Christmas card idea #1

Last year I made a little book of our family's top ten collections: various stacks, piles and other groupings of noteworthy ephemerae. (I changed our name on this page to remain incognito). I printed the pictures on heavy white paper, and the cover on pale green letter paper from www.papersource.com. As the book was fairly substantial, I actually got out my tool box, and used my handy drill to make six holes through the center. Then I stitched it all together with pretty string, using a heavy needle.

This is a picture of my husband's favorite collection: his ipod tunes. (I don't know if you can see them well enough on the computer, but some of them are really hilarious: Tiffany, "I think we're alone now" (yes he grew up in the eighties!) and the history of the Vikings. Yes, this sums up his well-rounded personality!

This was actually the #1 collection: the sock graveyard, full of discarded stinky socks and underwear. (I'm sure most of you have one of these collections in your house!)

This was my then three-year-old's bedtime collection: her favorite stuffed animals and books.

I have seven more pictures of our collections, but alas it would make far too long of a posting. This was a really fun project to make: the kids loved thinking about their various collections, and I loved sketching them. What are your family's favorite collections?

more advent fun

melissa, i love your quilted advent calendar! here is my shoddy handiwork: don't look too closely, you'll see all kinds of threads and chewed off mini-lightbulbs (my children love to touch this - especially when there is candy tied to it!). i went through a phase a few years ago where i wanted to make an urban san francisco version of "the night before christmas" book, since that's where we lived when my oldest was born. the calendar was made during this period. one of these years i have big plans to re-make it with better detailing. we'll see if that ever gets moved off my to-do list...!

homemade Christmas idea #4

Homemade button hair clips are so easy to make. Simply glue gun a pretty button onto a barrette. You can make a sweet card to display the clips for gift giving. Simply print a picture onto heavy cardstock. Make little slits in the paper with an exacto knife and insert clips. I then sewed the cardstock onto a heavy contrasting paper to make it more substantial.

The bottom photo is a simple acorn charm hanging from orange embroidery floss. You can find an amazing selection of charms on www.bluemud.com. String ribbon or embroidery floss through the cardstock with a darning needle. Then tie clasp onto each side. Tape onto the back of the card to hold into place. Then sew around cardstock photo onto a larger contrasting piece of cardstock.

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Happy gift making! Only one month to go!

Peas, please!

Homemade Christmas idea #3

A fabric covered journal or sketchbook would make a fabulous Christmas gift. Simply buy a blank journal or book ( I found some at Borders). Cut fabric a bit wider than the book on each side and fold it over the book front and back. Pin along edges. Then sew with a basting stitch. Test fit it on the book. If the fit works, reinforce the edges with a normal stitch. You can then embellish the front of the book with a hand-embroidered monogram. You can also make a cover for a three-ring binder and use it as a scrapbook, or recipe file.

florida: my pretty sister

 

florida: melissa, baby, lynne & our pale winter legs

 

florida: our small girls at play

 

florida: this was not fun to get off after coming inside

 

thrifty find!

I found this little side table at a thrift shop yesterday. Now I have a place to put our piano music, a collection which is steadily growing (latest acquisition: "Tarantula Twist"). Knowing how little I paid for it makes it even more enjoyable!

Melissa and I and our families are going to Florida for this next week. It will be great to see even more family down there... if we all survive our respective plane rides with small children! Have a great week, all.

big ideas

Recently I saw a coat in the window of an expensive boutique. I tried the coat on and instantly fell in love--until I looked at the price tag: $440. It might have been worth it if the coat was handmade of cashmere or some other luxurious blend, but it wasn't. So, I got the big idea in my head that I was going to make myself a coat. And this is what I did. I have a tendency to get myself into projects that are a wee bit over my head. Oh la la this coat was such a bugger to sew! Now I know why coats are priced as high as they are.

This coat is made of a lush olive velvet that changes colors according to the light. (You can see how the color is slightly different in each picture.) The back has a bit of a gathered skirt with an ample belt around the waist. The smock-look on the front of the coat was achieved by sewing lines of small strips of elastic. I loosely based the pattern on Simplicity #4403 (which can be found at Walmart). If you get the big idea in your head of making yourself a coat, watch out, you're in for some serious work. On the other hand, since I just saved myself $440, does that mean I can now buy a new lens for my camera?

homemade christmas idea #2

I've said it before and I'll say it again: my friend Julia is so amazing. She came over a couple of weeks ago and showed me how to make these little pop-up scenes... and they have been consuming me ever since. So far my kids and I have made this kitchen, a bedroom, a castle and a city... the possibilities are endless! You just take some cardstock, fold it in half, and then experiment with different lengths of cuts (always done in sets of two) that you then reverse-fold to make the "pop".

When I say homemade christmas idea, what I have in my mind for my family (we'll see if the plan actually gets executed) is for a sibling-to-sibling gift. My 6 year old really likes this project, and I'm hoping that we can keep the enthusiasm going long enough to hammer one out for the 4 year old (who plays with her little plastic pet shop kitty everywhere). Wouldn't it be so neat to make a whole house of these little rooms?

On a different note, I read last week about letterboxing over at stephanie's blog (see stephmodo, to the right - no, I still haven't figured out how to link on my computer! the link instructions don't work on my mac). If you are looking for a free, fun outdoor thing to do with the little ones, go to www.letterboxing.org -- the site has faq's and a map with all the hidden letterbox locations (letterboxing is basically where you find a clue (via the website) and follow the directions to find a little hidden stamp which you then stamp in a blank book you bring. The idea is to collect lots of different stamps in your book - kind of a record of all your treasure-hunting adventures). We did it on Friday and then on Saturday in the town over. So fun! I thought my kids were going to throw up, they were so excited, when we found the first one on Friday. Apparently there are over 20,000 boxes hidden over the country, so chances are there are some in your area.

Okay, off to sneak some halloween candy!

homemade Christmas idea #1

Since Christmas is getting close, it might be a good time to start thinking about some homemade gifts to make. Many in blogdom have been talking about creating an all homemade Christmas this year (in part to promote earth-friendly consumption, in part to protest all the plastic clutter from China.) I'm definitely on board with this endeavor, though the one caveat would be the camera. I don't think I could manage to make one myself! And I've been waiting anxiously for the Nikon D300. In any case, here is idea #1. This was actually Lynne's brilliant idea that she made last year (I think.) She suggested it to me and now I've made a little photo necklace for my mom. You can buy the Martha Stewart kit at Michaels. All you need is two tiny photos to stick on the medallion. It's so easy to make and so, so sweet. I used a scanned print of a little painting I did of H. It gives it a more 18th century miniature look I think. You can use any photograph. (I had the baby pose as my necklace model. I got about 20 pictures of her trying to tear the darn thing off, and maybe two with her sitting nicely, keeping her hands off of it. And that was because I bribed her with lollipops and pretzels!)