My Go-to Girl Gift

With the newest addition to our family draining me of most of my energy and what little  pre-Christmas crafting energy I did possess going into orchestrating our Christmas card and creating an unexpected audition video for a crafting reality TV show, I did not make many gifts this year.  I kept it simple by making the same thing for four different gifts and what I made has become my "go to girl gift".  I gave this to three little girls ranging in age from 8 to 12 and I used this for our family $5 and under gift swap.  I first gave this to a babysitter when Lydia was really little and I got the idea because when I was 12 someone gave me one.  It is a manicure kit, but the best part is that it comes with INSTRUCTIONS!

When I was a tween, my grandparents gave me a really nice manicure kit with every tool I could imagine and even some that I had never seen before.  It came in a nice case, so it was easy to keep up with my tools.  But for me, the nicest thing was that it explained step by step how and when and why to use each tool.  My manicure kit has been used up and replaced over the years, but the lessons about which direction to file your nails and how to trim your cuticle, without risking an infection, stayed with me.  I found the basics on a website years ago (I would love to note my source, but I have been unable to find it) and I edited the information down into manageable chunks.  I added a few graphics where their was room and i printed them onto 3x5 cards with the idea that they could be hole punched and joined together with a ring.  If you want to be super nice to your recipient, you could laminate the directions so that they don't get smudged with nail care products.  I intend to do a blog post soon with images of each card so that you can print them yourself.  When I do, there will be a link here.

Next you need to add the tools and a container.  If you have an unlimited budget, knock yourself out!  I needed to keep the price down, but I got SO excited when I found these figurative fingernail tools at Big Lots!  A few came 2 in a package and none of the packages cost more than a dollar or two. The case that found, pictured with the directions, came from Dollar General, and were $1.  For our family $5 or less gift exchange I bought all the tools at Dollar General and got the $1 case, a $1.50 tool set, a $1.50 polish remover pack, and a $1 buffing block.

For the little girls gifts I couldn't resist adding these little nail brushes shaped like hedge hogs that I found at the art supply store while looking for stuff for work.  Finally, I threw in a $1 bottle of Hard Candy nail polish.  It is just a little bottle, but it came with a matching ring and looked like a lot of fun. All I had to do was print the directions and assemble the manicure kits for a semi-home-made creation.

Greetings from South Carolina!

Lydia, Auntie Jen, and I are visiting a friend in South Carolina. We wandered past this art gallery looking place the other day and the sign said Kapla toys and the windows were filled with giant displays made from little wood plank like blocks. I couldn't resist going inside (I am a sucker for wooden toys)! Once inside we discovered a huge carpet filled with THOUSANDS of Kapla blocks for kids to play with however they liked. For more information on the blocks go to http://www.kapla.com/accueil_en.html The only request was that we not touch the amazing inspiration statues filling the walls of the gallery as none of them were glued. You can see some of the Eiffel Tower made out of Kapla blocks in one if the photos if Lydia playing. The blocks are SO pretty, all a uniform size and shape and beautiful colors. We bought a multi colored set and have pulled it out at every restaurant so far. Apparently the store in Charleston is the first in the US. What a cool souvenir to discover at the start of our trip!

Our Christmas Card

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the front of our Christmas card.......

.......and here is the surprise photo waiting inside!

 Merry Christmas from PJ, Cherl, Lydia, and Baby-to-Be!

PS.  You can see previous Christmas photos and the initial ideas for this shoot here.  You can find more images from this photo shoot, here

Paper Coterie Product Credit!

One of my favorite blogs, Design Mom, is offering readers $30 in credit to Paper Coterie.  Go to Design Mom's Babble Post to get the details and then get over to Paper Coterie to shop!  They have very well designed cards, photo books, photos transferred to canvass, etc.  Since I had just ordered my Christmas cards before seeing this deal, here is what I used my credit to buy.

These "swatch cards" are six 3x3 inch photo cards that are hole punched and joined together with a little chain.  They get $18 for a set of six and I think that they mean the six cards in the one book and not 6 books.  That is a little pricey, but I suppose you get 6 cards and each can be customized in tons of different ways.  That's what, $3 per card, um.... yeah, kind of steep, unless you have $30 in credit from Design Mom!  I bought 2 so I was $6 over my credit and then had to pay shipping.  I think I will use them as ornaments or gift tags and probably not keep them as a set.   Below you can see my designs, using our recent Christmas photo shoot with the family station wagon.

 This is the front of one card.

 The backs are all this plain blue with snowflakes.  I could have added text or even pictures, but I like the idea of keeping them simple.  I can always write on them with a pen if I make them gift tags. Below are the rest of the front sides.  All the backs look the same.

And here is a little mock-up of what the finished book might look like. Thanks Design Mom!

Warm Woolen and Wonderful

So, I found this pink wool sweater at a thrift store.  I think it was misplaced in the kid's section of my favorite store which means I got it for 89 cents!  I also had this plain brown hat that needed a little something extra added to it's band.

First I cut the sleeves off.  I'm still not sure what else I will make out of the sweater, but this way I still have a big rectangle of fabric available.

Next, I cut the sleeve into 2 pieces.  I don't think there was any reason for the place that I divided it, maybe just close to halfway.  It didn't really matter because I had no idea how big of a flower I wanted to make.

So here is what the shoulder part of the sleeve looked like before I did anything and after I started cutting it into a scalloped shape for the petals.

I would fold the scallop back on itself and use it as a pattern for the next few scallops.

When I got back to the start, I decided that I was finished cutting.

