i'm taking this quiet moment (seriously, if i get 45 minutes, today, i'll be thrilled) during nap time to make my 30 days of lists book. [i'm secretly giddy at the idea of making something purely for the fun of it. ... whee!]
so i'll get back later with some pics of the creation. :)
till then, though, LOOK. AT. THIS.
this guy, Brian Dettmer, is amazing. he hand carves EACH AND EVERY PAGE of these books - medical journals, encyclopedias, etc, to make these unbelievable pieces.
enjoy.
so thankful to my friend Mike for the link to
THIS amazing and unbelievable display from the book surgeon. it completely blew my mind.
i can't even imagine what it must be like to see these in person. soooo fantastic. and a great way to lead into book month! (note: books are good for other things aside from sculpting... just a reminder :)
we've had some serious snow this weekend, and are stuck inside. :(
which means no church for us this morning. :(
so we did a little devotion and now the kiddos are curled up on the couch reading books and discussing their merits. :)
which is a perfect time for me to jump over here and tell you about 30 Days of Lists! i know we're doing the reading thing for march, but who says we can't do both?
we are nothing if not multitaskerific. :)
so, the deal is that you get a new prompt each day for 30 days starting march 1st, and you take it from there.
pretty simple.
and how fun to see everyone's different takes on the prompts.
and who doesn't love a good list??
so if you want to participate, or just check it out, head over to
30 Days of Lists (which, incidentally is run by three lovely bloggers,
what's the greatest thing to do in the mountains in a snowstorm?
why, deep sea diving, of course!
now, i'm painfully aware that i am a terrible photographer, and that this has been done before, many times, and by far greater talents than i (for example, HERE), but the kids had a great time, and it made for a fun friday family night.
so - swallowing pride and my embarrassment at the quality of these pics (and the fact that the blue sheet is actually our painting dropcloth, and terribly stained and drawn-upon) - here's the film.
we went a little crazy on picnik with the sticker feature. :)
and the snow fell outside (almost two feet since last night!) in fat, fluffy flakes, and everyone 'swam' around the house in their bathing suits and goggles, while drinking cocoa with whipped cream, and we had on some happy music, and managed to have a great family night with a minimal amount of fighting and squabbling, and no TV. something which makes this mom super happy. :)
and now, naturally, the gang wants to do a knights and princesses photo shoot, as well as one involving flying carpets.... so there may be more of these in the future.
till then, have an amazing weekend, find the fun, and do something you (and your kids!) won't soon forget.
how many of you can quote Goodnight Moon from memory?
how about One Fish, Two Fish??
if you know me, (and if you don't, stick around, you'll soon find out) you already understand how important books are to ... well, life. especially mine. and sharing that with my kids (and seeing them grab ahold of that love and run with it) has been one of the greatest pleasures of mothering. so when i saw THIS POST from the lovely blog helping little hands, i was on board before i even finished reading.
you can click over and read about it on their page, but basically, March is reading month (YIPPEE!!) and so, the wonderful Polly is hosting a little read-a-long book project. she will be posting a children's book each day, and often a fun activity to go along with it. how fun is that!?
i'll let you know the schedule for the month, and when quiverfull will be featured, but i'm super excited, and i think it should be awesomepudding. :)
i'll probably do one each week here, so let me know if you have any requests!
AHHH! i am officially freaking out... but only a little.
i've been working on projects right and left, and i still have a lot of unfinished items yet to come, but ... there's nothing wrong with starting out small, right? ... right? :)
thus, without further ado, i give you...
hey, moony is now officially open for business with a whopping SEVEN items for sale! woo hoo!
any of the products can be customized to a specific color, size or yarn.
here is a quick peek at some of the listed items:
cute flower headband/earwarmer
awesome super slouch beanie:
pretty heart garland:
happy hearts:
upcycled plastic bread bag tote:
tiny bag with big flower :)
Super excited (also, nervous and a little anxious) !!
visit the shop, and then leave a comment. any words of wisdom, tips, and/or prayers would be appreciated to no end.
this picture, drawn by the incomparable owen, has been taped to my fridge for about a month now, and it makes me grin
every time i pass by.
the thought bubbles are the GREATEST!
i don't even remember what day it was, or what was the 'osum' thing that had happened (possibly the first day of cub scouts) but whatever the reason, this testament to joy will keep me smiling for a good long while.
annika (and the boys too) are ALWAYS wanting to sew and 'knid' (crochet in annik-ese) with me. which is great and makes my heart happy, but .... it's not often easy. or pretty.
so when i saw THIS from the fabulous people over at tinker lab, i got really excited.
a homemade, upcycled sewing (or 'knidding') board!
how great is that!!!
we're doing this today.
and here is the how-to:
Here’s what we used to make it happen…
Cardboard Box (recycled from a package)
Mesh from a bag of sweet potatoes
Stapler
Scissors
Exacto knife
Embroidery Needle (They’re big, with big eyes, and perfect for small hands. You can also get them with blunt tips.)
Embroidery Thread (yarn would also work well)
I cut the cardboard box using scissors and an Exacto knife. If you don’t have an Exacto, you could most likely use scissors. The piece of mesh is about 1.5 inches larger in width and length than the piece of cardboard, and wepulled it taught and stapled it down.
It was time to pick our thread. Well, not quite yet. First we pursued the enjoyable task of removing paper wrappers from ALL of the embroidery floss.
We had lots of colors to choose from.
I gave a brief demonstration on how to pull stitches through the fabric and then held the frame while my daughter practiced her first stitches. The mesh was super for this on multiple levels: it’s strong and could withstand a lot of tugging, and it’s “transparent” which allowed N to really see what she was doing.
A little practice and then she was on her own. She picked up on it pretty quickly, although she wasn’t the least bit interested in following any dusty old sewing rules, and happily wrapped her stitches around the frame.
Once I saw that this was a worthwhile project, I forked out a whole dollar and purchased an embroidery hoop. This time I cut a piece of cheesecloth and stretched it in the hoop. Because it has big holes and it’s more or less see-through, I liked the idea of the cheesecloth, but it was difficult to work with and ripped easily. Lindsay at The Filth Wizardry suggests using stretchy and soft shelf liner, and I just picked some up at the hardware store — can’t wait to try this.
Here’s the bounty of preschool sewing projects that I promised. There are so many good ideas out there!!
saw THIS post recently from the slow life, and it got me all excited. treehouses are pretty much the epitome of awesome, and having one IN YOUR ROOM would make any kid (and not a few parents, too) go loopy with joy.
kids rooms are so fun and happy, - as childhood in general ought to be.
can't you just imagine being all cuddled up in quilts in there, with a book and a flashlight? or having sleepovers? or putting on a little puppet show out that window?
i especially love that they made this particular bit of perfection themselves. i'm not quite that handy, but, for those who are, what a great family project!!
while i might not be craftsman enough to build an entire indoor treehouse, i've always been enamored of the idea of having a swing inside the house.
THIS tutorial from the lovely apartment therapy that doesn't look too out-of-my-league in terms of tools and carpentry.
resolved: hang a swing in some unlikely place. : )
