Um, I Made Some More Stuff

... I can't seem to stop!

To be fair, these last two things really needed to be done.

Thing #1: A tree top star:

We've been married for 15 years. In allllll that time, we've never found a tree topper that we liked. Early on, I found a sticks-twisted-into-an-angel ornament that we've used a few times and I've even stuck a bow up there on occasion, but nothing was ever exactly what we wanted. This year was finally different. I was staring forlornly at the bare tree top while finishing the shell garland. Then it hit me - crafting fever. I simply walked over to my computer, typed in 'star tree topper tutorial' and this was one of the first links!

I love it. It looks very homemade, and that just increases the charm for me :-) It's from a site called The Purl Bee that I will be stalking from now on ;-) The only modification that I made was to add beads in the creases.

Thing #2: A new bag for Lily Ruth:

Someone told me that traveling with a child can be easier and/or more fun if you have a few items that are brand new for them to use/play with during the trip. The first time that we flew with her, I stayed up late the night before hand-stitching my first felt bag. The bag and it's contents were a big hit and a big help. Now it's a tradition (at least it is in my head) for me to make a new bag for each trip. This time around, I wanted to be a bit more adventurous, and I wanted to step out of my felt comfort zone. I had already spent a few sleepless hours designing and over-designing a bag in my head (think zippers and interior divisions). Thank goodness for crafting fever. Flushed with the success of my tree top star, I sat down and googled 'toddler bag tutorial'. After wading through some goofiness, this incredible tiny messenger bag came up. It was too cute not to try!

I used a tutorial with pattern from Craftbuds. It was incredibly easy to follow, and the entire project only took me about 4 hours (including hand-beading the exterior pocket).

The only modifications I made were to move the exterior pocket down (so that my beading would show), and to use hardware on the strap - I wanted it to be adjustable. I'm telling ya'll now - if Lily Ruth doesn't love this bag, I'm totally stealing it to use as a purse. It's just. that. cute.

Do YOU have crafting fever? Do I need an intervention?

Crafting Fever

I've caught it, ya'll... and I've got it baaaaaad. Crafting fever. I simply must make things. Right now.

I'm not dumb. I know that I'm smack dab in the middle of a giant coping mechanism - I mean honestly, nobody needs to finish multiple craft projects in one day - but as coping mechanisms go, this one's pretty benign and lots of fun.

In addition to finally finishing two throw pillows (WITH zippers!):

I made a bracelet for Lily Ruth (she picked out the beads herself!):

Picked up the felt ornament project again. I have finished 8, I have gotten 3 more to the just-need-detail-work stage AND I have templates for 6 more!:

Made a quickie garland (using clear lanyard lacing and felt stickers) for Lily Ruth so that she can have some Christmas of her very own in her room:

And am FINALLY re-stringing a garland of tiny shells and tiny beads that has adorned my grandfather's Christmas trees from the time he was a boy. The original thread had begun to deteriorate badly and the original beads were no longer shiny. SO, restrung with shiny new beads it is!:

I am enjoying this burst of creative energy. I really love to make things. Now, if only I could somehow channel this energy into a money-making enterprise, I'd be SET. In the mean time, I have the materials for 2 more pillowcases, some sock to turn into leg warmers (I know, I'm out of control), and an Advent calender to finish. YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

WOW, Ya'll!

What a GREAT day!!! I hoped for a good day. I prepared for an average to fair day. I got an off the charts good day.

Before we went to bed last night, we staged Christmas under the tree. We included all of the gifts that Lily Ruth received - including the ones that she opened early - wait before you judge :-)

I woke up and threw Baby Jesus' Birthday Cake (a sour cream, almond & cranberry coffee cake that was a tradition in my house growing up) into the oven. Then I ran around like a headless chicken in an attempt to straighten the house. I even snapped at my husband when he tried to start Christmas before I was ready. Thank goodness he has the holiday spirit, so he not only forgave me, but he jumped in and did the dishes! When the house was presentable, we opened presents. Lily Ruth opened her big gift from Tutu and Pops first. It was a stroller for CeeCee. She did not voluntarily lose touch with the stroller for the rest of the day.

She even opened the rest of her gifts while holding it with one hand.

Luckily, we were prepared for the possibility of overload, so she has been opening one gift every night since they started showing up. That way, she has a whole day to play with new things before the next big thing comes around. As my friend Titti says, she's still in the 'I SAW THE DISHWASHER TODAY' phase of life - so everything is exciting. By allowing her to spread her gifts out, we hoped to give her days of joy over multiple toys instead of excitement about one thing followed by apathy for the bulk of the gifts. Only time will tell if we made the right choice... her family and friends were so generous!

After presents came breakfast. My grandparents joined us for coffee cake bacon and fruit salad.

When we had eaten ourselves silly and the Great Ones took their leave, we settled in for some lounging... and decided that lounging was for the birds, so we headed out to drop off a gift and procure more coffee. Then we came back in time to walk CeeCee up and down the street then sniff the shrubs.

This was followed by naps and lunch - and here's where it gets good. Not only did Lily Ruth say 'dinosaur', but she blew bubbles all on her own (:-O) AND 'read' to us AND talked about flying insects ('FLY'), AND ate an insane amount of food, AND pushed CeeCee around in the stroller like a crazy person... WHEW!

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Daddy grilled yummy steaks while Mama made a rice & orzo mix with Greek seasoning and sauteed some fresh spinach. Lily Ruth broke records for 'Amount of Food Ingested by an 18 Month Old',

... disclaimer - she didn't eat all of that (just all of the pears, most of the rice and 1/3 of the steak)... and her parents weren't far behind...

