I was inspired to carve what I thought was an original idea into a pumpkin…a Celtic Knot. So, I googled it to see what I might find expecting few if any hits. Turns out, not only have people done it, Martha freaking Stewart even has a couple of templates. Sigh. Oh well, I guess if she has templates, I should just use them. No sense re-inventing the wheel, right?
At the time, I felt a little bit like I was cheating. Now, I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve spent cleaning and carving and it no longer feels like I cheated. In fact, last Friday night when I took this picture, it felt like a hand cramp.


The hours kept adding up. It took me over an hour to get a decent picture of it lit.

I had the idea not to cut all the way through to preserve the structural integrity of the pumpkin. And also, to preserve the structural integrity of my digits.


In the end, I was pleased with my efforts. Original or not, this pumpkin is a darn site better than my last attempt at pumpking carving. Turns out that Martha Stewart can make a mean template.

And as my lovely friend Bonita said, “that’ll teach me to trust my cell-mates”.

Ps. Special thanks to Turtle for the use of her sink. :)
Pps. If you go to Things Celtic on Facebook and “like” one of the photos of my pumpkin, I’ll be forever grateful! I’ve entered it in a contest and I’m just a wee bit competitive.

It is very cold here. not by Canadian or Minnesotan or even probably Oklahoman standards, but for Central Texas, this is seriously cold!
On the upside, I found a wonderful opportunity to do something I otherwise would not have. I made an ice lantern! After I got really excited about this idea, my rocket scientist friend Michelle pointed out that I could do this at any time using my freezer. I said, “hmmm”……and thought that would not be nearly as much fun!
So, I went home, cut the tops off my flowers that were going to freeze anyway and began the creative process.

I used apples left over from my Twilight centerpiece instead of rocks to weigh down the bowl.

Bridge adds maximum freezing potential.


I think water actually boils faster than it freezes when you’re watching.

Tip of the day: Flowers float.

Trying to take pictures of my lantern with one tea light lit outside in the freezing wind was a comedy of errors. So, I took it inside, turned off all the lights and snapped a couple of pics (with four tea lights).

It isn’t perfect, but it is pretty cool! I’ve already started brainstorming what other things I might put in an ice lantern…..colored marbles?

I’m on row 179/266 on the lion. I’ve slowed down since I’ve been traveling for work, but I’ll finish at some point. :)

I went to Dallas for work. While I was there, we ate a lot of Italian food……not great for dieting, but it was delic!
I also got to hang out with family while I was in town, so that was a lot of fun. Especially hanging out while the little neices had bath time (shampoo horns and mohawks were made). :)

Then I went to Houston for work.
managed to squeeze in:

• catching up with a friend and her little one.
• seeing lil bro’s new casa Sat.
• hitting the local yarn shop with SIL (who crochets) -Surprisingly, they did not have any locally dyed yarn…..I hope at some point they do get some in since I think it would make a neat gift for a friend that knits or crochets.
• dining with the fam. for dad’s 60th birthday Sat. night
• a high school prom after dinner (was chaperoning with SIL)
  This was a lot of fun. It is enjoyable to just people watch and soak up all the glitz and glam and pretty dresses without having had to worry about what you were wearing or how your hair looks overmuch. I recall all the stress that went into my prom and how I even stressed over if my lipstick was going to match my fingernail polish exactly. In hindsight, it probably would have been better if they didn’t match. :) – but luckily, I got a prom do-over in college with TH when we went to Ring Dance. :) Same dress, but I look a lot less ridiculous. :)…..next time I run across my prom pic, I may scan it in for you all to get a laugh at.

  At prom, there was a girl crying…one couple that had to be broken up b/c they were a little tooooo close……a congo line……a yoyo club……a girl with a dress that made her look like Wendy from Peter Pan (she was evidently about number 3 in her class so I’m sure she’ll be very successful in life)…..girls wearing dresses with trains…..girls with tiaras……girls wearing huge white dresses (what will they wear when they get married?)…….girls wearing elbow-length gloves….girls wearing sneakers with their dresses……..girls in civil war sized ball gowns…..a guy in an MJ outfit…..a guy in a sailor uniform……a few drunk kids…….there were top hats, but I didn’t see any canes and I saw exactly one guy who was watching where he was walking so as not to step on dresses. Prom was a lot of fun the second time around. :)

• some beach combing with Dad on Sun.

It was a great weekend! :)

Then Monday, I drove back to Austin and got to spend a week in my own bed. While celebrating Memorial Day, we went tubing Sunday. That was a TON of fun! :) I’m already looking fwd to doing it again at some point this summer. :) Today, I’ll enjoy the holiday and then it is back to work tomorrow. :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!


(5/31/2010 9:12 am)