The Absence of Solitude

The Mom Gifts

This year I went with a really relaxed "homemade" gift from Mom. I was just not feeling up to spending hours and hours on the projects. I think the children loved them despite the little amount of time I spent on them. 

For Ethan, I finally had a drawing he did back in first grade for the rodeo art contest framed. It has been placed either behind his dresser or tucked away in his closet for the last few years. He was excited that he can now hang it in his own room. 

I had grand plans to make a quilt for Lauren out of her baby clothes but I just couldn't get it finished and I really didn't want to rush it and then it not be as nice as it could have been. So I am taking my time with it and I hope to give it to her for her 8th birthday later this year. Lauren did complain a couple of weeks before Christmas about not having any "girl" blankets to snuggle up with on the couch so I just made her a new fleece blanket. She loved it and surprisingly it lays on her bed and she doesn't use it when on sitting on the couch. 

Simon's gift was actually the most time intensive and it really wasn't that bad because most of it was done at a craft night. It is 16 square blocks with a photo cut to fit the blocks and make a puzzle. So there are six different puzzles and they are all members of the family. He opened it and moved right to the next gift and then later told me he didn't want it. However, he has played with it since and likes to put the one of him together the most. 

And Jillian loves to look at pictures of herself and sadly was always taking a little photo book of Lauren's because she did not have any pictures of herself to look through except on the computer. So I went through 2 years of pictures and had over a hundred pictures printed and then put them in a photo album for her. I think she has loved her gift the most; she looks through it every night before bed.

 They were simple gifts but perfect for what I could reasonably accomplish this year and perfect for each of the children. 

Edible Christmas Trees

I found this idea on pinterest and actually did it! Last Friday for a after school activity we made some yummy edible Christmas trees. It was a sugar cookie frosted with white icing for snow with a sugar cone placed on top for the tree and iced in green and decorated with M&Ms. The kids all LOVED it, especially the eating of the trees!

 

 

 

Fun Stuff

Leigh did a post yesterday about some of the fun things we did around the house and I was planning to do the same thing today. So sorry for the repeat but there are some new pictures...

I gathered supplies to keep the kids occupied during the downtime so we wouldn't hear, "I'm bored. What can I do?" I think they enjoyed all but one that was a complete failure and that was homemade harmonicas.

 Marshamallow Structures 

  

Alex did a whole lot of this while the big kids created.  

 

 
Sponge Bombs

 

 
Water Balloons

 

 
 
 
And other ways to cool off, too.

 

 
 
Tie-dye T-shirts 

 

 
 
Marshmallow Poppers

 

And my favorite:

 

 
Lava Bottles

 

We didn't get to all the crafts in the box but it the extras have helped pass the time since they left. We still have three weeks until school starts so I need all the help I can get keeping these kids entertained!

The Crafting Room

My project for the last week that has taken up A LOT of my time has been to get my craft/sewing room organized. I have had most of my supplies in plastic totes just sitting in this room since we moved in and I finally got around to emptying them. Why it took me a year, I don't really know! Let me just say this, when your supplies are tucked away and not easily accessible, it is so easy to re-purchase stuff you already had but didn't know you had. For instance, I have a small investment in ribbon and for some reason a lot of it is black. But that's ok because now when think I might need ribbon I can open the drawer and see, "Oh, I already have seven spools of 1/2 inch black grosgrain ribbon."  It's a good thing.

 

 
 This picture is looking in from the door. I still haven't figured out what to put above my desk. Any suggestions? The desk was a $25 Craigslist find that I repainted. The plastic drawer set and baskets on the floor are the kids' craft and art supplies. I am hoping that since I have given them their own stuff they will not get into mine so much. Simon and Lauren have been in here quite a bit the last few days having a grand time.

 
I am standing by the desk in this photo. I made a chalkboard for the kids and I am going to get a child-size table to go in front of it so they can play/craft in here too. The chalkboard has already been a hit with them. It's been kind of fun to go in at night and see what drawings have been left on the board.

