Can I please speak to your union rep?

Picture via Jim Shore

The "sewing elves" finally arrived at my house last week. I'm SURE I made the request for them to start their work much earlier than December 15! In fact, I'm SURE that I always request they start as early as January, March at the latest. I'm SURE I make that request every single year! Somehow they never arrive until some time in December.

And they came with demands, such as setting up a sewing station in the family room because it was cozier, had a big screen TV and was closer to the Christmas cookies. When they finally started on their first project, turns out the supply list hadn't been filled completely (this was after supply shopping):

Geez. Doesn't the North Pole Santa's Workshop Trade Union take care of things like that??

In the last week, this is how much they have accomplished. One Nativity pillowcase:

Three (really CUTE) ornaments (pattern here--just in case you have sewing elves at your house with nothing to do:

and one other really small item (which I can't really post yet). That's IT! Turns out, they have work habits eerily similar to my own work habits this time of year: hard to focus on task, easily distracted, taking way too many cookie breaks (I think I need to check their union contract...). Well, all I can say is that they I better crank it up to high gear starting today. I'm clearly going to have to crack the whip. The licorice whip, that is...