Pickles and Violet

Meet Pickles (right) and Violet (left). They are our new puppy and kitty hand puppets that also arrived on Christmas Day. These were a super quick, easy and fun project to make. The pattern is from Betz White’s fabulous book, Warm Fuzzies. They are made from my felted wool sweaters scraps I’ve been collecting over the past year or so.

At first, the kids kind of ignored them. Once I showed them how they worked though, they got a real kick out of them. I think the crazy voices I makes for Pickles and Violet add to the fun.  When I asked Kage what we should name the blue puppy, his answer was Pickles. He is all about pickles these days, not sure where that comes from. He didn’t have a name for purple kitty, so I named her Violet. Ember insists that Violet is a mouse.

I think with this basic pattern, you can create any type of animal your kid is interested in. I have a feeling there will be a few more hand puppets added to the group in the future.

 

 

Something Good For Me

It was nice to finish up this project today, because it was oh so needed. I made a camera purse! Well, sort of. It is an insert that can go inside any purse to hold my camera, lenses and accessories. Up till now, I have been either not carrying my camera outside the house very often, or when I do, I have been wrapping my camera in a diaper and stuffing it my diaper bag. I can’t believe I just admitted to doing that. Yeah, I have been so bad. I invested a lot of money into my camera and really need to treat it better.

To be honest, I did buy a standard old camera bag last year which does it’s job really well. But you know what, it’s not pretty. It isn’t stylish. It doesn’t make me feel hip carrying it. Maybe that is vain, but it’s the truth. After carting around a diaper bag for the past three years, this mama is ready for some fun, fashionable purses.

There are many beautiful camera purses on the market, but they run between $150-$200 or more even. Maybe some day I will have extra cash to spend on one, but for now I am working towards saving for more lenses. My list of lenses I want to buy is long and growing, so that nice camera bag/purse might be a ways off…

My solution was to turn a regular purse into a camera bag that would be functional as well as cute. Lucky for me, after some good ole internet searching, I found this tutorial for exactly what I had in mind.

Just so none of you out there think I am perfect, haha, I totally screwed this up the first time. I measured my bag and thought I could make my insert a bit bigger than what was called for in the pattern. After working for several hours on it, it was all done and ready to put in my purse. It was almost comical at this point. There was no way I was getting the insert in the bag. Try as I might, that baby wasn’t fitting.

So, after stomping my feet and spewing out a few choice words, I started over. This time however, I stuck to the pattern. The second time around should have worked right? No, it didn’t. I ended up sewing the fabric the wrong way and had to then spend a good 30 minutes ripping out stitches. Insert more expletives here. I really hate getting things wrong, mostly because it is a waste of time that I don’t have.

Thankfully, the third time was indeed a charm and my camera bag insert is now done. It is in my purse. It fits. I can easily carry my camera, a couple of small lenses or my big zoom, my off camera flash, my wallet, cell phone, keys, etc. My camera is snug as can be and I can’t wait to take her out. Next up on the sewing list for me is a cute camera strap.

The Project Details:
I used 100% nylon fabric. Be forewarned that it frays like a beast. Use some pinking shears to keep that under control.
I used 1/2 inch foam for the padding which seems to be perfect.
The removable Velcro dividers are a bit small. I think I’ll be making some new ones and making them a tad wider.
My total cost was $35. $30 for the purse at T.J. Maxx and $5 for nylon fabric and foam. Saweet.

On a totally different topic, Ember seemed big today. Something about this last photo made her look changed, older. She is really transforming so fast right now, both physically and mentally. Her word count is over 50 already and she is attempting to repeat many new words a day. It is amazing to watch. I love this age. My favorite word of the moment is “mambo”.  That is her way of saying “te amo” or “I love you” in Spanish. It is so sweet. I wish I could keep her just as she is for a while longer.

Baby

There is a new baby in the family. She joined us on Christmas Day. We love her so much already.

She doesn’t have a name yet. She is Ember’s baby you see, so we will have to wait until Ember is old enough to name her herself. Ember’s baby was another big project for Christmas. I bought the doll kit over a year ago and had planned on making it for Kage. He, however, turned out to care less about his soft doll we bought for his first birthday so I nixed that idea.

The kit I bought came with shorter boy hair, so I ended up making this wig myself using three different brown yarns I had in my yarn stash. It isn’t perfect, but for my first doll, I am pretty darn happy. And the best, most important part, is that Ember loves her! She signs “baby” all the time. She and baby snuggle on my back in the carrier for naps and bed time. When she wakes up in the morning she takes her baby potty with her and then cuddles on the couch with her. It totally melts my heart.

Honestly, I was really worried she would not take to her at all. That happens with kids. It’s life. You never know what they are going to be in to. It just sucks when you invest lots of time and emotion making something and then have it rejected. Or spend lots of money on it as was the case with Kage’s doll. I wasn’t ready to face rejection again.

