Christmas unwrapped

Before I get into showing off my own crafty gift-giving, lookee here what my neighbor gave me! It's a beautiful handmade cutting board.

She's new to woodworking, but you'd never know it. Obviously she has special talents. In fact, you could say she's perfectly cut out for this hobby...heh...heh... Occasionally I peek into Mr. G's woodworking shop, so I know there was a fair amount of sawing and cutting and gluing and plaining and sanding and oiling involved in making this cutting board. I only hope I can get up the courage to actually put food on it! Thanks again Jen!

Remember the embroidered rooster I was working on in Grand Cayman? The one I introduced to the pool rooster?
Here it is all framed and ready for wrapping. It was a collaborative effort. Mr. Gadget made the frame and I did the stitching. You may remember I made a bathroom curtain for TG out of the yellow rooster fabric. There's a funny story about this curtain. TG said when he put it up he had trouble fitting the rod through the casing. I was sure I had made it roomy enough too, so this was puzzling. But one day while he was relaxing in his bathroom he noticed the roosters were upside down. Seems he had struggled to get the rod through the hem. It's a much better fit now that it's turned right side up.

Here are Tech Guy and Big City Girl with their new books of special mom recipes and their mom-made aprons to keep their clothes neat and tidy if they ever should actually decide to cook. TG's apron has car racing flames, and BCG's is covered with money. He likes to drive fast, and she likes to buy stuff. Mom is so intuitive sometimes.

And here is the perfect guy gift. It's a TV remote control caddy, with added pocket for TV guide, that fits over the arm of a chair or couch. Mr. G had an old one that was threadbare and overdue for retirement. I also made one for Tech Guy and BCG's boyfriend and, through a masterful work of orchestration, I managed to get all three men to unwrap them simultaneously. They found this quite amusing.

Big City Girl really got into the festive spirit of things.....

.....while Tech Guy tried to toast his buns in front of the TV yule log.

We all had a wonderful holiday with plenty of good food and good cheer. Everyone pitched in to clean up the mess, and we sent the kiddies home with several meals' worth of leftovers.

It was quite enough excitement for one day.