I got a needle and thread and started sewing as I gathered and wrapped the petals.

It didn't take long until my felted wool flower was finished and my hat was decorated!

Last Weekend's Griswald Family Pictures

Last weekend, I completely neglected my laundry and dishes to prepare for our family Christmas photo shoot.  I had been thinking of ideas for a while (blog posts about it here and here), but by the time I called our photographer friend, the same friend this year as last year, it was quickly determined that the best date would be that same weekend, about 4 days after we set it all up.  In those four days, I found a location that looked like a shopping area, but was mostly vacant buildings so there wouldn't be anyone in our way.......right?  WRONG!  Apparently the ONLY occupied business was a theater and they had a performance scheduled.  Luckily there was ONE empty parking space and we took it!

 I got Auntie Jen to come help distract Lydia while we set up the shot.  I don't think she minded much!

I wrapped a TON of boxes, some empty and some containing our gifts, in the colors of the photo shoot.  This was actually where the planning began.  I couldn't quite figure out what we were wearing until I found some really cheerful wrapping paper in turquoise and red with lime green and pink accents.  Suddenly I had my color pallet and it all came together.

 There I am stacking all those boxes on top of the car.  I would get them just about perfect and then the wind would blow and knock over all the empty boxes.  Next time, I will wrap up a few rock filled boxes if I need gifts for an outdoor photo!

 Speaking of stacking things on top of the car.... we put Lydia on top of the roof got a few shots of her with the gifts.

Lydia acting excited about a gift.

 Lydia getting a little TOO interested in a gift.  This one was a real gift that I now have to wrap for a second time.  Fortunately it was something for a kitchen, so Lydia wasn't too attached to it once she got it open.

 This is the shot that I had in mind when I planned the whole photo session.  I really really like this picture, but we actually had a few that I hadn't planned on that I liked even more.  I want SO badly to show my favorites off to everyone that I know, but I just ordered them and really want our family and very close friends (sorry ya'll, this year's cards weren't free like last year so I ordered the minimum!) to get the real thing in the mail before everyone sees them online.

 I wanted to do a few pictures that took advantage of the car's windows.  PJ wanted to take advantage of a moment when I wasn't paying attention to be his regular goofy self!

 He apologized.

 We kissed and made up.... or maybe this is when he bit my nose!  Silly boy!

 Here is one last one of our family in and around the windows of the car.

Finally, we did some pictures of the whole family on the tailgate with all the gifts piled in the back.  These ended up being some of my favorites because you can see the car and a lot of the different wrapping on the gifts.  This is not my favorite picture from this pose,but the best ones are on the card, which I will reveal, SOON! Happy Holidays!

Christmas Picture Preview

I am one HAPPY girl!  We just took out family Christmas pictures and I am really feeling like we should have some good shots.  It seemed like everything came together, despite the fact that we got a late start, Lydia hadn't had her full nap, and one major prop jumped ship at about 50 miles an hour (more on that later!)  It might be a little while before I have the picture files in my possession, and then an extended amount of time as I turn them into our Christmas card, so here is a little background info on the major elements of the photo-shoot.  PJ had the winning idea for our wardrobe selections.  He wanted RED to pop against the turquoise of the "daddy wagon".  I already had a red jacket and I knew I wanted layers to create more of an "out-doorsy" feeling. It ended up being in the high 60's this afternoon, so the thin layers were plenty!  I bought a new teal top and through on another green shirt and a coral necklace.  Then I remembered that I had one peacock feather left over from the circus top hat that I made for Lydia.

I also had a couple of teal feathers from a different project and those light blue feathers in back actually came out of our feather duster! (Hey I was desperate!)  I glued it all to a scrap of cardboard and glued a fancy button to the end.  On the back I glued a hair clip.  I wanted it to be multi-functional and I figured a hair clip would get more use.  To attach it to my jacket lapel, I just ran a safety pin through the back of the lapel and then clipped the hair clip onto the metal bar.

Lydia wore a red and orange patterned shirt.  It is one of my FAVORITE tops on her.

 Here is a better view of the top.....

....worn as a DRESS when Lydia was 18 months old. Way back in 2009,  I bought a 3T on sale ($3 at Children's Place!) and have been able to enjoy it on Lydia for 3 different fall seasons.  This year will be the last opportunity to wear it, so I am glad it worked so well in our photos today.

Here you can see PJ in his red sweater, with our photographer friend and the other key elements; the car and the location.  I was initially looking for a rustic location with evergreen trees for the photoshoot.  The photographer suggested an area that looked like downtown shops, since I wanted to pile the car full of gifts and packages.  I thought it was a GREAT idea!  The problem was, stores meant people and cars and that would not work for our pictures.  So, I found this area of mostly empty store fronts across from a vacant restaurant in downtown Knoxville, right near the mission, in a somewhat sketchy part of town.  I though there wouldn't be any cars, since all the businesses are closed.  I was WRONG!  One building is a theater and they apparently had a good crowd today!  So on the good side, we weren't in danger of getting mugged, but we were in danger of getting run over a few times.  I don't care.  I LOVE the red and green on that one building!  I hate the KIA that was parked in the prime spot in front of that green and red building.  Oh well!  Oh, you can also see the Christmas tree that will hopefully make our "Griswald" style Christmas complete.  In true Giswald style, it careened off the top of the "daddy wagon" at near freeway speeds and had to be rescued from the middle of Ashville Highway.  Fortunately, that was the only thing to go wrong that I am aware of. Here are some finished pictures so you can see for yourself.!