Beanies Update #4

Merry Christmas to all!  

Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas yesterday.  We had a great time with family and friends with lots of food, lots of laughs, and lots of... presents. :)  Haha...  But really the true gift is the time we were given to be able to spend with one another.

With the hustle and bustle of the season, I didn't manage to make much.  I do seem to be on track as I finished one and started another. :) 

Beanie #4 is a Blue and Cream beanie.  I decided to use the remnants of two beanies that I made in the past.  It was actually pretty easy to attach the two.  The blue yarn is a Lion Brand Yarn - Super bulky acrylic and the cream is Wool Ease Bulky yarn (I think by Lion Brand Yarn as well).  It's another kid-size hat using the red knifty knitter round loom.

Alright, so Happy New Year, and see you next week.  I do warn that I will probably be late on the update post, as it's a travel day for me.

Lunar Eclipse Pictures

This past Monday we had a special treat in the sky.  We had a chance to witness a total lunar eclipse on a full moon on winter solstice.  So, I'm a bit shy of all the details, but it was still quite awesome to witness.  Also, the clouds cleared just in time for near perfect viewing.  I know this is a bit off topic on what this blog usually has, but I took some pictures and some actually turned out decent.  So, I'm sharing. :D

The first three came were taken thru my telescope view finder.  The last was just with my not so spectacular, but pretty decent zoom camera.

Enjoy!

For more information about this past eclipse:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2010_lunar_eclipse

Up-Cycled Newspaper Giftwrap

For a cheap alternative to giftwrap, try using newspaper.  Particularly this time of year, you'll find colorful, full page ads that would make wonderful giftwrap allowing you to save a bit of money as well as being a bit eco-friendly.  The general problem I've found with newspaper is that the ink tends to get all over your hands, and that's not what you want when you give a gift.  So, the secret to it all.... HAIRSPRAY.  Crazy, huh.

So, apparently, spraying some hairspray on the newspaper you want to use, will help seal the ink in so you don't end up with ink covered hands.  I suggest spraying the newspaper first before wrapping and allowing the newspaper to dry completely. My experimenting has also shown that the hairspray will not make the paper sticky (something, I was concerned with).

To finish it off, I also added a magazine gift bow.  You can find out how to make one here.