Possibilities

Ponder the phrase "..., if you want to."

I've been homehome (meaning, at my parents) the entire weekend. I spent some time with my parents, some time with Emmis, and some time with my own thoughts.

Me and Emmis went through the Arts and Crafts fair like two crafters who suddenly realized that there wasn't a whole lot for them there. I searched for some very specific thing, and not finding them left me slightly feeling like a sail without wind.

Since it was Friday, there were a lot of teachers with their
classes. I think there were both kids from elementary
and secondary school there. 

Either way, there were a LOT of people.

Best thing though, was that they DID have small workshops
with different themes. This was about using a potter's wheel.

This one was - I think - about different techniques
when spinning yarn. 

One thing I did notice, was that a lot of booths
had "ethnic" inspired crafts. The more color, the better.
Quite a contrast to traditional Finnish crafts.

I just grabbed a photo of the beads this small
company called Figulus had for sale. Really nice
people, so I do think I have to make a visit to their
shop sometime in the future. They do have an onlineshop too.

That was weird, to say the least. But if you want to make thing yourself, then you don't want to buy things someone else has already made. You want to buy the supplies, right?

I ended up checking out the books for sale, and I could have stayed there for a long long long time. Books are nice.

"You could make that yourself, but only if you want to."

Then, next day, we went to Ikea. With Emmis's lovely sister Anna's small family. We younger 'girls' babysat the 2 year old of the family, while the rest went hunting for a warderobe. They were successful, we were successful (no tears or tantrums!), which only proves that you need lots more than just 2 adults to take proper care of a small child. Hello, parents need some time off from their kids too...
And I still had time to get myself a thing or too before the check-out.

"You don't need to help, it's only if you want to."

Emmis also hosted a crafts party, but we had fewer people there due to influenza. Flu always stikes when it's the least welcome. During the evening, I made some paper earrings (my very own design) that Emmis will give her mother for Christmas. In exchange I got some yellow polka dot cotton fabric for making a yoyo-necklace.

Emmis had made some Christmas amigurumis, and had
them decorating the sofa table. These are the paper earrings.

I hope Emmis's mom will like them. If not, I'll make another pair in colors she can choose herself.