I'm out of control!!!

I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a crafter. I am high on oxytocin. These things combined with -36 degree Celsius windchills this week gave me an uncontrollable desire to make my family warm. Richard walks to work. He needed a scarf that was warmer than the ones we had in the house. Now, I do own a couple of fairly sizeable bales of yarn, but time was of the essence. What is a crafty woman to do? I dove into my fabric stash and found a very large scrap of heavy, double thick fleece. In less than 10 minutes my sweetie had a cozy scarf to block the chill.

Next on the list? A way to keep mittens together and close to little hands. Cords are considered a strangulation hazard and would be frowned upon at Emmett's preschool. Mitten clips seemed like a dandy solution, but none were to be found in any local stores. No worries. A quick trip to the fabric store and 20 minutes on my Grandma's sewing machine gave me 4 mitten clips. The kids can't stand them, but I am stubborn and they will get used to them!

The clips consist of around 6 inches of elastic sewed securely to suspender clasps. The close ups show how I sewed them in place. I am sure if you find some pretty suspenders in the second hand shop this would be a great way to recycle them!.

Now, I know what you are thinking. "What about you, Jen?" "What have you done for yourself to keep warm?" Thanks for asking. Emmett's therapist told me about a wonderful creation called a London Fog she had at a local coffee shop. She reproduces it at home and I hope she won't mind if I share her secret.

Find your largest coffee mug (I think mine holds 16 oz if filled to the brim) In the bottom of it place 1 teaspoon of sugar and around an ounce of coffee cream . Add a splash of vanilla extract and stir. Fill the mug with strong brewed Earl Grey Tea. Wrap your hands around the mug and enjoy.

Our therapist uses vanilla coffee syrup she bought at the coffee shop instead of sugar and vanilla, but I didn't have any so this was my way of improvising. If you have the time and inclination you could also scald and whip milk instead of using cream for the real Fancy Coffee Shop effect.