handmade::knit hats

Now that Christmas 2011 is just around the corner I thought I’d show you some of the creations of Christmas 2010.  Many of which didn’t actually get wrapped and placed under the tree.

I’ve got nothing.  I had a baby?  She breastfed a lot?  My eyes are bigger than the number of hours that exist in a day?

One of those items that were basically finished, except for the linings, were these super cute and designed by me hats.  I designed them!  I almost never do that!  I knit them using a basic ear-flap hat pattern – from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, Kim’s Hats - then embellished, embellished, embellished.  SO. MUCH. FUN.

plus MATCHING COATS. You know you love it.

I used wool from  my stash.  The grey was used to make a wee baby jacket for Callum, and the brown was a thrift store find.  The brown wool is ridiculous in how itchy it is.  It is NOT hat material and had to be lined.  I was stupid to use it.

It's a dog. Case you can't tell.

The grey is less itchy, but still itchy-can’t-wear-it even though the girls were desperate to wear the kitty cats.  I eventually got around to lining them about a week ago.  They sat in my mending basket for over a year.  It took me 15 minutes.  FIFTEEN MINUTES and I could have wrapped them and put them under the tree last year.

cuteness overload, yes?

I may be the world’s biggest idiot.

handmade::the birds

This little mobile was one of the Christmas Handmades.  One of the Christmas handmades that actually got wrapped and placed under the tree.  I know, right?  CRAZY.  You should totally invite me to your next party, I’d liven that shit right up.

tweet tweet

This was the gift that Callum made for Claire.  The inspiration was this mobile, which I figured would be easy enough to recreate and make our own.  I cut out the birds from some neutral construction paper that I had on hand knowing that Callum would be coloring them.  I cut out many more birds than these two.  I would have used cardstock but I didn’t have any and I wasn’t about to go out and buy some for this since I literally have a suitcase full of paper.  One with a suitcase full of paper needs not to buy more paper.  Ever.

Then one fine day when Claire was napping – which, seriously, when was the last time that girl napped?  Last summer? – Callum went to work personalizing Claire’s Birds.

Callum wasn’t big on my abstract art idea, or say, wildly colored birds.  I even broke out the “good” markers but could not convince him to add any more color to each bird.  Once he started to get pissy about it I let it go.

I do love how he colored each bird a breast, and the eyes.

He also decided that two was plenty.  This may have been because I mentioned that when he was done we could go outside on an adventure and find the stick they’d hang from.  He was all over that.

I don’t think I used his stick to make the mobile.  Man, I’m a bit of a bitch Mommy.

ANYWAY.  Once the stick was collected, I had to assemble that sucker pronto because it had to be wrapped and let me tell you, the wrapping and presenting of presents is still a big deal over here.  It’s Very Important and honestly, happens a lot.  The kids routinely wrap up  my stuff and give it to me as a gift.

Getting your own bra wrapped up in a box is a bit of a letdown.  I’m just sayin’.

just hanging.

The birds were well-received.  My kids love to get stuff that the other made for them as I’ve brainwashed them well.  These now hang proudly over the head of Claire’s bed.  Where Claire’s head doesn’t lay because one day last month they decided to sleep backwards, so these birds hang over her feet.

This would look really adorable with pretty paper and several birds, don’t you think?  I mean, Claire’s Birds look adorable too and are totally awesome in that kid-made way, but you could inexpensively make something pretty stellar as a baby gift.  You should do that.  Go! Create!

handmade::joy

We got hit hard with a nasty stomach virus this week and while it wasn’t horrific (unless you’re Steve, who is the worse sick person I know), it wasn’t a party either.  It was 24 hours of ick.  24 hours ain’t so bad, you know?  Not like, say, the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Sadly it meant we had to postpone Claire’s birthday party.  She was cool, though.  Took it in stride, just like she takes being sick in stride.  This girl, a bundle of mixed messages is what she is.  Of course she still got presents and a cupcake with pink icing and a sparkler so all was right in her world.

When the masses were all sleeping this afternoon I did this mad clean of the entire house, and finally got around to taking pictures of these little Joy Boxes the kids made Steve and I for Christmas.  They each painted and stickered a box.  I had limited the paint options hoping to unify the boxes somewhat, and was surprised to see how differently they still turned out!  I had also tried to limit the sticker options but I wasn’t organized enough to have the stickers out before little people were present and then of course, little people had opinions.

The stickers still get moved around pretty regularly by little fingers, and I’ve noticed that my box is now just a j y box.  I’ve been robbed of my joy!

Each box is filled with little round notes from the kids, or little pictures they’ve stuff in there when the mood strikes and in my case, a rock painted red.   I took a moment today to pause and go through my box and smile.  I certainly needed a little jolt of joy this week.   Or, you know, j y.

Joy to the world!

a stack of joy!

probably best not to laugh

Bedtime is not always a party at my place.  Sometimes it runs smooth.  Baths are had, stories are read, teeth are brushed, more stories, snuggles and kisses. 

Then other nights, time outs are called (Steve), negotiations made (me), yelling (Steve), or physically placing uncooperative kids back into bed until they finally give up (me).   Sometimes all that might work.  And other times all of that ends in a tantrum so spectacular that I am usually thanking every possible deity out there that I’m not on a reality TV show.  Like I need to add that to the list of things I’m being judged for.

Tonight was a tantrum night.  I’ve got to hand it to my middle daughter, she’s got staying power.  And lungs.  Lordy, do her lungs work.  I was gently singing to her (“you are brave, you are strong, you can go to sleep”) on her bed, and rocking her while she screamed like I was BURNING HER ALIVE, which let’s face it, maybe me singing is equivalent to that, but honestly, do you have to scream?  A simple “Mama, your singing totally sucks” would probably be effective.

