This Emmanuel banner was my quick and easy craft project this year. Seriously, this took me about 15 minutes to make with some card stock, pre-cut letters, ribbon, and hot glue. Inspired by HopiQ’s Thanksgiving banner.
I’m loving this so much, it almost makes me forget my wish for a mantel.
Our costume decisions were made rather last minute this year. Grammy is a sewing wonder, so she put together Emmaline’s beautiful Dorothy dress in just a few days. Micah’s costume was up to me. The thing is, I didn’t inherit any of those sewing skills, but I’m kind of a stickler about homemade costumes. It feels like cheating to buy a costume straight off the rack.
My first tin man thoughts involved dryer vents and hat boxes, but Micah is all about comfort and I knew he wouldn’t be happy for more than two minutes in something with the slightest bit of stiffness or itchiness.
So with some brainstorming help from my mom, here’s what I came up with:
Yes, the magic ingredient in his costume was spray paint! I bought el cheapo pants and a turtleneck at WalMart, and a plastic funnel from the auto department and spray painted them silver. I simply put some paper between the layers of cloth, sprayed, let dry, flipped, and sprayed again. It wasn’t terribly shiny, but enough to get the effect. The funnel was easy to paint inside and out and then I used an awl to make holes for the elastic band. The heart is made from red and white foam sheets and safety-pinned on from the inside. The crocs were bound for the trash because of the gaping hole in the toe, but I sprayed them silver too for one last night out.
I had to air it out for a few days, but the great thing was the paint didn’t stiffen the fabric at all so it was probably one of the most comfortable costumes ever.
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The problem in living with little creative geniuses is the avalanche of papers that accompany them. All sorts of creations made with crayons and markers and tape and stickers, overflowing from the table and slipping under chairs and beds. A precious few get framed, but honestly, most of these creations reach the recycling bin after a stint on the fridge. For a while I was keeping the ones I really loved in a file; a file way in the back of the drawer that was crammed full of stuff that never saw the light of day.
Then a friend showed me her storage system: loose leaf binders filled with page protectors. I already had on hand two large binders. I bought a giant pack of page protectors to fill them and used 8 by 10 photos to slip into the plastic on the front (though artwork here would be just as great). I keep them on a shelf in our school room, so they are easy to get to. Now, after the artwork has had its display time on the fridge, I decide whether this is something to recycle or to save in the binder. I make sure to date everything that goes into the folder. Because the binders are so easy to access I end of saving more. Also, the pictures are not hidden away in the back of some file drawer, instead they are more like photo albums, easy to pull out and look through, show off to grandparents and friends.
The friend who originally inspired this has children older than mine, so she uses her binders to collect certificates and prizes the kids earn as well. Two of hers have graduated from high school and found the binders very useful when filling out their college applications. All the details of their various accomplishments were easy to find.
Just another little thing bringing order to some part of my world.
For more tips, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.
I thought I had finished Christmas shopping for Emmaline, but when I saw this Enchanted Fairy Garden at the store, I couldn’t pass it up. It turned out to be one of her favorites, and really how could it not be when it combines painting, planting, and fairies?
Emmaline and a few friends shared the job of painting the ceramic toadstools, fairy house, and dish. Then Emmie and I planted the seeds the next day. I’m amazed at how much they’ve grown already - and the wheat grass has already endured a “haircut”. Fortunately, the set came with lots of seeds, so I’m just keeping them handy to replant when needed.
This is the kind of toy I really love. No buzzing or beeping or batteries, just beauty and a bit of imagination.
My little library has grown over Christmas, and this book, The Creative Family, by Amanda Blake Soule is one of my favorite additions. She also has a lovely and inspiring blog here. I haven’t read all the way through the book yet, but I’ve already got all sorts of ideas brewing. The idea is to just be creative with your children, to foster your own creativity and that of your kids. If you’re a crafty kind of person you already know how relaxing and energizing creating something can be. Just this week, as we’ve started back to school after the holidays, I’ve made a point to sit down to some simple craft with the kids each day after lunch. It’s a break from other school work and it’s just as good for me as it is for them. The first day all we did was color together. With Emmaline I talked about slowing down and coloring all the tiny areas of her detailed fairy picture. With Micah I just brought to his attention that you can color inside the lines if you so choose. It was fun. Simple. Relaxing. We’ve also done this cool salt paint project (thanks, Valerie) and made animal collages with textured fabric. I have in mind little sewing projects from the book and am really excited to try making the natural dye Soule describes.
Our old kitchen table, now on the back porch, has become our crafting spot. The porch is pleasant and messes seem easier to deal with out there. I’m toying with the idea of setting up a little creative nook there and consolidating our crafting supplies in a cabinet on the porch. My only fear is the humidity. Ideas, anyone? I’m envisioning a beautiful little creative back porch space, but I’m afraid practicality might intrude. Updates on that to come.
Check out the fun project Megan and I worked on yesterday.
So often when I start thinking crafty and dreaming about pulling out my craft supplies, the list of things that need to be done pops into my head and shoves all those happy little creative thoughts away. Laundry to be washed, dried, and folded, menus planned, shelves dusted, kids that need this or that or something right now! But yesterday, we decided to have a craft day - and it did us all good. I piled supplies on the dining room table and decided I’d had all this stuff so long, I wasn’t going to be fussy about who used it or how; the kids were allowed to use up miles of ribbon and all the sparkles and beads they wanted. Each child got a shoe box and a paper mache bird. I manned the glue gun and we went to town. Besides needing help with the glue, Emmaline and Micah worked very well on their own making homes for their birds.
While they decorated their boxes and played “birdie” I got to make this:
I feel so much better now.
Planning and making party decorations is my favorite part of a party. I had so much fun making this birthday banner for Emmaline. It’s not often I find the time to make fun things. The pom poms were inspired by Tricia who kindly put up instructions at Oh So Crafty.
The funky flower theme came together really cute, but it was important to Emmaline to incorporate some fairies, so tucked into our centerpiece were a few whimsical extras. We also had a fairy hunt in the back yard, and of course there were lots of fairy gifts.
For Emmaline’s party favors, I filled mini chinese takeout boxes with pink and blue jelly beans, play necklaces, stickers, and mini gel pens. I finished them off with tags made from paper and stickers leftover from the invitations. Emmie did a great job of distributing the favors as each guest left and thanking them for coming, and I so enjoyed doing a little crafty something.
I wish I had wonderful crafty things to post about, but I don’t have anything of my own. Instead, I’ll post about my mom’s wonderful crafty things. She made this cute little outfit for Emmaline. I love the white ric rac and square neck. Among the stripes are tiny metallic gold threads that make it look extra special. Of course, this is Emmie’s new favorite thing to wear. Thanks, Grammy!