THEN we all got dressed for the first time today (wait, now it's YESTERDAY!?), and we went to see some friends. While there, Lily Ruth watercolored for the first time, and learned how to put coins into a piggy bank.

Holy Cow! If that kid learns how to do any more new stuff in one day, her tiny head is going to explode! But wait! There's more... upon returning home (thanks to Mama June), Lily Ruth ALSO learned that 1) sometimes you have to hit things HARD in order to get what you want and 2) sometimes enough is enough, and you just need to go to bed...

All in all, BEST CHRISTMAS DAY EVER... so far...

Love to you and yours! xoxo

Festive?

I think I've already mentioned that we are attempting to establish new holiday traditions around here. Well, as it turns out, this is harder than I had anticipated. I had a vague notion of the three of us in coordinating holiday-theme pajamas in front of the fire, gazing misty-eyed at the tree while the story of our lord and savior's birth plays over the top in a movie monologue sort of way.

That kind of thing doesn't actually happen. Christmas spirit doesn't just show up. Christmas requires an act of will. You have to decide to be festive, then work to make that happen. That is why it is now Christmas Eve morning, and we have no family plan for Christmas.

So far, we've decided to go to Sea World on Sunday to see the holiday shows. That is our plan in it's entirety. Oh, and there will be food... wait, maybe I have more of a plan than I thought...

Christmas Eve - wander around looking at lights on the river walk. Dinner at my uncle's house (tamales and chili!)

Christmas Day - Baby Jesus' birthday party (cranberry coffee cake and BACON!), presents and lounging. Lunch (Daddy's choice = corn dogs) then napping. Delicious dinner shall include steaks (possibly in a java mango marinade - thanks, Kittyn!), rice with orzo and seasonings, a beautiful green vegetable of some sort and... whatever else I can think of. Then we're off for a post-prandial visit with our friends two blocks over.

Sunday - Sea World fantastic-ness. Hilarious sea lion capers. A Sesame Street holiday show. Shamu leaping through red and green glitter while the Trans-Siberian Orchestra performs live from a barge in the middle of the tank... or whatever. It's gonna rock.

Now that I've laid it all out, that's a GREAT holiday plan!!! YAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! We just need to get moving. I think we're off to a good start:

Holiday Madness 2010

Well, here we are again, folks. The Holiday Season. I do not function well around the holidays. I point to the following things as potential reasons why:

1. I used to work in the hospitality industry. I've spent 98% of the Thanksgivings and Christmas Eves/Days of my adult life at work in either a restaurant or a spa. While there is something to be said for 'being there' for strangers on a holiday, there is also a lot to be said for being with your own family. The fact is that if you work in customer service, you do not have a choice. You work.

2. We married young, and my husband's family lives in another city. That means that since we were still considered the kids,  if we did (by some miracle) get a holiday off, we were expected to travel to see them instead of beginning our own family traditions. This was fine while we were still young married folk (and I love to see them), but we aren't the kids anymore. In fact, we have our own kiddo now, and she deserves her own traditions.

3. I suffered severe emotional trauma around the holidays two years in a row. For the last one, I was pregnant. While there is nothing bad going on these days, I'm still mentally girded for battle. Apparently my brain refuses to be caught off guard again...

Well, reasons for me to act like a lunatic aside, we began to start our own holiday traditions last year and we've continued that trend this year. I hope to have a groove that suits us started by next year. Mostly, this means that we're going to stay in our own home and invite others to share in our joy... on our terms :-P We're just going to hole up with each other, good food and a reasonable amount of alcohol.

I've also been busy crafting to ward off any lurking holiday funk. I made a bag for Lily Ruth to carry CeeCee and all doll associated items.

It's basically the same as her felt bags, but I used fabric on the outside, turned the seams inward and added a flap. I should have measured better as it's too big for Lily Ruth. I thought that I was being super-duper careful, but I second-guessed my original measurements and added inches where they were not needed :-/ She still uses it to carry CeeCee, Elmo, Ernie, Grover and Abby all at the same time soooo... mission accomplished!

I started a set of holiday felt toys/ornaments for Lily Ruth so that she has Christmas stuff of her own to play with... since she's not allowed to play with 99% of the ornaments on the tree... and I don't want to feel like the grinch who won't let the baby touch any of the cool stuff. I'm not done with them yet, but here are the templates for the first 15. I hope to have 24 by next year to use as an Advent calendar.

candy cane, Christmas light, stocking, snowman, wreath & holly

angel, jingle bell, santa hat & various trim

present, snowflake, ornament, tree top star, gingerbread man, tree, gold star

I finally ordered all of the prints for the photo project that I've been contemplating for over a year. They arrived yesterday, so I should have them ready to give as gifts!!! I can't tell you about them yet. It would ruin the surprise. I'll post pics of the toy/ornaments and the photo projects when they're done :-)

Oh, and I found Lily Ruth's yearly ornament! Last year's was a rubber duckie in a Santa hat (because of her love of baths). Today I found a coffee cup that looks like a to-go cup... because she adores coffee -

That's my angel with her BFF Henry. She's drinking actual (cooled) coffee while Henry pushes her along.

Ahhhhhhhh the Holidays. Thank you Lord for the many blessings in my life. Please help me to remember how truly loved and lucky I am when I start acting like an ungrateful jerk. Amen.