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The doll sweater and hat pattern is ready! (It is a PDF file.) I wrote it with my 9 year old in mind, so it should be doable for kids as well as grownups. Please let me know if (when!) you you find any errors so that I can make corrections.
In the photo above, Kirsten has on a new sweater, this one with a bit of lace trim around the edges. She also has on her comfy denim skirt made from one of Amelia's blue jean legs that was cut off just under a gaping hole. :-)
It is a breezy day out, but the sun is shining and Kirsten is going out for a winter picnic!
She has her trusty basket packed with a thermos of hot tea and a few slices of fresh baked bread wrapped in a napkin. She is also wearing her new felted wool sweater and hat to keep her nice and snug.
Ah, the perfect spot, on the deck of the swing set! But where did the sun go? It looks like Kirsten had better finish her tea and get back home before the weather turns even colder. Brrrrr!
Kirsten's new sweater and hat were made from our stash of felted wool sweaters and were both super easy to make. Amelia (age 9) could easily do it by herself, but we did this first set together. I sketched out a little pattern, then we cut it out with the base of the pattern along the base of one of the sweaters.
It is even fastened with snaps, so there are no button holes to make! (I have found that one round through the washer (hot) and dryer is enough for felting wool that will become doll clothes. Two rounds gets the wool almost too thick.)
If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know (leave a comment) and I will fix it up as a PDF along with the basic how-to's. Have a great day and stay warm!
I forgot to mention (in the post below) one of our most favorite day-after-Christmas traditions. It is the reading (and singing!) of Good King Wenceslas, illustrated, with beautiful watercolors, by John Wallner. (It is now aparently out of print) The text is simply the words to the song, with each line being illustrated by a different watercolor scene. The reading of this book always provides much interesting discussion on everything from Saints Stephen, Agnes and Wenceslas to the difference between "hither" and "thither".
Amazon now carries this book
I actually look forward to the day after Christmas. Not as much as Christmas day itself of course, but I look forward to the slow, relaxed pace of a day filled with enjoying each other's company and not having to go anywhere. We just hang out at home on this day, playing with everyone's new things and munching Christmas leftovers.
Today has been extra pleasant, as the sun is actually shinning again after what seems like a very long time of hiding behind rain clouds. I honestly cannot remember the last time we saw the sun. It's been 2 weeks, at least. It's amazing how much we humans crave the sun when we have been deprived of it for a time. I took advantage of it today and made myself a cozy nest on the front porch swing to peruse one of my Christmas gifts from Chip (dh).
The book on the swing is The French-Inspired Home
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Ahh, baking day. What would Christmas be without at least one flour coated, sugar filled baking day? Everyone got into the act this year. I am continuously surprised at what the kids are capable of in the kitchen, if I just let them loose in it. (That is the tough part for me. :-))
Below is the kids (ok, everyone's) all time favorite (to make and to eat!) Christmas season recipe. Chocolate truffles! It's not really a baking recipe, but it sure is simple. Enjoy!
If you would like to print out a 4x6 version of the above recipe (and the blank card, too), click here!
**Update ~ The typo on the recipe has been fixed. Thanks Michelle for catching it!
If you have not been to the Kiddley web site yet, you are in for a treat. It is filled with quick and easy crafts for kids, many of which can be done with things you probably already have on hand. Yesterday I was taking a quick look to see what new things they had up, when I came across these cute little printable paper dolls. They were the perfect thing to keep the kids busy for a while on a rainy afternoon. Even my 12 year old James got into it, as you can see by the lovely "double-light-saber-paper-Jedi" in the bunch.
The beautiful red outfits are courtesy of a roll of wrapping paper that was laying out.
And just look where they ended up!
Today is jumping Joseph's birthday and I thought I would share our re-usable birthday decoration idea. For quite a while I had been looking for some sort of garland that would be festive yet re-usable from birthday to birthday and year to year. The kids were always asking for crepe paper streamers but I didn't like having to purchase them over and over again. The solution to our little dilemma turned out to be quite simple!
