The Day Before the Day Before

So.
I am done.
Kinda sorta.
Tomorrow, I finish up with the Kadomatsu Project. Remember? The Japanese things you put in front of the door for the New Year?
Don't remember? Okay, an article about kadomatsu can be found here.
Anyways, we have to go deep into the tropical rain forest to find the right kind of bamboo:



Then we take them and cut them up to the appropriate size:



There's some kind of formula we use as far as proportion goes, but I'm not privy to that information. The sections are then segregated by size:



Then the sections are wrapped with rope and pine is added.
Voila!



This is what provides for my cycling bling for the next year. Tomorrow, we deliver the last order.
Speaking of bling, I opened up the kiln today and took this stuff out:



Ooops! Not the turkey sandwich and a pickle.
This:



Oh wait. That was the last batch.
I meant to show you the mugs:




Tell you the truth, I don't know what happened to the green one. The design looked okay when I was glazing, but as you can see, it didn't transfer over to the firing.
At least I know what doesn't work.
These low fire glazes are truly evil. It looks like they are on thick enough, but when you fire them, they come out all goofy looking.
Well it's not the glaze so it must be me.
So, I'm just about done. Which is great because I don't want to get any where near a shopping mall. I used to be one of those last minute shoppers, but now I'm older and wiser.
Mostly older.
If I was really smart, I would have had all this stuff made last month.
Anyways, I hope everyone likes my hand crafted gifts; it's all I can afford on my pay don't you know.
I'm sure they will appreciate the time and effort I spent in getting these things out.
Well, they would if they read this blog.
At least I got them out the day before the day before.