Colleen and I are going to take a little Christmas vacation from blogging. We’ve been working hard these past two months and some time off is much needed. We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season and get everything you need, and nothing you don’t want. I’m going to spend the week enjoying these three little Buggers!
Hopefully my mom won’t read this post, because this is going to be her Christmas present. She collects ugly trees, and I usually buy her one, but this year I wanted to make it for her. After a few mistakes I found a method that I really like and I decided to share it here.
Today I was cleaning up the kitchen and I almost tossed out this glamorously shiny purple coffee bean bag. I stopped myself in time, and cut it into loops. These loops I stacked up and twist tied together with the metal strip from the top of the coffee bag.
I fluffed it out and now it’s a fabulous gift bow. I will be making these all month long. Good thing I’m addicted to coffee.
Each year I have plans to make an Advent Calendar with my kids, but it never happens. But when I checked my email this week I found an advent themed edition of Kids Craft Weekly and I found new inspiration to make it happen. There are some really cute projects that use recycled paper items, like toilet paper tubes. But the one that I like the most is the origami paper advent box which from Loobylu.
This might be just the right sized project for me to complete this weekend. Just in time for the first Sunday in Advent.
If you’re looking to spend a weekend browsing off the beaten path handmade items and perhaps make some unique holiday purchases you should stop in Hudson this Saturday for Oddmall- Chrishanukwanzmadan “the emporium of the weird holiday edition.” I’ll be there, sharing a booth with Landen Road Designs, representing my etsy shop Templeton Goods in room #2 so find us if you’re up there. It is November 7th, from 11am to 6pm and there are a huge number of vendors represented.
But if you can’t make it up to Hudson, Clever Nesting will be at Crafty Mart, info over there in the sidebar ——> the following weekend in Akron at Musica. Heck, come to both and be certain that you’ve seen every wonderful handmade item available in Northeast Ohio.
My favorite thing about new babies is that they can’t protest when I dress them up as silly things for Halloween. My older girls have opinions now and I can only do so much to sway them, but not Cressida. Cressida can’t tell me that she doesn’t want to be Mr. H Horrible Hair because he’s a boy and she’s a girl. Or that she thinks the green crochet eye-lash yarn hat is a bit too much. Or that Mr. H isn’t magical and all costumes should be of magical things.
For those of you not born in the late 70s/early 80s, this is Mr. H Horrible Hair. The Letter People are a new hit in our house, so even though Olivia and Elise don’t want to be him, they sure are glad that Cressida is going to be.
These transparent votive candle holder decals from How About Orange are on my list of things to do for Halloween. Usually by this time I am halfway done with two handmade costumes, neck deep in candy corn and finished roasting my second batch of pumpkin seeds. But this year things have gotten away from me, obviously, and there isn’t a spooky decoration in my entire home.
I will definitely have time for this, though. I was also thinking about doing it with an orange Gatorade powder container that I have around. We can transfer the face of a jack-o-lantern, like this one I made in GIMP really quickly, and Mod Podge it to the container and fill it with candy corn. I expect my kids will really like this, because they’ll be able to help, and then there will be a pumpkin container full of candy, and you can’t beat that!
You’re more than welcome to take my jack-o-lantern face and use it yourself. Just right click and save it to your computer.
I made these little star shaped hair ties for my daughters to wear this weekend when we go to see the fireworks. They were extremely simple, inexpensive and cute! I used some of the thicker plastic from my plastic bag stash and cut out blue and white stars. Then I stitched them together through a big red button. To keep them secure I glued them together and then attached a hair rubber band to the back with thread.
These took me less than 5 minutes to make, excluding glue drying time. After I made them I decided it would have been better to use super glue than craft glue, so you can take that into consideration if you decide to make this craft.
I did a little Etsy window shopping for my Dad and my Husband. Rob won’t get anything from this list, cause that would be cheating! But my Dad might, since I don’t think he reads this blog. If he does, then he wins and I don’t care if the surprise is spoiled. These are some items that I think might tickle the Dad’s in my life:
Soaps from karenssoaps.etsy.com
These soaps from Karen’s Soaps are a useful alternative to buying a golfer actual golf balls. I’m sure that my Dad just goes out and buys new balls when he needs them and doesn’t sit around and wait for holidays and hope that someone buys him a package of golf balls.
They are just tacky enough to be awesome. I put these first because they are on the top of my list.
I’ve been trying to compile a list of tools that moms want from their kids (husbands) for Mother’s Day. Since the shoppers for this holiday tend to be last minute about things I waited until Thursday to post it. 
I asked our followers on Twitter what was on their wish list and these were my responses:
TKls2myhrt@clevernesting A sewing machine! Mine is from 1940 and I, obviously, don’t use it anymore. Technically still a tool, right?
ShannahTweets@clevernesting I’m no mother, but if my mother was a knitter, I’d buy her some of these:http://www.signatureneedlea… Custom needles!
belleandburger@clevernesting I want some pinking shears
And, for good measure… Rob, I want a dremel.
