I'll need to take some scans, but my daughter and I did some crafts for Groundhogs Day as well as Valentines Day. She also did a few cards to send to family members. She loves coloring and doing projects so it was literally half a day of work for us, but she sat quietly and enjoyed the entire time we worked. I was literally wishing to lay down, though, because my sinus problems but...I didn't dissapoint and we had a lot of pretty things for Daddy to see when he got home.

We would have had a few more if the cat hadn't danced across the work and added the pieces we had out to my son's toy area. He was playing and reaching for everything we set up, and of course, the cat had them land right in there. He crumpled up a few hearts and things, and of course, the cat looked 'innocent" but, when you see cat paws painted across the table, the chair, the couch, and more papers....fading away to where she sits? Hmm....CAUGHT YA!

My daughter considered it a funny thing and laughed hysterically at all of the cat prints and how she could follow them right up to the cat from the "evdence", as she called it. She immediately wanted to be a detective because I stood there looking at the mess after we had eaten a snack and said "Hmm, I wonder who did this?"

Off my daughter went, looking for clues, and of course she found them and the cat.

My only concern was my son and the pieces he crumbled up. He was so quiet when he woke up that I didn't know he had woken up, and he had grabbed up quite a few pieces that had fallen. So far he's not pooped out any colorful hearts (sorry for the graphic...), so I think we're alright in that department

Well, my daughter and I have New Year crafts we are going to tackle. You know, I have a pile of ornaments she made that I need to send out to friends who were promised ornaments. So to those of you who know who you are, they will be coming soon. Our sickness that's spread through the house is slowly going away. I think we'll be better by this time next week. I hope.

Anyway, now that New Year's Day is closing in, and we are getting ready to do our Wishes day, I need to sit with our Daughter and make crafts with her.

We'll be making hats, shakers, and confetti wands. We may also be making other things, but these three things will be the main parts of our celebrations. Oh, and our centerpiece for the table, whatever we decide that will be. Usually we create as we go along with that.

The hats will be handmade. Thick, well made paper cut into circles for cones. Painted and decorated. The rim either made in lace or ribbon or both. Something cute sticking out of the top. Knowing my daughter she will make one much like a princess cap for herself. I have glitter just for that reason. And glitter glue. It must be my Mom Sense.

After the hats we'll be making noise shakers. Two paper plates put together with dried beans inside. Shake them till they break them! Or, well, till you fall asleep. These last awhile and make great music instraments afterwards! Just take two paper plates, or plastic plates, and put them together using yarn, hole punches, and beans. Sew the beans up inside. Close it up. Sew it together. Walla!

Confetti sticks are new this year, and probably a huge messy mistake, but hey, kids are young only once, right? Besides, that's what brooms are for. Or...shop vacs depending on the size of the mess? Ahem.

Use straws for this if you like, or you may make tubes out of rolled paper. You may also use big rolls from wraping paper like we are going to do. I took the wraping paper roll from the rolled paper (mailing paper, brown) we used to make our Christmas Wrap this year with, cut them in two, and we'll use those for the wands.

Seal up one end of the tube with glue and paper. Seal with a rubber band to let it dry really well. Wrap two ribbons around the end to seal the paper on, glue the ribbons to the tube as well. Use rubber bands again till the ribbons dry. Decorate the tube as you want it done. Let things dry if need be.

Fill the wands with confetti, either made by hand - or paper shredder - or bought. Or use glitter! It's up to you on what you wish to use for this. Then take a wad of tissue paper to cork the end of the tube. When you're ready to celebrate with the glitter, shake it like crazy and watch the glitter fly around!!!

Yes, it's messy, but so will the days coming within the next New Year. You may as well get started early!!

We'll be making these, but I think I'll come up with some more after searching the internet. If we find something fun I'll see about posting it.

Right now I need to get to bed. It's nearly 4AM here... I must be nuts!

Actually, it's only that I can breathe really well sitting up..... le sigh.....

