“I don’t want Christmastime – I want it to be springtime so I can go work in the garden”
– Elizabeth, Age 3.
Today was ‘one of those days’ in our home… all of us lacked sleep last night for different reasons, and it just translated to off days for everybody…
Play dough to the rescue. The kids played with this batch of play dough today for at least 2 1/2 hours (in total, in different sittings!). That’s an incredible amount of time for 3 year old to spend doing anything in our home!
When I suggested we make a fresh batch today Elizabeth started dancing around chanting her typical “I’m so exci-TAL” (she hasn’t mastered the word excited – and this is so much better!)
We set out to make red playdough until I emptied the red food colouring and realized it would be a very light pink. Blue to the rescue and it made for a deep purple!
This afternoon with their purple play dough they played ‘making dinner for pretend’ — and I think my son will be a chef. I can hardly believe how well he cuts ‘meats’ or vegetables… vegetables we’ve seen often in his plate — he chops them up just like I do and carries them on the side of this knife to a different part of his plate just like I do when adding veggies to pots and such. I know a lot of adults who don’t “chop quickly” like he already seems to have mastered. amazing. Tonight he was making ‘beef strips’ with incredible precision & speed.
I thought I’d share this recipe that I found online somewhere sometime ago and scribbled on a tiny piece of paper that floats around my pile of random recipes… one that Elizabeth always recognizes! I don’t know where it’s from — and I know there are about 1034 different versions of homemade play dough out there, but this one is the one that’s been good/easy enough to hold on to the paper and lasts for weeks in an air tight containter (the last batch we had made Oct. 23rd)
Hot water playdough
Mix dry:
1 cup flour (adding a bit more if consistency isn’t quite right)
1/2 cup of salt
2 tbsp cream of tartarMix wet:
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp oil
food colouringadd wet ingredients to dry and let kids mix
I’ve been meaning to try smells in them such as vanilla or almond — but I’m scared that my dog will start eating it if i do that — so i’ve avoided it!
happy playing!
Oh, and while were on the subject… what works in your home on ‘those days’?? I’d love to hear!
Yes, another month. Yes, I realize we’re already mid november and I’m only now sharing the 31 photographs of October — and I also realize that I haven’t even created the mosaic for September.
At least I’m still taking a photo a day — although it’s getting increasingly challenging with the missing daylight hours…
1. 30-184, 2. 30-183, 3. 30-182, 4. 30-181, 5. 30-180, 6. 30-179, 7. 30-178, 8. 30-177, 9. 30-176, 10. 30-175, 11. 30-174, 12. 30-173, 13. 30-172, 14. 30-171, 15. 30-170, 16. 30-169, 17. 30-168, 18. 30-167, 19. 30-166, 20. 30-165, 21. 30-164, 22. 30-163, 23. 30-162, 24. 30-161, 25. 30-160, 26. 30-159, 27. 30-158, 28. 30-157, 29. 30-156, 30. 30-155, 31. 30-154
Created with fd’s Flickr Toys
The Princess & the Frog.
The princess idea came from attending a summer wedding… My daugther fell in love with princessy things that day — which I realize are very age appropriate, but she hadn’t been exposed to princesses really before then… The dress is an old bridesmaid dress that’s been in the family (one of my aunts wore it and my sister wore it in the 90s too) for years and years (i’m thinking 30+) and it was transformed into a dress that will hopefully fit for a few years of imaginative play…
The dress in it’s previous form…
Testing it’s twirlability…
The frog is a frog that nearly wasn’t. Last Thursday (yes, 2 days before halloween) I was working frantically on this costume. My goal had been to make the frog from the Simplicity Halloween Costume But after going to FOUR stores that could have had the pattern – it was no where to be found (my husband did 3 of the stores on a lunch break for us!) There were more stores to check, but no more time. Going at it free hand was the only solution — and frankly once I got started, I was scared. I thought that we might actually have to buy my son a costume from a store somewhere — and where oh where would I find a frog costume? (although on that day he decided he might be a monkey after all – so I could have probably convinced him to wear his monkey costume from last year — but a monkey and a princess? would have made for a slightly disapointed mama…)
If I do say so myself, it turned out nicely. I had very good intentions on making him feet — but something ended up having to give with the time I had to work on this – and so it was the feet – and I’m ok with it. He still looked like a frog
and the nice pumpkin work of my husband with the kiddos..
