Christmas Librocubicularist 2016

Since Christmas day was Sunday I am posting a day late. We had a great time. I worked on Christmas Eve and then we spent the whole day Sunday doing nothing. We exchanged presents in the morning, including a gift for Gilgamesh's first Christmas, had brunch, and watched movies all day (the final Harry Potter movies and Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer). I got a couple of ponies and a Lego mini figure pack, a Wonder Woman decal, the Jurassic World pack for Lego Dimensions, and angry panda socks to wear when I'm having a bad day all in my stocking. Then I got a cool coloring book and the best otter shirt ever as gifts from my wonderful husband. Plus a gift card to get a pretty book from Barnes and Noble, there is also a Zelda phone wallet still coming in the mail.

I'm upset because I have a few days off in a row and ended up with a sore throat. I'm trying to sleep and rest and feel better but it doesn't seem fair that I have to spend my holidays sick. It's extra frustrating because I can't keep a kleenex around without the dog trying to eat it. Then Monday we had Christmas dinner with my brother and sister in law and their roommate. We grilled the turkey and it turned out awesome. From them, I got a Wonder Woman coloring book and a LOTR Lego pack with Gimli.

Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate Macdonald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This cookbook is a collection of recipes that Anne made for various teas throughout the books. It starts out with some cooking tips and an overview of cooking terms. While I probably won't be making tea biscuits or raspberry cordial anytime soon the recipes seem easy to follow and good for kids to try. For me, this book is mostly about fond memories for the books. The cookbook is sprinkled with quotations from Anne and others in the series.


Cattastic Crafts: DIY Project for Cats and Cat People by Mariko Ishikawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book contains fairly simple crafts to make for your cats such as catnip mice or small shirts. My favorite cat project is a cat tower designed like nesting end tables, so you can spread it out to give your cats more room to play or stack it together to make room when you have company over for dinner. There is also a section of things to make for yourself that either look like cats (cat shaped tissue cozy) or use pictures of cats (cat t-shirts).

365 Things to Do with LEGO Bricks by Simon Hugo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book has all sorts of cool things to do with Lego bricks. There are games you can make for both single or multi-player, as well as building challenges you can try. There are all sorts of things you can build for yourself such as a weekly planner that uses mini figures for each member of the family and a working mini battleship game. There are accessories for your home, some more practical than others. There's a desk organizer that looks very useful but also a kitchen utensil holder that makes me cringe a bit when I think of trying to keep it clean. There are also various Lego contraptions to make which sound like they'd be super fun for kids. Heck, I'm 37 and I think a paper airplane launcher would be fun to play with so it should be even better for kids. Overall, I think if you are a fan of Lego that this book will provide you with plenty of inspiring ways to use for collection.

DIY String Art: 24 Designs to Create and Hang by Jesse Dresbach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book starts out with a very nice overview of materials, tips to prepare your board and pattern, and even a few creative tips for planning out your design. After that, it runs through 24 projects, each with a pattern you can print. They are rated in difficulty from 1 at the beginner level to 3 for more complex projects at the end of the book. The basic designs tend to be either outlines or filled shapes, while the harder projects include spirograph style circles and spirals.