She seems to enjoy putting her baby to sleep, telling us “Shhh, nigh-nigh” as the baby goes into her bed.  The kids received this beautiful, handmade, doll bed from my brother-in-law last year for Christmas. Ember was a bit too young to play with it and Kage wasn’t really into it, so I stored it away. When I brought it out this past week it was a big hit. I know it will get lots of play now.

Ember has also loved carrying her baby on her back just like mommy does. I made the baby carrier using a pattern from the book Creative Play for Your Toddlers. The fabric was scored off Freecycle, so it was a mostly free project. Love that!

This last photo cracks me up. She LOVED her new bike helmet as well as her new dress-up skirts. She wanted to play with everything all at once. She really is the cutest baby ever. Her enthusiasm Christmas morning was contagious and kept us all laughing. She said “WOW!” every time a new gift was opened. It was so sweet.

Secret Santa

Happy New Year! I am so excited for 2011. I have a feeling it is going to be a good year for us. I have quite a few goals set for myself this year and hope that I can meet most, if not all, of them. I am in a very positive and optimistic mood today.

We spent New Years Day at my house with my family doing our Secret Santa swap. Since there are just so many of us, we decided this year to do a swap for the adults instead of buying gifts for everyone. It worked out really well I thought, at least for me. Instead of being frazzled over buying gifts for 9 adults in just my family alone, I got to focus on one person. I drew my mom out of the hat when we selected names.

At first I had planned to knit her a scarf/wrap/shall thing, but half way into the project I stopped because I wasn’t happy with how the yarn was feeling. It just wasn’t soft enough. It was a silk/alpaca blend and in the skein it felt so soft, but once it was knit up all those little alpaca fibers started popping up and were itchy. What a bummer.

So, after thinking some more and looking around my sewing room, I found this great plaid fabric tucked away. It was black/white/grey/red in color which fit my mom perfect. And I had plenty of yardage so I could make just about anything. I finally settled on this purse. All women could use another purse right? I thought it was the perfect, medium size bag and had a few compartments in it to help organize the contents.

The project itself, wasn’t all that hard really, it was just very long and involved. Between the interfacing, fabric, lining and stabilizer there were 70 pieces I had to cut out!! That alone took several nights to do.  Slowly but surely it came together and as I neared completion I was so excited….until I came to the point where I had to install the zipper into the pouch. This was only the third zipper I have ever sewn it. The directions were a little lacking in the pattern so I had to guess on a few things. I had to rip out one part several times, but finally got it done right.

My mom loved the purse and she had all her things switched over from her old purse before I could even get photos. I hope she enjoys using it as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

 

Kage turns 3

I think for the next week or so I will do a December recap. So many fun things happened and were made over the course of this month and I want to have them recorded here.

The first big event of December was Kage turning three. At his request, we had a construction theme party. He has been very into dump trucks, bulldozers, excavator buckets, cranes, post hole diggers, road rollers and any thing else that is big and moves stuff. I have personally learned more about construction vehicles than I ever thought I would. It seems he can’t get enough information about the subject so he has a number of books now about construction vehicles.

The birthday cake is what Kage has remember most about his previous birthday. Last year it was a Tiger. Boy has he talked about that tiger cake many a time. This year we had the same friend make Kage’s cake and she did not disappoint. Kage was thrilled! The donut wheels were a big hit with the kids too.

We decorated the house with yellow “construction” tape from home depot and the kids all received a carpenter aprons, a safety flashlight/whistle, a construction theme coloring book and a yellow construction worker hat. I think the kids loved the flashlight/whistle, but maybe the parents not so much. The whistles sure were loud! I know my sister really appreciated them on her two hour drive home.

It turned out to be a really great party and we were so happy our family and friends could share the day with us. It is hard to believe three years have passed since this little guy came into our lives.

I know I will say that at every birthday. Seeing another year pass is always bittersweet. I think my biggest fear is forgetting all the little things that happen as the kids grow up – what they liked, funny things they said, what they looked like. I know it will happen, it already has to some extent. It is getting hard to remember so many of these things from the first year of Kage’s life. That is why I have become obsessed with documenting everything with my camera. I want to hold onto every precious memory that I can.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a most wonderful day with your family and loved ones! We sure did. I plan to be back here next week. I do apologize for falling off the blogging wagon, but December sure was a busy month.

 

Friday in the woods

It has been too long since we went on a hike, so today we went. It turned out to be a beautiful fall day and the fresh air was good for all of us. We went to one of our favorite parks that has trails right by the river. The views are wonderful and the kids love throwing sticks, rocks and other found objects in to the water. I love how quiet the place is. Being that we went on a Friday morning, there were very few people around. It is nice having the whole place to ourselves for a while.

The first stop we make is always this little sandy beach area. The kids love it here and could stay here for hours looking for small shells and throwing them in the water. I have to drag them away with promises of more fun ahead on the trails.