Now to find a fantastic book version of the frog & the princess for Santa to bring…
The children’s new friends that I made them for their birthday… They’ve been seen a lot on this blog in the last 2 weeks or so, but I thought I’d post a few more photos and a few things about doll making in general since I’ve gotten a few questions along the way… Most of the instructions I have used to create these dolls have been from the book Making Waldorf Dolls – it’s a fantastic resource! I also took a doll making workshop last december and made my son a doll for Christmas (seen here) There’s a pattern in that book mentioned… And I’ve also just gathered extra info around the web for example for the noses because I didn’t like the technique I learned and the book doesn’t mention noses (and I LOVE the noses on these dolls!!)
Grace @ Uncommon Grace has a nice doll making FAQ
On with the details…
This is Seamus. His name was actually very very high on our baby name list… Had Elizabeth been a boy she would have been Seamus.
His perfect hat is a gift my sister made them last year for their birthday – but they were too small. It’s so great on Seamus that I’m considering stitching it on! (his hair leaves a lot to be desired, I think it’s going to be a while before I attempt a short hair doll again!)
His shirt is a repurposed t-shirt and his pants http://imaginationinparenting.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/another-transformation-very-old-jeans-a-t-shirt/left over repurposed jeans
And this is Eloïse, a name that has proven slightly difficult for my daugther to pronounce… Her dress is from remnants of the diaper bag I made myself before the kiddos were born (more than 3 years ago now!) and I made her a dress just like this one this summer from Heather Ross’s Week-end Sewing.
Her sweater I modified the pattern that I used to make her birthday sweater – it’s made with CotLin from KnitPicks — and I wish I had used it for her sweater too – i really like it. I’m hoping to take the time to write the pattern changes in my ravelry projects in case it can be of use to somebody! I did want the sweater to have longer arms and a longer body — but I was literally knitting against the clock and ran out of time & energy and had to stop. I’m just thankful I managed to make both sides match
For both dolls I used some Manos del Uruguay Wool — it’s truly luxurious and it was a little difficult to cut because of it… but it’s oh-so-gorgeous and oh-so-perfect for doll hair!!
Oh and shoes? They’ll come from Santa I think 
I’m planning new clothes included a knitted skirt, leg warmers and socks for christmas…
I love cake, especially birthday cake. My children (my daugther especially) love cake and the idea of cake. And so I always want their birthday cakes to be fun! Here are a few details shots of their third birthday cakes from the week-end… I thought i’d share in case anybody was looking for inspiration — cause goodness knows I googled cakes quite a bit before this birthday. And STILL I hadn’t figured out what I was doing until Thursday evening… Alexandre’s cars I decided while grocery shopping – I picked up 2 hotwheels for the car & oreos for the road… Elizabeth’s cake idea only came to me as I was driving home from grocery shopping at 8:45pm. (oh, and I grocery shopped alone for the first time in I don’t know how long. My kids are great to run errands with me for the most part… but wow going alone can be oh so much more efficiant!!)
So here they are – Alexandre has a tiny obsessions with all vehicules — so I made a road with 2 cars. Because of Elizabeth’s icing I was able to add a lake last minute. I also added a tree (just a branch from the yard) and yes… that’s WOOL in the tree. That’s also yellow wool in the road for the line (adam’s suggestion!) I feel like perhaps I have officially crossed over into the overwhelmingly obsessive. Wool on a cake? Yes, you can. Only if you’re fibre obsessed I would say.
Elizabth LOVES painting. We paint daily here. I thought a painters tray would be a great idea. she LOVED it. I wasn’t sure how to make the pucks — but I decided to google homemade fondant. Surely there was a way to do this… and there was. A crazy easy way. It turned out perfectly — and I will be using this technique again (Marshmallow Fondant), that’s for sure. I feel like I just discovered a hidden secret and I want to share with the world! The possibilities are endless with this stuff – as long as you’ve got some talent to shape things I guess… I’m not sure I could do ‘anything’ with it — my play dough skills are ok, but not those of an artist, but I’m sure I could learn fun things
My children will be three years old tomorrow and we celebrated on the week-end! I spent countless evening-into-the-night hours working on gifts for them — and while I didn’t quite finish every last details — i was quite pleased with their presents. They on the other hand were quite overwhelmed by the chaos that is a birthday celebration in general that they didn’t take much notice of their knitted sweaters… their dolls were hugged immediately though.