I ordered a couple of "Charm Packs" from the Fat Quarter Shop and bought a roll or two of the 1/8" wide cream colored satin ribbon from the craft store. (It is less than $1.00 per roll.) "Charm Packs" are these neat little stacks of pre-cut 5" squares in an assortment of wonderful fabrics.
And there you have it! A simple, re-usable and pretty, birthday garland. So much nicer than our old crepe paper arrangement. :-) I ended up making a girl's set and a boy's set combining two different Charm Packs for each set. The two packs I used for the girl's are actually on sale right now!
I have always loved poetry, both reading and writing it. I composed many a poem, as a kid, and wrote each one out in one of three books that I had made myself. I have no clue where those books are now, probably collecting dust in the deep recesses of the attic.
On Thanksgiving Day of this year, when all of our extended family was gathered together, one of my aunts brought out a very old notebook filled with poetry. It was all handwritten in old (but not too faded) ink. She had found this treasure when she had moved into her house years ago. The house was an old one and had been passed to her by preceding generations. The poetry was that of her great grandmother, or my great-great grandmother.
Her name was Marie Louise Smith Edgar (1851-1946) and her story absolutely inspires me. The original poems were transcribed, by a cousin, into a typed booklet which was distributed to family members. This is a quote from the "Transcriber's Notes" at the beginning of the booklet:
"During her days in South Louisiana, Marie Louise washed the family's clothes using a perforated bucket that would be swished through a larger tub, the equivalent of today's washing machine agitator. It was during these otherwise boring times her thoughts turned to her poetry which she would record on a nearby table."
I love that in her daily duties, (Which were no doubt much greater than mine!) she still made the effort to be creative and even share her gifts with others. She had five children, was a private tutor and taught piano. She grew vegetables, grapes, fruit trees and flowers. She even enjoyed crocheting, tatting and raising canaries! Talk about a creative life!
Many of the poems reflect her strong faith and her admiration for the beauty of the bayous, live oaks and wildlife of her southern Louisiana surroundings. Below is one of her poems:
Someone
When the sun is sinking
Slowly in the west
When the birds are flying
O’er the waves to rest
Someone stands waiting
In a cottage door
Hushing all but heartbeat
Listening for an oar.
Someone’s rowing homeward
To that little nest
Someone’s longing longing
For it’s peace and rest
Someone soon will gladden
At a glistening oar
Someone soon be clasping
Someone in the door.
And here is a scan of the original poem. I don't know why, but it gives me such a thrill to turn the yellowed, cracking pages and examine closely the delicate penmanship. (My aunt allowed me to very carefully scan the entire original notebook for the sake of posterity.) I'll share more of Marie Louise's story and poetry in the future.
Today we started on a batch of Christmas tree ornaments for some of our friends and family. (I know this will be a spoiler for a couple of people reading this, but I couldn't help sharing this oh-so-simple idea!)This year I thought I'd try these neat little frames that are the perfect size to hold two microscope slides with something sandwiched in between them. (They are available on several websites and probably in a few craft stores, but I haven't checked yet.)
I am doing a little Catholic collage in each one using a vintage holy card image from this wonderful site along with some text scanned from my grandmother's old prayer book on the reverse. With a touch of glitter in a few strategic spots, some ripped up scrap-booking papers on the edges (Any pattered paper would work. I also save certain mail order catalogs for their pretty printed pages.) and some snippets of Latin at the base, you've got a tiny framed piece of art!
We are going to do a few with petite paintings and drawings from the children (maybe in the larger 2"x2" frames) with a copy of something they have written on the back. These will be for our tree and for the grandparents. At $5 for a set of three frames and $6 for 24 pieces of glass, this is a fairly inexpensive (yet elegant) little gift!
...you find this on your oldest son's camera.
It's a good thing Jesus is watching over him, because Mom obviously isn't.
