The face on the bead is done in Sharpie (which is recommended not to use in the pattern but my acrylic painters pens were all dried up, and it didn’t bleed that much anyway). The hair is done in white craft paint.
I’m more a sewing person, so my standard craft supplies aren’t comprehensive and I didn’t have wooden beads, actually. The big department store I stopped at only had a huge tub for $13… I only need two big beads and two small beads so that was ridiculous. I tried the “Dollar” Store (everything is more than a dollar now) but no wooden beads. I hate to say it, but the Dollar General saved the day; had a smallish pack of wooden beads at a reasonable price. And they had the rhinestones (I likewise to do not have sequins and no local store had sequins in their craft section).
I’m starting a Christmas kit from stash! Mr. Imma is in bed so I had to stop sewing. My current Christmas ornament cross stitch project is a pattern I downloaded, and my computer is upstairs too. And I’m absolutely sick and tired of my current downstairs project (Miffy birth sampler, lots of white on white). Good excuses to start something new right?
I am a little bit annoyed right now, and it’s not completely fair but I do feel it’s a bit fair!
Mr Imma is neurodivergent and not good at remembering important dates and arranging things in time. Like gifts for birthdays or Christmas. It’s not like he doesn’t try at all, I’ve had a couple of really good gifts over the years, for birthdays instead of a physical gift we usually go out for dinner and he pays a lot of attention picking the restaurants. But some years he just can’t manage and I get nothing.
To make sure I get something under the tree, I always get a few little things for myself, too, and a few things for “us” (things like a kitchen tool we both want etc). He has requested that I stop doing that from now on, so I won’t buy for myself this year. He has asked me for a more detailed wish list, so I gave him a very detailed list. Since then I’ve been informed that candles aren’t a real gift I also included a few stocking stuffer - type things like “nice chocolate” and “nice tea”. Then he came back asking me what kind of chocolate and tea I like?
Mind you we met in 2012 and have lived together since 2014. He goes grocery shopping quite often. He always wants to sample my snacks and drinks. Just maybe, the stuff I buy is what I like?
I am trying to be patient because I know he is really trying and he feels bad for being so bad at special occasions and surprises. But I’m just bewildered how he doesn’t know these things. I know all about his favourite snacks, but also his favourite shampoo and laundry detergent…
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AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
1427
I understand your frustration. Some people just naturally are more observant and all sorts of details can be remembered and retained. I like remembering when someone said they like a particular thing I make or a wine I served, etc. It stays there for the future. I was always the gift buyer for Jim and me since I usually knew what people liked.
Jim has a different kind of memory. He can remember specific dates and events but not a lot of details from them. IF I can recall the day (not the date), I can almost see what people wore, drank, said,etc.
After nearly 50 years of marriage, I’m not even sure Jim knows the colors of my eyes unless he is pressed really hard, let alone other things. He knows my birthdate and those of my family, but has no clue what anyone would want. It’s not you…and putting two and two together also seems obvious to us (we are probably hyper observant), but Jim missed the connections often. It is like I can predict an outcome even before it happens just be “clues”…he is clueless. I have been buying my gifts for years. Does it still annoy me? Yep, but I certainly am not going to change myself or him, so it is more of a peaceful truce!
She’s done! Except for the ribbon/cord to make her a hanging ornament. (the orange she’s offering is actually orange irl; my phone doesn’t do well with red spectrum items.)
Yes, nice work! All those little details. The sharpie face looks good to me.
AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
1431
Just gorgeous!! The little sequins are the perfect touch.
I made a few crochet stars for a little Christmas tree. I am not exactly concentrating on Christmas right now…we have a Thanksgiving feast for 16 in a few days and I am in semi-panic mode! My husband does 95% of the shopping and cooking, so I am doing the cleaning. My craft room is a disaster, so looks like “hide everything in a box in the guest room” time! ha ha
I forgot to post the three little Christmas treat ornaments I made! I have had this pattern for a very long time and just found them again while unpacking more boxes.
And @Immaculata, you’re definitely not alone. Mr jemimah is a wonderful man and happy to give me gifts - but he finds it next to impossible to go a shop and choose something for me. I have to tell him the exact thing. I can’t just say ‘earrings’ or ‘a tube of nice watercolour paint’, he will come home empty handed. So I usually choose my own gifts too.
I had a very nice surprise today Yesterday Mr Imma asked what my favourite chocolate was. As he does a lot of the grocery shopping I told him, any chocolate or snacks or tea on the shopping list that he doesn’t really like, are probably my favourites. It was a lightbulb moment. A bit later he asked if the ones I only buy for special occasions were my true favourites. So he had noticed a pattern, he just hadn’t connected the dots!
