Handmade Christmas - pebbles and pegs to fridge magnets

The kids painted pebbles with acrylic paint.... hot glue a magnet on the back for a lovely fridge magnet. Perfect grandparent present!
Meanwhile I made clothes peg magnets. I saw this idea in a magazine..... think it might have been Better Homes and Gardens...

It's a little fiddly, but the wooden clothes pegs can be taken apart for painting and then reassembled.

A few strips of scrapbooking paper, some scrapbooking buckles and a coating of ModPodge (wonderful stuff)

I've just got to glue the magnets on and Voila! memo pegs for the fridge....

a heritage to treasure

Our lesson in RS today was based on the article "Happiness, Your Heritage" by Dieter Uchtdorf. Here is one of my favourite excerpts:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mould it into something of beauty."

Elder Uchtdorf points out that creativity is not limited to arts and crafts, but it's that aspect that I am pondering this afternoon. I love making things although my creations are usually made with more love and enthusiasm than actual skill.

This urge to/enjoyment of making and creating is part of my heritage. A heritage that comes from this line of women:

This is my great grandmother Marie in a photo that was in the local newspaper as she was interviewed on the occasion of her 97th birthday. The tapestry she is holding is the last one she made - in her 97th year. Her eyesight was failing and her fingers were no longer nimble enough to work on the tiny stitches of earlier years. Marie used to paint as well - not on stretched canvases, because they were not easily available. She painted on muslin using watercolours or on felt in oils:This was painted during the Great Depression. (photo taken at a funny angle because it's framed under glass to preserve it). Marie was a woman who found fulfillment although she lived through very hard times. She was compassionate and wise. She died a month short of 100 yrs but by then she had been around for my childhood giving me a strong sense of roots and belonging.

Here is my grandmother Ragnhild and my mother. "Mommo" Ragnhild was a midwife and she was widowed when my mother was 3, so as a single, working mother she may not have had much time to indulge her creative urges. But, create she did. In the photo above she and my mother are wearing the traditional costumes of the region. Ragnhild sewed the costumes and did all the embroideries on the dresses and the shirts. In an upstairs room of her house there was an enormous loom where she made rugs. The rugs were made out of strips of clothing that were past repair and use. She was ever thrifty. Outgrown handknitted jumpers were unravelled and the wool used again for another jumper or socks/mittens. I don't get much use out of them here in our current climate, but I still have mittens she knitted me....

My mother embroidered, knitted and crocheted. Her last creation before she passed away was a crocheted bedspread she made us. I feel her love when I wrap myself in it. Some days she would only have been able to do a single row, but I know she wanted to finish it and leave it behind.

LP is the next in line.... as the 5th generation of needlewomen. Well, it might be too early to say whether she develops a passion for sewing, but I know she loves creating her own little works of art. She wanted to learn how to sew, and so yesterday we started by making felt ornaments:

This will warm a grandma's heart at Christmas!

hair today, gone tomorrow

or, more accurately, hair yesterday gone today......

In the interest of fairness, I cut Little Possum's hair myself, having taken the clippers to the boys' heads already. I didn't quite use the "bowl on the head" method, but perhaps I should have..... I set to work wielding my "whatever you do, don't touch" embroidery scissors before LP could change her mind...... It's been my ambition to even out LP's many layers of hair for some time and I seized the opportunity as LP's "bestest" friend changed from a long-haired girl to one with a short bob (YAY!)
I don't know if it is my imagination, but I am sure that my children don't fidget and squirm half as much as when they are in the barber's/hairdresser's.... the lack of a big mirror to look in, maybe?