I had a friend from California ask me for ideas about a baby shower gift. She didn't have much to spend, but wanted something creative. I asked her what kind of budget she had, she said she had about $40. Well now, for that amount I could get a lot of gifts, but I'm frugal and thrifty. She really isn't.

I remembered a family friend talking about a baby diaper cake presented at a baby shower for someone they knew. I went to look them up on-line, and my goodness...the prices!? Do people think we all grow money on trees? Oh what a crop that would be! Honestly, some of the diaper stacked "cakes" were well over $80! I could not believe the prices!

Some of them were cute, and I'm sure that the price must have included creativity on the part of those who made it, but honestly they're not worth that much money. They're diapers. It's not made of silk diapers! They're made of disposables or cloth diapers! I just shook my head, called up my friend on the phone, and told her what to buy and to call me back when she had what she needed.

The plan was for a three level "cake" of diapers. I told her to buy a jumbo pack of disposables. They are cheaper than cloth diapers. She said her friend didn't want cloth anyway. That made it easier for her to choose. So she bought a big pack of disposable newborn diapers. She also bought pacifiers, a small stuffed animal, a baby brush and comb, some baby shoes - boys, since it's going to be a boy - and a picture frame that says "It's a boy" on the front.

She also bought some blue ribbons of various sizes, some blue and white lace, and other pretty pieces to wrap the outside of the diapers. These served as "icing" and as pieces to hold the decorations (pacifiers, shoes, etc..) that sat on the cake.

It turned out really cute, from what she said, and she was able to make it look almost real. And, because of how fun it was, and how creative it was, she said she's hoping to find more friends who are having babies!  Just to make more of these cakes!

She spent just over $30 for the entire thing. Much cheaper than $80 or whatever they are out there on-line or otherwise. That's a deal and a half if you ask me!

My daughter wears the costume I made her for Halloween all the time now. She'll probably wear it till she can no longer wear it anymore. The cloak I made is probably good for some time, but the dress is a size 4, and she's already going into a size 6X now...so it's going to be a hard thing to pack it away and keep it out of sight. We've decided to keep it as a gift to her when she's older and, maybe, to give to a grandbaby girl if we have one.

So here are a few pictures showing off the costume, and of course, our baby girl.

There are silk ribbons with stars on the dress for accent at the base hem and chest area. You can't see the chest area though, she wanted to bring out the cloak look as well in this picture. There are hand sewn sequins on the cloak and dress (easy to wash that way, which is what I wanted) in pinks and violets.

She had shoes on, but as you can see, she's a barefoot princess in this picture.

This is her in the back acres running about and dancing with her "boppity boo" (star wand), and the silk bag I made her to get candy in. She takes the silk bag with her now to gather acorns, pine cones, and other nature goodies.

She did have a tiara, but she took it off before the camera was even out

It took me a full weekend to sew the cloak, sew on the sequins, the ribbons, and then the sack, but it was so worth every bit of it. She's playing in that costume often and I know it's worth every bit of time I spent.

I'll have some pictures of ornaments we've been making up soon. I'll make sure it's this weekend if I can.

I wanted to share with you a page that is magical. Well, to us it is. I crossed paths with this site accidentally, and I really can't recall how I did. But the place is just one big fun fest of ideas and things you can do with your children that don't involve much work at all.

It's simple paper and glue or tape activities, and the ideas with all of these are endless!

It's all so magical, and yes, my daughter has taken some of these to make ornaments this year  So that's why I wanted to show you what is going on with some of what we're making. This is only part of our creativity.

We are so awesome

The Toymaker

Methinks it is a token of healthy and

gentle characteristics, when women of

high thoughts and accomplishments

love to sew; especially as they are

never more at home with their own

hearts than while so occupied. 

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

I love to sew. and even though my sewing machine has been out of whack for nearly two years now , I have still been sewing by hand. I have found that sewing by hand is more of a therapy for me than just something to create an object or occupy my time.

A machine is hurried and, well, sometimes difficult.  Yes, it does get a project completed promptly so you can move on with your day. It is good for business, home, and so forth. But, it just isn't good for mind and soul therapy. At least, not for me, it isn't.

