When I said I’d post the sign up on Monday morning, I of course meant Tuesday evening. Sorry. But it’s here! the 2oo9 Mobile Swap! I started this last year after putting away all my holiday decorations and feeling that my house looked so sad and empty. Well, it’s taken a little longer to get the decorations down to the basement this year, but the house is looking bare now and a pretty mobile would be just the thing to bring it back to life.  If you’d like a mobile of your very own (and try your hand at making one too) please email the following information to  elsiemarleyblog@gmail.com (edited to correct address)

Please write “mobile swap 2009” in the subject line, if you don’t I could lose your email in spamland.

1. name

2. email address

3. website (if you have one)

4. mailing address

5. favorite colors

6. whether the mobile you’d like to receive is for a baby’s room (and his or her age probably would help). If you would particularly like to make a mobile for a baby’s room, say that here.

That’s it! The mobile can be out of any kind of material using any design you can think up. Sign up by Friday January 30th and I’ll send you your partner’s information the following Monday. I’ll try to arrange it so you send to one person, but receive a package from another–just to mix it up. Packages should be sent out by Saturday February 28th. There is a new flickr group for this year,  but be sure to visit last year’s group to see all the awesome mobiles! I made two different mobile swap buttons so you get to choose between a classy lady and a dapper dude. Please copy and paste them onto your blog (or click on the pictures and it will take you to the link to use) and spread the word! Now I really need to pack up the rest of those christmas decorations.

This is a Martha idea from a few years back. Super simple and it makes the whole room smell like gingerbread. My reindeer are pretty wonky (one somehow became a boy reindeer in the oven and one gained some christmas weight) Martha would not approve. If you make this, the gingerbread dough’s best quality should be sturdiness, not deliciousness.  There was an obscene amount of butter in these, so we will be eating, not decorating with, the rest. Though I’m sure these reindeer will have their feet nibbled off in no time.

Yesterday we were buried under almost a foot of snow, so we made meringue snowmen.  I had this little project stored somewhere in the back of my brain for a while and it was the perfect day for it. I whipped up some meringue, piped them onto a sheet pan, and the kids decorated them.  We didn’t have much (and there was no going to the store) so I cut raisins up for the eyes and we used the 10 red hots that were left. I didn’t want to use chocolate chips because I thought they would melt. But now I’m realizing I should have cut up some dried apricots for noses! oh well. I also forgot the peppermint extract, so they don’t really taste like much, but the kids don’t care at all. The meringue is sticky as all get out, so it’s a good idea to wet your fingers a little before you start decorating.

snowman meringues adapted from martha stewart

• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (or vanilla if you don’t have peppermint)
• raisins, currants, dried fruit, red hots, or whatever else you have on hand for decorating

directions

1. Put egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Transfer bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
3. Mix in peppermint extract (don’t forget)
4. Put the meringue into a piping bag with a large tip (or a ziploc bag with a clipped corner, or just use two spoons). If you have a silpat, use it. If not put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and “glue” the corners down with a dab of meringue. Then pipe three adjoining circles–a snowman, silly.
5. Decorate and pop in a 175 degree (Fahrenheit) oven for two hours. They will look exactly the same when you take them as they did when you put them in.

This is turning into a tutorial week! Tomorrow I’ll have the directions for the string of lights advent calendar and who knows maybe I can rustle up another tutorial for Friday (but don’t hold your breath). Also, a couple people have emailed me asking whether or not the mobile swap is happening again this year. And yes! it is. Sign up will start in January. Last year it was a big success! And I’ve even got an idea for my mobile already.

I have zero thanksgiving decorations, so I came up with this little project. It doesn’t really need any explanation, just push some cloves into some clementines and spell a word.  You could get all fancy with fonts and it might be good to sketch the letters on first. I just did it freehand (and I’m sure you can tell). Clementines have a thinner skin than oranges so it makes pushing the cloves in much easier. This is a great project for kids and a good spelling lesson to boot. My daughter is really into letters right now and  it went over big. I didn’t dry them so they won’t keep, but they still smell pretty. Now we just have to make some hand turkeys and we’re set!

I just realized I never posted a picture of my finished mobile I made for the swap.  My partner was very patient while I got it done. From top to bottom it goes: big house, cabin, barn, ice house. I explained how I made it here and there are more pictures here and here. I’ve received some lovely comments about it on flickr and a couple requests to sell them, but I’m not sure about that. I couldn’t find my X-acto knife when I was making these, so I used a box cutter–a sharp one, but a box cutter nonetheless–so it took longer than it should have. If I get an itch to make something with paper again, maybe I’ll put one or two up for sale.

A couple of you are concerned because you never received a mobile from the swap and I’m sorry for that. It could have gotten lost in the mail like mine, or maybe your partner’s life just got in the way. I try to think of these swaps as an impetus to make something different and try not to focus too much on what you might get. I’m going to host another mobile swap next year, so hopefully it will go better (I was a little lax when it came to managing it this year–I didn’t think it would be so much work!).