Up first is Ethan. Each kid in his class was assigned a Secret Santa pal this Christmas. Tomorrow is the big reveal, but a couple of weeks ago the kids were supposed to create something homemade to give to their secret pal for the 1st gift. After tossing around some ideas that weren't exactly doable, I suggested we could buy some beads and he could make her a bracelet. The end result? Color me impressed -- he made a trio of bracelets and after I tied them together with a pretty ribbon I was this close to putting him into business selling them on the side.
Grace immersed herself in the creative process as well and made bracelets for Sophie, a friend from school, and herself before I made them go up to bed.
Here she is decorating the envelope for the bracelet she made for her friend. After she was done writing I had to get a close-up of how bizarrely she had written her name -- for some reason she wrote it as its exact mirror image in reverse.
"What." She said when I asked her about it. "That's how I write it sometimes."
Our dining room has officially been taken over as Santa's workshop for the myriad of other Christmas projects that have cropped up -- such as finishing a stocking for Jane. Luckily, when I made Ethan, Grace, and Sophie's a couple of years ago, I had started some for me and Scott as well. Those never got completely finished, so I decided to make mine for Jane instead. All I needed was the background fabric to sew together and voila!
And now for the project I am the MOST excited about.
For the past few months I've been searching high and low for a desk for Ethan from Santa. I figured it would be helpful if he had something in his room where he could store all his school stuff and where he could finish up homework, etc. Unfortunately, I was not having any luck on craig's list and even though I stopped by to check out the inventory at Goodwill and The Salvation Army whenever I was in the neighborhood, I still wasn't finding anything that would work. And since real, NEW furniture was way out of my price range, I had almost resigned myself to the fact that a desk wasn't going to happen this year when I stumbled across a little jewel called Julie's Junque. Part consignment store, part pawn shop, part yard sale -- I can't quite describe the vibe of its atmosphere. But oh, is this place fabulous. I mean, come on. Junk spelled with a Q-U-E?? It doesn't get much better than that. For the past year and a half I have passed by this store on a near weekly basis but never ventured in. Sure, I've been tempted, but it just didn't happen until one day after dropping Grace off at preschool I just had this hunch -- deep in my gut -- that if I went to Julie's I would find the desk I was looking for. And find it I did. The best part of all? It was a steal of a deal for only FIVE BUCKS! Another 5 bucks and I was all set with the chair. Sure it needed a little sprucing up, but that's what made it even more fun. Three cans of spray paint, some Mod Podge, a map of the world, and a can of Polyurethane later -- the final product is awesome. Or perhaps as Ethan would say -- it is "awesomeness."
And now for the project I am the MOST excited about.
For the past few months I've been searching high and low for a desk for Ethan from Santa. I figured it would be helpful if he had something in his room where he could store all his school stuff and where he could finish up homework, etc. Unfortunately, I was not having any luck on craig's list and even though I stopped by to check out the inventory at Goodwill and The Salvation Army whenever I was in the neighborhood, I still wasn't finding anything that would work. And since real, NEW furniture was way out of my price range, I had almost resigned myself to the fact that a desk wasn't going to happen this year when I stumbled across a little jewel called Julie's Junque. Part consignment store, part pawn shop, part yard sale -- I can't quite describe the vibe of its atmosphere. But oh, is this place fabulous. I mean, come on. Junk spelled with a Q-U-E?? It doesn't get much better than that. For the past year and a half I have passed by this store on a near weekly basis but never ventured in. Sure, I've been tempted, but it just didn't happen until one day after dropping Grace off at preschool I just had this hunch -- deep in my gut -- that if I went to Julie's I would find the desk I was looking for. And find it I did. The best part of all? It was a steal of a deal for only FIVE BUCKS! Another 5 bucks and I was all set with the chair. Sure it needed a little sprucing up, but that's what made it even more fun. Three cans of spray paint, some Mod Podge, a map of the world, and a can of Polyurethane later -- the final product is awesome. Or perhaps as Ethan would say -- it is "awesomeness."
The Befores
The Afters
Not too shabby, right? In our next example of creativity I'd like for you to pay particular attention to Grace's outfit. Last Thursday her preschool class had a Christmas party and she came home with a cute little ornament they had made in school using her handprint to make a family of snowmen. I had her pose with the ornament under the guise of getting a picture of the snowmen, but in reality what I really wanted was a good shot of the "Christmas outfit" she wore to her party. And in case you're wondering, this is her idea of what an elf looks like.
And now for the last workshop item I'll illustrate how cellophane and ribbon make any gift look better. For teacher (and visiting teaching) gifts this year I quickly realized I wouldn't have the time or patience to do anything super fancy or extravagant -- or homemade for that matter. When I saw these cute mugs at Wal-Mart I decided that I could fill them with some candy, wrap them in cellophane, and put a ribbon on it and I'd be good to go.
Pretty cute, don't you think?
With only 4 days left until Christmas, I think we are pretty much done with projects. I went ahead and bought the pre-made Gingerbread House Kit at Sam's over the weekend, so that will save me the hassle of having to make anything else for our annual Christmas Eve decorating. Now all that's left to do is enjoy the holidays! With Freddie now here for the duration, the festivities have started for sure.
Last night kicked off our tradition of moving the table right in front of the television to play "Ticket to Ride" while watching funny stuff on TV. Unfortunately, having a baby who is still not sleeping through the night -- and in fact, is actually doing WORSE at night than she was a month ago -- is definitely going to cramp my style this holiday season. :( So, as fun as it was to stay up until almost midnight playing games and watching shows last night, I don't think I can make that my M.O.
