Winter Break

As some of you may know, I was given two weeks off from work while school is closed for winter break. Now that I am currently over halfway through my break, I'll fill everyone up on what I have been doing. The early part of my break consisted of doing a little last-minute Christmas shopping. On Christmas Eve, our immediate family opened gifts. On Christmas Day, my sister and brother-in-law and both of my grandmothers came over and we had a scrumptious meal. It was nice and quiet. Although a bit uneventful, I was happy to visit with everyone and see that they were doing well. A couple years back, I spent Christmas in the Emergency Room after my grandmother dislocated her shoulder (she was chasing after a grocery bag and fell down, of all things), so quiet is good! Haha! 

I haven't spent very much time at home because I have been out and about visiting with my sister and other friends nearby. I am taking advantage of being able to do whatever I want whenever I want and not having to worry about getting up early for work. That being said, I do believe that I have my days and nights mixed up now. I will have to start getting back into my normal routine soon. 

The past couple of days, I have been in a crafty mood. Last night, I helped my mom dye some eggs to give as Christmas gifts (I'm not the only one who procrastinated this year). The process is called Pysanky, which is a traditional craft in Ukraine. It's a little tedious, but fun. Pysanky involves drawing a design on an egg with beeswax, and then dipping it in the dye. The parts of the egg that are underneath the wax are protected from the dye. Once you are finished dying the egg, you melt the wax off with the heat from a candle. My mom likes to put a few coats of polyurethane over the shells to protect them and make them shiny. Once the polyurethane dries, we will be blowing the eggs out, which is something that I haven't learned yet. Below are a couple pictures from last night. 

My mom's original design: A nativity scene.

My original design: a rooster

My rooster after I had completed the dying process. 

After my mom went to bed, I decided to experiment with dying other surfaces other than eggshells. I was curious to see if the dye would stick to a seashell, so I made a Snoopy shell. The dye didn't stick well, but I still think it turned out pretty cool. 

My experimental Snoopy shell. 

 Tonight, I decided try my hand at candy making. I had bought some candy molds at Goodwill awhile back and never gotten around to using them. I made chocolate owl lollipops, and chocolate puppy prints. I also made Oreo balls, since I have been craving them ever since Granny Eyre brought them to our Halloween party. I am planning to take these treats to my sister's New Years Party tomorrow night so that we can have something to snack on. Although I don't want to share, I know how horrible I would feel if I tried to eat them all myself!

That's about all I have for now.  Hopefully, I will make a post soon about my New Years Resolutions

 (that is, if I decide to make any). I hope all is well! 

Until next time, 

Miss Ellaneous