Teasel folk...

Teasel folk...  A few weeks ago I shipped my mom some genuine Utah teasel seed pods.  Around here they're considered a scourge, and my neighbors (who saw me harvesting the seed pods) were very puzzled.  They tend to think of gasoline and herbicide for teasel; harvesting the seed pods was ... not sane.  I didn't run into a soul who saw those seed pods as fodder for crafts. 

My mom, however, had some crafty ideas.  At right is the little teasel folk “family” she made for us, sitting on our mantle.  She also made another similar family for us to give to a certain somebody.

So far it's the only thing that looks like Christmas in our house.  All our Christmas decorations are buried somewhere in the piles of boxes strewn throughout our house...