neighbors, family, yourself

(a conglomerate of stuff and pictures that I figured out how to put into one post…. ;o)

Inside.  I know.  I could be outside freezing cold, but I choose to be inside.  Plus it is is just gross outside.  Too wet to roll in the snow, not warm enough to be without a coat. We do go out; because if you know us, I can’t handle being cooped up too long.     And when we come inside, I want to be like Anna, and I want to do this…(her new favorite warm up spot; curled up in a blanket) I’m trying my best to avoid my winter “slump” by staying busy with fun things inside.  So I bring you….neighbors, family, yourself.

We’ve enjoyed baking a lot together the past few weeks.  I should say, we like to bake all of the time, and have for a while.  But oddly enough, while we enjoy the process, we don’t always want to eat the results (even though they are delicious!), it is often too much.  So here comes the “neighbors.” We like to share our creations with our neighbors and I meant to do something for Christmas wishes, but ran out of time.  So we baked up some yummy fudgy mint chocolate chip cookies (yup, they are like the ice cream in a cookie form) and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.  The kids helped in all processes and we made up a bunch of plates complete with some delicious clementines we got at market….put the plates on a sled with some little people and delivered love. FAMILY:  I like crafts.   Always have.  Always will.  Creating is fun.  When I taught, my team would ask me for art ideas because they knew I liked hands on crafts and creativity.  And we have a rockin’ art cart (not really an cart, we just like to say that – it’s a cabinet) that is stuffed with odds and ends perfect for “kre-ay-shions”.

Hudson had to make a snowman for school as a family project, so we made Anna her own little guy and we sat together using a large assortment of goodies to be-dazzle their creations.  And lest you would think that Anna’s snowman is a boy with mean eyebrows (as her brother did), she will correct you and let you know it is a girl, A PRINCESS SNOWGIRL, with earrings and a crown.

   

These were not made from nothing – although they turned out super cute.  I found ornaments at a local store for a dollar and I loved watching Hugs and Banana choose their placement for their pieces (one wanted to look at the picture, the other had fun with “free” flow artistic impression. :)These beauts are from Home Depot’s Kid’s Workshop Saturdays.  Which in the year of 2011, they are doing them the first Saturday of every month.  This day Anna built a picture frame with Daddy and Hudson built a race car with Mommy. YOURSELF:

Make yourself a winter feast for the eyes and give your kids something to do.  (Thanks Kimmie!) 

My visually artistic husband loves the colors in this.  I like that it still looks kinda Christmas-y and could transition to Valentine’s Day when I have my kids design some hearts for it (sure to be sparkly!)  This was a super easy craft that Kim told me about…she explained it over the phone as she had seen it in a store and thought it would be something we both could manage.

Grab some of your favorite colors.  I was going to start with lots of white, red and a little black, but when I got to the fabric store, I found three reds I couldn’t do without.  You need:

-1/4 yard black

1/3 yard of each of the reds

1 yard of white

jute long enough for your desired garland

scissors

I used my quilter’s mat and rotary cutter and sliced up the fabric into 6 inch wide “columns”.  Then I put a small slice every inch to inch and a half (I eyeballed) and handed them to Hudson.  He’d rip them into pieces for me.  He really enjoyed this!

I left about 1 foot at the end of my jute rope and started tying.  Tie away in a funky haphazard pattern (if you’re like me), or pick a pattern you like (if you are a bit more on the organized and Type A-side :o).  I just went with what felt looked fun and funky.  This project took nearly no time and I had enough fabric left over that I am sending it to Kim to get a start on hers.

And that is it for “neighbors, family, yourself”.  Thanks for hangin.