So, she’s screaming and I’m singing and Callum is complaining bitterly (they share a room) and finally he says to me “Mama, just take her some place else”.  Kid had a point.  So I moved the screaming, flailing one to my bedroom, still gently singing and swaying.  After a while I got bored of this, so I just left her on my bed where she continued to wail, back arching, legs kicking.  Occasionally she would get up on her knees, arms lifted to the heavens and wail. 

She better thank me win she wins the Oscar.

I lay down beside her, and stopped singing since clearly the singing was useless, and waited.  After a while, her screaming started to fade.  Then it was like she realized that hey!  Mama’s bed!  At this point she started trying to get under the covers, which was quite an ordeal since I have approximately 8 million pillows on my bed and I make it every morning (the one housewifely duty I actually do with any sort of regularity.  I enjoy a made bed.  Plus if it is made I reason it is unlikely spiders will find it inviting.  The theory behind that is that spiders prefer an unmade bed since spiders are, you know, icky.).  

So I’m trying not to laugh, and I am also refusing to help her because she just screamed for 45 minutes and isn’t supposed to be sleeping in my bed anyway and she doesn’t deserve any attention*.  She finally gets the pillows and the blanket arranged just right, and snuggles in with her back to me.  I took that as my cue to leave.

As I was getting ready to leave I opened my bedroom door than double-backed for the laundry hampers.  Girl sits up, firmly meets my gaze and says “Don’t forget to shut the door when you leave”.

THE MIDDLE CHILD IS WINNING.

heavy on pink, sprinkled with red

Steve and I aren’t Valentine Day celebrators, but I do think it is a fun holiday for the kids.  Not that I would have scoffed at a box of chocolates.  Or some flowers.  Or a gift certificate for a massage.

Something about valentine crafting makes me happy, it’s quick and pleasing.  And full of hearts and pink.  I like hearts.  I like pink.  I like crafting. WIN-WIN-WIN. 

cutting. serious work.

Last week the kids and I made wax paper crayon valentine hearts that have been hanging in the window.  Callum informed my mother that we plan to pull these out every year when we decorate. 

keepers? really?

I totally planned to throw them out.  Decisions.  Decisions.

Yesterday I visited with the lovely Laura and adorable Gwen, and that little playdate resulted in Anna going to bed at 7:30 pm.  This is insane.  I was drunk with the possibilities of what I could do with an entire evening stretched out before me.  Inspired by the heart tic-tac-toe game on alphamom, I made the kids this:

heart on heart

Of course, I could have finished any number of unfinished projects I’ve got going on but hearts! pink! crafting!  THE STARS ALIGNED.  The kids played one game this morning, then fought about it for the next hour, Callum grasping the concept of how to play tic-tac-toe while Claire just wanted to carry her hearts around.  Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for. 

Love.  It was in the air today.

You know I have to do a side tangent and talk craft, now, right?  It must be done.   The game was super easy to make, I could totally see making it as a favour at a February birthday party.  Or changing it up to suit the birthday theme – pond with fish beanbags or just a square board with flowers, or trains, or if you’re really feeling it, a favorite character.  This particular version was super cheap as I shopped my stash.  It was almost recrafted, but not quite, the white felt was store bought.  My wee hearts are small, so it was about 3 teaspoons of rice to fill, and used less than one sheet of craft felt.  They were also hand sewn because I wanted to watch the grammies (PRIORITIES! Free evening!  I was multi-tasking!), and the game board itself is just another piece of felt and I used glitter glue for the lines.  I would machine sew the beanbags if I was mass-producing these as a favour though.  How cute would this look in a little felted bag with an applique?  I know right?  You’re totally dying inside.  I can tell.

nothing says "I love you" like a martian does.

Then we made pink popcorn for Callum’s preschool, the recipe from Dinner with Julie (a treasure trove of awesomeness).  Good stuff although it is very sweet.  Callum made each kid in his class a red valentine martian, so we attached those to the little baggies.  Be still my beating heart, people.   He wrote out every kid’s name himself, too.  Took him two hours of sitting at the kitchen table, thinking about each kid, creating their martian, then writing out their name and his.  There is love oozing out of every pore of my body.  How’s that for a sappy Mommy Moment?

Then we made chocolate cupcakes with pink icing.  I used the kitchenaide mixer Fearthainn gave me for Christmas.  IT WAS HEAVEN.

Then we made pizza dough to make the annual heart-shaped pizza.  I always have a heart-shaped pizza.  It’s my thing.  The kids cared not at all but my heart likes to be bursted with cheese.  Cheese.   The reason I’ll never be skinny.

i love me a heartfelt pizza

The kids and I enjoyed the pizza before Steve got home to quickly whisk Callum to swimming lessons (his interest in swimming lessons does not equal his interest in making valentine martians) while the girls and I had a bubble bath.  I try to get in the bath as often as I can because I know that these opportunities are fleeting.  We play rocketship when I bath with the kids (all four of us in there is ridiculous, no doubt).  So we all buckle in and zoom off to the shark planet and then pretend to be sharks, or the frog planet with a lot of hand hopping, or the crab planet where there is a lot of pretend pinching.   There is blasting off and crash landings and we take our buckling up very seriously.  That is the effect the car seat manufacturers has had on an entire generation of children’s imagination.  We can’t even take off on an imaginary rocketship without first doing up our seatbelts.

blast off!

All in all, not a bad Valentine’s Day.  Even if I didn’t get that gift certificate.