There are a few Christmas things I'm enjoying this week! So, I wanted to share a little list :) It might also be because I haven't taken many pictures lately, so this is a way I can post photos from around the web without having to take my own, ha!
First off, my sister got me a gift set of Harney & Sons Christmas teas for my birthday. I LOVE it. My new favorite, by a long shot. I'll miss it when I'm out and jump to buy some when it comes out next Christmas!
You can buy Harney & Sons tea at Barnes and Noble.
Next, this quickly became a daily read after I bought it about a month ago:
Who doesn't love a book you can sing?? Kelby's favorite, he loves it. But, I knew he would because he also loves Ten in the Bed :)
Third, I absolutely must give a shout out to my friend Jennica, of Bow-Crazy Hairbows!!! She makes SO many great things. I can't resist these things. She brought me over my Christmas bow order today. (I stole these photos from the Bow-Crazy Facebook page, which you should visit and like right now!) I got a few of these snowmen, but mine are girls--they have bows :)
And, some Christmas trees:
And...... who could resist these as stocking stuffers for little girls???
Irresistable, I'm tellin' ya.
Oh, and just for Kelby (don't worry, it's not a bow, it's a pin), she made Buzz...
SO CUTE! Send some business her way, okie doke?? You can't go wrong, they're all adorable. By the way, there are plenty of bow-shaped bows and curly cue bows, in all colors and all sizes. I have a huge collection to prove it, ha!
Ok, last but not least, have you heard of the Piano Guys?? They're so much fun to watch and listen to. The kids and I have watched this one over and over lately:
Have you learned by now, that when I say I will post something "tomorrow", I almost always mean to say, "in a day or two"? Well, now ya know.
My mom very generously bought all of her grandkids Christmas outfits while we were in Washington last week! We found some great things at Crazy 8 and while we were there I saw some pretty cute necklaces that I wanted to try to replicate for my girls. These are them:
So, I bought some beads and got to work. Making the bow and making it look nice and making it stay, however, proved to be more difficult than I expected, so I decided to just use ribbon and do my own thing. I think they turned out pretty cute!
So, here's what you need:
I got a little thing of the string beads at JoAnn for 2.50. It was more than enough for two necklaces and looked like this:
Cut three strands of beads about 36" each. Then, double it over and pinch the ends, making 14 or 15 inch long necklace. It needs to be big enough to fit over the child's head, obviously. Then, take a piece of thread, double it and use it to secure the strands together, like so:
Pretty simple. Trim those thread ends close and then cut some pieces of ribbon, long enough to have some extra to play with. Layer them and lay them under your knot. Put a dot of hot glue on the bottom of the beads to secure them to the ribbon.
Go ahead and tie your bow after this. After I got it how I wanted it, I used the glue gun on a few spots to make sure it stayed put.
Trim your bead ends when you're done. One last step: To keep the strands from getting messy and tangled, pinch the strands at the top of the necklace and wrap a small piece of ribbon around it, hot gluing it in place.
You're done! Enjoy :)
While I was on Crazy 8's site to get the link, I saw this necklace too:
So, it didn't take long after our vacation to get back to frantic reality. Today was pretty relaxing, thankfully, because I refused to let myself believe I needed to go anywhere. I folded laundry, had a friend over, worked on my Christmas list for Casey (Amazon makes this oh, so easy) and made the girls some fun necklaces to match their Christmas dresses.
Yesterday was not so relaxing. I was really letting the mess get to me. There are a few things that snap me out of a foul mood, though! One of them is taking pictures :) So, rather than whine about the mess, I took pictures of it. And, you know what?? Through a camera lens, it looks like quite a happy mess, don't you agree??
When I'm standing in the middle of it, all I can see is the work involved in cleaning it up. But, when I really put it in perspective, these are the messes that make our home a happy one--Natalie has created paintings (and wrapped them) for every family member five times over. Kelby and Layla have been playing together a lot lately (hence, the mess of cars up there) and the laughter is soooo much fun to listen to. And, who doesn't love the mess that comes with making Christmas gifts for little ones?? A happy mess, indeed.
Tomorrow, I'll have a little tutorial for those necklaces I mentioned. Here's a sneak preview:
Alrighty, I'm about to go do some Christmas shopping and then make a huge mess of wrapping paper and ribbon! Gonna be fun :)
We spent last week in Washington state with my sister and bro-in-law, their five kiddos and my parents. It was SO much fun and, as it turns out, just what we needed. This was our first major road trip with three kids and it went surprising well. We spent 7 nights in a hotel room and that went well too! But, what makes vacations even better, is that it's always so nice to come home. After a week away, I am re-inspired in so many ways.
I'll have plenty to share in the coming days, but for now, until I get my pictures straightened out and stuff, I'll leave you with this:
Ah, the strange things you see at gas stations in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Wyoming. Does anyone else feel like Wyoming is pretty much ALL the middle of nowhere??? Just me????
...something always seems to go hilariously wrong. Here's my facebook status from about an hour ago:
So. After unrolling (another) entire roll of TP in the bathroom, Kelby locked the door, closed it behind him and went back to bed. I CANNOT GET IT OPEN! I've removed the doorknob and still can't open it. Then, when I came down to look up more info on how to open a locked door, I went back upstairs to discover him locked in MY room! He was helping himself to my lotion and contact solution. ARGH! I know this will be funny someday. Right!?