 
And in this one I am standing by the window. The closet is full of all our games, the bookshelf has projects to complete and obviously nothing has made it onto the bulletin board yet.

I couldn't get a good picture of the quote I put above the window but it says, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." It's from a talk by Dieter Uchtdorf.

  

 

I hope to do a lot of creating in this room. I am so glad I finally got it all painted (it is Martha Stewart's  Araucana Teal), cleaned, organized, and ready to use. I think everyone in the family will enjoy the room. And the door doesn't have to be shut anymore. :)

two projects

It's amazing what kind of motivation you can get when you realize company is coming in a few weeks, especially when you have plans like camping and recitals two of the weekends leading up to the visits. My long list of projects is magically getting accomplished. :) I have been working on the girls' room for the past week. I just have two things left to finish; painting Lauren's bed frame and hanging Jillian's initials on the wall. This little project is one I finished and have really loved.

 
We have bookshelves downstairs with all the kids books but they inevitably take a few upstairs to read in bed. I was tired of stacks of books on the floor and hiding under the beds so I made these bookshelves. They are actually rain gutters and they were so easy to make. If you google rain gutter bookshelves you can find several tutorials. Now the girls have a little reading area with a child size rocking chair and floor pillows. Lauren loves it and the bottom shelf is just short enough that Jillian can reach it and pick out her own books. I thought the quote above it would be perfect for 1.) a girls room and 2.) for a reading area with many stories beginning with 'once upon a time.' My friend Kylee started a vinyl business and did the quote for me. (Kylee, I need your web link. ;) 

My second project was a "roadkill rescue" as people in the blog crafting world like to say. Our neighbors were getting rid of a worn out garden bench. The cedar planks were old and weak and the cast iron frame was a bit rusty. I restored it though! I forgot to take a before picture but just imagine something like this:

All it took to re-do was some spray paint I had in the garage, new boards and a can of stain. It cost me about $16.00. And this is what I have now:

Not bad, right?  

Now I am moving on to the desk for my craft room and getting what is currently in that room organized. It is mass chaos right now. It's a room that always has the door shut but I hope to change that soon!
 

Valentine Insprirations

There are TONS of great ideas this year for Valentine's Day! I pulled together some of my favorites from a few sites I like to frequent.

 
 A free download of Valentine Subway Art 

(I think there is also a tutorial for that topiary on this site too.)

 

 
This link has lots of cute Valentine card/gift ideas like the one above.

 

 
A new Cookie Idea on an old favorite.

 
A felt Wreath. So cute!

 

 
A free download and instructions for Another Card. I think I will make these for Simon's class at church.

 

 
A cute Valentine Game that is also a free download. We will be playing this at Lauren's Valentine's Day party she is having this weekend.

There is also a really cute Yahtzee game on this site.

 

 
I would have never thought that this Valentine decor was made from tissue paper! So pretty!

 

 
This link has a few different ideas for Valentine's treats. Yummy!

 

 
Ethan wants to make these for his friends. The you rock card opens up and has a packet of pop rocks in it. I just need to find the pop rocks. (This is also a free download.)

 

So there you have some of my favorites from around the web. I am glad people are so creative!

I better get busy!

 

**all photos are from the sites I linked to for each idea**

naptime crafting

Today I was able to get a little sewing project done while Simon and Jillian took naps. I made two flannel receiving blankets for a baby shower I am attending tomorrow. I am pleased with how they turned out and especially pleased with how fast they were to make.

 
 

The backing is the same fabric as the binding. It actually all one piece...instant binding! I love it because the mitered corners turn out so well. I saw this idea on a craft blog I like to visit but the instructions were not that great. So I google-d the idea and found a great step-by-step picture tutorial. Here is the link. The only thing I did differently is top-stitch where the binding and inner square meet instead of sewing an X across the blanket. I don't think I will ever make a blanket with regular binding again!

