More Favorite Gifts

The kids completed their State quarters collection this year so Santa thought it was time to start a new collection.  Here William is studying all the President dollar coins he needs.  Santa left this book along with small pile to get him started.  Now have both grandparents on the look out and request these cool collectible coins whenever change is being offered.
 

James only had one thing on his wish list - Lego Education Mindstorm expansion pack. He reminded me of it every time he was especially helpful.  Here he is lost in the world of robotics and has entertained us with a walking camel like creatures, and an alligator that walks and opens its mouth.  One creation takes about 45 minutes to build and another 30 minutes to program.  While working on his creations James has quoted Thomas Edison "making something is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration".


Above is a little refurbished doll bunk bed for Kirsten and Felicity.  Handed down from my sister's children, Santa's little helpers carefully sanded down the original white paint and stenciled flowers then sprayed  it with shiny apple red paint.  Those same helpers were busy well into the wee hours of Christmas Eve sewing the bedding, a foam mattress covered in  blue and white striped fabric, floral pillows and luckily there was some leftover patchwork fabric on hand for the quilts - that made it quick.


Henry loves his wooden slide of which Maryanna cried out "Oh, I remember we saw that at the recycle center"!  I'm pretty sure that is exactly where Santa picked it up.


Of all the children Peter had the most extensive wish list and even requested a billion dollars.  Santa brought him $60,000,000,000,000 (from Zimbabwe) - quite impressive.  However we recently discovered you really can't do much with it since $35,000,000,000 only buys you one egg.  He recently said "next year I'm asking Santa for my own nail clippers because I can never find any".  That sounds like another great stocking stuffer!

Happy Homemade Christmas - Homeschool Binder

Paul and I always make or write something for each other each Christmas.  This is what he made for me this year, a homeschool binder.

For the past six months whenever he read something interesting he'd clip it then write a few discussion questions for the kids and I to work through.  The topics range from science, current events, economics, arts, general interest, religion, and sports and it looks like it might take us at least six months or even a year to get through them all.

I don't have an exact plan on how we are going to incorporate these into our day but it maybe that I read them to the younger kids, let the older boys read on their own then write out their own thoughts and answers and be ready for a group discussion by dinner time. Or it may be just the thing to hand over to one of the kids as soon as I hear them say "I'm bored".

This was a great gift for me, something I certainly never even thought of compiling. As for what I made Paul, it was nothing spectacular, in fact it was basically the same thing I made him last year just different pictures.  

Happy Homemade Christmas - Fleece Socks & Painted Alligator

This was To: James From: Maryanna

What I did:
-bought the fleece
-spent way too much time making the pattern work (it may have been worth it to buy the pattern after all)
-sewed the the socks

What Maryanna did:
-helped me cut out
-traced my foot for the pattern
-put some Legos in a bag as a "homemade Lego set"
-told me sewing was boring after 2 failed samples

James likes them although he said they remind him of baby booties


This one was To: William From: Peter

What I did:
-took Peter to the store
-got him an old T-shirt to wear for painting

What Peter did:
-Painted the alligator
-wrapped it himself

This was quick and William loves it!

Happy Homemade Christmas - Picture Frame

This one was

To: Maryanna From: Clara

What I did:

-bought the picture frame and paint

-formatted the picture and lettering on Adobe

-put an old shirt on Clara for the painting and gloss

What Clara did:
-picked out the color
-sat on my lap and helped pick colors and shapes on Adobe

-glued on the lettering and shapes

-painted the picture frame

-glossed over the picture frame (and picture!)

I think Maryanna was jealous of the project and says she wants to make another one.

Happy Homemade Christmas - Army Hat

This one was 

To:  Peter    From:  Henry

What I did:
-found an old construction hat at the recycle center
-bought some green paint
-painted it

What Henry did:
-played with toys in the other room

Peter loves his army hat and wears it while playing with his new nerf gun.

Happy Homemade Christmas - FIMO necklace

This one was 

To:  Clara   From:  William

What I did
-put the FIMO in the oven
-found some ribbon and large needle
-tied the bow

What William did
-made the beads
-strung the necklace
-was a pretty good sport about making something kind of girly

Clara loves her necklace!

Happy Homemade Christmas - Fabric Photo Book

This is our third year of exchanging homemade gifts and I admit last year the tradition got a bit out of hand with me doing most of the work last minute- this year I tried to simplify it and let the kids work mostly on their own.  Here's what they came up with.

This one was To: Henry From: James

What I did:

-bought the supplies

-taught James how to use Adobe

-cut the template for the pages

-top stitched, serged, and added the snap

What James did:

-came up with the idea

-took the pictures

-designed the layout and size

-formatted the images

-cut the fabric

-pressed the interfacing on

-and kept me company while I did the sewing

Henry loves his little book and it turned out so cute I kind of want to make another one.  Maybe we'll make a quiet book for church next time.

