Project Day

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Snow Day

Two days ago we had another snowstorm here, so when Project Day rolled around it was only fitting that we make snow men, before going outside and sledding in the backyard.

We stacked progressivly smaller styrofoam balls on top of each - with a bamboo skewer through the middle - to make the bodies. Twigs were stuck in for the arms and push-pins for the noses.

Then we glued on buttons and fabric scraps for accessories.

NOTE: Tacky glue was NOT a good choice for this project. I'd try hot glue next time.

The finished men:

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

I Did It Myself!

If you've been following my posts, you know that the past few weeks have been spent preparing for my little sister Margo's wedding.

The momentous occasion came off beautifully this past Saturday.

Congratulations Jon and Margo.

With this major project completed, I had time today to accomplish something else

that has been waiting since Christmas. I decided to take on power tools and get Blair's Christmas present shelves up on the walls of her room. Thankfully the shelves came with detailed instructions, so once I figured out how to change bits and use the "chock key" I was able to hang them with a lot

less trouble then I thought. Here is my very first fully-installed screw!

Once the shelves were hung, I was finally able to display Blair's other Christmas present: her name letters.

To complete that corner, I hung this Claude Monet painting that used to hang in our bathroom.

The other two shelves went up in the other corner of the room, along with these jars and buckets I've had waiting to use. Eventually I am going to fill them with silk Crazy Daisies.

The Girl's Room (where neither girl currently sleeps) is finally starting to come together. Now I just have to get rid of the extra furniture that is being stored in there!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wedding Preparations

My third sister is getting married on Saturday. I feel a little out of the loop because with three little kids I haven't been able (or allowed) to help much in the planning and preparation part. I was responsible, however, to get the matching dresses and vests made for my little kids (It has become tradition for all the cousins to match at these events). For some reason, I had a hard time getting this done. See here and here.

Thankfully, I finally finished the last outfit on Tuesday. I had finished the actual dress the week before, but the slip that I had inherited to wear under it was too long, so I finally got around to shortening it. For some reason, I made several very stupid mistakes on this easy project, but eventually I got it right. Well.....right enough that I am not going to change it again.

Here it is:

(Poor Brynnie was sinking fast from a cold when I made her try her ensemble on.)

Now I just need to do a little ironing on the grown-up clothes....yuck.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Project Day for Jeta

I haven't had time until today to blog about last week's project day.

I think my youngest may be working on a project of her own: teeth.

She used to nap beautifully and entertain herself on the floor, but for the past few days she has demanded a little more attention. Thankfully she settled down for a really good nap this afternoon, and I got caught up on a few things.

That brings me back to Project Day.

My sister offered to host again, since her usual Valentine's Day Party got pushed aside by a new baby this year. I thought it would be fun to have the kids make something special for the new baby, so I bought some fleece and cut it into 8 ten inch squares. Then I sewed them together two at a time (with a 2" seam allowance) and then cut the allowance into a fringe.

The idea was for the kids to knot the fringe, and then the pieces would be sewn together and knotted again to make a 12x12" "Taggie".

My notion of the kids' ability to knot fleece was rather inflated, and only Mia had any interest in the project. She diligently knotted away!

Ellie wanted to help, but was satisfied to color instead.

I finally finished the project today. This picture shows the top, and there is an identical piece for the bottom. I sewed those two pieces together inside-out, and then reversed it.

I hope Jeta enjoys it.

Valentine's Day Countdown: 2 & 1

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's finally here and the countdown is done!

Yesterday was another crazy Sunday, which meant that I didn't get a chance to sneak something into the kids' mailboxes. To make up for that, I made their favorite snack about 15 minutes after breakfast ended: Strawberry-Blueberry smoothies.

Then, while Blair FINALLY took a good nap, I got to work on the official Valentine's Day Valentines. This one included candy, because Ian hinted that the past few surprises have been deficient in that department.