Whining Wednesday - or a Christmas fable of a girl, her dog and the smelly guy at the post office

Actually, I know it's Tuesday because Tuesday is stinky guy day at my post office

(I send Olive in and look how excited she is about it)

Her sense of smell is, of course, about a gazillion times better than mine, so this is especially cruel

(please don't report me)

No clue how anyone could possibly cultivate a stench this powerful and still remain unaware of it.

This is not the smell of hard work and sweat - a totally relatable smell to us makers during the holiday season as we rush to get our goods into the mail

(so they can get smashed and lost just in time for the holidays)

No, not a hard work kind of smell just a very bad smell and somehow no matter how I time my Tuesday shipping I always meet up with this guy.

(the smell is what I would imagine it would be if dead animals threw up on his clothing and then he filled the pockets full of hard boiled eggs and left it all in his car trunk for a year ... in the desert)

On the other hand, I do get freaked out if a gigantic bodybuilder kind of guy smells like fabric softener.

(maybe the holiday rush is making me punchy)

When I was unemployed

(and that should narrow it down to, um, most of the time between 2001-present)

there was this huge guy at the gym.

He had a tattoo composed of about 50 human skulls inked on one arm and it was of lesser quality, if you know what I mean, like it could have been done over the course of a short prison term - say breaking and entering maybe - using a ballpoint pen and a thumbtack.

And, it was always unnerving to me when I'd see him throwing up in a trashcan after he'd dead lifted the equivalent of a Ford dealership and he'd still be smelling like a Care Bear ... yes, the pink one.

So, I don't like guys who smell bad and I don't like guys who smell good. No clue what this says about me. Luckily hubby is a kind of non-smeller who rarely even needs deodorant, but maybe this is too much information ... sorry.

(like I said, the holidays are making me punchy)

So, for everyone out there who is spending these last couple weeks leading up to Christmas running around like a maniac getting everything done and working up a sweat, I just wanted to tell you that I'm right there with you, I can feel your pain and frankly Olive can smell you from here ....

Giveaway on COSA VERDE - 10 Days of Nice - Enter by Midnight THURSDAY

Don't miss Cosa Verde's 10 Days of Nice Giveaway of my ladybug cork necklace and Metamorphosis locket with collage artist Jodie Hurt over on Cosa Verde today!

It's easy, peasy to enter. Just leave a comment on the post for your chance to give both these items to the recipient of your choice. Enter HERE!

I Smile Because You're My Sister ...

I laugh because there's nothing you can do about it ...

my kid sister is in town from Portland for a few days so I am putting this little blog on break until next week so I can spend some quality time with her and give her all that big sisterly kind of advice that only mwah can provide ...

poor kid ...

Upcycled Tutorial - Week # 4 - Holiday Gift Countdown - Potholder First Aid Kit

I saw this tutorial in a book a couple years back and thought it was quite a clever and quick upcycle for those potholders that you get as gifts that do not really work for you -

(and by work for you I mean they are too ugly for your kitchen, but not too ugly for someone to stuff in their glovebox)

I seem to get alot of these.

(maybe because I know alot of people who do their shopping at Walgreens on Christmas Eve ... hello, yes, I've been there, too)

So anyhoo turning a potholder, some plastic sandwich bags and a cute button into a little travel first aid kit or some other little kit is easy, peasy -

just remember if you intend to turn a potholder and little baggies into an actual pot-holder (if you know what I mean) that this would be illegal (although quite clever) and not recommended, but just about any other little doodad holder would probably work -

(and not get you a 6 month suspended sentence and 30 days community service - not that this has ever happened to me)


Now I know you are all very clever and do not really need a step by step with this one, but I couldn't really call it a tutorial without a step by step so bear with me.

1. Sew your little baggies (the sealed end) into the center of your potholder
2. Add bandaids, wipes, etc
3. Sew on an appropriate size button
4. Add or sew on some kind of first aid symbol or add a hangtag

(and now that I think of it you could probably get everything you need for this project at 5:45 on Christmas Eve at Walgreens if you had to)

If you are going to make this project and would like a couple of these little first aid pins to add to your little pouch - just email me through the LET'S CHAT link on the right and I will pop a couple in the mail for you, for free, that's just how I am, plus it's the season of giving and all that jazz .... and I made too many.