Family Craft Time

I come from a family with a lot of talent.  I could tell you all about the skills, training, and abilities of everyone, but instead, let's talk about craftiness.

I blame my mom, who can make just about anything.  We picked up a lot of her skills, and between her and 4-H, my sisters and I are fairly well-rounded crafters.  We all enjoy finding a project and then figuring out how to make it ourselves.

I just didn't realize that my brothers would be the same.

The scene:  A couple of days before Christmas.  We are all at home, with nowhere to be, a rare occasion.  My mom is warming the house and filling our stomachs by deciding to bake approximately 97 dozen cookies.  I commandeer the dining room table because I have not even started my Christmas cards and I had several Christmas gifts to work on.  However, I was soon joined by everyone, starting with...Steven.

He wanted to give a friend a bags set for Christmas and had already done all of the woodwork.  He needed the bags made, and instead of asking Steph or me or someone else to sew them, he decided to make them himself.  Go Steven.

His first attempt at sewing, and he did a great job.  I didn't get a picture of the final product, but it will provide endless hours of bag-throwing fun.

Stephanie coached Steven, but didn't do it for him, so while she was helping, she also made some jewelry.

Emily didn't really "craft," but she was addressing her save-the-dates with beautifully time consuming awesome handwriting, so it was more of an art, I guess.

 And Luke was stuffing the envelopes.

Aren't they cute?  This is a surreptitious shot of his proposal, and the text reads, "He said 'Will you make me the happiest man in the world?' She said, 'Did you ask my dad?' 07.05.13 Save the Date."
True Story.

I had some serious crafters' block while trying to create my Christmas cards.
Here are some of the rejects.

So, I put that off for another time.

And made some jewelry.

 And fixed a dress for Emily by getting rid of the 80's puffed sleeve.

 And gave my brother a tattoo.  (That was actually him, and that is actually the stamp I use to sign my cards- note the example in the background.) Apparently, you can't leave them alone with anything.

 And then Luke decided to play with a mini blow torch.  Inside.  And was shocked when he caught something on fire.

It is probably a good thing that all-family craft time doesn't happen that often.