{crafts} Thanksgiving Turkey Shirt

I saw a tutorial for a cute Thanksgiving Turkey Shirt on The Crafty Nest. I created one for my son to wear to his school's Thanksgiving Feast:

{DIY Tutorial} Turkey Handprint Shirt

Thanksgiving just isn't complete without a handprint turkey. I turned Logan's little hand into a felt turkey and ironed it on to a shirt that he can wear for the turkey eating festivities. The hardest part of this project was getting a 16 month old to sit still long enough to trace his hand. I plan on cutting out the little turkey and framing it, to be used in my Thanksgiving decorating next year. Happy Turkey Day!

Materials
Shirt (I found mine on clearance at Target)
Heat-n-Bond No Sew Iron On Adhesive
6 Pieces of Different Colored Felt (large enough to fit a tiny handprint)
Scissors
Pen or Pencil
1 Piece of Cardstock
Iron

Directions
Step 1: Trace your little one's handprint on a piece of cardstock. Cut out the handprint.

Step 2: Iron a small piece (big enough for a handprint) of no sew Heat-n-Bond onto the 6 pieces of felt.

Step 3: Trace the entire handprint onto the Heat-n-Bond backing of the piece of felt that you want to use for the turkey's body. I used a brown piece of felt for the body.

Step 4: Trace each finger (except the thumb) onto the Heat-n-Bond backing of 4 different colors of felt. Each finger will get a different color of felt. Cut out the fingers.

Step 5: Cut a wattle (that wobbly red thing on the turkey's neck) out of the remaining piece of felt that you adhered Heat-n-Bond to.

Step 6: Iron the whole handprint onto the shirt. Next, iron on each individual finger and the wattle.

Step 7: Place shirt on child and enjoy your turkey!

{a thought for Thursday} Reincarnation through translation

All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. . . . —John Donne

{wordless wednesday} Ice

Time to start getting into the holiday mood!

This was from a show in Washington DC. Everything was made of ice! It was a cold exhibit.

{crafts} Craft organization

This is a beautifully organized craft center. I would love to work in an area this pretty! Do you have an organized craft area? Send your pictures to bookreviewsandcrafts@gmail.com.

Source: Uploaded by user via Lily on Pinterest

{a thought for Thursday} Sequence of events

"Time ... is what keeps everything from happening at once." -- Ray Cummings

{wordless wednesday} Moon

Here is the spooky moon. Photo credit: My dad

{read: short story/novel) The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I enjoyed the portraits of these quirky characters who had only one thing in common: the international newspaper in Rome that they worked at (or in one case, read). The character sketches are written in the present, and the story of the newspaper itself, beginning with its founding, is told in italics in between the chapters. This switch in time was a little disconcerting at first, probably because I tend to skip subheads (which included the date, the big clue that we were changing time periods) and just start reading the chapters. I found the story of the paper and its founding family much less compelling than that of the reporters, editors, and other employees. My favorite chapter was the one about the copy editor, Herman, and The Bible, which is the paper's style guide. As a former newspaper reporter and current magazine editor, I had to laugh out loud at many parts of this chapter, including his diatribe about the word "literally." 

Although I typically don't like short stories disguised as a novel, these were somewhat linked and kept moving the story forward. I found myself liking it, despite my usual preference for one continuous story over short character portraits. It was an amusing read.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (The Dial Press, 2010)
My rating: 3 stars