We really enjoyed looking at all the colored leaves that had fallen.

And since it was so quiet there we could hear the crunching of all the leaves under our feet as we walked down the trail.

We didn’t make it much further down the trail when they found the perfect spot for digging. What is it with kids and dirt? Dirt is so magical for them. My kids spent most of the summer digging out in our back yard. They love making dirt piles, throwing dirt, and digging holes.  I think a regular dose of dirt play is essential for kids. It really grounds them. It is often the time when they will play quietly side-by-side and not fight. That is huge in my book. The sibling bickering is enough to make me crazy some times. How many more years until they outgrow that?

While they were content playing in the dirt, I found these cool plants to photograph. I have no idea what they are and would love to know. I actually know very little about plants or trees. Hopefully, as the kids get older they will be interested in learning about all our native plants with me.

A little farther down the trail we found the perfect place to enjoy a snack. The kids sat and ate their snacks while watching the water flow by.

After our rest we headed down the trail for a few more minutes. Right when I decided it was time to turn around and head back, Ember indicated she needed to go potty. So, she did her business in the woods and then I put her down next to me so I could search in my back pack for a new diaper. A few seconds later Kage started screaming, “Mom! Go get her!”. I look up to see Ember a good 10 feet down the trail in a full on sprint.

Being a good mom photographer, I grabbed my camera first and ran for my child second. I couldn’t help it since I was cracking up and had to capture the moment. She was making good speed, even with her pants still around her ankles. Maybe she is destined to be a runner one day.

I believe it was her love for running that cause this sad, sad accident.

This is my other baby, my 50 mm lens, shattered or so I thought. I discovered the busted lens yesterday. After thinking about it, I am pretty sure the lens broke when I set my bag down in the driveway to chase after Ember who was making a mad dash for the road. I have felt sick about it since.

Today I decided to clean out the broken glass and take it to the shop to be repaired.  Upon looking closer I realized it was actually just my filter that broke, not the glass in the lens. Praise be to Buddha! So, now I am only out $40 for a new filter and not who knows how many hundreds of dollars to repair the lens. I am pretty sure the lens is functioning okay, but I didn’t get to shoot on it much tonight test it. I am counting my blessings today. This almost disaster was a good reminder for me to always buy a filter for my lens. I will never be with out one after this.

W.I.P. Wednesday

I finished up the longies for Ember and love them. This yarn is fantastic too. I love how durable it is and how little it pills. Low maintenance is key for a busy mom! All the details are on my ravelry page.

The new project I am working on today will be a gift from the Halloween Fairy. I got this idea after reading about it here last year. I thought it was a great little tradition to incorporate into the holiday. It is also a great way to keep the kids from gorging on all that sugary candy.

I am making Kage and Ember a fishing set. The fish are hand sewn from felted wool. A steel washer is attached at the mouth of the fish and then the pole has a magnetic washer attached to the line. They catch the fish by matching up the washer and the magnet. Kage got to try out this very activity at the Fall Festival a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.

The project just happens to be in the book Creative Play for Your Toddler which I own. I just recently bought this book and am really excited to make a bunch of the projects in it. Most of them are quite simple to make and involve basic sewing and crafting skills. I plan to make a few of the smaller toys for stocking stuffers.

A Perfect Sunday Is

A perfect Sunday is:

• beautiful fall folliage
• 75 degree weather
• celebrating my niece’s 4th birthday
• watching my kids and nieces happily playing together
• spending time with family
• getting out of a photography rut

Hope you had a great weekend!

W.I.P. Wednesday

I am in the midst of two knitting projects right now, but my head is spinning with all the other knitting projects I have in the queue. Actually, I started feeling a bit panicked today thinking about all the projects I need to get done by the end of the year. As usual, I am starting my holiday knitting way too late. When will I ever learn? Maybe I just need to learn to knit faster. One day I am going to learn to knit continental style. That might help! It seems so much quicker.

I have made some progress on Ember’s jacket and am really excited to see it come together. The sleeves have been joined to the body and now I need to attached the cable yoke to the top. After that I have to knit the hood and then finish all the edges. So, not too much left to do I think.

I was getting a bit bored with all the one color knitting on the jacket, so I started yet another pair of longies for Ember. Surely you all are bored to death of the longies I knit. These however will be striped! Fun huh?

I am realizing that there has been a lack of knitting for the boy lately. That will change. I have several projects I need to get started on for him very soon. I hope to have one sweater done for his birthday and another for Christmas because he is pretty short on sweaters right now. Short as in he has one sweater total. I better do something about that or he is going to wear that sweater out quick.

The last project was completed yesterday – our first jack-o-lantern of the season. Kage had great fun helping me with this. It took him a while to build up the courage to stick his hand inside pull out the seeds and strings.

We have been enjoying our jack-o-lantern and the candle Kage made at the festival last weekend during our dinners. Between the light from those and our scary window lights it is feeling mighty festive here.