(for comparison, see last trip’s photos)

Part 1 of our actual Christmas travels was a 10 day trip to Michigan, starting in Midland to see my dear friend Anna get married, followed by a few days of working remotely from my sister’s couch, and ending in Grand Rapids for several packed days of visiting as much of my extended family as possible.

Somehow I feel like this sums up the trip, mostly because this is Chloe’s couch and I spent a lot of time sitting on it.

Another highlight was making everyone stand outside in the cold for an hour and a half to get in to the Santa House. It was cold. But we got to play in Santa’s Sleigh!

Of course, no Christmas would be complete without a picture of the girl cousins on the couch. See all the photos.

Cutesy Apron: made of beautiful Anna Maria Horner fabric purchased from Whipstitch, my favorite local fabric shop. I sort of traced the outline from an apron in my kitchen, but altered the whole thing to be longer and to wrap around more. I also added a bright yellow pocket to hold wooden spoons, hot mitts, or just to look cute. For my sister, who requested a cute apron.

Most Useless Machine Ever: Built from a cheapo wooden box from Michael’s and assorted switches and a motor. Ryder did almost all the work on this. I lettered the sign and helped paint. When you push the switch on the top of the box, the robot arm comes out and turns itself off. (Watch a similar box in action here.) For my dad, who thought it was absolutely hysterical (we did too).

Headbands: Based on a pattern I saw over on homemade by jill, I made a pair of these from fabric bits and some elastic. One is reversible. For my brother’s girlfriend. I also made one for myself. To test the pattern, you know. I think I need to make more.

Cross-stitched night light cover: I cross-stitched a floral design based on another pattern I had. Ryder designed & cut the wooden frame pieces. We sandwiched the cross-stitch between the two frame pieces, then glued those to another wooden ring that fits around a standard night light that we got from Target. If we could figure out a better way to make the frame for the cross-stitch, I would make more. This one was for my mom.

Quirky calendar: This was pure design work – making wonky phrases for each month of the year. Printed & bound at Office Depot. Picked up from Office Depot in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2011. For my quirky brother.

Elk Coasters: source photo by me in Colorado; wood-burned by my husband; cut, poly-acrylicked, and backed with cork. A gift for my momma-in-law.

Purple shirt: made of some shimmery-stretchy purple fabric. Loosely based off the 90 minute shirt. For my brother-in-law’s lovely girlfriend.

Growly Bookends: pipe fittings screwed into wood blocks; painted green with scroll-saw cut muscle arms. They strain to hold up books. For my brother-in-law.

BB Gun Rack: cut on our scroll saw from 1″ thick wood; stained to a dark brown. Two separate pieces are screwed directly into the wall, for easy access to keep those deer out of the yard. For my father-in-law.

Okay, they are Coloradans. Diana & Mitch, wedding #1 of the trip.

Lots of Wincks (plus Kelly), on an overlook on the tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Inspired to imitate elk, butting heads.

Mr. Contemplative

Conquering the mountain

Lakeside Lunch

College friends, at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs

Also Coloradans: Annalise and Ryan, wedding #2 of the trip!

If only I had a video camera to capture this – this rocket launches fast (the 3 pictures above were all taken within one second). Ryder built it out of PVC pipe and a 2 liter bottle for our church’s VBS program. The short story of how it works: slide a half-full 2 liter bottle on the end of a PVC pipe. Hook up a bike pump to the other end of the pipe. Pump until highly pressurized. Pull string to release bottle. Get wet. Over the 4th of July, we took it out on the river with Ryder’s family and had a blast (ha ha ha) with it.

Ryder made this wooden clock using our scroll saw, and then wood-burned the detail onto it. The only part I don’t like is that this was a birthday gift for his brother, so we only got to enjoy it for a few days.