The methodic movements you have with sewing by hand, or doing any craft with your hands, is beneficial and curative for my soul. Just like  kniting, crocheting, weaving, macramae, jewelry making, etc... Sewing enthralls the mind and hypnotizes our senses. The creativity it brings out in me allows my mind to travel to other thoughts, places, and memories.

All my scattering moments

are taken up with

my needle. 

~Ellen Birdseye Wheaton, 1851

My mind opens up to possibilities that normally are closed. For example, I hardly ponder about future adventures while doing chores around the house or taking care of the kids. My mind is focused on the here and now. The here, is home, the now, is chores. I can't let my mind wander too much during those activities.

When I sew it is like a door opens up into a hallway. Within the hallway are more doors. With each stitch I open another door. I walk into the room and deal with what is inside the room. It could be a future event I would like to go to, and how I could get there. It could be a shopping list item I need to put on a list. It could be a future craft to create. Well, the list can go on and on.

The rooms are filled with the mundane. The rooms are filled with breathtaking ideas. The rooms are my mind, my heart, and my soul. While I sew I can wander them all at will with no worry and no strife. I am free to blossom within and produce great things. Or I am free to relax and let all my questions find responses at a later date.  

It doesn't happen swiftly. It isn't a hurried motion. It just happens as it happens. No rush, no force. It's a natural thought process and it eases in more than barreling through. And, I like that very much.

From the manner in which

a woman draws her thread

at every stitch of her

needlework, any other

woman can surmise

her thoughts.  ~Honore de Balzac

With all this sewing in mind, I have helped my four year old daughter design a princess dress for her costume. She wanted to be a special princess. She told us this two weeks ago. I told her that we could do that easily, foolishly thinking we could purchase a cute princess outfit for her. And that is when the quest began.

As we glanced through costume after costume in various stores and shops it became clear that the outfits were not worth the money placed upon them. Glancing at tags, shaking our heads in dissapointment, we knew that we could not only not afford the dresses at any of the stores, but we could see the terrible shape they were all in. Sewn with factory precision? No, just careless stitching and sewing. Some hems were already frayed and it was very noticeable that the dresses, even though "pretty", would not last long. Why pay nearly $40.00, or even $10.00, for that!?

If a special dress is to be found for a special daughter how can we buy such bunkum?

So, our aventure began this week to set about looking for a dress to make, not purchase! We took expeditions on-line to research dresses and apparel. My daughter and I roamed through magazines, books, and even period shows on TV to see if we could spot "The Look". As we approached this weekend it was clear that we were not doing well with the answer to our quest.

I was starting to become a bit plagued with worry over the whole ordeal. We were also offering our daughter second choices. This was due to being unsure. Would we, or could we find something affordable? Not to mention, could we or would we still make our daughter happy?

Sewing patterns on-line, on-line auction sites, and patterns in stores were too much for our funds. Fabrics that looked so beautiful and lavish, and even those that were semi-decent, were still too much per yard. If we were to create a dress using such rich fabrics, or even spin off fabrics, we would still be spending too much over our budget!

What could we do?

I thought and thought of this as my days went into nights. That's when I finally realized how silly I had been. We were looking about this from the opposite angle! This came to me when I saw my daughter playing dress up. She converted her own spring dresses into something for winter, just by adding a few extra pieces.

I thought about one of her favorite spring dresses. Now that the weather is cooler, and Fall is here, she has not been able to wear it except inside. She plays in this dress so much that it could possibly be her favorite costume over all the dresses she owns. It is a simple dress, yet she acts as if it is made of the finest silks in all of the world.

It's really just simple cotton with a few ribbons, but to her it's gorgeous and perfect for any princess!

So, I decided that we would convert her dress into something even more special. I explained what I wanted to do with the dress, and she agreed that it would look wonderful, but would it hurt the dress? What if we messed up? What if mistakes were made?

That's when I told her if we plan this properly the dress will be 200% better than it was before!

So she and I sat down again at the computer. Not to look up styles, but to look up glitter and sequins! The next trip to JoAnn's was simple and much more easy. We picked out some scrap fabrics that matched her dress. The scraps were all together $2.39!