Today I came home and there was a gift for me. He couldn’t keep the secret so I got it right away, a box of Ferrero Rocher Which is indeed something I usually put on the shopping list around Christmas, but feels to fancy to buy regularly.
I think it was a little bit of an eye-opener for him that the foods he feels are “meh” , like any chocolate with fillings, I don’t buy them because it’s a “Christmas tradition”, but because I actually like them!
Good to hear we’re not the only ones struggling with this. I knew from the day we met that Mr. Imma is neurodivergent, and he had that gut feeling too, but getting formally diagnosed has helped him feel less guilty and bad about things like this. He knows he’s not a failure, but struggling, and is more open to asking for help. He’s actually a really good gift giver for his friends - he buys niche ambient records for them, or craft beer. Somehow my interests are just more difficult to understand even though we have lived in the same house for more than a decade. I do think women are often trained to be more aware of these things than men.
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AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
1434
aww–to me, it is when people who normally don’t do well with gifts and other social things, do something you don’t expect, it is much more meaningful! Enjoy your chocolates!
I got another unexpected gift today! I haven’t actually received it yet. My mum has a long-term close friend who is a very crafty lady. She has had serious health issues for years, she’s practically housebound. I always liked her and we send each other handmade cards and little gifts in the mail every now and then. My mother visited her the other day and her friend gave her a giftbag meant for me! I’m very curious to find out what’s inside. I’m sure it’s handmade, crafting is one of the few things she can still do.
I, ehm, didn’t do any of the Christmas crafting I was supposed to do. I’m going to put the tree up tonight though, it’s the first Sunday of Advent!
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AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
1436
Surprises are nice!
I also need to get our Christmas decor up. I like to wait until Dec 1, but when I was working, it was always the weekend of our Thanksgiving holiday. It won’t take long to do.
I do need to take pictures.
The only Christmas crafting I did was making some paper wreaths and handmade Christmas cards. You’ll be getting my card soon, I hope! I like displaying the handmade cards in my house so I look forward to this swap each year!
I always display all the cards as well, receiving mail always makes me so happy. I like to participate in the card swap but I also send cards to a ton of other LC people outside of the swap.
I just added a gift for next year to the list. During the first Covid Christmas I made stockings for the whole family. I have a little bit of that fabric left over - next year, I’ll make one for my niece!
In my country, people celebrate St. Nicholas on December 5, but that’s only for little kids. It’s still a bit of a faux pas to send cards before that date. But from a religious perspective, Advent always starts before December 5. And lots of people without young kids set up their tree in November now.
Tomorrow is December 1st! Yikes. I did zero of my Christmas crafting so far, as well, but my sister took Kidlet and me to the theater to see Cirque’s “Twas the night” today so the season is officially kicked off in my house.
Tomorrow I will start to bring out the holiday decorations (we have both Christmas and Hanukkah in this house, and we make a bit of a deal about Yule/Solstice too.)
The show was a great time, if you get the opportunity definitely check it out.
The busy season is over, I can get ready for Christmas season! I still have 1.5 week to work, but no out of town appointments I need to travel to or anything else that steals my energy. The year is basically done.
Yesterday I went serger shopping and placed an order. I also gathered some WIPs, UFOs and “to finish” projects. Plus a whole bunch of cards to write over the weekend. I’ve not been crafting a lot lately but I’m getting ready for a month of uninterrupted crafting.
Anyone else realize this past week that they should’ve been baking treats like a week and a half ago?!
Scrambled to get the mini fruitcakes made this week after work (but they should have 4 weeks to cure in the brandy wrap), and one batch of Rum Balls (again, the longer they sit, the better they get).
Today’s plan is to cram in more Rum Balls and make Cherry Cordials (yet another item that gets better after it ages; the homemade fondant will melt into a syrup), as well as work on christmas gift commissions, and christmas gifts.
but my acrylic painters pens were all dried up, and it didn’t bleed that much anyway). The hair is done in white craft paint.
I also included a few stocking stuffer - type things like “nice chocolate” and “nice tea”. Then he came back asking me what kind of chocolate and tea I like?
Yesterday Mr Imma asked what my favourite chocolate was. As he does a lot of the grocery shopping I told him, any chocolate or snacks or tea on the shopping list that he doesn’t really like, are probably my favourites. It was a lightbulb moment. A bit later he asked if the ones I only buy for special occasions were my true favourites. So he had noticed a pattern, he just hadn’t connected the dots!
Which is indeed something I usually put on the shopping list around Christmas, but feels to fancy to buy regularly.