Some much needed craft time.

 Give a woman a candy dish and she'll put candy in it. Give a Crafter a candy dish and she will a bow on it and craft her own candy. Well, that's what I did yesterday. I wanted to "make" some candy for Christmas that I saw on Pinterest. I decided that I wanted to put it in my vintage Fenton glass hobnail basket. I'm not sure how old it is but the lady that gave it to me had been married over 40 years and had received it at her wedding shower. So I'm guessing it is about 40 - 45 years old. I had some red burlap so I tied a bow around it just for the Christmas holiday.

I gathered up my pipe cleaners, tulle and ribbon and sat down to watch Christmas with the Kranks because it was rainy, cold and dreary. A perfect day for a Christmas movie and a craft. 

I simply cut my pipe cleaners in half, twisted them together. then I wrapped tulle around them, twisted each end and tied with a ribbon. Sometimes I had to use a drop of hot glue to hold the tulle together on the back, sometimes the twisted did the job. But you can see how cute they turned out and each one is different patterns.

I was working on other things yesterday as well such as some painting for an upcoming craft and gathering some of my Christmas craft supplies together to take inventory to see what else I could make. I still need to make more of the candy. But between baking and laundry, I didn't have time to finish. I will make some more tonight when I get home. But for now, here is how it is looking.

At the end of the day, I had a sense of satisfaction and celebrated with one of the brownies, two of the cookies and a glass of ice cold milk.

Friday Foto Friends

Meet my friend, Randy. I work with his wife, Amanda. They have two great children.

He is an avid hiker and the whole family takes treks all over the Great Smoky Mountains. On his days off and before he has to be at work, many times he can be found out exploring what nature has to show us. I got permission from his wife to share some of his recent photos to showcase the beauty of The Smokies this time of year.

Some of their happiest family moments come from spending their days in our mountains.

He has photographed many things over the years, all with his cell phone. He loves snakes and share many, many, many pics of snakes he finds and can tell you all about the species. But I tease him and tell him I need advance notice before he posts his snake pictures. I just can't bring myself to post them because I have a great fear of snakes. However, just to show you his talent for getting up close and personal with great patience here is a friendly butterfly he was able to photograph.

And a great close up of one of the lingering clovers.

Early November found him hiking up to Newfound Gap (elevation 5048 feet) and then on up to Clingman's Dome (elevation 6600 feet) in the hopes of finding an early snowfall. He wasn't disappointed. Check out the gorgeous "white stuff ". I love snow but I do admit I am glad that it is up over 5000' instead of down here in the valley this early.

It had to be really cold up there, because checkout the close up of these twigs.

His views must have surely been breathtaking.

I am a sucker for photos of frosty tree tops against blue skies so this was my favorite.

I hope you enjoyed taking some hikes along with Randy and his family. His pics never cease to amaze me. Thank you, Randy for always being willing to share your experiences with us who consider a hike to be a long day shopping.