunger*

Late Christmas + Family Addition

For Christmas this year we stayed in Boise, and yet it still felt like a madhouse. We had a total of ten people come over. They were all the family on Mom's side along with Amber and Greg. The two munch kins were a handful; they liked to run around and giggle all the time. But, I swear, one kid has enough energy for the both of them. It was a lot of fun to watch them on Christmas day. I think they just liked to be there with all of us.

I got a lot of things for Christmas; mainly movies and craft things. However, I also got my tablet. =D It's so cool. It's called a Bamboo Fun from Wacom. It's ton of fun to use in Photoshop when I color things, but now I can actually draw straight into the program. Woot! If ya'll want to know more just go to http://www.wacom.com.

Now on a side note, I've never said that Amber is pregnant. Oh yeah, I'm going to be an aunt. xD Well, today they found out that they're having a boy. Yep, a little boy! His name is going to be Jared Walker Hansen. That's my Dad's first name (duh) and Jay's (Greg's dad) middle name. I heard from Amber that Dad actually announced it to his team at work. Amber had to call mom at work also, and supposedly she did this teary gasp and then said, "It's a boy!" I can imagine how cute she looked. =P

Christmas Charms

Here are some more charms! I was really in the Christmas mood when I decided to make these. I do wish I figured how to make a reindeer, but I was afraid the antlers would be to fragile. However, I like the charms that I made. I also made a turkey because I thought it would be funny.

Also when I did the mouths I decided to use my 05 Micron pen instead of paint. I think it worked really well. I dipped these into the glaze this time. Dipping takes longer to dry, but it looks better. I did find out that if they're in front of heat that the glaze will dry faster. I was really excited about that. I think my favorite ones are... I kind of like them all the same. I guess I really don't have a favorite one.

Christmas Cards

I was inspired to make some Christmas Cards this year. I thought it would be nice to send some homemade cards to close friends and family. I made them all yesterday. I'm not sure what time I started but I finished around midnight. I wanted to put glitter for the snowflake dots, but I didn't have any liquid glue. I only had a glue stick. I wanted all of them to look very similar so I based them off of the same "8" shape. I wanted to come up with six different kinds of Christmas creatures/people but I couldn't think of another thing; so I made two penguins. They're 6" tall x 4" wide. Oh, and if you ask, I'm not telling which one you're getting. =P

Made with card stock, Prismacolor silver pen, Micron 08 pen, scissors, and a glue stick.

Gingerbread Tree and Stand-Up Cookies

Without me asking, my parents bought me a kit to make a Gingerbread Tree. They knew that I like to decorate them. So this is the final result. I had to make some red icing though; it only came with green and white. I thought the presents looked funny though. Two out of three were round instead of square shaped. xD


After making the tree I had a lot of extra icing. Dad had the idea of making some cookies but we were out of dough. So I found our Stand-Up cookie tin and followed the recipe it gave me. I then made a lot of cookies and decorated them. Most of the cookies went bye-bye as soon as they were done being decorated. Out of all of the cookies we only made two stand-up cookies. The last time we tried to make these cookies (we used chocolate chip cookie dough instead) they wouldn't stand up. I was afraid that none of them would work, but thankfully these ones did. ^^ (Parker decorated Bumble while I decorated Rudolph.)