Posts tagged ‘holidays’

Sub-titled: Much Belated.

But we went right from Easter to Crafty Mart around here and I had a hard time keeping up. I think I missed a week’s post. Sorry about that. Those of you who follow us on facebook (link over there ——->) know that I have decided to scale back my posts to once a week. Therefore you’ll probably find more info in each post and I’ll be able to spend a bit more time with my kiddos.

I tried my darnedest to get some good pictures of the girls in their Easter Dresses. But, goodness, it is really hard to get three children to stand still. It’s even harder to get three girls who love their spinny dresses to hold still. And yet even harder to get them to hold still in their spinny dresses long enough for a clear shot in indoor lighting because it was about 40 degrees and raining. Blah! But this will have to do!

Olivia’s is my favorite. I spent the most time playing fabric against each other for her dress and I gathered the under skirt to make it much fuller and princessy. Since hers is the biggest each girl will get the chance to wear that dress, so it got the most attention to detail.

The other amazing thing we did this Easter was head over to Rob’s parents’ house to dye eggs the Martha Stewart way. We wrapped them in cut up silk ties. They turned out absolutely amazing. We had so much fun seeing them when we unwrapped them I think we dyed at least 3 dozen eggs. Maybe 4. It was a real shame to eat them.

Since I’ve never done this before, I’m figuring less information is better, but I can’t help but want to share bits and pieces. Today I did what I’ve been wanting to do since I was in high school. I sent out a book proposal to a publisher. I’m chipping away at my manuscript and I’ve gotten to the point where I am in a good position to share my concept, and hopefully get a contract with someone.

Here’s a nice shot of my samples and resume before I stuffed them into a box and shipped them off for their date with destiny. I could have remade each sample twelve times because they weren’t “perfect” but it wouldn’t matter how perfect I got them if I never sent them away and took that chance.

So now I’m sitting here with my Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day with my husband, quietly celebrating the first step. Does this mean I get to call myself an aspiring author now? I’m going to go with yes. It kind of reminds me of the first time a real artist referred to me as an artist and I decided that I would accept the title and call myself one, too.

In holiday news, we all wore green. Of course. The girls brought soda bread to their teachers as gifts, along with some well colored Jan Brett shamrock coloring pages as gifts. I had green beer and guacamole (I know! Not irish!) with my friend while the girls watched The Secret of Kells. And now we’re drinking Guinness and getting ready to watch something Irish-y, maybe Waking Ned Devine or our Solas reunion DVD.

Did I mention my husband is legitimately Irish? We sort of behave this way year round.

Olivia is in Kindergarten, which means that our whole family is blazing new trails. She is reading and making friends. I am being asked to be the craft mom for holiday parties.

OK, her accomplishments are a little more ground breaking than mine. True. But I do have to struggle to keep to my ideals of crafting– upcycled, useful, valuable, beautiful, etc.– while making a craft that 24 six year olds can do in 15 minutes. And it’s a bonus if no one cries.

Which reminds me! Have I ever shared my ethos on children’s crafting? People have often asked me to teach crafts to children. Upon seeing what I have planned to do they tell me that kids can’t do such and such. I’ve sewn with 3 year olds, made stained glass with pre-schoolers, and finger knit with Daisy Scouts. And I believe that kids can do all of it, just not as well as an adult can do it. They may not finish. It might not be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. It might even get thrown away on the way out the door. But if the children were able to keep themselves busy doing the work you gave them, and no one cried, it was a well planned craft. The kids could do it, and they learned something new. End rant.

Well, for the Valentine’s Day party I designed these little magnet clips for the kids to make. We used felted sweaters for the hearts, glued them to clothes pins with magnet strip on the back. To decorate the hearts I punched out heart shapes from my Zero Landfill wallpaper books and the children added their pictures. No one cried, and all the clips looked great hanging on the white board while they dried.

I can’t wait until the next party!

Every time I visit a friend for lunch I am asked, “Do you use these salad boxes for anything?” And I always say, “I have a ton, but thanks.” I love these boxes because they supply enough greens to last a week, and they’re made from post consumer waste. Plus, they’re see-through so if you store things in them you don’t have to label it.

Well here’s a post Christmas idea to put your salad box stash to good use. As I undecorated my tree, I put the ornaments into these boxes. Looks nice, huh? And now I can stack them up on my shelf in the basement and know what’s in here. They nest, too, which is extra useful for storage.

I like to make good use of what I already have for the good of the environment and the budget.  This year I challenged myself and was determined not to buy any wrapping supplies but only to use what I already had.  Since I save every piece of ribbon, I had plenty to make the gifts look lovely.  We were going to be driving from Florida to Ohio and I wanted all the gifts to be in boxes for easy & safe transport.  I kept a few boxes that new shoes came in as well as check boxes and any other box that I thought would work.

After I packed each gift in the smallest box possible (many of them without tissue paper- I decided it was unnecessary), my husband did the wrapping.  I was then the finisher and decorator of each gift.  I made gift tags using the front of Christmas cards we received in years past, white business cards that were leftover from a work project, rubber stamps, fabric, tags I bought at the office supply store, and of course, leftover ribbon.

One of my favorite gifts this year is a yellow & white fabric wrapping containing handmade cards & stationary, with a tag made of a Christmas card front that has been circulating my family for years.

I should mention that my husband’s family birthday tradition generally involves gifts wrapped in pillowcases to avoid using wrapping paper.  Because her birthday is Christmas Eve, I always wrap my sister-in-law’s birthday gift in paper.  This year hers is wrapped in heart paper and the tag is from the front of a Christmas card she made & sent us a few years ago.

I enjoyed the challenge this year and will definitely be saving ribbon and cards this Christmas to use next year.