**I some how mis-measured the brown material so I ended up with wider binding on two sides. The blanket turned out the same size as the other one so I am not sure what I did. Oh well, it still looks fine. **

Handmade Gifts

I decided earlier this year that I really wanted to make each of the children something for Christmas. (Although, I didn't start any of them until the beginning of December:) As I was cleaning up my craft room to start making the gifts, I realized how many projects I had either half finished, bought supplies for but never made, or new projects that could be produced. I suggested to the kids that they might want to make each other gifts and they were SO excited. Lauren even made a schedule for who could be in the craft room at certain times so as not to spoil any gift-making.

Here is a just a glimpse into some of the gifts they made:

Ethan made Lauren a ribbon wand, Simon a felt fishing game, and Jillian some "baby legs" (leg-warmers).

Lauren made Ethan a decoupaged notebook, Simon a tool belt out of jeans, and Jillian a few bean bags.

Simon made Ethan bookmarks, Lauren a wooden, glittered "L", and Jillian some bubble bath.

I think they loved doing this so much that it might become something they want to do every year. They all were appreciative of their gifts and thanked each other a lot and complimented the work they had done. Plus, the giver was happy to give the gift. A win-win!

I know exactly how they felt too because I was really excited to see the reactions when they opened the gifts I made.

For Ethan I made a box for him to display his pin collection. (I didn't make the shadow box.) I did the fabric on the inside, stenciled the words, and put all the pins in it for him.

 
He hopes to have it completely full. 

I made a dance bag for Lauren. She has been wanting something new to carry her dance shoes in for class, so when I saw this fabric I knew what to make!

 

After this picture, she immediately went to get her shoes and put them in it. She is excited to go back to dance next week with it.

I knew my parents were getting Simon some Legos for Christmas so I made him a "lego sack". It's a large circle with a draw-string so he can lay it flat and play Legos on it and then when he is done playing, he can pull the draw-string and all the Legos get pulled into the sack. (And I don't step on them!)

And this is what he did with it right after opening it...

 

Little stinker wore it around like a hat!

Jillian loves to play with balls; ball was actually her first word. So for her I made three fabric balls.

 
 
 

She loved them...and I love that they don't hurt when she throws them at me!

I hope to continue to make each of them something from me each year. It was fun for me and I think they all enjoyed what they received. I just might have to start on things a little sooner next time...

 

p.s.: I will come back to this post later to add any links/tutorials I used for some of the projects.  

Wreaths

I was at the store last night and saw the cover of the Woman's Day magazine. A wreath wrapped in black duct tape with candy corns glued on to it. Cute, right? I think I might have to make one of these.

And I thought it looked very similar to the wreaths made at our craft weekend over the summer. A wreath with lima beans hot glued to it and then spray painted. Cute, right? I still need to finish mine.

Shannon, I saw this after I looked at your blog and thought you might want to add it to your list of fall crafts :)

makeover

I finished up Ethan and Simon's room over the weekend. I tried to get pictures but the lighting in there right now is bad so I will try again this afternoon.

But one thing I did make over for their room is the dresser. It was a free solid wood dresser we got from our rental. The owner said to do whatever we wanted with it since it was left in the house. He thought the dresser should go in the trash but I kept it because I knew after reading tons of crafty blogs, I could rescue it.

BEFORE:

I forgot to take one before I took the drawer pulls off but they were big wood handles. I had to fix two of the drawers and slides for them. Luckily all the broken pieces were in the bottom of the dresser. It was pretty easy once I figured out how all the pieces went back together.  

AFTER:

I sanded and primed it before painting it red. I had the flash on so it looks super bright but it's really not. I love the way it turned out!

I now have three more furniture projects to start. I have an old 3'x5' wood teacher's desk to refinish and two wing back chairs to reupholster. I am a little afraid to tackle the chairs! They have been sitting in the garage for a month.