Christmas Jammies

I'm very happy with how they all turned out but this may be a tradition that doesn't happen every year, it was too much work the week before Christmas.  I think I made them big enough though that they can wear them again next Christmas.  

The boy's flannel fabric is from the stash I picked up at NPS last winter for only $2 a yard which I have to admit was horribly off grain.  The pattern is one I've been using since James was little, Burda 9747.  The simple secret to making these jammies is my industrial snap press, I don't have the patience for so many buttons and button holes.

All of the jammies were personalized with a small tag embroidered with their first initial. This was done for several reasons, to help sort laundry, encourage literacy in the littlest ones, add a bit of flair, and allow me to easily transfer the tag down as the jammies are out grown.
 
The girls' nightgowns are made out of 2 ruffled sheets my sister passed on to me.  I used kwik sew 3423 (same as this one and these) for Clara's and a vintage Simplicity 1956 for Maryanna's.  I changed the finish of the sleeve on both of them and added red ric rack.  The rick rack was picked up off a roll from a quilting store because I wasn't happy with narrowness of the coats and clarks ric rack the last time I made a Christmas nightgown.
  


Santa brought the girls Kirsten and Felicity. They may be a bit young for them but it was hard to resist starting this collection when I found them at a garage sale. They were missing their original costumes and I had plans on making several outfits but all I got done were these nightgowns. They were made out the scraps from the sheets.



I also made some matching pants for Paul which are not just jammies but will also be considered part of his corporate telecommuting wardrobe.

Merry Christmas!

Not all the projects were finished, nothing got baked, Christmas cards are still waiting to be sent but I woke up fully recovered from the stomach flu and ready to enjoy the love and joy that comes from spending time as a family and reflecting on the precious blessings granted unto us through the life and birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Merry Christmas!
   

  

Holiday Field Trips

I don't know if I should be amused or feel guilty after hearing one of my boys say to another, "finally homeschool is getting fun again".  Here's what we've been up to: 

Henry Ford Museum

We went to see the Lego display and old trains but got lucky and bumped into Santa along the way.





Creative Arts Studio

Here they are busy painting gifts and ornaments for Christmas and I honestly could not have managed this field trip with out the help of Nanny and Poppy.



Nursing Home Visit

The kids have been practicing their bells for weeks and have mastered 4 Christmas songs that they performed for some of the residents there. While they performed Henry chased the in house cat and I chased Henry.
 


Greenfield Village

Paul gave me the day off to sew and took all six bundled up kids to wander the village in the snow. Here they are under blankets enjoying an old Model-T ride.



This week we are staying in to allow me time to sew, bake, wrap presents and hopefully send out our Christmas cards while the kids are let free to enjoy their days without routine. It is almost 9:00 am and the boys have been up since 7:00 am playing chess while the girls are still rolling around waking up in the pile of blankets and pillows leftover from our annual "sleep over under the Chritmas tree tradition".

I don't think they got much sleep because everyone is fighting, maybe some hot chocolate and pumpkin waffles will turn their moods around so I can say "finally my kids are having fun again".

Another Christmas Craft for Kids

We made these funny gingerbread people to add to our collection of random, funny, and sentimental ornaments.  

They were quite simple - I just picked up a pack of 12 foam gingerbread men at JoAnn's for $1 then printed out pictures of the kids, glued on the faces, glossed them over then dressed them in felt scraps.

Peter and James are both football players, William a transformer, Henry Santa, and the two girls said they were "ladies".

I'm still intimidated by gluten free baking so this is what we did instead of decorating cookies.

Simple Dresses for Christmas

I almost planned for some really fluffy taffeta dresses to wear over their fun and fluffy Easter slips.  I'm glad I didn't because I don't have the energy for that right now.

Instead I splurged on some really nice knit (the same I used for my maternity leggings) and was able to whip these out in just a few hours (pattern info here) - that's why I'm loving knits!  It is also nice that they can pull them over their heads like a T-shirt, they won't wrinkle and I can machine wash them.   The  only problem was Clara throwing a fit because she wanted to wear her's with that fluffy slip I mentioned earlier.

Now all I need to keep this week simple is some cooking shortcuts.  I've already ordered two trays of tamales from Pilar's but I could use some other simple suggestions.  

Something kids can make for Christmas

I've already blogged about how much we love FIMO and here's what we did with it this time.  This nativity scene will be a perfect gift for Nannny, Paul's mom.

I set out our Playmobil nativity set as a guide for scale, color and detail and assigned each of the 4 older children to model different pieces.

William was busy molding beads for a necklace he is making for Clara so he only got to make Joseph and the shepherd.