I tell ya, this kid takes mischievous to a whole new level! And, in case you're wondering ... the bathroom is still locked and without a doorknob. For once, Google did not give me what I needed, ha! Casey will have to deal with that when he gets back tomorrow--the kids will need baths, after all :)
In other news, I bought this song on iTunes today, after seeing the video:
Annnnd, THIS is my new favorite Christmas post ever. I've noticed an inadvertent eye roll feelings of inadequacy on my part lately when I read other bloggers' fabulous Christmasy crafts/doings/handmade advents/over-the-top cookie-making. And then, someone is willing to show us reality and remind us to embrace ours! Thank you!
I read on someone's blog some advice this morning: Make your Christmas to-do list and then ... slash it in half. GREAT advice. I came to the same epiphany last week. I was putting a whole lot of expectations on myself (especially gift making) and while they were all good intentions, I was becoming a stressed-out mess. That is certainly not what this season is about! So, I gave myself a break. There are a few gifts that are not going to get made this year, but that's okay, there's always next year :) For now, I'm only going to do the things that bring me and my family joy this Christmas! I want to have my family over and cook Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve). That brings me joy! I'm working on some doll clothes and I love making little cute, scrappy doll clothes! Kelby needs a super cape, for sure. Picturing him running around in it definitely brings me joy. I want to focus on the advent and truly teach the kids the Christmas story and about God's grace. That will bring the most joy of all, for sure! (They are very into "the Jesus story" right now. I've caught them playing shepherds and such several times in recent weeks). Everything else can be skipped.
Anyway, we decorated for Christmas on Saturday. We have a new little tree and it was Kelby's turn to put the star on. He talked about it for days :)
What fun is a new Christmas tree if you don't make an airplane out of the box??
It's so much fun to see my stockings and Christmas quilt again! This may be the coziest quilt I've ever made. It's huge and backed with soft, heavy-weight gingham, I think that's why. It sure does make me happy :)
Kelby's out with my dad to see some big tractors today! Can't wait to hear all about it :) Then, later, I'll be toting the kids to the Christmas choir practice (for our homeschool co-op). I'll be using the time to knock out some hand sewing.
Annnnnd, the rough housing upstairs has turned to crying, so I'm out :) Cheers!
Oh, my goodness, there have been so many things I want to blog about and as much as I would love to be a daily blogger, let's face it--it's a busy time of year! So, I'm going to combine it all in one post :)
First off, it's been awhile since I've crocheted anything, it seems, but now that I am in that phase of life where I occasionally cart kids someplace only to sit until practice or class is over (no complaining about the sitting, I love it. I rarely get to sit :), I started this project and toted it along to work on whenever I could. Before long, I had this...
It's an infinity scarf. One big loop, so you can wear it like a cowl. It's mine, not Natalie's, but since she had it on, I let her model it for the picture--she's a beautiful model, too :) And now, she wants one too. A yellow one. And because she wants one, Layla wants one. Guess i have something to do on our coming road trip! Oh, I used this pattern and it was just lovely.
My JoAnn finally got the new McCall's patterns and since my mom was going while they were on sale this week, I asked her to pick up these three for me:
How fabulous is that Denise Schmidt quilt!? So excited. And, can you see the top right view on the apron pattern? It has a tool belt. I want to make all three kids aprons for Christmas and I have a great girlie apron pattern, but this one is perfect for Kelby. The skirt pattern is going to be great, I think. I do not like the saddle bag view--I don't know who would want to add ten pounds to each hip, but whatev.
Next up, did you know that thrift stores and consignment stores are the absolute best place to get kids' books?? Well, it's true. My consignment store has a book club--I get one free book per month per kid! Last time, I walked away with 8 books for $6. Not bad. Last night, I went to Savers, my favorite thrift store and came home with quite a load...
This isn't all. There are four more that were in the hands and laps of little ones when I took this picture :) The Children's Books of Virtues and the Children's book of Faith are in new condition. So are some of the others. And, how awesome is the 1970 edition of the Richard Scary Mother Goose book?? Savers has kids books from .79-$1.99. Plus, for every 4, you get one free. AND, I had a 20% off coupon from a previous donation. Good deal. I see lots of homeschooling unit study and read aloud possibilities in this stack :)
Finally and probably the coolest part of this post!!! My Dad is in a video on Youtube!!! I love this video! It is SO much fun to see where he lives and works in Mongolia and to see him in action. Start looking for him right at 2 minutes. He's in a classroom and in front of an overhead screen. He's in it again towards the end and it's easy to spot him because I think he may be the only American face in there. And if you have little boys, they will love this, it's crammed full of tractors :)
HAVE A WONDERFUL AND GRATITUDE-FILLED THANKSGIVING!!!!
I am done with my ornaments with time to spare! We are spending Thanksgiving with Casey's family a few hours away and I really wanted to take all their Christmas gifts with me. Then, we are traveling to spend a week with my family 18 hours away in the beginning of December, so I really needed to be done with my Christmas shopping and sewing early this year! Let me tell ya, it feels good!! But, anyway, I am SO HAPPY with how these little Matryoskas turned out!! They look so adorable staring up at me from their box :)
This is the one I'm keeping...
I've ordered pictures and bought wrapping paper. Now all I have to do is having my little wrapping party!! One of my favorite parts, for sure :) After our trip in December, I get to sew a few things for my own kidds--doll clothes, Barbie clothes and a super cape is on the list. Plus an apron for each if there's time!
