paint prints for Christmas

the boys and I found some time after Thanksgiving to do a little Christmas crafting for their grandmothers.  this holiday season wasn't feeling much like Christmas for me for various reasons, but I really wanted to make these cute penguin prints and I think this project helped get me more in the mood for festivities :)

I picked up a couple of white aprons from Hobby Lobby to decorate.  all the boys had to do was sit still for a black footprint, and I painted the details on after those were dry.  the simple footprints ended up being a lot messier than I remember on past paint projects.  maybe it was the black paint on the white surface... I don't know.  they still came out cute.

we added some fingerprint string lights for a border, which I think really helped finish it off.  this was time consuming, but easier to control than the footprints since we went one finger at a time instead of a whole foot.  I added their names and year as well.

there's still room at the bottoms to add more, so maybe next year we can add some reindeer.

handmade for Christmas

we're mostly packed up here waiting to move into our new house, so my crochet stuff is really the only craft stuff I have access to anymore... not that I've been doing much else in the way of crafts for a while now!  I'm looking forward to having a room again that I can keep my sewing machine set up in, and maybe a table to work on my jewelry.  until then I'm just crocheting when I get a chance.  here are some gifts I made and sent to my brother in Shreveport for Christmas.

I made a square hat for Abbie with a zig-zag puff stitch.  I had to make the construction of this hat up as I went, but it's pretty forgiving since it doesn't have any shaping to it.  joining the puff stitches in each round was the hard part, but I made it work.  this could totally be done as a flat piece and then seamed together, though.  I put tassels on the top corners to look like pig tails, and I made some boots with puff stitch flowers on them to match the hat.

Ava got a striped slouchy hat (another pattern I made up as I went) and I added a puff stitch flower to the bottom band.  I used Red Heart Soft for all of these hats, which gets even softer when you steam or wash it.  I steamed the slouchy part of this hat which made it lay really nice, but I made sure to leave the band at the bottom alone in case it relaxed too much.

Ashton's hat is an earflap beanie that I decided to find an actual pattern for.  I used Micah Makes free pattern, but I added an extra row of single crochet to the edge and put a line of fringe on top for a mohawk.

Mother's Day gifts

for mother's day I did a couple of gift baskets for my mom and Matt's mom... and forgot to get a pic of them when they were finished!  this has become a common problem for me lately :(

I made 2012 Mixbooks - I think a year without one would be a disappointment!  I feel bad that Jack isn't in there (except for the sonogram pics) but he shoulda showed up sooner! ;)

 

I did get some pics of the grandmothers with both boys, so they'll at least have those.  I framed them and also put them on the fronts of some pocket mirrors I found at Michaels.

     

I saw this set of washcloths and made my own with some cotton twine, and added a loop on one of the corners so it could be hung up on a Command hook in the shower.  or, over the stove and used to set hot pots on.  they're cute and they were fun to make however they get used :)

after seeing so many posts around about using transparencies in liquid soap dispensers, it gave me the idea to laminate pressed flowers (some from my yard, some snatched here and there!) and submerge them in liquid hand soap dispensers that I peeled the labels off of.  these were a hit, and I'm totally making myself one next.

I used some fabric napkins I had leftover from the granny square pillow to put in the baskets as liners, and added some bar soap from World Market that smelled sooo good, and Ghirardelli chocolate assortments.  gift baskets are so much fun to put together :)

from Leo

for Father's Day I searched online for ideas of what to do for Matt from Leo and ended up on this blog.  I loved the hand card idea and on the same post was a painted canvas - I stole used both ideas O:)

I traced Leo's left hand and used the template a bunch of times to make a few more cards to give to his Pawpaw and Papaw.

I got a canvas for Matt (that I painted turquoise) and a wood plaque thing for my dad (purple - his favorite color) and we just went layer by layer with different colors.  I tried getting Leo to paint in different spots, but he liked the middle the best.  I was getting disappointed in Matt's so to save it I decided it needed a hand print, which Matt loved.  we still haven't hung it yet, but there's a lot of things around the house that have been waiting to be done so it's just another thing to add to the list!