Peter made the lamb, a wise man, and baby Jesus.

I thought Maryanna would need more help but she had almost completed her angel (or Christmas fairy as she called it) in the time it took me to put the younger two down for a nap.

James was very thoughtful in modeling Mary and asked, "Mom, you know how after you have a baby your stomach is so big and mushy that you still look pregnant, should I make Mary look that way"? Good grief - don't remind me, I thought, but smiled and answered, "why don't you just make her shape similar to the Playmobil Mary". So he did but decided she should be kneeling or resting next to the baby.  He also made the other two wise men.

After all the figures were dried and baked we bought a blank pencil box at Micheals and William sketched the background first with pencil then black ink. Peter followed with water color paints and all were thrilled with the final set up.  It turned out better than I could have imagined and now I'm hoping they make one for me someday! 

Sewing Maternity Clothes

Before I could start on Christmas sewing I had to whip up a few comfortable maternity items. Lately I've been feeling like that mad circus leader on Dumbo who's shirt keeps rolling up onto his face. Technically I only have 5 more weeks but if I'm honest with myself it could very well be 7 and I'd rather have a few more comfortable options to get me through it.  

*Please note: My 8 year old is the budding photographer here and my flash is having problems so the picture quality may not be perfect.

1.  Knit dress 

This first dress is my favorite! It started out as a simple tunic but then turned into a dress giving me another church option. I didn't use a pattern but it is easy to wing it when you are using knits. I got the fabric from yellow bird fabrics in Salt Lake, the main body is a dark eggplant and the bottom panel is a medium brown, both medium weight cotton lycra.  I especially like the pockets because they go along with my "mom wear" list.

2.  Long sleeve tunic



This next tunic was made from what was leftover from the lining of Henry's coat and out of one of the sweaters I picked up while shopping for all my recent furniture purchases. Again there was no pattern but just measuring, cutting and pinning draping it around myself in front of the mirror. I like that this is soft, casual and warm. Paul verbalized exactly what I was thinking but didn't want to admit. He said "now you've have a Lord of the Rings costume".

3.  Leggings



This photo is not very flattering but those those who sew understand the challenge of fitting extreme bumps. I just used a pair of Target maternity leggings to make the basic pattern adding extra length to bunch at the ankles and extra width and length in the panel. I splurged on the fabric, a tweedy gray Eileen Fisher cotton/lycra knit from Emmaonesock but for the same price as the Target leggings I have another pair but of much higher quality.

4.  Mock turtle neck sweater


Not much to say about this next sweater. I bought it at Salvation Army for $3. It originally was a men's XL but keeping the neckline and raglan sleeves in tack I took in over 6" from under the arm and upper torso then belled out the sleeve to the original ribbing then following the seam down to the original ribbing at the hem. It is hard to beat a 5 minute $3 sweater makeover!

5.  Hooded sweater



It's been several weeks that I've been itching to sew this last sweater up. Marie's sister ordered and sent the pattern from Japan (more pattern info here) and both of us made our own versions of it. I would have liked to use regular sweat shirt fleece but have been too indecisive about what fabric to order.  After seeing Marie's finished hoodie I decided to make it work out of two more sweaters picked up from Salvation Army.  In the end I like the contrast of the two shades and textures but admit it would have been nice to make it a longer and have enough extra scraps to add the pockets.  This may not fit over my belly too much longer but will be perfect for the first month after delivery.

Okay - now it's time to start sewing up some things for Christmas!  

Sewing Set Up

Finally! and just in time for Christmas sewing.  Here it is down the in pink carpeted basement of our rental home, it only took $100 and a few more trips to Ann Arbor Recycles and the University of Michigan Disposition Center to get just the right pieces.  I am loving the retro counter with metal back splash and old school steel office furniture.  These are some pretty solid pieces that will last longer than anything I could have found at Ikea - they were also much less expensive.

The counter top is where I do most of my drafting, tracing and cutting, the drawers holding my clear rulers, pencils, rotary cutter and pins. There is also enough room below it to store a few large baskets full WIPs. The office desk holds all three machines plus my snap press. The console is organized with threads, patterns, trims, notions and machine accessories. On top is where I lay my pieces out for quick assembly line like sewing.

Now the only up grade I could use is a new ironing board cover. I suppose I could also use a new stash of thread because Carrie's got me freaked out about what I've got stored here.

Not pictured is the imaginary line that no kids or legos are allowed to cross.

Ha! as if I thought my space would remain undisturbed.  Sharing the playroom with my sewing space certainly has it's advantages but it would be nice if they'd at least lay off my thread tension dials and keep my clear plastic rulers out of the box of swords and dress up.  At least I'm set up and ready to sew like I use to; all while being entertained by the noises, drama, and sweet sounds of children lost in their imaginations.