Yum yum house fun Ꭷ,Ꭷ

We made graham cracker houses this year and boy was it so fun ! Even Daddy got in on the family fun ❤️ ! I didn't find the time to make actual gingerbread houses, which I've never done before anyway, but making the houses out of graham crackers was just as great 😊 & with less disappointment that could be there, if an oopsie daisy were to happen. It was extra great because I could use all the little extra cut off pieces and make each house a little different from each other structurally too.

We made our own little village 🎄💚❄️⛄️ Even the 23 month old got to join in, although she ate so much candy she was bouncing off the walls the rest of the night! She actually did 'get it' at first too, putting candy in the icing on the roof, but then got all sugar silly and more occupied with the candy and goofing. ; ) You can't do something like this and not expect a big sweep pile at the end! That's just part of the fun 💗 !  I was looking at other blogs trying to decide if I should do royal icing, hot glue, or even burnt sugar. I was mostly concerned because I knew they would have to hold strong to stand up to a 5,3, & 1 yr old! Royal icing held perfectly! I made the actually houses the previous night and we decorated the next  night ❄️ This was my first time making royal icing and made the following recipe both nights. The second night was better than the first and my lesson to share here about making it is to start with less powdered sugar and add more if needed! 

1 pound confectioners sugar

3 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

In the end they were so beautiful and I was mostly surprised how wonderful my boys turned out. I guess I shouldn't have been, he ᎥᎦ  amazing!, lol! He is only 3 and rocks the minecraft better than I assume many adults do 😋 They all did great though! And it was nice quality family time. 

^ellie, harry, katie, daddy, & mommy^

I, myself, have never made an actual gingerbread house so this was new fun for me too 🎀 I think I will always make a chocolate chip cobblestone wall though! It was sooooo delicious to eat! Ha! Like a super s'more cookie, it was gooood ; )

Hope the holiday is very merry for you too! Happy Christmas ! ❤️💚❤️💚❤️

The first December snow ❄

The firsts now of the season came before thanksgiving so it was a little early for snowflake cutting ❄💜❄

It is amazing how much Katie's change from year to year ❤! Half of those are hers, beautiful! ❄

in the year ... 2013

   Well we are here!, not that i thought 12.21.12 was any kind of doomsday deadline : ), still going and still growing : D. I have a few resolutions this year. Now that im thinking of it, i dont think ive had a resolution in several years..... maybe since before becoming a mother!
This year i want more showers, lol, and to garden more.....
Overall,
i want to Be a Better Mother : to my children, to my pets, and to the earth : )

Here is to hoping the year is a blessed and happy one for you and yours too!!!! Happy New Year, 2013 !!!!

Since the day after christmas we've been adding red, pink, and heartsy touches for valentines day :) I am so impressed by my four yr old, katie, and her artsiness lately! Of course some of those are hers ^ She is even using the word 'kirigami' ! She's awesome! Everyday she wants to cut and glue and color... really advancing herself artistically : ) ! I have so many little paper messes to clean up but to see her being a little busy bee surrounded by paper and filling paper pads with one drawing better than the last makes my heart skip a beat : ) She's been productive this Christmas break!


And for your listening pleasure, and because i'm a geek who can't get enough science fiction or swankiness into my life.....

fabric stash stockings

Last year for my sons first christmas santa left a bowl of goodies rather than filled a stocking. And katie has had a cute knit vintage, thrifted stocking santa has filled since her  first christmas.  I had found a fabric i liked last year but didn't buy it when i should have : P Apparently other people liked  it too : )  This year I didnt see any that stood out as my family.... and Santa is coming soon! also i need to be equal with the babies too : ) i did feel bad last year i didnt make any but  then again i would have made them matching ones and we didnt think we would be delightfully surprised by another on the way!

Sooooo this brings us to today and whipping some up with fabric from the scrap stash : )

Make a template of the shape you want; i almost made these like elf shoes with curled toes : P
I would give the one i created but i think it's subpar far from perfection.