Okay, I'm almost done. I'll end with tonight's Family Home Evening fun. Given that a certain second child of mine is notoriously difficult to keep still during FHE, I decided that if I involved Grace in the lesson we'd have a better shot at getting her to actually cooperate and pay attention. In a genius move, I convinced her to dress up as "Sister Friendly" to be our guest visitor for the evening. When I was a kid, my favorite thing in Primary was when Sister Friendly would come to visit with her apron of pockets. Each pocket had something in it from that month's Friend magazine -- a story, a song, an activity, or whatever -- and she would call on different kids to come up and pick one out for Sharing Time (fellow New Orleans 1st Ward Primary children -- please tell me you remember this, too!). For our purposes, I had Grace help me pick out a couple different stories and activities from this month's Friend along with a few songs to write on slips of paper and put in the pockets of her apron. Completing her costume was on old ski cap, my sweater and scarf, and a ribbon tied around her waist. She looked like an eccentric and adorable little bag lady.
As I'm sure you can imagine, she LOVED dressing up and was really funny as well, ad-libbing as she went. Claiming she was from the North Pole and that she had parked her sleigh in the garage, she proceeded to hand out presents she had collected from around the house when her "lesson" was over to all the kids who had been good. All-in-all it made for a memorable Christmas FHE.
And not to be left out -- here's the muppet. She wanted to be Sister Friendly, too.
Alright, that's all folks. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!
And now for the last workshop item I'll illustrate how cellophane and ribbon make any gift look better. For teacher (and visiting teaching) gifts this year I quickly realized I wouldn't have the time or patience to do anything super fancy or extravagant -- or homemade for that matter. When I saw these cute mugs at Wal-Mart I decided that I could fill them with some candy, wrap them in cellophane, and put a ribbon on it and I'd be good to go.
Pretty cute, don't you think?
Last night kicked off our tradition of moving the table right in front of the television to play "Ticket to Ride" while watching funny stuff on TV. Unfortunately, having a baby who is still not sleeping through the night -- and in fact, is actually doing WORSE at night than she was a month ago -- is definitely going to cramp my style this holiday season. :( So, as fun as it was to stay up until almost midnight playing games and watching shows last night, I don't think I can make that my M.O.
Okay, I'm almost done. I'll end with tonight's Family Home Evening fun. Given that a certain second child of mine is notoriously difficult to keep still during FHE, I decided that if I involved Grace in the lesson we'd have a better shot at getting her to actually cooperate and pay attention. In a genius move, I convinced her to dress up as "Sister Friendly" to be our guest visitor for the evening. When I was a kid, my favorite thing in Primary was when Sister Friendly would come to visit with her apron of pockets. Each pocket had something in it from that month's Friend magazine -- a story, a song, an activity, or whatever -- and she would call on different kids to come up and pick one out for Sharing Time (fellow New Orleans 1st Ward Primary children -- please tell me you remember this, too!). For our purposes, I had Grace help me pick out a couple different stories and activities from this month's Friend along with a few songs to write on slips of paper and put in the pockets of her apron. Completing her costume was on old ski cap, my sweater and scarf, and a ribbon tied around her waist. She looked like an eccentric and adorable little bag lady.
As I'm sure you can imagine, she LOVED dressing up and was really funny as well, ad-libbing as she went. Claiming she was from the North Pole and that she had parked her sleigh in the garage, she proceeded to hand out presents she had collected from around the house when her "lesson" was over to all the kids who had been good. All-in-all it made for a memorable Christmas FHE.
And not to be left out -- here's the muppet. She wanted to be Sister Friendly, too.
Alright, that's all folks. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!
8 comments:
Ethan's new desk looks fabulous! I love the map on top idea.
I need to do a Brother Friendly for FHE. Our second born is also nearly impossible to stay around during FHE. Good work!
Ethans desk looks awesome! I love that vintage look. And good idea with the map on top, he's gonna love it.
Do you remember when I use to spell my name backwards (and cursive and upside-down)? That Gracie shouldve been named after me! Hahaha afterall we almost have the same bday.
And I'm glad u just reminded me of sister friendly bc I'm gonna do it the next time I have sharing time.
Oh what fun it is to read your blog! We are having fun and it will incraese expnentially when we get there with all of you. I still think a series of children's books about the many faces of Grace would be a big hit. That last picture of Sophie is precious like a little who in whoville. ok, need to run. see yall soon.
love everything about this. the desk is so fab i am going to try and copycat is. very very loosely since i don't do "things" well.
and siste friendly is brills.
i hope your baby sleeps soon. and lots.
you mean to tell me your kids don't hold still for fhe, either. so glad it's not just us. love the christmas elf outfit grace wore. and elle made an ornament just like that in kindergarten last year. it is so cute. our stockings are so lame- my excuse is that once i'm done having kids i'll get us matching cute ones. we'll see if that actually happens! maybe i should just hit up a good after christmas sale or something.
Haha, we had Sister Friendly when I was in Primary too! But I grew up in Oregon so maybe it was actually an idea in the Friend or something.
oh how I wish your Muppet could meet my Potato...I believe they would be instant chums. (meanwhile the big sisters would probably have nothing to do with someone just as emotionally dramatic as they are!)
And that Jane is a doll....and yay for her name too: I love it more and more!
love the stockings! love the desk, so perfect for ethan.
one question? you are letting your girls color the envelopes with permanant pens, with your girls track records that is pretty much like giving them the matches to light the fire. any worthy permanant pen stories?
I absolutely remember Sister Friendly - and loved her as well! Primary just wouldn't have been the same without her. :)
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