A level situation

Paul's favorite tool is a level.

He uses it for everything. (And he has more than one.  I think maybe he has more than two.)  I never knew there were so many uses for a level.  He uses it to hang pictures; make sure something is up-and-down straight like a door; shelves.... and other stuff -- I'm always surprised at the things he pulls out the level for.  Most of them, things I would just eyeball (especially the pictures).  Last weekend, we worked on our entryway:

Before:

There's the BIG, long level, as opposed to the little short level above. (I have no idea why this is sideways.  I adjusted it in my computer...)

After:

What the heck?  Still sideways.  Sort of ruins the wow factor.

Several level-using opportunities for this project.  This was my Pottery Barn inspiration, done on a mega-budget.

And this is my favorite part:

We used a Groupon recently to purchase this.  In case you can't see, it is a series of pictures of objects/things in nature that spell Cassidy.  How cool is that?  We thought it was very cool.  Go to the Frame the Alphabet site (click there) to see.  It's quite pricey but we got a good deal with the Groupon.  [We've used several Groupons in the area - mostly for food, but sometimes there are other good deals like this one that are online, not local.]

In other home improvement news, we've finally gotten the sideways tree decorated:

.... and other holiday decorations:

This looks so sparse in the picture.  It looks very nice in person.

Love this kissing ball!

Ooh! and I made some cookies!:

I made three different kinds but for some reason this is the only picture I took.   That's weird.  My brain has too much in it at this point. Once I make up a plate of them, I'll take another picture.  But these are my very favorite cookies ever, and I usually only make them at Christmas.  They are called Jewel Cookies and are in an old Martha Stewart Christmas book.  LOVE.  THEM.

And Paul has some time off, so he is working on two other projects.  Details to come.

We are "ready" for Christmas, except for the wrapping party we are having for the two of us tonight.  Soon it will be a whirlwind Connecticut/New York weekend and before we know it, it will be over.  It always passes by so quickly, despite the weeks and weeks of preparation.  I'm most excited to see if my neice and nephews like their slippers!

In knitting news, I started and finished the Seamless Baby Kimono by Carina Spencer:

Full disclosure:  Those buttons aren't sewed on yet.  Big surprise, I know.   I'll give someone $5 to sew them on for me.  Any takers?

The colors were a collaborative effort, picked out by myself and all the other knitters hanging out at the shop last weekend.

This was a quick knit (especially since I knit the 3 mos size) and fairly simple.  I started it on Sunday and finished it yesterday.  Great (as the pattern notes, too) for a first top down sweater.  I'll be teaching a class for this in January or February.  It has sizing up to 2T which is nice.  Very cute - it got lots of oohs and aahs at the knit-in last night where I was weaving in all the ends.

And last night, I succumbed to the yarn bug and purchased some yarn for the Sycamore Vest by Hannah Fettig.  It's a nice lightweight vest that can be worn in the spring.  I got Cascade 220 Sport to knit it with:

Ha!  NOT purple!

Hopefully next post will not be sideways.

Happy Holidays to you all!