For each stocking you make you'll need an inner and outet fabric

and you will cut out two from each with a total of 4 'boot' shapes

*****make sure you take into account the right side of the fabric print; you'll want to flip your template over to get a left and right : )

Pin the inner and out pieces, right sides together and stitch around the boot leaving the top open.

You  will want to cut out strips for hanging loops too!

These are roughly 7"x3" with a thick 1/2" inseam.

The top is sewn and turned out : ) bottom: just sewn.

Now after you've made your loop a left the top of the boots open you will turn them out and tuck the top in and pin closed to sew. This is for a clean finish on top and for the hanging loop. On one you will insert and pin your folded strip (loop) before sewing so when you seal the edge its in there nicely as shown above.

Here we have the two pieces we've made pinned together, outside fabric together, ready to be

Sewn

and Turned Out : )

Have a lovely holiday!!!!!!

*maybe next year ill have an update with new babys stocking or matchy ones : )

btw, hope you havent been naughty!!!!! lol

snowy, wintery morning

glitter tastes good :)

yummy  fun! we've just discovered glitter gels : )

pumpkins for winter

Have any pumpkins lingering around still? Just today I finally took the orange ones off the front porch (I may do something w/the lg white one) and adorned the tree behind our garbage can with them, lol, they made it bright and pretty back there! : ) Since my kids are little I cant help picking up little pumpkins for them throughout fall. Especially the white and green. They dont go bad for a long time and my conscience doesn't want to toss them but I came up with an idea for turning that bit of autumn into winter.  A Pumpkin Snowman! The little guy came out soooooo cute! and it was a Really fun project!

We went from this:

To this:

I used construction paper, green fleece, buttons, beads, and sticks. For decoration on the hat: feathers, a lg. sequin, and some faux mini holly berries too.  Use what you have, I say! : ) That's what makes it individual, doesnt it?
Other materials used were: hot glue and gun, glue stick, scissors, small branch pruners, compass, and white charcoal pencil.

First, I cut the stems off the pumpkins and found a 'balance' for them, mostly at this point to know which would be the head. Then,  using my compass I determined what the width of hats brim would be.  The circle was drawn on black construction paper and from the same point another smaller circle was drawn inside and then cut out.  I probably would've used a stiff black felt if I had any. 
To get the height of the hat I cut a long rectangle roughly 3.5 times the diameter of the smaller circle to have glueing room for the cylinder.

Here you see the arm branches cut, the fleece cut for a scarf (which is twice the length of the black rectangle), the hat circles, and rectangle measureing 3.5 times the diameter of smaller circle.
The black rectanglehas been folded somewhat accordian style and slits have been cut to the fold on both top and bottom perpendicular to the folds.

 the rectangle has been inserted into the larger circle and the seam glued to be as wide as it needs to be

the tabs have been glued to the underside of the brim

to attach the top part, smaller circle, i used the glue stick on the perimeter of the circle insted of on the tabs to make it easier

then the the details were added : ) honestly before this, i havent used a hot glue gun in probably 6 yrs or more, lol

Next, to make the carrot nose out of construction paper i cut a long right triangle the length of a page. It's height is only about 1.25 inches.

On one side I glue sticked : P

Starting from the wider end and with glue on top rolled the triangle like a making a paper bead but keeping a flat edge

Then came hot glue assembly : ) and snowman was complete ! and ready for his close-up : D

* first snowy morning of the season *

my sliding door, made this morning : )

and the kittens never lost their mittens

Or not again that is : ) (my little kitten lost some already this year : P) This isn't a really creative, of my own invention, project But I wanted to offer mainly just the idea here in case you haven't thought of it and how simple but helpful it is!

No doubt when you were a kid you likely had some mittens or gloves on a string inside your coat running through the sleeves so you wouldnt lose them. : ) You remember now? Well this is a 2-step project so simple and so useful!

You probably don't need a tutorial but here you are anyway! : )

What you need:
.mittens or gloves

.ribbon or yarn or skinny strip of fleece or jersey (whatever you'd like really!)

