Pebble

In further pursuit of fiber as therapy, I cast on a project I had long aspired to create for a babe of my own: the classic Pebble.  Since the pattern is written for a newborn-three month size, I tinkered and tweaked and set about knitting up a vest for my 24-month-size Reuven.

I overshot more than a hair, as you can see. 

Mani can actually fit it, though it's on the snug side. So, for now, Seven gets to twirl and dream in a very blue Pebble meant for her baby brother!

(Buttons by One of a Kind Ceramics. Ravelry notes here.)

Growing

With each of my children, the time they have spent in our bed and, later, in a crib, has gotten longer and longer. Jo was ushered into a toddler bed at just 16 months old-- a combination of her Hudini escape abilities, the unforgiving nature of our ancient hardwood floor, and my desire to see her easing into the sweet little bed I'd been gifted by my cousin. The following children followed a similar trend, with a few months tacked on each season. Truth is, I just appreciate the sweet baby days now more than I did  in my early days of mothering. Yes-- there is so much goodness coming as the milestones are reached ... but, oh ... how precious are these moments here, now? 

As a result, Mani was two and a half when he graduated from the same crib each of his siblings has occupied straight to a big boy bunk. And Seven? Well ...

Seven is three months shy of her third birthday. And she's been pottying like a big girl for a year now. So, really, it was time.

Working together, Mr. Blandings, Atticus, and Logan made this bed. Part school project, part needed thing ... homeschool happiness!

With life being what it is right now, it took forever to get the project to completion. But finally, it was ready. I took Seven and Reuven to the library so that it could have its final assembly in secret. We returned home to the grand unveiling.

Funny how Seven didn't even notice that her beloved crib was in pieces and sitting in the hallway. Or that the animals she likes to enjoy rest time with were scattered on the floor. (Big no-no in her world!) Instead, she made a beeline for that girly white, four postered little bed.

The menfolk were rewarded with a, shall we say, exuberant reception. Atticus even recorded it for posterity's sake. He is a sucker for that baby sister, I tell you.

After noting that her special elephant quilt from Nepal was neatly folded atop her new bed, Seven showed us how big girls get into bed without being lifted.

Then Dolly-Baby joined her and, of course, she hasn't looked back. Because while I wasn't quite ready to admit that she's not a babybaby anymore, she most certainly is. She's happily transitioned to her new bed without a hitch. 

Another milestone. 

It's that time ...

Time for Mary Grace to spend hours making Christmas whatnots. Ornaments. Cookies. Anything that says "Christmas" to me. 

Because it makes me happy, that's why.


Above is my latest Christmas ornament obsession--a very simple little felt birdie. Anyone interested in a quick tutorial?

So easy, it's sinful

Remember my commitment to make more gifts this year? Well, I'm doing it! I'm actually, satisfactually doing it! YEAH, me!

Today's little tutorial features Jo making gifts for her friends. If you or your daughter is likely to be on Jo's gift list, please do my girl a favor and keep this dark, o.k.? She's really excited about her little craft spree, and if her mom managed to ruin the surprise factor with her blog, of all things ... well, it would be drama. ((insert eye roll here)) And the last thing a 12 year-old girl needs is more drama.

O.k., on to the gift ....

BOOKMARKS!!!

When Jo saw the link to the elastic bookmarks, she was smitten. And why not? It's truly the ultimate gift for a homeschooled pre-teen--at least most of the ones we know. I was planning on making some of these as well, but Jo wanted to dive right in so I handed the reins to her. We went to our local craft shop, got some simple supplies, and tried it out. Turns out, they're so easy that you really have to make half dozen of the things in order to fill up any time at all. Really. They're that easy. But don't take my word for it. I've got pictures to prove it.

Supplies:
charms (Jo bought nice ones at $9.99 for a pack of three. Most were far cheaper, but it was her money so hey, buy what you want kid!)
elastic cording ($1.79 for enough to make a dozen or so bookmarks)
optional: jump rings (if your charms didn't come with them) Does the charm face forward on a string? If so, it doesn't need a jump ring.




