Shoes for My Elf

Friday was a huge clean up day at work, preparing for a site visit from one of our major funders. As I sorted and purged, my intern followed me about whisking away whatever I decided was staying. Can you imagine how great that was? I go through a box of inherited paperwork, bagging up what needs to be destroying and tossing what needs to be filed in to a pile. And as I do that, the pile disappears as my intern files it. I clean off an bookshelf housing miscellaneous junk from as far back as the 80s, and then she goes behind me dusting and organizing what I have decreed we will keep.

When my boss stopped by my office and saw our system she said, "I want an elf, too!" We all cracked up and for the rest of the day my assistant, my intern and myself enjoyed the joke that she was my elf. By the end of the day, I decided I need to have a gag gift to follow that up. My colleague, hearing about this, says "elf shoes," and I knew she was right on. A quick google search and I found this oh-so-easy pattern. They came out really cute and were a hit with the recipient when I delivered them this morning.

It was a great outcome for very little effort. We were down in Boca Raton this weekend, so I made them completely by hand. I didn't even have a copier to make the pattern adult size and so just faked it. Still, it only took about three hours total. And keep in mind I was sitting out on the lanai with the family, talking, drinking coffee and generally not focused on my handwork. I swear it would only take minutes if you were at home with your sewing machine.