Category: crafty

In ten days we went from this:

to this:

 
We are completely exhausted and our house is thrashed, but it was totally worth it. There were squeals of delight from the older girls as they walked in the door, and when I dropped off Neko, there were ten kids piled on the couch.

There are still some fine details to be addressed—artwork, a new trash can, and a small cabinet hung. But all in all, I think I declare it a success.

Thank you to all the helpers and babysitters—we couldn't have done it without you!

Another one courtesy of maya*made, who has all kinds of excellent ideas this year—way more than I have time for. She is clearly not sleeping this week.

The kids loved doing this, even Ellery, since the messier it got, the better it turned out. I adore crafts that can span the ages of my three kids. This one is a keeper.

I'm already thinking we could easily adapt it for St. Patrick's Day…

(Yes, bats are hanging from our mantle, thanks to Stellaluna.)

We've been getting a bit crafty around here in preparation for Valentine's Day, which is suddenly a Big Deal now that we have a five-year-old roaming around the house.

So today we made heart-shaped pretzels. You can find the recipe here. They were fairly quick to make and delicious to eat.

Shep played with a leftover dough ball for hours until the fateful moment when he turned his head and Ellie (our dog) ate it in about 1.3 seconds. And then Shep cried for nearly an hour because Ellie had wounded him to his very core and because he had a very long time out after he kicked her.

I tried not to laugh as he sat on my lap, his little fists clenched, body shaking with fury, as he sputtered, "I'm just SO ANGRY!" I know a lot of grown-ups who can't handle anger that well, so I had to give him some props for being able to express himself.

But the pretzels? Yummy.

I've been trying to do a few more projects around here. Not because I'm trying to win any sort of Martha Stewart award, but because it's a matter of sanity. The 4-5:30pm block around here is brutal. Neko comes homes exhausted but without the resources to be patient or kind. Shep is running on adrenaline because he no longer naps, but probably should still be napping. And Ellery is all like, "WHEEE! I'm surrounded by crazy!"

Anyway, today we tried a color mixing project. Make a batch of unflavored gelatin, and then split into three separate bowls and color with red, blue and yellow food coloring. (I did this while the kids were eating lunch, so it took almost no time.) When it has cooled, the kids get to mix colors in small Ziplocs.

All in all, this was a good project. The colors don't mix smoothly, but instead give a stained glass kind of effect, but it was clear to see what the result is when colors blend. And it was fabulous for the kids to have something to concentrate on other than each other.

I will mention, however, that if you have kids like mine, they won't be able to resist opening the Ziplocs. They all ended up in the tub for an early bath after about 20 minutes, where Shep discovered (quite unhappily) that the gelatin turns back into a liquid rather quickly in water.

I have lately fallen back in love with Martha Stewart.

These days I'm a bit more in need of her crafty ideas, and unlike many other crafty folk, she doesn't fill me with feelings of inadequacy. I mean, if I had a staff of thousands helping me formulate amazing ideas and my children closing in on 40, I might be Martha, too.

Anyway, when doing a quick tally of my children's teachers, I realized that I had to produce 20 gifts in the next week. Which, um, is a little daunting, particularly during the season where I was determined to simplify.

Martha to the rescue! I picked up her special holiday issue, and then realized she had loads of ideas and templates on her website as well.

So if you're on the hunt for a last-minute idea, check here. Some might take you until next summer, but others seem quick and simple.

I often forget that we are a business that gets stupid busy right around the holidays. And then there we are, and I'm all like, "Wow. It's been a week since I've blogged. How did that happen?"

Anyway, things are good and busy. Which is well, good…and busy.

But I took a little breather from all the chaos and forced myself to sew some skirts today. Neko had a complete meltdown this morning because we were going to force her to wear actual PANTS, and lordy, the tantrums followed shortly thereafter.

I've struggled finding good skirts out there. You know, ones that don't say "princess" on the butt or are bedazzled into oblivion. A while back, Soulemama posted about an easy-peasy skirt, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. I was impressed with how it was actually really very easy. Free pattern courtesy of oliver + s, which you can find here.

I made one just like the pattern, and then also the one above, where I pieced together two different fabrics. It upped the difficulty factor slightly, but I think added a bit of zing. The skirt was really for Neko, but Ellery happily wore it around for a while.

On a side note, I'm so sad because this pink robot fabric is no longer available anywhere I look. I'm fairly certain I will never find pink robot fabric ever again, which is a complete bummer.

The third photo is the laundry I totally ignored while sewing skirts. If my children are a little wrinkled the next time you see them, now you know why.