Alhambra and Buttons

I finally have an Alhambra update - I've actually worked on this quite a bit over the last couple of days, and have made a little bit of progress on it. It's looking more and more like a half square instead of the one-sided thing it looked like for a long time.

I was up at the glass studio on Saturday, and while I was playing around, I figured I'd try a button or two. I'm in a biscornu exchange early next year, and wanted something cool to put in the middle of the biscornu. I tried a few with flowers on them, but those buttons don't really look like anything at the moment (I need more practice). But the frit covered ones are looking pretty good, so I thought I'd share. You can see the top of the middle buttons and the shanks of the buttons on the side. These have all been annealed - I'd be afraid to make buttons without annealing them, as annealing slowly cools the glass and makes the glass less likely to break.

Christmas Eve Dinner went well - this was my first attempt at turkey and all of the sides. (To be fair, my Mom brought a veggie, so it wasn't *all* of the sides, but it was pretty close).

The menu ended up being:
Ruby Slippers (Champagne and Cranberry Cocktail)
Apple/Cranberry/Walnut Brie Melt
Turkey
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry/Orange Relish
Mashed Potato
Herbed Sweet Potato
Green Beans
Plum Pudding

It was all yummy!