making—bookplates

i originally had all kinds of good intentions to get these bookplates printed up and get one into the book we got for alice for her birthday, but i didn't manage to get them done in time. i did, however, design them. so as soon as i can locate my sticker paper, i'll print some up and send them down. i'm sure alice's mom can apply as necessary.

if you're interested in making a few of your own using this design, you can get the download here.

s'mores according to oscar

according to oscar's instructions, this is how you make a s'more. and since we watched that video right before lunch, s'mores for dessert were on the menu. perhaps not surprisingly, this activity was quite a bit more messy than painting.

thanks for the awesome instructions, oscar!

making—new artwork for the gallery—paintings

sam declared that it was "painting time!" this morning, so we got out the paints and he went to work. we now have two new paintings to display on sam's gallery wall.

cheerio nuggets

over the holidays i made a batch of this treat for the ladies at sam's daycare. i guess they liked it because there was a request for the recipe. and lest you feel left out, i'll let you in on the secret.

Cheerio Nuggets

6 cups Cheerios 1 cup peanuts

1 cup raisins 1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup margarine ¼ cup light corn syrup

½ tsp baking soda salt (optional)

1) heat margarine, sugar, syrup, and salt in saucepan until bubbly around edges

2) cook uncovered stirring constantly for 2 minutes

3) remove from heat

4) add baking soda and stir until foamy and light

5) pour over cereal, nuts, and raisins until coated thoroughly

6) spread evenly on buttered cookie sheets

7) bake for 15 minutes at 250º

8) stir and cool

this is a great thing to take and share with a group (because it's a little bit dangerous to have it sitting around the house). i think i might whip up a batch for the superbowl!

(if you'd like a printable recipe card, you can download one here.)

making—wall art on the cheap

i made this flower out of scraps that i'd brought home from a project at work. the paper was a sort of pearlescent cream color, and was so nice that when i ended up with a large supply of 1" x 8.5" strips of it, i couldn't bear to throw them in the trash. so i gathered them up and shoved them in my bag, and they've been sitting around waiting for something to happen to them. i did make a few simple christmas ornaments from a few of the strips, but i still had such a quantity left that i knew i had to make something bigger. i also found a bunch of green paper amongst my paper stash, so i added some leafy bits underneath. and this is what i ended up with. not too bad for something that originally would've ended up in the garbage. now i just have to find a home for it.

making—wool cuff

inspired by something i had been admiring on etsy, this was another little project i did in an afternoon using a scrap of wool fabric (I think it was a piece i cut off a pair of wool pants when i was hemming them) and some thread that was handed down from a few relatives' stashes. it's amazing the things you can make if you've got a big stash of crafty whatnot and a bit of time.

making—holiday card 2011

as is our tradition, we expanded on the 12 days of christmas theme this year with the milk maid. this was my first person (after seven years of mostly birds, this was a bit of a challenge), but i think she turned out well and fit the graphic theme that we've had going since we got married.

if you'd like to see some cards from previous years (five, six, and seven), they can be found here, here, and here.

making—noodleflakes

inspired by this pin on pinterest, i got a large quantity of pasta and made some noodleflake ornaments. they were a lot of fun, though the drying time made them a somewhat frustrating a craft (particularly for young and/or inpatient crafters).

the original pin used only wheels and honeycombs, but i added in some penne and mini-penne, and i thought they turned out really well. i also skipped the glitter because i prefer small contained messes, and i thought they had a nice rustic, naturalness to them in their native noodley state. if you're the glittery type (or feel like wielding a bit of spray paint), by all means, go to it.

when we were searching for crafts to do at church, we used pinterest as our go-to resource for crafty ideas. i'll admit to pinning a lot more project ideas than i think i'll ever have time to execute. you can view my christmas pinboard here. hoorah for pinterest!

making—summer into fall pendant

while i was in my jewelry-making phase this past fall, i made this fun little pendant out of two felt leaves sandwiched together and then stitched with embroidery floss. in order to give it a little weight (so it would hang nicely from the chain), there are a couple of pennies in the middle of the sandwich.

making—quilt work-in-progress

earlier this month i finally finished the 70 blocks for the top of sam's "big boy quilt" and am slowly sewing them together. i'm a little worried that i'm going to have a hard time lining them all up properly, but will surely be posting on the progress as it happens.

making—yarn wrapped bracelets

i made one of these for my boss for christmas, and it was so fun that i made a few for me. granted, i'm not exactly a bracelet person (they always seem to get in the way when i'm at the computer), but i really like the look of them, particularly when they're mixed with bangles of other textures (metal, wood, etc.)

since i made mine, i've seen a few tutorials and posts on pinterest for other ideas. i love the bright colors of this one.

little monkey

i realize that i've been taking an unintended hiatus from posting, but that's not because there has been a lack of entertainment coming from my little monkey. on the contrary, he's been doing so many amusing things that it's hard to keep up. he's been experimenting with the "potty train", making phone calls to various imaginary friends (whom he has assured me will be coming over for dinner any day now), and telling me about his "transports". there has been an all-raound growth in the pretending department, which i think is fantastic, and i've been trying to strategically ignore sam so that he uses those great imagining skills.

a few amusing tales from sam's near-past:

sam's sneeze story (as told by Mike): robyn was at work that morning. i was at home with sam. he needed a diaper change, so i took him upstairs to change him. i set him on the changing table (on his back) and he sneezed. of course, he didn't cover his face. he said, "i got bless you all over my face." i laughed. then he mumbled something. then he said something like, "the water went up and then it came back down and that wasn't a good idea."

earlier this month we got a new dishwasher installed. sam still talks about scott, the installer. it was quite the event, and i think scott was having just as much fun listening to/watching sam as sam was watching him.

yesterday sam was goofing around in the living room (walking around with a diaper box on his head, playing with the sofa cushions, generally being silly), and i heard a noise. when i walked into the room he zoomed over to the timeout chair and sat down saying, "i'm in timeout." when i asked him why he was in timeout, he said it was because he was throwing a ball in the living room.

last night at dinner sam decided it would be a good idea to put his last green pea into his chocolate milk. my response, "you put the pea in your milk, now drink it." wouldn't that make a great headline? "parents force child to drink his own pea."

photo highlights - november 2011

from our trip to mississippi—meeting newest niece alice

from our trip to mississippi—visiting with oscar

the annual trip downtown on the train to see the christmas decorations.