And away we go---

1. Measure and cut about 15 inches of elastic cording.


2. Slide on a charm.


3. Knot the cording just above the charm.

4. Knot the loose ends at the top. Trim to even the cording.


5. You made a bookmark! Simply slide it around the book and enjoy.



I told you it was easy. It's also überpractical and cute to boot! Who wouldn't want one of these?

CUP KEEPERS! It's a craft! A potential Christmas gift! And a large family organization tool ... all in one!

While looking around for easy-to-make, lovely-to-give Christmas goodies last week, my eyes fell on something that is-- in our house at least--so mundane as to go completely unnoticed. Our Cup Keeper Charms!

What on earth is a Cup Keeper Charm, you ask yourself? It's my answer to the endless frustration of trying to fit half a bazillion little plastic cups into the top rack of the dishwasher. It's my way of stopping the bickering over who had what cup before it even starts. And, most importantly, it's my way of never, ever having to say, "Who had the Red Robin cup? Old Spaghetti Factory? Come on, guys ... think!" again.

The sheer joy of it!

Several years ago, I decided to commit to the color coding scheme for my growing brood. Everyone was assigned a color: Jo is purple. Atticus is blue. Logan is green. Oliver is orange. Manolin is yellow. There, easy enough. Now all I had to do was locate cups and plates in these colors, and we were good to go.

I found the necessary items, set out the rules ("Use your color.") and went about my business. Cracks began to show right away, however. Sometimes the plates were in the dishwasher. What to do then? And the cups were too tall for the table, really; nary a meal seemed to pass when someone wasn't accidentally toppling over a cup they'd filled too full of water. It was a great system, but one that didn't really work for us. So I slowly abandoned it, and we went back to trying to jam the 50 cups a day that my kids seemed to go through into the dishwasher.

Ugh. Back to square one.

Then it occurred to me: several years ago, my mother had purchased a set of wine charms for Mr. Blandings and I. In case you don't know what a wine charm is, it's a small wire loop decorated with beads or charms that helps guests claim their glass in a sea of look-alike stems. These were a pre-kids gift, and one that we used on fancy occasions. But for the most part, there they were--a dozen or so little loops, just waiting to be attached to the delicate stem of a wine glass. But what if---?

I grabbed one, snapped it onto the handle of one of our little tin cups (favorites of the kids) and sighed happily. YES--they worked perfectly. With almost no effort, the cup was labeled and claimed for an entire day by one person. Praise God for the little things, I tell you!

I immediately divested our shelves of anything bearing dancing birds, happy trains or other corporate logos. I filled the kids in on my plans, brought out all of the camping cups, and never looked back.

Our Cup Keeper Charms all feature various world monuments. Each one is different; it's a close-your-eyes-and-draw surprise every morning to see who gets to go visit what amazing site for the day. The kids easily remember who has what charm, and we never have to do a roll call on abandoned cups left on the table. Here's the Taj Mahal:




As you can see, it's a very, very simple little thing. Just a loop, a couple of beads, and a charm. You can also easily make them without charms--just adding a single colored bead would be enough to mark a cup. As a matter of fact, Oli uses a Cup Keeper with just one bead as a way of learning his colors. Today, he's BLUE. Tomorrow, he might be GREEN. He thinks this is very, very cool.

These work with any cup that has a handle, so there's no need to go out and buy a whole new set of mugs just to use this little system. That might make a nice touch if you're making some to be gifted, however. I have a family in mind for a set this Christmas, and I'm planning a jaunt to Ikea for some plain but pretty mugs to fill with goodies, then we'll be presenting each child with a Cup Keeper as part of his/her gift.

Here's what you need:


Charms (ours were $3.99 for a dozen)
Jewelry Hoops ($1.29 for a dozen)
Double rings ($1.99 for three dozen), if needed
Beads (we had some already)
Needle-nose pliers

How to do it:

If your charms don't have the kind of hole that allow them to face forward, you'll have to slide them onto the double rings first. This was actually the trickiest part, and requires you to kink them open a bit with the pliers. Once you've done that, the rest is so easy that my two year-old was able to do it. Simply open a hoop and slide a few beads, a charm, and a couple more beads onto it. Using the pliers again, bend the end of the wire hoop slightly so that the decorations don't slide off. Hook onto a cup. And that's it!

Homemade

Nah, this one's not about meals, so you can relax.