We found simple buttons and ribbons to accent some areas of the dress. The ribbon was only .99 cents. The buttons were only .45 cents. And we found sequins and sparkle glue, both under a dollar in price!

Now, let me see...

Dress that looks like every other princess in the area: (The one she liked the most) $44.99

Dress that will look original, last for at least four or five more months, and is part of her imagination and creation:

Sequins - pink - .55 cents

Sequins - white metalic - .55 cents

ribbon roll - .99 cents

button strip - .45 cents

scrap fabric for a cloak - thick pink flannel with indented woven stars, sparkling pink sheer fabric with sequins sewn in, and lavender and pale blue accented fabrics that match her homemade wand - $2.39

Hmm, that's only $4.93!

Frugal? Yes. Meeting budget? Oh yes, well under our budget of $10.00.

But the best part is her smile as she looks at her creation coming to life, and the happiness in her eyes as she twirls for me as I look over the outfit for corrections before sewing something on!

The journey we are all taking with this dress is making us all giddy. It's such a wonderful thing! Sewing is so much more than a hobby!

My daughter and I will be making egg carton spiders today for part of our Halloween decorations. Instead of just plain black, I also picked up gold piping for extra pizzaz to the legs. We'll be painting the eyes on the spiders, and also use silver paint for spots or other additional pretty marks on the spiders.

Once we get them made I'm going to let her hang them from an old lace curtain we've got just for the occasion in the window. The light coming through will make the spiders look extra creepy, both during the day, and night.

If you have an old lace curtain, or find a cheap batch of them somewhere, I suggest using them for decorations in the windows. The sheer look of them adds to the fun on the silouette design of whatever you put up!

We'll have one with spiders, one with construction paper bats, one with pumpkins, and who knows what else she'll decide to do! If I get pictures I'll attempt to scan them and put them up!

I just saw the cutest decorations and I wanted to share. I'm posting like crazy today! But I have this open to keep track of ideas for me as well as sharing them with others. So this is really benefiting others for ideas, and not just me yapping away to keep myself in order! And, this will save my printer a lot of ink!

Pumpkin Pots

One decoration was to use a hollowed out pumpkin and place a pretty pot of flowers in it. The idea folks used Mums for the flower, but any fall flowers will do I'm sure. They were really pretty ideas, and I think it'd look lovely on a porch or on a walk near the house. Just remember to water the flowers!

Some pumpkins were not carved and left alone on the outside, but some were carved on the outside with vine or leaf shapes, but not all the way through, they were shallow carvings, like etchings. Because of how different everyone is this is a perfect "make it your own" project for the family.

Just remember to water the flowers!

Twist to the Painted Pumpkins: Friendly Web Pumpkins

Use any sized pumpkin. You'll also need:

Varied sizes of craft jewels
metallic paint pens or metallic paint
brushes if you have just pain and not the pens
craft glue
Wash the outside of the pumpkin gently, do not scrub it. Take the metallic pens or paint, and make spider web designs across one side and the top of the pumpkin. Let the paint dry well before handling the pumpkin once more.

Once the pumpkin is dry, take the jewels and create a spider for the web. The jewels will be the bodies and the heads of the insects. Paint will be used to make legs for the bugs. Kids can be creative with this and really enjoy the design.

Pumpkin Totem Pole

Use various sizes of pumpkins to stack on top of each other. Make sure you stack them after you carve them out. If you stack them before hand, find a good balance, and then try to stack them carved afterwards - well, they won't work that way very well. Carve them first. Stack them second. *** Make sure to put a small hole in the base of the pumpkin as well. This is for putting a pole through the pumpkins. The pole will help support the totem. Pound the pole (stick, pipe, fence pole, etc..) into the ground first to make sure it is sturdy. Then add the pumpkins. Candles may be used, but battery operated lights can also work well with this too.

If you have strong winds it is good to support the totem on the outside as well with sticks on the two sides and the back, just in case.

I'll add to these as I find more.