Their cakes were admired although Alexandre had a minor fit because he didn’t want cars ON his cake — he needed to play with them NOW… overall the day was a hit — and I’m sure they’ll be talking about it for a while
Here are a few photographs of gifts and cakes and party favors and the party in general… one photograph we wont see is my son in his knitted sweater… he still hasn’t tried it on, he refuses – mostly I’m sure because he knows I really really want him to. Elizabeth tried it on for me – and I’m slightly disapointed in the fit — it looks too wide and the arms are nearly too short… i’m most likely going to make one for Elizabeth for christmas and I think I’ll make it the size smaller but the same lenght as the 2-4 and longer arms…
Their new dolls!
loot bags!
Elizabeth in her new sweater — I still have to put the buttons on and I was right, if I had put them where they are supposed to go it would have been much much too big. Here’s she’s pushing her new antique pram… a funny thing to call antique when it’s only from about 30 years ago — my mom said we had the exact same one in blue!
CAKE! (of a huge importance for my daugther )
This is my WIP from yesterday (although by last night they were slightly more advanced…)
These gifts need to be ready by SATURDAY — that’s in about 48 hours. I’ve officially begun freaking out because there are also OTHER things to do before Saturday such as clean the house and prepare a meal for 16 or so people. Nothing like working under pressure!
Here are the dolls…
and here is the sweater for Elizabeth’s doll. I’ve modified the sweater I made her for her birthday to be doll size. This yarn is cotlin from knitpicks — and I wish I had made her sweater in this yarn instead of the organic cotton I did use! I will be using this yarn again for sure!!
And I’m currently working crazy fast on the third hat for the loot bags — I’ve started it FIVE times and finally decided to take the last of my Mission Falls 1824 wool even though it’s not stash busting (was supposed to be turned into a hat for my son) I’ll just buy more at this point. The hat is looking great — and it turns out it will match his snow suit perfectly (a bonus I know because I happened to be with his mom when she bought his snow suit last week!)
Now, I just REALLY need to figure out what i’m going to be doing for their cakes … If you’re reading and have clever ideas — PLEASE share boy/girl twins – turning three!
Today is my one year blog anniversary. I had high hopes when I started this blog, and on some levels I didn’t meet my expectations — but the fact that it’s still here and active after ONE year is a huge accomplishement. I tend to leave more things unfinished/inactive it seems. There have been quiet parts – but overall, it’s been ok! Thank you to those of you who read my blog! (and a special thanks to those who comment too! Merci!)
Today will be spent crafting away like crazy — trying to finish my children’s birthday gifts… The dolls are nearly completed – all they need is hair & clothing… If all goes well it should be a fun day
I’m also planning on going for a 6.5km+ run — I’ve been running since this summer and today was my 5k goal — but since I’ve surpassed that already I figured my goal for today should be something like 8k — but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. Either way, I’m going to TRY to go for a run and log as many km as my body will allow. Because my body CAN. That by itself, is amazing.
Today is the 12th anniversary of my car accident — a car accident that took so much from me… but at the same time gave me a constant reminder that the I am blessed to be alive. Oct. 20th is a day I choose to celebrate being ALIVE.
This photo is so important to me…. the four of us a little while after my accident — and a glimpse of what could have possibly been. That’s where it stops — I don’t think of what could have been, but lets just say that these photographs could be incredibly different. As I said, I celebrate being alive. This is a constant reminder, on my inpsiration board.
And the four of us this August…
And finally, our little family unit of four.
I’ve been making hats for loot bags for the kiddos birthday next week-end… I have one more to make – but in the meantime I thought i’d share one of my monkeys modelling 2 of the completed hats! (or nearly, one is still calling for a tassle — hopefully it’ll get done!)
I am also planning on making them bags like I made my husband — He suggested putting them on sticks as little hobo bags – so if we get a chance the kids and I will hunt for nice sticks for the bags to hang on!
Both hats are from Baby Beanies: Happy Hats to Knit for Little Heads by Amanda Keeys
One Hat [my Ravelry link] :
Another Hat: [my Ravelry link] (if you have this book and are planning on making this hat — check out Ravelry for the errata on this one – it’s major!)