Thoughtful Friday

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

- Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Christmas memories

Whenever I see one of those themed Christmas trees where everything is silver, or red/gold I think it looks beautiful, and a small part of me wishes that I could have a really stylish tree one time. But...... then I look at the tree that the kids decorated, and I look at the ornaments - our very eclectic mix of ornaments. And I wouldn't have our tree any other way because our tree is full of memories:

this ornament used to be my grandmother's and is part of a set of 3 - the only ornaments left over. I remember Christmas Eve at her house, 7 types of Christmas cookies, big box of clementines, Christmas curtains in the kitchen and living room, frost on the windows, snowball lanterns with burning candles outside in the snowy garden. Walking around the tree singing carols, waiting for Santa to knock on the door looking for nice children.

my mother's favourite ornament, a beautiful glass angel that always used to be hung near the top of the tree, always next to a light so that the angel appeared to shine. My mother loved angel ornaments and decorations, and there is a selection of angels that come out each Christmas now at our house. I hold them in my hand and remember the person that most resembled an angel in my life and I rejoice in the knowledge that I will see her again because of Him whose birthday we celebrate this season.

this is an angel that I bought for my mother in London while I was studying there. I didn't get to go home that Christmas, but celebrated with other waifs and strays at the Norwegian Church on Christmas Eve.
Baby Jesus, part of a Nativity set of ornaments made from Fimo. I bought this for our very first family Christmas together, Peter, Doodlebug and I. Living in our house on the cricket green in Hartley Wintney. The children have grown up with these ornaments and love playing with them, so now the shepherd is missing a foot and the wise man is looking a little worse for wear, some of the gilt has rubbed off his crown.

Thomas the Tank Engine..... one of a set of trains..... James, Gordon, Edward and Percy are also on the tree. Bought when we had 2 little boys obsessed with Thomas. Would somehow never stay on the tree for long and could be found in the oddest places around the house. The idea of a train not for playing with was an unfamiliar concept....

the ornament given to us by some very dear friends in the Farnborough ward - this is where I had come to love and appreciate Relief Society...

and then of course we have our ever growing collection of ornaments made by the children, I treasure each one

Turtle's clay ornament

Doodlebug's laminated Santa from pre-school

and..... at the top of the tree we have this paper angel, coloured in with textas

It would be lovely to have a fancy angel at the top of the tree, but it wouldn't be the same.... it wouldn't have been laboured over by my child, tongue sticking out concentrating on colouring within the lines, glued together and then handed over to me with such a look of pride and joy. How can I not love this angel more?

It holds a memory.

talents

Doodlebug's class held a marketday fundraiser for an Indian orphanage this week. It was the final stage of a project the class has been working on this term based on the parable of the talents. Each child that wished to participate was given a dollar coin. They had to come up with an idea to raise money using their dollar coin as the "start up capital".

Doodlebug wanted to sell muffins, and so with his dollar he purchased the ingredients from me for a tray of muffins. With the proceeds of the muffin sale, he bought materials to make more things to sell at his marketstall. He sold chocolate fudge and pet rocks.

The pet rocks caused him some concern when I raised the idea..... after all they are "quite old" - "They've been around since you were little, Mummy" (gee, thanks....), but he decided to try a few. He wished he'd made more now, they sold like the proverbial hotcakes. Mostly to girls apparently. Who knows....maybe we have started a new trend?

I don't know the total of how much the class raised in total, but Doodlebug made about $30. I think he used his "talent" well.

Thoughtful Friday

"Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all"

~William Faulkner

a Thanksgiving message from Christian Nielson

The stork has landed....

Molly the guineapig is the proud mother of these seriously cute little piglets that were born today. We won't know their sex for a few weeks yet, but Doodlebug wants to call the black one "Darth Vader".

we're renovating!

This doll's house came our way. It was built in the 80's and was in need of a little TLC.... so we've ripped out carpets and wallpapers to make it ready for a bit of a facelift.

Somebody put a lot of work into this house and the furniture that came with it - all handmade. But the little girl who once played with it is now "all growed up" and the house was gathering dust. Soon it will be part of Little Possum's world. I'll have to make a little miniature quilt for the bed for the housewarming.

Thanksgiving but no turkey

I have always thought Thanksgiving a great holiday. During my year in Chicago I was able to experience a full on Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and it was my first tasting of pumpkin pie. I had heard about it, but the idea of a vegetable/dessert combo was puzzling to me.... well, let me tell you that I was a convert after that year!

