Jazzing up some bla slippers

On a quick dash into TJ Max yesterday to replace a forgotten tie we found this pair of $4 slippers. I've been meaning to make a pair of slippers for Lil all winter. She has a pair for school but not for home. And, well, it's almost February and I still have not made her a pair of home slippers. So when this pair presented themselves we snatched them up. The trouble was they were well, a bit boring. This morning before breakfast Lil decided to take matters into her own hands. I threaded a needle for her and she was off.

Repurposed sweater part two

Back in late August I unraveled a woman's sweater with the intention of using the yarn to make a dress for my four year old. I didn't have a pattern so I made one up.
Well here it finally is on a reluctant subject. She is just not interested in being photographed lately. I actually finished it in November but I'm just now getting around to photographing it. When I first finished the knitting Lil looked at it and said "I don't like sweater dresses!" So I put fun buttons on it. She seems to be okay with it now. We'll see if she actually wears it much. I did a few decreases on the sleeves under the arms. But they seem to be a little bulky which she has complained about. I think I'll do the decreases elsewhere next time. I also ran out of yarn before I was ready to end. I wanted the dress to be a little longer. But all in all I'd say the first attempt was a success. And next time it will be even better.
Close up of the buttons. Eight buttons total: there was a sheep, bear, owl, lion, pig, frog, penguin and an elephant.

Homemade thank you cards

Finally sent out our Christmas thank you cards today. In our defense we started making them right after Christmas. It's just taken a while to finish them. We got a stack of 50 blank cards and envelopes for $10. The girls painted and drew pictures on them. Then we wrote on the inside. A nice way to say thank you to all our family and friends who sent us lovely gifts at Christmas time. Now on to the Birthday thank you notes...

Anatomy of a snowDan

Least you question her gender let me share the rest of her name: Dan Fancy Nancy. We started with the usual body parts, eyes, mouth, nose and arms. Once those were to our liking, Lillian looked at our snow woman and said very matter-of-factly: "She needs hips!" So she rolled two snow balls that went on either side for hips. Following the hips, a 'belly' was needed, next breasts. And so our snowDan was born. I love the fact that Lil's image of a woman includes these important parts.

Birthday party prep

We had the party this past Sunday. But I'm just now getting to the blogging thing. The girls and I took a sanity day yesterday and did a whole lot of nothing. I swung right from Christmas into party planing/birthday making mode so I needed a quite day.

The top pic is of the girls burring 'jewels' in a canning pot full of sand. I bought some of those glass flower vase beads at the craft store for less than $3 a bag. I made each child a little cloth bag with a ribbon draw string. Phil and I were up until almost midnight the night before stringing those darn ribbons through the bags. Nothing Like leaving it all to the last minute right? The bags from start to finish really didn't take that long. Only about an hour for ten of them. I just didn't get to it until shortly before eleven. Anyhow, the children got to dig through the sand and find five jewels each for their little bag. What a hit! I recommend it for any young child's party. My girls have been playing with their jewels non stop ever since. Isn't it fun that such little treasures can bring such great joy?!
I also made each child a crown. We've been playing with these felted crowns here for a while now as you may have noticed. And all our friends have fallen in love with them too. So they seemed like the perfect party favor. I needled felted simple designs on each one, sewed on a few sparkly beads, did a decorative stitch across the top and then used my sewing machine to sew on the back fabric and elastic. They were a lot of fun to make and looked beautiful on all those little party goers heads.

Happy Birthday to Lillian

My eldest turned four today. It's hard to believe we met face to face four years ago today. Her Mama made gift this year was a princess and the pea doll, mattresses and peas in a little bag. Like the girl needs another doll right? But she requested this present about a month ago and who am I to deny a homemade present request. I've made this doll before. Which was probably the reason for the request. She is a fun little doll and great for imaginative play.

The crown was a birthday gift from her preschool teacher yesterday. They had a wonderful little celebration for her at school which we were able to participate in. The teacher told a story of a little angel playing up in heaven who one day looked down to earth and decided to come here. So the little angel choose Phil and I as parents and the big angel helped the her slide down the rainbow bridge to us. And then the teacher related a little story about Lil for each of her four years. Then we had a lovely snack and stayed to play outside with her.

We've started a little birthday tradition in our house which has become much anticipated. Last year my mom folded 30 or 40 origami butterflies for us. The night before the girls birthdays after they go to sleep, we hang the butterflies from the ceiling all over the house. It is a magical, colorful thing to wake up to. Not to mention how much it brightens up the house. It gets us through the snowy months of winter quite nicely with a little extra cheer.

Lil's birthday dinner request was chicken soup and strawberry shortcake. I thawed some of the delicious berries the girls and I picked last summer. It was a wonderful reminder of those warm early summer days.

Tonight as I tucked her into bed I said "Happy Birthday Lil" Just to get it in one more time today. And she said "Happy Birthday Mama" And I thought well yes it kind of is my birthday too. After all four years ago today she made me a mama. I do love that girl. She is such a bright spot in this life.

The power of the north wind

Perhaps I watched too much Captain Planet as a child but I am quite entertained with the idea of donning a crown which gives mythical 'powers of nature'. Hence, the crowns I made for my nephews for Christmas. We had a bit of fun with these before they left the house but sadly I didn't get any photos. I wrapped these crowns up in their accompanying capes before mailing them off. I cut the crown shape out of some very heavy duty wool that I got from A.C. Moore of all places. I wouldn't have even thought to look there had it not been for the suggestion of one of Lil's teachers. I then needle felted the images on. The first crown (in case you can't tell) gives it's wearer the power of the seas. Something along the lines of a King Neptune kind of thing. And the second is The North Wind.

Awesome ugly plates

Look at these plates I found at the Salvation Army. I don't know what it is about them that appeals to me because they are really kind of ugly right? But I LOVE them. We seem to brake a lot of plates/bowls/glasses around here. I don't even know that I can blame it on the kids. So I gave up on matching dishes a while back. I found these on half off day. I paid seventy-five cents for two dinner plates and four salad plates. Boy you just can't beat that.