Culinary Arts

After showing a friend a few pictures of the spoons I've been making, she asked if I could make a few for her to give as a present to a friend who was a chef. I had no idea what exactly I would burn into the spoons, but I was game to give it a try. After some thought, here's what I came up with:

I then tied them up with a ribbon and added a tag.

I'm very happy with how they turned out.

What would you put on a wooden spoon?

Handmade Card Exchange

This fall, I joined a few fellow crafty ladies to participate in a homemade card exchange. The idea (not mine) was simple: we each would choose four card designs and make 16 of each. Then we'd trade so that we would each have four sets of 16 different cards. The goal was to have a set of cards for a variety of occasions -- wedding, birthday, Valentine's Day, sympathy, etc -- like the popular all occasion card sets you can buy at places like Costco.

My approach was that simple is better -- although, I did love the intricate designs created by my fellow crafters. I also wanted to put my Silhouette Cameo to good use.

My first card was the starfish. I liked it as a card for any occasion.

My second was a Valentine's Day card. I didn't want to waste any paper, so I used the cut outs to make two different ones.

My third was another all occasion card. I just loved the bright colours (you can't tell in this picture, but the green is actually lime). This could easily be a birthday card as well, I think.

And my fourth card was a simple Christmas card. I think I may make these next year and mail them to friends.

Did you make any presents to give this year?

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Squirrel is on hiatus. Check back in the new year for more thesis advice!

Happy Holidays!

Don't Fill Your Suitcase with Books

When I was a graduate student, I often filled my suitcase with books and articles I was going to read over the Christmas holiday. There were times when I'm sure I brought home as many as 14 books. It limited what I could fit in my suitcase and it nearly broke my back. And, if I'm honest, the books and articles rarely (if ever) actually came out of the suitcase.

Don't get me wrong -- holidays can be a great time to get work done. I've written a book chapter on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day before. I've written an article during my summer vacation. I've spent Thanksgiving editing. You may recall that last month I penned a blog post titled Holidays Are For Writing, encouraging you to use the unscheduled time productively -- and holidays can be a great time to get some reading and writing done. But the operative word is "some."

The reality is that you also need a break between terms. If you're going back to school in January, you need to be fresh and rested to start the year right. If you work through all of the holiday season, that won't happen. I give you permission to marathon your favourite show. Stay in your PJs all day, curled up on the sofa, and enjoy some brain candy. You've earned it. And hopefully your mother will agree and maybe bring you a cup of tea and some cookies!

You need to take time to be with family and friends. It's important for your mental health. It's important for work-life balance. So make sure you do all of the festive things that you enjoy doing -- whether it's baking cookies, volunteering at your chosen charity, visiting family, or filling stockings for the less fortunate. Now is the time to make yourself a priority. Sure, you're in an intense relationship with your thesis now, but eventually you'll move on. You'll see other projects. One day, that thesis will just be a memory. You can't break up with yourself however! So treat yourself well.

And if you are feeling inspired to be productive in an academic way this holiday season, be realistic. Choose one book instead of 14. Bring home two articles instead of a binder full. Choose something reasonable to accomplish so that you can feel good about what you've done instead of setting yourself up for failure and letting that suitcase of books become thesis baggage (which quickly leads to self-loathing).

Happy holidays!

Just Open the Document!

Finding it hard to get motivated to write or edit? Checking Facebook again or organizing your boards on Pinterest will undoubtedly be more appealing. Perhaps you're avoiding your work because you don't know how to deal with it. You might be struggling to figure out what to say next or how to "fix" what you've done thus far. My advice: just open the document.

I've had a few non-urgent writing tasks hanging over me for several weeks now. (Ok. Two months, if I'm totally honest with you.) More urgent and impactful items have been prioritized ahead of them -- and that makes perfect sense when you think about your goals. But now that there's nothing more urgent or important to focus on, I knew it would be better to just get them done instead of having them weighing on my mind. Unfinished projects are a special kind of stress -- they expand to take up more mental space than they deserve.

Even though I knew I should complete them this week to clear the docket, so to speak, each morning I found myself doing other things, like filing. Why? Because one of the unfinished projects was a report that needed to be submitted to the funder and, despite my best efforts, I still wasn't happy with the wording. I initially put it aside so that I could think about the right approach, but then I never got back to it. If I didn't take action, I'd be a very productive procrastinator this week.

This morning, sitting at my desk, looking for "things to do," I said to myself, "Just open the document!" (Ok, maybe I yelled it inside my head, tagging an emphatic "Already!" at the end.)

Just open the document. It really was that simple. I opened it up and glanced at a few comments left in the margins, and before I knew it, I was done the editing task that had been causing me so much angst. I worked at it one section at a time, one comment at a time. It wasn't nearly as painful as I'd anticipated. Why? Because it wasn't nearly as big a task as it had grown to in my head.

So next time you find yourself avoiding your work -- whether it's writing or editing -- just open the document and see what happens. You might surprise yourself.

Scrabble Score Book

This Christmas, I've been searching for a present for my father. Somehow he is always the most difficult person to find a gift for. Initially I planned to get him a new wallet -- but my mother bought one for him a few years ago that he still hasn't taken out of the box. I also found a gadget for canning that I thought he'd like, but then wasn't sure one would be enough considering how large his batches of jam are (it separated the lids while they are are being prepared in water -- but it only held 12 at a time). My mother suggested socks and t-shirts, but I've given him those gifts so many times that I just couldn't do it again. Eventually, I decided on a custom t-shirt (fingers crossed that it'll turn out).

Despite ordering a custom t-shirt, I still wanted to find something special. I thought about a new Scrabble board, since we usually play that together at our cottage in the summer when I'm home. But there's also nothing really wrong with the board we have (although I do sometimes suspect that there are tiles missing...). Then I hit on an idea -- a Scrabble score pad, since we usually find ourselves searching for a scrap of paper to write on. Well, I found them online at a popular retailer, but they were insanely overpriced. When I found them for a reasonable price at another site, the shipping was three times the cost of the pad of 80 sheets!

So next I started googling to see whether score sheets were available online. I found several options made by individuals, some offered for free, others for a small fee. And then I clicked on a link and discovered that Hasbro provides a PDF score sheet online! Awesome! If they're providing it free of charge, then they surely can't be concerned about me printing a few, right? (Obviously, there is no re-selling going to occur).

I printed several copies using a booklet approach. I must admit, I was wishing I had a colour printer for this -- and there may be one in my future depending on how the sales go after Christmas. Then I trimmed the paper and prepared the booklet for saddle stitch binding. Next, I used some card stock to make a cover. With my Silhouette Cameo, I cut a letter and number to mimic a Scrabble tile (I found font suggestions here -- and I may have to make one of these giant tiles in the future!). When I was finished, I popped the booklet into my book press (made by my dad!) for 16 hours. And... Voila!

I'm very happy with how it turned out. It'll make a great addition to the custom t-shirt I ordered and it will be fun in the future to have a record of our Scrabble games.