the craft fair

 the craft fair was a big success and i feel so relieved that it's over. i also feel incredibly sad, as chanda and i have both graduated from our homeschooling organization. i'll help out next year, but i won't be in charge of a craft.

i found the old sign from eight years ago that morgana had made for me. i had to do a bit of searching around the apartment to find it!

my helpers . .

the first craft i made was a window star . .

it was used as a sample for the tree, which carol arrived with at the beginning of the event.

when i made it back to the owl table, korrina had finished hers and we decided to walk around the room to see what everyone was selling.

the children were so creative. above is a felt donut and small cloth wire doll.


our friends made tree ornaments and post cards.


this little guy was so cute with his balloon crafts.


as i made my way around the room, i came across marisa and lori who were catching up. the craft fair is a good time to see friends one hasn't seen in a long time, now that most of our young people are grown up and traveling or away at college.

the candle decorating table . .

i cut out so many pieces of beeswax . . i think i still have some squares left in the tin. i remember morgana cutting these out for me last year.

at the window star table . .

and the swedish hearts table . .


then it was time for korrina to head off for work. i was so happy that she could come by for the beginning of the event.


katie re-did one of my favorite crafts this year . .


pinecone dipping in beeswax . .


with a splash of sprinkles that one dusted on at the end. i'll have to take a pic of mine at home one day this week.

this pic is a little blurry, but maybe you get the idea.

i made my way back to the owl table to see if anyone had finished so i could take their picture.

 

silvie with her owl . .

and silvie with her owl in 2011.

 

it was time for us to begin cleaning up when i was helping this young boy. he was so patient and together we finished his owl.

and then it was clean-up time! sadly, i neglected my paper garland making table!

this year we went out to veselka for a late lunch, early dinner. my friend janet leaves for british columbia on saturday and so this was our holiday get together until she returns on january 4th. i'm hoping we can still have a small craft making day with our leftover scraps when she returns.

these two young people are fifteen years old now!

here's thea with her cinnamon ornament in 2012. i'm sure i have one of leigh also, but i'll have to look for it later.

katie and irene . . and then it was time to walk home in the cold winter air after another wonderful craft fair day. (irene and leigh advised me on which anna karenina translation to read: constance garnett's . . irene said it was closest to capturing tolstoy's feeling in the original russian).

friday . .

 i have seventy-five owls. do i really need so many? i'm not sure, but i want to be prepared. we normally prep for forty participants . . maybe i tend to get a little carried away?

 i still had many things to do (such as cutting paper strips for the paper garlands), but i decided i just wanted to sew and watch a holiday movie first thing this morning. we ended up watching the polar express, which i had never seen and which i ended up really enjoying.

 these are our owl samples which will hang on a little christmas tree on the craft fair work table.

in this photo it's evening and chanda is still working away for me: cutting out tiny black eyes for the owls. afterwards, she got ready to go to the theatre to help out backstage. i cooked sauce and made meatballs for our guests tomorrow. korrina and brian and brian's parents will be attending the show with us and then will come back for dinner. however, it's supposed to snow! i hope they feel comfortable enough to drive (they come from rockland county, just a little ways north of us). the first snow is always a little stressful on the roads, i think. this weekend keeps having its little set backs!

craft fair preparations . .

this is how i spend my days now . .

friday doings . .

 janet found a new tea shop for us to meet at. it's in the old knitting store on bedford street, and they have delicious tea. i have a difficult time remembering the names of the different teas they have, since so many are specific types of green tea, and the proprietor mixes many different herbs with them. maybe next time i'll take a pic of the menu on the wall.

 we chose an iced green tea and it had the most wonderful flavor . . ! we put together ideas for our homeschooling craft fair, finally! we usually accomplish this in september, but as i was considering not doing the fair this year, plans were delayed.

 greg and i ate dinner outside at a neighborhood restaurant. the place is usually very crowded, but i saw a table opening up and since it was still early, there wasn't a line. the food was very good and i tried the cornish hen which i first noticed on the menu awhile ago.

 we also tried their strudel. the server assured me it came warmed up, and he was right.

it was nice sitting outside and watching the people passing by . . 

chanda has a two day pass to the comic con at the jacob javitz center. she has attended the past two years with her friends.

the millennium falcon . . 

 waiting on line to see anthony bourdain, a chef and writer we admire. he's created a few cooking/food shows on netflix. he likes to travel the world and talk with people about the local dishes and recipes.

here at the comic con he was promoting a graphic novel he wrote. before he became a chef, he aspired to be a comic book artist.