December Advent Acts of Kindness, Crafting With Cat Hair

Yesterday was such a wonderful, beautiful day. I looked out the window at around 4:50 pm and the most beautiful sunset was happening; the sky was deep orange and pink and the snowy ground was glowing pink as well. I called the boys to come and look at it. I tried to take a picture but it just didn't do it justice. We watched for a while, as the colours deepened and became almost neon, then darkened to a purplish black. Twenty minutes later it was all over and the sky was dark. I suddenly understood why people post inspirational sayings, and I was inspired to do the same:

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Well said, Ferris Bueller, well said.

One of my friends was ill yesterday, and in trying to cheer her up I searched modcloth.com for links to cat sweaters, because when your head is in the toilet and/ or on the bathroom floor tile, the most cheering thing in the world is a link to a sweater that is noted for it's "cat-itude".



photo from modcloth.com

But what I found even more cheering? THIS BOOK:



photo from modcloth.com

Dear readers, a book about crafting with cat hair. CRAFTING WITH CAT HAIR. Why sweep up all that cat hair off the floor when you can make actual miniature kitties with it? Why indeed? I feel like a) this book would make a really great gift for certain people in our lives, and b) crafts made out of cat hair would be the ultimate gift for certain people in our lives. This is a win-win situation we have here. Here's a little description from the book:

 

You’ll forget about fussing over the cat hair that’s clinging to your clothing or couch when you explore this 'purr'-fectly precious guide to crafting with fur! ....While your favorite feline naps in a beam of sun in your studio, you can use its freshly brushed fluff, a few simple tools, and basic DIY skills to fashion a set of felted finger puppets, kitten-topped keepsake boxes, delightfully detailed badges, cute pincushions, or tote bags that boast darling appliques. 

TOTE BAGS. I am horrified, yet fascinated, by this book. This is way better than the Snuggie Sutra. Delightfully detailed badges! I wonder if you could make this hat out of cat hair:

photo from modcloth.com

Very meta. I also wonder if actual grown women a) purchase and b) wear this hat. Now of course, we all know I'm not a cat person, and so it should be no surprise that I think this is kind of funny:



photo from modcloth.com

And if I could knit without fears of a nervous breakdown, hysteria, or becoming fatally tangled in a web of yarn, I would buy this book AND knit my own litter of puppies:

photo from modcloth.com

So please don't think I'm getting uppity or waging some sort of dog person/ cat person war, which is probably as egregious as a mommy war. Who wants to talk about dogs versus cats versus SAHM versus WAHM versus breastfeeding versus bottle feeding versus co-sleeping versus I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE. Certainly not me.

We're going to put up the tree and decorations this weekend, which is always fun and exciting. I was thinking about Advent calendars, thanks to my friend Lynn, who last year inspired me to make a "holiday activity" Advent calendar. Here's the thing, though: I am not gifted at coming up with holiday activity ideas. Generally, once the cookies and gingerbread house are made, and the decorations up, my ideas consist of a) watching Christmas specials on TV OR reading Christmas books, and b) going sledding. I'm not up to the pressure of having 24 different activities to put in the calendar. Today, though, I thought of a different idea, and I like it: kindness acts. I'm going to challenge the family to come up with a different kind idea every day in December, and write it down on a piece of paper to put in the Advent calendar. It doesn't have to be a big thing; in fact, I think giving someone a compliment or letting someone go ahead of you in line might be just as kind and heart warming as buying someone's coffee at Starbucks or shovelling our neighbour's walk, or taking in donations to the food bank. I think this would nicely reinforce the festive idea of giving rather than receiving, don't you think?