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.

Playdough!

Oh boy playdough! After the grandparents left, we needed a little distraction. This one was by request. While at the grocery store we walked by the Koolaid packets which just happen to be at kid eye level. (Isn't that funny! Ah marketing.) Anyway, not to worry my kids only know the stuff as dye. I get a kick out of that. So playdough was requested and it's been a daily staple all week. I cannot believe that red!

Playdough recipe:

1C Flour

1C Water

1/4C Salt

2tsp Cream of Tartar

1Tbs Vegtable Oil (all I had was olive and it worked fine)

1 packet of Koolaid for color (optional)

I mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly then add the water, put it on the stove over a medium/low heat and stir like crazy. It will thicken up pretty fast. When it all rolls into a ball and looks like playdough that needs a little kneading it's done. Then if you have asbestos hands you can knead it right out of the pot or wait a few minutes until it cools.

Homemade for Christmas: some more doll photos

These are the cradles my Dad made for the dolls. I asked that they stack for storage as our little house is already full enough. Aren't these amazing?! I am always amazed at what that man comes up with. He is brilliant! (And yes they do come apart and are interchangeable)

These are the quilts my Mom made for the cradles. (She also made the mattresses) She used left over fabric from the baby blankets she made the girls when they were born. I thought that was a fantastic extra touch. It's also a good way to always know which one belongs to which girl. They already know the colors.

And while I was full of good intentions all I ended up having time left for was making two little sweaters. I'll get around to the shoes eventually. I found the sweater pattern on the Bamboletta blog. Ravlery also seems to have a couple good ones. This particular pattern is for a 15 inch doll and these were 16 inch dolls. I added a couple extra rows with increases before dividing for the sleeves. I think I would add a couple more rows next time to make them just a little bigger. I made these dolls with 16 inch Honey Doll kits from Joy's Waldorf Dolls. She seems to have retired but it looks like she's selling the business so keep checking back with her site if you're interested. There are also several other companies out there that sell doll kits. I have to say the whole experience was a lot of fun. And I am so pleased the girls have these family made treasures now. I am blessed to be a part of such a creative family. Well I've got a girl who's about to turn four so I'm off to create a birthday gift.

Christmas Dolls

So I realize it's late and tomorrow morning is going to come way to early but I couldn't go to sleep without finishing the second dress. You know how it is? Okay, maybe you don't but I was having a lot of fun sewing these dolls. And I'm not done yet! I still want to knit sweaters and shoes and maybe hats for these gals before Christmas. Hey we've still got a few weeks. I think it's more than possible.