Food aside, I am attracted to Thanks Giving.. dedicating time to be thankful. Cicero said that gratitude is the parent of all virtues. I get that.... When I am truly grateful for what I have, I am less likely to be selfish, greedy and proud.
"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more" Brother David Steindl-Rast

Thanksgiving shouldn't be an annual event, but a daily event. I'm a nicer person when I am truly grateful, but it's a state of mind, a habit and needs regular exercise.

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude." - Albert Schweitzer

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
- Melodie Beattie

Today I am grateful for:
A hometeacher who, although he is continents away and hasn't been our hometeacher for 6 years, still prays daily for the wellbeing of my family and who took the time to check up on me because I hadn't written for a long time.

A hometeacher whose love of gardening means I am reminded of him every time I tend to my vegetable garden. He shared of his bounty every season, and each visit he would bring us vegetables or homemade jam. He had bumper crops because he made a deal with God to always give away more than he kept.

A hometeacher who performed the blessing/naming of my youngest two children, and who drove out late in the evening to give a blessing to my sick infant who had been admitted to hospital.

A hometeacher who didn't miss a single month for 2 years, and who always made us feel that he truly loved us and wasn't just there in order to cross us off a list.

A hometeacher who is the kind of person who makes me feel that through knowing him I am getting to know the Saviour because of the way he lives his life.

Kids unplugged.....

I love it when the kids are unplugged from TV and other electronic gadgetry, and just let their imaginations go. Sometimes it gets noisy, most of the time it gets messy, but all of the time they are having such fun! I imagine the synapses in their brains hooking up and firing. Wonderful stuff:

Turtle and Little Possum found my chalks and wanted to try them out on some artwork of their own.

Doodlebug was doing some important construction work, and I was glad to find him taking health and safety guidelines seriously....... all appropriate protective gear used!

This may just look like a bit of a mess, but under these blankets is a maze of tunnels and rooms. Could be a special spaceship, or a secret spybase..... it's a multi purpose design!

Thoughtful Friday

"I have great faith in a seed, convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."

- Henry David Thoreau

Handmade Christmas - Garden markers

I bought a bumper pack of the large paddlepop sticks some time ago and I think they will feature in several Christmas presents this year. One idea came to me after Serena and I made an outing to the nursery and came home with seedlings that we divided between us. But each batch of seedlings only had one marker. So I decided to make some.... then I decided to get fancy and paint pictures on each marker.

Once the paint had dried, I covered each marker in 3 layers of varnish to make sure it would be weatherproof

Gift idea no 1 - garden marker and a pack of seeds

Gift idea no 2 - garden marker and a seedling in a pot

Gift idea no 3 - garden markers and some gardening gloves

I wonder who you are

I found your photos in a drawer in farmor Nikoline's house. Unfortunately she and the others of her generation had passed away, so I don't know your names. I can tell a lot from your clothes - your status, roughly what decade the photo was taken, and sometimes also the occasion of the photo.

But, I wonder who you are, what your lives were like, where and how you lived.

I am sure my grandmother knew. I am sure she could look at a photo and remember whether you were a cousin or uncle or even a friend of the family. I wish I could ask her.

I look at my piles of photos. I remember the places, the people and the circumstances... but unless I organise them, one day someone else may find them in a drawer and wonder...

Handmade Christmas - Dolly peg nativity

The 'Juleverksted' is now open. Remember my very bad sketch from last week? This is what I was thinking of - a nativity of dolly pegs..... Here's what we have done so far:

Materials used: Dolly pegs, paints, pigmapen, chenille sticks for arms and various scraps of fabrics for clothes.

Until I made Mary and the angel Gabriel, the lineup looked a little like a group of hairy hippies. Once they were dressed they looked a little more respectable and in their time... I think.

Once painted I pegged the dolls down on the side of a cardboard box to dry..
I had to provide a moderating hand for fabric selection since LP's colour of choice is mostly pink which would look more "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" than Wise Men in the desert....

