About mid-way through the craft it became abundantly clear that a staff of highly talented and experienced adults had created the sample seen HERE that we were shooting for. Nevertheless we pushed right on through, blaring the Christmas tunes and insisting that the globs of glitter and red paint in the hair just adds to the spirit of the season.

image from The Long Thread

I would love for Carolyn to design some kind of simple art project to make for her cousins for Christmas. I saw THIS at thelongthread.com (one of my favorite blogs for crafty goodness) and thought this might be a good place to start. Of course, the horse will have to be a unicorn, and it will have to be pink, and it will have to live in a castle.... but its a start.

Remember that annoying thing I do where I keep mentioning that I should learn how to sew but never do? Welp my friends. I learnt me some sewing this weekend! No more lamenting the lack of lessons, they have arrived.
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My (patient and awesome) mother-in-law spent Saturday morning teaching me to thread the machine, run the pedal thingy-ma-bobber and other necessary skills I would be needing in my doll and snack sack making endeavors.

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[It should be noted that this was only possible because my likewise awesome parents took the girls for a Friday night/Saturday day o' fun with the girls. Which left me with a solid night's sleep and a morning of nothing to do except learn a new skill - and it was glorious.]

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As evidenced above, I took full advantage of my new-found pass-time...making four dolls, eleven snack sacks (which are crazy easy to make and SO fun, too... won't they be adorable in the girls lunch bags!?!), and I made the Pussy Willow Branches too for kicks (also EASY and also cute, even B thought they were "pretty cool looking").

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Brandon pointed out to me that no family needs eleven reusable snack sacks. Probably true.
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So - to celebrate my sewing abilities - I am doing a GIVEAWAY
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Just leave a comment below, and you could be randomly selected for the three snack sacks above. Blue fabric with colorful fruit, brown polka dots, and green floral patterns. Super cute, I think your snacks will agree.
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Hope you win!
[Be sure you leave an email, so I can reach you if you win!]
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I'll announce the winner Friday morning, so be sure to enter by Thursday night.

We spent several glorious days on the beach recently... have I mentioned that? I waded waste-deep in crystal clear water searching the sand below my toes for shells with my two sun-kissed daughters. It will be one of those memories in my top ten of their childhood. It will be that place I go back to in my mind when I'm 101 years old lying in an old folks' home fighting off leg cramps (leg cramps are actually one of my biggest concerns with getting old, much more worrisome than loss of bladder control or eyesight, possibly because I'm already well on my way with those two).
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I wanted a clever way to display our treasure trove of shells and smooth rocks from our marvelous days on the beach. So I picked up a $4 shadow-box frame at Ikea and voila. Now every morning I can peek at the shells and remember the sounds of lapping waves, laughing kidlets and sunshine (which sounds a lot like angels but you only hear it in the deepest parts of your heart, not so much with your ears.)

The mega gia-normous wall art is complete. Brandon and I placed the letters, the girls applied the paint - and now a very personal piece of art hangs above their bed. I would say this accomplishment merits a "pretty darn good weekend" label.
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PS - I tried a new trick with the letters. Last night before bed I applied a layer of clear paint (well, it did have sparkles) over all the letters. This successfully held them down so the girls could use their hands to smear any direction their little hearts desired.

I finished a project. It's a miracle. 99.9% of the time I see something online and get all inspired, buy the supplies, and then poop out before it comes to fruition. I figured out the key is to promise the little people in your life that you'll do it - they're good accountability partners and artists to boot.

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These art canvas quote-a-ma-boards (also called Messy Masterpieces HERE) (and explained in more detail HERE) turned out perfect for the kidlets rooms. We're working right now on a mega-gia-normous one for the girls room...stay tuned.

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A quick how-to if you'd like to wow the littles in your life:

1. Purchase a pre-stretched canvas (2 pack $6.99 at Hobby Lobby), several paints (we used the cheap stuff), contact paper

2. Print the quote out large (like 200 size at least)

3. Trace the letters onto the contact paper

4. Make room in your schedule to sit for 2-3 hours of cutting, (it seriously takes so much longer than I thought it would). Cut out every letter

5. Arrange the letters onto the canvas as you'd like them

6. Remove the backing from each letter and place on the canvas

7. Allow the littles to make a messy paint masterpiece (we used paint brushes because the contact paper slides around fairly easily...the girls' "e" in "you're" demonstrates that nicely...I figured paint brushes would minimize the scootage)

8. Allow paint to dry completely

9. Remove the contact paper letters, finger nails required

10. Children smile and pose for final photographs

This weekend we made dolls! Well... I cut, stuffed and drew faces, my incredibly patient mother-in-law (who puts up with all of my crazy ideas) sewed and made my ideas come to life. This might be my very favoritest project EVER. We worked with the Black Apple Doll pattern (found HERE). However, our next round is going to involve some modifications and experiments with leg and arm widths, hair variations, and lots and lots and lots of different outfits. I can't wait. My house is becoming a doll factory this very night.

