Interrupted but Not Wasted

Second Post of the Day

Monday I started working on my holiday gifts. The first priority? Making ornaments for the grands and their parents.

I give everyone a new Christmas ornament every Thanksgiving. That way they can hang them on their tree and enjoy them that year. And then, when they are adults and putting up their own Christmas trees, they have a set of ornaments for it that already have memories and meaning.

Monday morning I wrote my blog entry for the day, walked the dogs with Craig, and then got busy.

Making blackened beeswax ornaments is a lot of work and in parts of the process, the timing is critical. It also takes over my kitchen as it takes a lot of space.

While the first batch of beeswax is melting, I prep molds and tie hangers.

Cinnamon is caustic and can irritate or burn the lungs, so I always wear a mask when I blacken the ornaments.  

Things were chugging along as I'd hoped. My timing was good and the process was flowing well. I had 27 ornaments completed when I decided to take a quick break, take the dogs out to relieve themselves, grab a bite of lunch, and then resume.

Except... things didn't resume. My hot plate gave up the ghost and would not heat any more. I fiddled with it, but honestly, I was not surprised. It runs constantly for 4-5 hours when I am making ornaments, and that's a lot for an inexpensive hot plate, one I've been using for five years.

What to do? I had an open week and had planned to make ornaments all week long. I didn't want to lose that time. So, I did a quick check on Amazon, ordered a new hot plate that would arrive the next day, and then began moving my things around so that the kitchen wasn't a total beeswax melting and making mess.

The molds I'd already used were set aside next to the completed ornaments. No need to wash them as the only thing on them to be cleaned up was cinnamon and that wasn't a problem - I wanted to get cinnamon on the ornaments.

The island cleared, I wiped it down several times, removing excess cinnamon and the parchment paper that I'd laid down.

Everything else was stacked at one end of the kitchen table, and I wiped down the other end of the table several times (that cinnamon gets everywhere!) Now we had a place to eat our dinner as well as counter space to cook and prep food.

And then the wait began. I hoped the new hot plate would be delivered early enough in the day Tuesday for me to get more ornaments made, but it didn't get here until late afternoon.

So, I used that unexpected open time to put away the Halloween things and put out the Thanksgiving decorations. 

Then I made some orders for Kalamazoo.

The tea towels that I sell had sold so well at the Feast that my inventory was low so I restocked those, making a large order to supplement what was left.

I organized the five sewing orders I took at the Feast and made notes about each one, contacting two of the people to confirm the size they wanted.

I ordered some new short gown patterns to expand the clothing that I offer to customers.

I took notes on what I needed to make as I prepared for Kalamazoo in March. (Sewing for that won't begin until after the holidays, but if I have some open time, it's nice to know what might be a good use of that time.)

Leslie called me with the news that our importer from India had new fabrics in and had sent her a list of some he thought we'd like. He was right, I did like them and six new fabrics are now on their way to me.

When word gets out that you sew, you get frequent requests to make, mend, and alter clothing. I rarely agree to do those things unless they are for a family member, a bestie, or...

... a grand dog. Rosie's favorite toy had two holes in it. Again. 

I'd already done an extensive repair on the back of this toy; now there were two more holes in it. (Marked by the red and green fabric clips.) In ten minutes, Rosie's favorite toy was repaired and Craig (the ol' softy) took it over to her home as he was heading to that side of town.

As I said, late Tuesday afternoon my new hot plate arrived. This morning I am taking my friend Kathy to an appointment, then I will run a few errands, walk Pepper and Tammo (if the rain ever stops...), and then restart the ornament making process again.

I'm looking forward to it.

Stay 'tooned!