We'll make some fairies with the remaining dollypegs so that she can pink up to her little 6yr old heart's content.

(Gabriel needs some hair, doesn't he?.... bald doesn't suit him)

One Crafty Mumma provided me with some inspiration with her popsickle house, and I am thinking about a design for a stable made from paddlepop sticks or tongue depressors (really big paddlepop sticks...) so there's more fun to come.

Monday Munchies... Microwavable Strawberry CupCake

Her Cup Overfloweth inspired me with her chocolate cake in a mug recipe, so I wondered if a similar thing might work to make more of a cupcake. That made me think of jam roly poly and other English puddings of the kind made with suet making your arteries beg for mercy. I made a variation on the choccy cake recipe and came up with this (much more artery friendly than suet puddings but every bit as delicious!):

Strawberry CupCake (quite literally)

2 teacups (Microwavable)
4 Tbsp plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp oil
A small splash of vanilla extract

strawberry conserve
icing sugar

put 2 tsp strawberry conserve in the bottom of each cup

in a small bowl mix dry ingredients, add egg and mix well, add milk and oil, mix well
divide batter evenly between the two teacups

put teacup in microwave, cook on high for 2 minutes (1200W)


I cooked them separately because I was experimenting, for 2 (or more) teacups increase the cooking time... try 3 minutes and see how it goes..... :)

dust with icing sugar
or
tip out into a bowl.....

Enjoy warm.... maybe a bit of custard for a treat?.....

Quilt giveaway!

You know how I love a good giveaway.... and I especially love this one from the Old Red Barn Co . Just look at these beauties Dana is giving away:

What I love the most about this giveaway is the clever video-entry option! There are some seriously creative and funny entries. Check them out here. I think the fabrics in the first quilt are my favourites. They're from a new range called Sugar Snap by Free Spirit. The second quilt is also so very cheerful. The fabrics are from the Tula Pink range by Moda.

Handmade Christmas

As December and Christmas are approaching, I was having a moment of nostalgia. It's no secret that I still struggle a little to get that Christmas feeling here in the middle of summer. Christmases past with snow, dark nights, stars, candles and fireplaces get in the way.

One tradition of my childhood and youth was the "Juleverksted" - the Christmas Workshop... Christmas decorations and presents would be made along with the Christmas baking (- 7 kinds of cookies/biscuits is the tradition). Gløgg and gingerbread might be consumed while chatting and listening to the music of the season.

Every year my family members were the recipients of many handmade items that I had made with more love than skill. Seeing them on display or in use were my happiest moments.

This year I have decided that I need to share this with my children, and give them the same opportunity as I had. Both because I would like to continue the tradition and give the children a creative outlet, but also because I think that it might just remind us all a little of the need for reduced consumerism.

I read somewhere this week a question posed: What is the difference between a present and a gift? I feel that in making Christmas presents, we will be giving a gift - a gift of time, a gift of love a gift of thoughtfulness and a gift of self.

Along that line I decided that I would make gifts for everyone this year, and I have already started. My sketch/notebook is brimming with ideas, the craftcupboard and my recycling box (the one with items for re-use in various projects) are full and my hands are itching to start.

Getting to grips with the children's wishlist is more of a challenge.....
does anybody have a pattern for a handmade iPod Nano?

"There were five in the bed...."

.......and the little one said "roll over, roll over".....




Our babies slept in our bed for the first 6 months of their life, and they still occasionally seek us out in the night. A mass invasion like this, with all 3 children climbing into our bed in the night, is rare.
It was a bit of a squish, and as soon as MOTH and I got up in the morning they spread out.

Co-sleeping beyond those first 6 months was not a conscious decision, it just happened that way. But I am happy to provide a middle of the night snuggle. I believe it will come to a natural end as the children mature, and I will probably miss waking up with a little one curled up at the foot of the bed, or sleeping peacefully next to me. (The boys are really quiet and still sleepers, and most of the time I don't even wake up when they crawl into our bed).

I could look at their sleeping faces for ever.....