I’m happy to introduce our Guest Blogger, Melanie Ostovic. She is a wife and mom to two boys, who lives is Gainesville, FL with her family. Melanie is a good friend of mine and a former Akronite. When she lived here in Akron, my husband and I were blessed to be invited to a Christmas Dinner at her home where I first learned of the tradition of hiding a pickle in your Christmas tree.

I was also a guest to her baby shower when I learned that her family has a thing for gift wrapping. They really go over the top, and the wrapping is almost as special as the gift inside. So when she shared how she changed her wrapping routine this year I knew it would something worth sharing and I asked her to guest post. Check back tomorrow to see her fantastic gift wrapping, just in time to inspire the rest of us amateur wrappers before Christmas Eve.

Colleen and I are really blessed with generous and thoughtful friends. They also happen to be very talented and thrifty. Every year our friend Hilary throws a family Christmas Party and we all celebrate together and exchange small gifts.

The gifts we share are not the most obvious. Many gift exchanges are filled with lotions and scrubbers and massagers and gift cards. Those are good gifts in a pinch, but not meaningful between friends. So we have somehow managed to set a higher standard without adding any extra stress to our holiday shopping. We also haven’t really added to the shopping budget. But what we do add is a personal touch to the gifts and ensure that each gift will be used by the recipient, because the gifts are handmade and useful.

This year we exchanged sucanat, home made vanilla extract, home made peanut butter, home made lentil soup mix, home canned peaches, and a bent silver fork hook. I can guarantee that each of these items will be used, happily, within a few months. They will not waste away in my closet or cupboard. And each one was made using my friends’ unique talents, so each time I use it I will remember that I have wonderful friends whom I love.

I hope that you all have as much generosity and love in your lives this Christmas. Just a few more days left…

Ok everyone. We have one shopping weekend left until Christmas. We can do it. I know we’ve all planned a long list of handmade gifts for the people who we know will love them and a sack of coal for those who won’t (just kidding). But now is time to admit that we can’t make 6 more things if we want to eat, sleep or take a shower anytime in this next week. So, what do I recommend you do? Buy your creatively minded friends some inspiration. You can even get these at your local bookstore, so you don’t have to wait for the shipping and worry all week that it won’t get here in time.

For the new or expecting mom who sews:

Handmade Beginnings- Anna Maria Horner

I have this book in my collection and I love leafing through it. I haven’t made anything in it yet because I just got it at the beginning of Christmas Crafting Season, but I am excited to do some of the quilting projects. I’m not a quilter, but these make the task seem really undaunting. Plus the layouts are very modern and sparse, making them attractive even to the non-traditional crafter.

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For the new sewer, or the non-sewer who wishes she was one:

Stitch By Stitch- Deborah Moebes

I don’t have this book yet. But I do know Deborah (remember our very helpful invisible zipper guest post?) and have ordered fabric from her shop multiple times. I can tell that she is very passionate about learning to sew being a process that is enjoyable, and that it should also be accessible. I see this book as a sort of garment-sewing-101 book, full of delish photos and eye candy fabrics.

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For the knitter (or for me hint hint):

Toe-Up Socks for Everybody-  Wendy D. Johnson

I want this book. And I know a million knitters who love to knit toe-up. I have not tried it yet, but I know this is what I want to do so that I can make the socks fit my foot without guessing and tearing out. Plus there are all these wonderful challenging motifs, but they are so do-able on a project the size of a sock. Did I mention that I want this book? I want it.

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For the non-crafter or the artist:

The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer- Emily Martin

Well, I’ve been following Emily Martin for about 4 years now. I purchased a print of hers called “Salt and Pepper” for Olivia and Elise for Christmas 4 years ago, and so she fells like part of my family in a way. And now she has this wonderful book out of paper dolls, which both my girls love so I’m planning on picking up a copy this weekend for them to share. This book is great for children, surely, but Emily is a tried and true artist, so it would make a truly inspirational coffee table book for your favorite creative person. It’s definitely got some edge to it, but it’s very delicate as well. I’m looking forward to having it in our collection for a long time. Some people recommend buying two- one for playing and one for flipping through.

Today we had a snow day so I had all my girls home with me for the first time in months. We spent the day making paper ornaments and a nativity scene with my wall paper from Zero Landfill. I wish I could show them to you today, but having all three with me was a little more over whelming now that they’re used to school and I didn’t sit down until after dark and the lighting stinks. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow I guess. So instead I will show you these new ornaments I made for the girls at the Craft Akron anniversary party two weekends ago.

I struggled with whether I should make them all the same, or if I should go ahead and do them each differently since I was planning to give them all at the same time. I don’t like how sometimes gift giving can turn into arguing when there are three sisters involved. But in the end I went with different takes on the same theme, which was gold and maroon with musical notes and scrolling letters.

To make these we dripped dye into a glass bulb and poured glitter into the bulb and shook it up to coat the walls. Then we glued a fanned circle of scrapbook paper to the front of the bulb and embellished it with a disk of paper.

Everyone loved their ornament and we hung them on the tree right away. And thankfully no one bickered.

Boy, it’s been a while since we posted a good ol’ tutorial. But man does life get away from you when you’ve got a Kindergartener. Now we’re two weeks out from Christmas Break. How did that happen? So, since it’s almost Christmas Break, that must mean it is almost Christmas. And therefore we are decorating the tree!

This year I am having the kids slowly add ornaments throughout Advent. I thought it was a good alternative to just getting all the ornaments out and rushing through putting them on the tree. The bonus of doing it this way is we are making a bunch of new ornaments instead of just using the same ones we’ve always used. This tutorial will show you how to make the “wrapped candy” ornament pictured in the middle of my tree over there. It’s a very kid friendly, and almost free project using things commonly found in your house. And, they’re very cute! Read more »