Christmas cookies (almost)

I made up a batch of "gingerbread cookies" / "gingersnaps" for this Christmas. Most of them were turned into pins, but a few took the tree ornament route instead.

This is a pretty poor photo, but I should have a better one in a day or two.



For those who might be wondering, the pig shapes come from a small cookie cutter my mother-in-law, Britt-Marie, gave me while we were in Sweden. For some reason, the pig is a traditional shape for homemade gingersnaps, in Swedish homes. (I have no idea why they use the pig shape, but I've read about another holiday tradition involving pig-shaped goodies. I think it was a Victorian custom to smash and eat a pink peppermint pig.)

It's a bit late for gingerbread men, but I didn't want to post photos before Christmas, since there were various family members getting these with their gifts. I was planning to make a tutorial for these. (Not that they're extraordinarily unique, but I did put a few of my own twists on the basic idea. ) However, I ended up running out of time, so maybe I'll do that next year, instead.

I think I have quite a few little things that I need to photograph, so maybe I'll work on that tomorrow. Yesterday I spent some time making twisted spiral beads-- such fun to make. Well, all except for the texturing, which I do to cover my fingerprints. That part (and getting them in the oven without the bead-loaded pins falling off the rack) isn't the best, but every other part-- choosing the colors, "doing the twist", and spiraling them onto a pin-- is a blast! :o) I love that shape, too. It's so reminiscent of the seashells I love to find on the beach. It was really nice to make something with the clay without there being a deadline or the feeling that I was supposed to be doing something else. (Ok, so technically I could've/should've been cleaning something, probably, but you know what I mean. (g))