This post is about homemade Christmas presents. You know--the things you mean to carefully craft in love each fall, then deliver to your friends and family during the holidays? The things you might even get all the way to the "buying supplies" stage before the intentions labeled "best" run out?

Am I only talking about myself here? Please, someone pipe in and tell me that I'm not alone.

Gifts are not my love language. Mr. Blandings joked one day that they're not even my love accent. He really wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, but it did sting a little. As much as I know that I'm a bad gifter, I also know that some people are really, really good at it. And me? Not so much.

I'd love to be able to blame my mom for my lack of giftiness. My mom is the Poster Girl for all things GIFT. She gives, and gives, and gives--often well beyond her means, and always with as much flair and style as possible. All of her gifts are always presented with stunning bows (handmade) atop impeccable, themed paper (not handmade, but hey, everyone's got their weakness). And--like a good portion of my mother's wardrobe--glitter is usually a feature.

Glitter is absolutely not a feature in my life. Not in my clothes (which generally fall into three colors: white, brown, and black), and not in the gifts I give to others. As a matter of fact, my mainstay gift is time. You know--"Let's go to dinner!" "I'd love to celebrate with you over coffee!" and, of course, "How about I watch your kids for you so you can do something fun?" When time fails, there's always cookies. My chocolate chip cookies have covered a multitude of gifting sins, I can tell you.

My mother would be horrified if she knew that Mr. Blandings is actually responsible for the bulk of the gifting done by the Blandings clan. She'd also choke on her dentures if she knew that I save all those fancy ribbon tricks she taught me for times when I can't find a gift bag or wrapping paper with an actual pattern on it. Yes, truth time--I buy solid colored wrapping paper in neutral colors most of the time. Why? Because it's never inappropriate. Blue is perfectly acceptable for a birthday, a new baby, Father's Day, you name it.

I'm just practical. Or this is what I tell myself.

But this year, I'm trying really, really hard to think ahead and follow through on all of those great homemade gift ideas that I see floating around on blogs and crafty websites. The main reason for this is that I think my older kids would enjoy it. They love making things for others, and are at the age where they can turn out some very nice-looking stuff. The second reason is that finances at Casa Blandings are super-tight. Mr. Blandings is waiting on word of his second pay-cut for this year, which will quickly be followed by another one right after the new year. Add to that the fact that we're saving money for Bee's visa applications, passports for the other five kids, plane tickets to Kathmandu in February, and yes ... a homemade Christmas sounds just about right!

We have a relatively short list of folks that we give to at Christmas time. usually, the list is even shorter than we'd like it to be simply because we don't have the funds to send anything to the people we love but don't see. I want to remedy that this year. And I also want to use the gifts that we do give to really demonstrate how much love we have for those in our lives. The truth is, part of what makes me not-so-gifty is that it always feels so impersonal to me. I know that this sounds nuts, but deciding between the UNO game and the Bowling Dice tin in the toy aisle of my local supermarket just doesn't give me warm fuzzies.

But making something? Yeah, that does it for me. Putting my hands in wool and turning out a scarf allows me the joy of praying for the recipient with each stitch that rolls of the needles. Selecting fabric and putting together a simple apron gives me the glow of thinking over that person and her impact on my life. But I rarely do these things. Why? I have no idea.

So that's what I want to capture this Christmas, for myself and for my children. The spirit of giving. Who knows? Maybe I'll even post the processes as they take place at my kitchen table over the next few weeks. Until then, here are some of the best ideas I've gleaned from the internet for giftmaking with kids. Many can be done by the kids themselves. Others may require a good bit of mom-work, then the kids can add the finishing details. I'm planning on trying some of them, so if you're likely to be on my gifting list, WARNING! Spoiler alert!

And if not ... happy homemade shopping. :-)

Adorable elastic bookmarks
Button wreath ornaments
Treasure soap
Grocery Bag Dispenser
Sculpey Ribbon Ornaments
No-Sew fleece knot pillow
Gifts in a Jar
Beaded Icicle Ornaments
Pumpkin Pie Playdough (o.k., maybe a Thanksgiving gift?)
Birthday Banner (what mom doesn't want one of these?)
Crayon Cozies