kidding around

Hey! Christmas has come and gone…I hope everyone had a nice holiday. This year’s ornament was made from recycled lids. I LOVE to collect things when I have a project in mind and this craft required months of hording! I can’t find the link to the idea, but had found it LAST winter. Cute, huh? Hopefully the recipients are not getting tired of my yearly ornament!

New Years Eve is tomorrow night and we are planning a night in with friends, games, and fondue (cheese and chocolate)! I hope everyone has a festive night- however wild you get!

See you in the new year.

What’s harder than finding a gift for a boy that is handmade? Figuring out a project for a 9 year old boy that will sit still and complete it!

I saw this craft in one of the many books I brought home from the library and thought it was brilliant. I just went to the unpainted wood section of my craft store and found all of the components. Simon did the rest…

Clearly Simon looks thrilled. But after attempting to photograph him trying to get the dang ball in the wooden cup- I cheated and made him pose. Thanks, Si, you make me proud.

I better start posting more before I run out of time! We’ve had a few sickies around here and I swear the chorus of coughs I hear regularly makes me nervous I will catch something…that is not even allowed.

We have been plowing away with our first semester homeschooling. Usually on Friday we have an art lesson and project. To make things easier on me, I’ve turned Fridays into project days (gotta love the freedom of homeschooling!). Each of the kids have worked on gifts for various cousins that they never get to see…We are fortunate to see my side of the family fairly often, but my husband’s is all spread out and there are MANY of them.

It’s a challenge to think of gifts that kids can help make and actually be used! I found this wooden tree puzzle at Michaels and Penny did such a great job painting! One will go to a cousin in Germany- a great way to feel connected.

Of course, I liked the way the draw string bag looked when I packed up this gift and I ended up making 20. Am I nuts? Yes. But I DO have a 12 year old willing to help me with stitching at least HALF of the bags. Not bad. And a day dedicated to “Santa’s Workshop” is really quite a luxury…I feel a bit guilty!

Tomorrow I’ll share what Simon made…

I really enjoy the tradition we started a few years back to make handmade caramels. We send them to family and friends each year…and all 5 of us can testify that they are WONDERFUL. Perfect amount of molasses, ginger and cinnamon.

Another tradition Nathan and I have started is making the caramel wrapping part a party. We set up our “candy station”, make some popcorn, grab a beverage (this year, a few ciders that he fermented in the basement) and watch something on TV (this year, Pillars of the Earth).

After 3 episodes, 3 ciders each (WHOA.), and a whole lot of cutting candy papers, we managed to wrap over 350 caramels! My first batch was a slight failure because I interpreted my new thermometer incorrectly. No need to fret, teacher gifts were not needed this year so I decided to make my first batch into caramel sauce. I know plenty of ice cream lovers out there that will appreciate a slightly different version this year!

You can find the recipe here…

I certainly do not stop with making caramels. Obviously, with my job we are producing all sorts of fun things. I like to do a bit of baking at home and continue the tradition with my kids…especially frosted cut out cookies, buckeyes and this year rum balls (just bought the rum today!).

Speaking of traditions, a long time ago my mom had me create a candy wreath for her foyer. I think I was 9 and had all the time in the world to tie pieces of candy to a wired wreath. Apparently this weekend she thought I was up for it again! We were at her house helping her decorate her tree and she gave Simon and I this project! Cute, huh? I think this would be such a fun teacher gift or a to a family. Will I be making more? Nope, but you should!

Your mama was not joking when she told you to leave your hat on while walking to the bus stop!!

Living in the cold midwest, I have become totally attached to my hats. I don’t go outside without one on my head and don’t really care if I have hat head…thank goodness for a no fuss hair style!

I love all the fun hats you see everyone wearing and thought I would try my hand at creating some fun gifts. Unfortunately, I don’t knit so I needed to figure out how I could use my sewing machine.

The hats pictured above were so easy to make! I bought a few inexpensive knit hats at Target ($1each!) and used my fabric scrap pile to create a daisy chain. I used interfacing or some sort of applique stuff I had in my stash to give the fabric flowers a bit more structure. For the “rainbow flower hat”, it was even easier using some wool felt that needed to be used (this one is for Penelope…shhh.).

I found this muffler/hood idea in a craft book we were perusing for gift ideas. I love how they turned out!

The only thing I did differently was sew the right-sided pieces together, leaving a section open so you can turn out the scarf. Then, you fold the scarf in half and sew an approximate 9″ seam. Oh- I cut 2 pieces of fabric (light wool, flannel, something warm!), measuring 10-12′x52″…I used a 10″ wide piece of fabric, it fit a little one’s face better!

I’ll be back tomorrow with some sweet treat ideas.

Sorry for not posting on Friday, I had a slight catastrophe with a overflowing toilet (THAT WOULD NOT STOP).

I love Christmas and I love the challenge to make the holiday thoughtful. If I were really on top of things, I would have begun my Christmas crafting in July. But I don’t know, I just can not get inspired while wearing flip flops and the AC going at full force.

I’d rather create a little bit of stress and long “to do” lists.

Anyway, this past weekend my husband gave me the best gift ever…a 3 day weekend completely alone. I’ve never had the house to myself and I was determined to make my time productive! Although I sorely missed spending time with my family, my understanding sister-in-law was very generous and “letting me off the hook”. I really do love visiting my family, but sometimes a high maintenance dog can get in the way (with no one to watch him)…and the “to do” list I created was a bit looming!

I thought I would share some of the handmade goodness I have made or will be creating throughout the month, sound good?

SO…

Penny and Simon approached me a few weeks back and asked for more dolls. Specifically a fairy, superheroes, and a mad scientist. I was happy to fulfill their request. I’m also a trillion times happy that they have become enamored once a again with a gift I made a few years ago.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some more fun. Oh, and Bethany (my sister-in-law) if you are reading this- send your family my way anytime so you can get something done!