Last year we found the time to do May Baskets (remember it here). I feel as though last year we found the time to do lots of things I haven't found time for this year. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, we have so much going on tomorrow we will not have time for this beautiful tradition.
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If you have a few minutes and some emty cake mix boxes and tin cans - you can make some recycled May baskets for a neighbor or family member and it will surely make their May Day memorable.
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Here is the tutorial we used last year from Skip to my Lou.
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And here is the post of the girlies being crafty as they assembled our creations the night before...sigh, I'm making a note to keep April 30 and May 1 open from now on. I love this tradition!

Fresh out of bed and into the kitchen for craft time with the handsome one, I wish I could start my day this way. I was en route to a leadership conference where I erroneously wore peep-toe heals for the first time that were making my feet scream before I finished the short trek into the conference center. I want go on and explain the emotions I am feeling in relation to the speakers topics, but Brandon has wisely suggested I give it a few days to digest, as I'm a bit passionate at the moment and sometime that can result in regrettable prose.
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As you await my slow emotional processor to turn my passion into reasonable dialog, you can enjoy the Tie Dye Window Art the girls created based off of this tutorial from Wendolonia.

Wedding prep is in full-swing at our house. Two little flower girls and a matron-of-honor requiring things like chapstick for dry lips and a stopage to all consumption of sweets in order to fit into silk bridesmaids dress on Saturday (yikes).

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One of the better preparation items are these headbands. My mother-in-law (God bless her patient hands) helped me to assemble four of these lovely and affordable creations based on the tutorial posted over at Heart of Light.

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I started with the attaching the flowers to a piece of ribbon per the tutorial, but found it very difficult to then attach the ribbon to the headband (which was a necessary modification due to the age of the recipients...there was no way they were keeping a piece of ribbon in their hair all day). Eventually we ditched the ribbon and went to hot-glue on a fabric headband - which worked much better and faster.

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The piece of silk we used for the flowers was a remnant at the craft store (about $3.00) and the fabric headbands were $2.50 each (and they sparkle!) All told we got 4 headbands for about $3 a piece! Not too shabby!

1. Reversible Felt Basket - made from a recycled cardboard fruit basket (hello Farmer's Market, I'm going to be on the prowl) and felt.... yes....felt. From Resurrection Fern.
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2. Fruity Segments Embroidery Pattern - this very much needs to be embroidered onto a new kitchen towel for the summer, it would look lovely next to my pear cafe curtains. From Carina's Craftblog.
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3. Salvaged Selvages Whale - Julia would love this whale as it would fit with the nightly reading of Jonah that she insists on every night. From Sew News.
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4. Bunny Hat - There is a sweet girl I know who would look adorable sporting this hat on Easter morning! From Notes from a very red kitchen.
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5. Ukrainian Eggs Made Simple - well, "simple" is relative, but these would be so fun to make in a few years when the girls are older and more patient...and so am I. From Design*Sponge.
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6. Baby-in-a-Pouch - Carolyn and I will be making a multitude of these before Christmas to send to Mexico, we probably better start now! From Coloured Buttons.
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7. Polka Dots Garland - Something about these just makes me smile, I could see Ross and Kate stringing these in a babies room in some creative way. From Between the Lines.
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8. Easter Egg Diorama - So so so so cute. Again with the projects for a few years from now, don't let me forget about this one, its REALLY cool! From Matsutake.
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9. Brown Bag Bird's Nest - This looks do-able, like even today we could do this tutorial. So we just might, and if we do, we'll take pictures because isn't it beautiful! From Alpha+Mom.

We're digging things made of felt and puzzles right now. We're also enjoying being home from a relaxing weekend, and children with goofy expressions. Thought these photos just about summed up life. Happy Monday!

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PS - Here's the link to the tutorial on the Rose Barrettes - if you're in the metro I'm happy to do a little lesson over coffee or cookies or some kind of yummy treat...