Handmade Holidays: Ornaments

This holiday season ended up being a pintastrophe. Every Pinterest find turned into a disaster. I have yet to find/follow/execute a proper bird seed ornament. The kids' jammies were finished right before bedtime on the 24th (OK, big kid got pants, little kid had to wear a pair of leggings that matched, more or less), and the cross stitch ornaments never got finished. Moving on.

Painted ornaments for godparents. PX actually did a very careful, thoughtful job. Lots of color blocking and q-tip dots. BH gave zero effs and just wanted ALL the paint. ALL of it. More and more and more colors!

Preschool-made ornament by PX. It was supposed to be a grandparent gift (boohoo!), so we get to keep it. Not sure how to seal it so we don't have glitter/crumbs everywhere...

PX saw this in my bin o' stuff to be painted, and he insisted on making it for his baby sister. She had a very moosey Christmas! Sweet boy. He did his painting while she napped (and she while he was at school), so it was a real surprise for her.

No time to cross-stitch? Problem solved with a little heat-n-bond, puff paint, wool felt, and enough drying time. She got a matching pillow case for her big girl pillow.

Why did I buy so much sperm whale fabric? Matches his own pillow case (and his shirt, and his backpack...), and he has plans to make a family portrait of the four of us using four whales. Ha! Someday.

This is one of eighteen, each individual, sent to family. We missed the big extended family party because we were in Chicago for a different big extended family party. I thought to myself, "this is the perfect kind of project to photograph and write a tutorial for!" But the reality of squeezing in time to make 18 means no tutorial. I found a Sew Mama Sew project that was similar, but I wanted to use two fabrics, and I didn't like the way it looked just using a semicircle. So, I made my own almost-semicircle to make the folds more even. Uhg, these pictures are obnoxiously focused. This is what happens when you have to fight the battle with too little light. F-stop vs ISO. Sigh. Looked better on my teeny camera screen!

Last one! I didn't make this. It's from M's family, so it is at least 20 years old. His mom had mad talent, and I am so thankful to have pieces of her work. Especially when they have teeny holiday calico fabric and pompoms. 

I love the new year, even though it is only the illusion of a fresh start. I feel so motivated to get all my projects done, but I am also motivated to work out and cook and tidy and travel and hike and....sigh. Off to go do! Something! Anything!

Birthday, Thanksgiving, Advent

Time flies when you're having fun. It flies even faster if you're having fun and working non-stop.

Here's one week's work. Or, approximately ten hours of Gilmore Girls episodes worth. Time management has never been my strong point, so of course these are getting all the attention while my personal Christmas projects gather dust. Soon, soon. 

Birthday came and went (I grow old!), Thanksgiving did the same. "Buy Nothing Day" turned into "Do Nothing Day" and we barely even left the house all weekend. So many projects, so little time. The Halloween and Fall decorations are finally down, the Advent wreath is up, and we're slowly preparing for the Christmas tree. It is hard to get the tree up when the kids keep dumping ALL THE TOYS where it needs to go. I don't have an Advent calendar. I don't have a pile of 25 books to unwrap each day. I don't have the three dollar felt tree kit from Target that everyone is dying to have (though, I admit that I keep checking for it). I don't have kids who care about these things, so we will be ok!

In house excitement, we came up with a more-permanent-temporary fix for the leak in the kids' room which initially involved spray foam and then turned into some other kind of spray sealant. Many, MANY days of rain mean leaky roofs and grumpy humans. Don't ever buy a house with a flat roof. I love this house, and historically it didn't have a flat roof. I pushed, but not hard enough, to change it back to a plain dormer before we got our new roof.  Can't anyone just patch in the roof, you ask? No, of course not! Not stone-coated steel! Some day. Not soon, not soon.

November, already?

Halloween has come and gone. Kids' costumes were ready for the preschool party on the 29, adult costumes were ready in time to scoot to Lauren's work to trick-or-treat on the 30th. Hot glue was still wet when we dashed out the door, but dry by the time we arrived. Win! The kids got some candy, but they were mostly interested in playing in giant pits of balloons. Can't blame them! PX did get a little upset no one knew who we were--oh son. You come from a long line of geeks. Get used to it. Today I have to put away all the Halloween decorations and find all the Easter eggs (from Mike's costume, Easter Bunny).  The kids keep hiding them...

I used to be vehemently opposed to letting anything Christmas related creep into the house before Thanksgiving. Now, if homemade gifts are going to be ready in time, I have to work early.  All the ornaments for the extended family are finished but need labels attached (hand made stamp from The Small Object two years ago).  My new job (!!!) involves sewing, so I am very glad I got the ornaments done. What little free time I had is earmarked for drool pads! Striking a home/work balance when I'm not making enough to afford a sitter and the kids aren't big enough to safely entertain themselves while I work is going to be interesting. So far I've learned that they can't be trusted with pin cushions or drawers of sharpies, and all my attempts at organization have been undone. Never a dull moment!

Christmas is coming

The goose is getting fat.
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.

Time to get to work! I didn't labor over finding exactly the right cross-stitch pattern for the kids this year.  I opened this book, found a pair of reindeer, and said, "THAT'S IT!" We'll pretend they're moose. Some day, they'll get gorgeously stitched elaborate ornaments on 22 ct linen with half-stitches and blending and on and on.  This year, they're getting reindeer.  And I'm starting early so there are no close calls.

But maybe I should make their Halloween costumes first...