.(scissors, needle, and thread)

.and your coat to measure, unless your little kitten will kindly let you measure : P

*First: (ribbon method and simple string only)

Measure your "string" across the back of the coat with a couple inches to spare at the ends.

*Secondly:

Sew ribbon to mittens folding end in and over so it doesn't fray at the ends. : )

*Knit alternative:

If you have knit gloves I would use some coordinating yarn and with a large eyed needle poke it through, tie it off with a loop, and crochet a simple chain the length to the next mitten cut the yarn with a few inches. Pull the end through the other mitten with the needle and tie it. : ) or you could sew it on and not poke through...

( : Now let's have pie!!!!!! : ) meow, meow, meow

Sssssso.... cold draft ssstopper

Burrrrrr! I am cold! My apartment is soooooo drafty!, from the doors! from the windows! and my little ones want to play on the floor! Grrrrr! is more like it from this momma. But fortunately here's thisss guy delivering a HiSSSSSSS........ (well, not literally, but you get the picture) : )

And here's how you can make your own door draft stopper snake to protect you from the cold.

what you need:
.a long rectangle of fabric for the body. mine was 46" x 7" but doors come in different sizes and I trust you can use your basic math skills to decide how long and how thick you'd like it to be.

.fabric scraps for the inside of its mouth.

.fabric scrap for tongue - hopefully something that does not fray like felt

.2 buttons for eyes

.thread (scissors, small piece of paper, pen, needle, and sewing machine) : P

.rice or some other filling

} To Create {

First fold your fabric for the body in half lengthwise, then in half again lengthwise. At one end cut a curve that will be the corner of the snakes mouth to the front of its face. Unfold once so you the fabric is halved, and as you can see above on the right you will have the head shape.

Now place the body on the paper to make a template. For a seam allowance of 1/2" I put it on the edge with the corners of the snakes mouth 1/2" from the edge. Trace and cut out. Then cut two pieces for the inside of the snakes mouth. Cut a forked tongue for snakey with remaining scrap. : )

Now would be the time to sew on the eyes. (@.@) Then with the tongue centered inside the two mouth pieces sew them together with your 1/2" seam.

Now here's the tricky part. Open the body piece with right side up. Pin and sew, with the tongue down and inside, one of the matching mouth perimeters. Fold the mouth peice in half upward leaving the tongue down. Refold the body in half lengthwise right sides together. Pin and sew the second set of matching perimeters. If you start at the body fold you can continue down the side of the body in one go. ***down the body and around the mouth I used only 1/4" seam with the exception of where I tapered in.



Once you're about halfway down the length of your snake gradually taper inward going to the end until you reach it with about an inch or two open at the end. *note you want it wide enough you can pour into it your filler.

Turn out and fill ! : ) I used rice and though I think beans would work too it would be a lumpy snake, but that may be just what you want : P

After filling (which mine was solidly packed with about 6" of tail unfilled so when evenly dispersed it wasn't too hard) sew the end closed :) You could use the machine but I hand sewed and gathered to create a rounded effect when it filled.



Isn't he cute!?! Problem now is my children think it's a toy, ha ha! : P So we shall see how much door action he gets : )

please excuse my ucky apt. rug, door, and trim : )

Keep in mind you can make one of these so simply without being a snake with just a long rectangle (such as 46"x7") and it can have just as much character with a beautiful print! Express your self! I would love to see any you make too and show them! I know there are so many creative wacky print combos that would be sooooo great to see : )

BE GREEN!!!! USE LESS ENERGY! : )

Conserve even more and make one of these from something else! a pant leg, the sleeve of a big sweater, or maybe an old scarf folded in half and sewn together - if it has holes in the knit use an old t-shirt and double layer : )

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and making thissssssss : P ... I could definately see this being stuffed with cotton too and made an actual toy. And I hope this can keep your home warmer and hearts happy in this coooooold weather! lower your energy bills too : ) even keep in the cool on hot summer days !

love our earth and reduce, reuse, and recycle : )