2012 Mixbooks

I did photo books for our mothers last year, and I told myself I'd work on the next ones along the way so I'd be ready for Mother's Day this year... didn't happen, but I was still able to throw a couple together and get them ordered in time! I didn't put as many "stickers" in these books, but I had a lot more pictures to arrange. I still like how they came out.

Mixbook - Create Beautiful Photo Books and Scrapbooks!"> | Learn About Mixbook Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Mixbook - Create Beautiful Photo Books and Scrapbooks!"> | Learn About Mixbook Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Valentine stuff

I found an awesome dessert to try for Valentines day :) Dulce de Leche mini cheesecakes! it's really good. it's pretty easy, too. I substituted Nestle's La Lechera Dulce de Leche that I found on the Mexican isle at the store instead of making my own from sweetened condensed milk like the recipe says to do.

I baked mine in silicone baking cups instead of in a muffin tin because I thought it'd be easier... but I ended up having to cook them for a LOT longer than the recipe said to, so next time I'll put them in something metal. lesson learned!

I made some cupcake boxes at the last minute from some small shirt boxes I got from the Dollar Tree and some stuff I already had. it was a pack of 3 for $1 and I made 2 boxes that held 6 mini cheesecakes each!

while I was at the Dollar Tree I couldn't help but look around for other stuff because it just seems silly to not browse! I found a hand held fan that was white with striped blades and a red blinking light. looked very 4th of July, but Leo has always loved fans. it's the first thing he looks for in a room. not sure why. anyway, it wasn't very Valentine-y, so I took the blades off (they had a stiff plastic coating on the front side of the foam that hurt while it was spinning :\) and replaced them with plain red craft foam. I added some Hoops and Yoyo stickers to the white handle part and called it done. I think it came out pretty cute :)

I also found some real photo picture books. I never liked this type of books, but Leo really seems to enjoy them more than cartoon lookin' books.

I found a cup at Wal-Mart for a buck that's a frog hugging a heart that I had to get. I was gonna fill it with candy, but the opening is small so I might just leave it empty and keep the candy separate.

I made Matt something that I might show some other day - it's up in the air weather or not I'll give it to him on the 14th.

happy valentines day!

Christmas goodies

last year was Leo's first Christmas, but he didn't really know what was going on so it felt like it didn't count. we took advantage of that and didn't get him anything O:) he did get clothes and practical things, but nothing fun. this year I think he'll enjoy it, which has made me get more into the shopping and planning mode which has seemed to fade for me the last few years.

I've been wanting an advent calendar with surprises to put inside, but all the ones I like are pricey, and all the diy ones I've seen online seem too disposable. I want something hardy that we can keep for years and I like the wood kind that have doors that open up. I haven't looked around at the craft stores yet to see what sorta unfinished wood stuff they have that I can make something with, so I think I'll need to do that soon so I have time to work on it before the 1st!

while browsing through the toy section at Target Leo spotted a smart phone. his eyes lit up when I handed it to him, so I had to get it... even though he already has a play phone.

I was looking for a See & Say for his birthday, but the only one I was finding in stores annoys the crap out of me. the search continues for a different one for Christmas. an old one like what I had growing up would be fun to find. we'll see.

I've been wanting to get these non-skid rubber sole socks for Leo for a while. he's starting to toddle around, and he slips pretty bad in just his socks, but regular shoes seem to be holding him back because his feet are so big - he's already in a 5! I saw the sneaker print pair in passing the other day so I grabbed them up.

since I can't give him traditional chocolates and hard candy in his stocking I'm going the snack route and getting him some vitamins and regular gummy fruit snacks. he also loves the little Chips Ahoy mini cookies. might sneak a few of those in there, too ;)

I thought I might put them in a Boon ball or some other cute snack container, or maybe find something holiday-ish that might double as a toy or ornament.

he LOVES to swing and going out in the backyard, so I'm hoping to find (or make) a simple swing set for the backyard to put a cool swing in.

I know his grandparents will spoil him, so I'm trying to limit myself on what we get him. he seems to enjoy non-toy things still so I might just wrap up a few toys he's forgotten about just so he can rip into them Christmas morning. he's been into boxes lately - putting things in them and pulling stuff back out - so that's another option that will last for just a little while and can be thrown away and not stored! it's more about having fun than what ya get, right? :)