Backwoods Wife

To glitter or not to glitter?

I may have let three small children play unsupervised with two large containers of glitter.  I would definitely classify these sweet children as glitter affectinados.  So much so, that when one bottle fell over without the lid, it was not cause for concern or reporting to the moms present, but rather them quietly rejoicing in quicker access to larger quantities of said glitter.  My living and dining areas look like they have been visited by an exuberant Tinkerbell on steroids!  And you know what?  That is totally okay.  The little girls had fun, us slightly older girls had coffee, and my floor/couch/dining room chairs got vacuumed. :)  I am sure we will be sharing glitter around the house for quite some time, but it is a happy sort of thing to clean up.  It's sparkly, pretty, doesn't damage anything, and you won't find it under a couch a month from now and go "Ew!".  To quote Martha, "It's a good thing."

P.S.  If one is inclined to partake in unfettered glittering, it is much easier to clean up the chunkier variety of glitter often found at drug stores as it all seems to fall to the floor and sweep up fairly easily.  The fine pixie dust variety is a lot harder to dispose of but if you want your house to look a big magical it might be the way to go! 

Here's a random wondering - why doesn't Disney market the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio?  They usually market as many characters as possible it seems.  The blue and silver glitter made me think of her today...

 

 

 

 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

 

{pretty}

 

The kids were the chief tree decorators this year. Normally I am a bit more particular about where the ornaments go, but this year I decided to let them do whatever they wished. I put the lights on and they did the rest. The ornaments were moved around the tree on an almost daily basis, and the girls continued to come up with creations of their own to hang on the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{happy}

A certain small someone recently got her very own sippy cup.

Inspecting the cup after eating a large quantity of sweet potato.

 

Very entertained by the new addition to her mealtime.

 

Delighted to be joining everyone else in cup-sipping!

 

 

{funny}

 

Our tree toppers! Yes, there are three. We had a request for an angel and two stars. I wasn't sure how we were going to accommodate that tall order but lo, and behold! Dwayne came home with a Christmas tree that just happened to have three little branches up top. Each of the older children was boosted up by Mommy or Daddy to put their topper of choice on the tree. (Quick story behind the little gold star - when Hendrik was little he was determined that we have a gold star for the top of the tree, nothing else would do. I searched all over town, there was not a gold star to be found. I ended up making this one out of the padding from inside a box of chocolates and the gold paper from a Caramilk chocolate bar. What allows it to sit on the tree is an icing coupler! It is still requested each year despite it been a bit shabby around the edges now.)

 

{real}

 

What our living room looked like for much of the Christmas festivities. Laundry doesn't go away over Christmas holidays for some reason...

 

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Christmas Crafting

This morning we had a little crafting play date at our house.  So much fun!  The older girls made clothespin doll ornaments and the younger two kiddos played with toys while we moms chatted and sipped coffee.  ~insert happy sigh here~  I do miss creative activities and will have to try harder to incorporate it into our days.  Scheduling it in might be the best way to go about it.  Put it on the calendar and it just might happen!  Thanks Ainsley, Megan, and kiddos for a great morning!

These ladies still need their faces finished, but you get the general idea. :)

 

I'm kicking myself now for not taking pictures while the kids were working... 

In the mood for baking and making

It is FREEZING here today (-40 to be more specific!).  I really don't want to go outside.  I want to stay inside and eat warm, yummy things.  We made some tea biscuits at lunch (the oven also helps to warm up the kitchen!) and I'd like to try some bread later today.  The kids would also like to try making "Wookiee Cookies" from the Star Wars Cook Book.  Just reading the cook book and looking at the pictures is fun, if the recipes are as well tested, we'll likely have to get its sequel as well.   

Star Wars is huge around here right now!  It seems to be the favourite topic of play and conversation amongst all 5 and 6 year old boys we know.  Yesterday, Hendrik went to a birthday party and came home with an inflatable light sabre and a plastic mask for some sort of trooper or other (Dwayne is the Star Wars expert around here).  It was a bit conflicting for him as the bad guy wouldn't have actually used a light sabre, but who wants to put down a light sabre?  His sisters didn't quite go for playing the bad guy either so he alternated between mask up and mask down and also morphed good and evil into one character for a time so he could wear both at once.

The little girls are very into paper and glue at the moment.  I think this afternoon will bring the creation of more paper chains.  I'm going to try to locate some scrapbook paper pads that I picked up for 80% off last fall at a craft store and let them cut and glue to their little hearts' content.  There are also some very pretty/girly/sparkly projects on our list from some of the Usbourne Make and Do Books as well.  Abby chose "Things for Girls to Make and Do" at the library the other day and has been perusing it every day looking for the projects that have pink and/or hearts.  We've found a few others inexpensively over the last couple of months and have been enjoying what they have to offer.

            

Riley has been making little things with assorted materials - paper, pipe cleaners, and pinecones.  She's already made an ornament which she is itching to present to its intended recipient.  

I'm feeling a bit excited as well, knowing that soon-ish I will have a bit more space and some room to sew!  

 

This is a scream...if only I knew how to knit!

You can find a copy of the book here at Amazon.ca or here at Amazon.com.

Photo via the Ivy Press Bookstore (for those of you in the U.K.).

Handmade Holidays

Sew Mama Sew! has a month of tutorials for November called "Handmade Holidays". There are some really great projects and most of them are quite simple to make (yay!). Have a browse around for ideas or tackle one yourself. :) There are new projects daily.

Some treasures in mail

This seems to be the week for mail from the U.S. After what seems like weeks and weeks of waiting, actually, it was weeks and weeks of waiting, a lot of treasures have arrived in the mail.

I have received fabric, vintage pillowcases, DVDs, patterns, and cutesy handmade items. The cutesy stuff is for me, the fabric and patterns are for sewing things, and the DVDs are just for fun. :) Hooray for Etsy and eBay!

Here is the stash! (The little round object with the squirrel on it is a handmirror.)



And a close up of the fabric I got to make a floor quilt for Riley!

Finding inspiration

Where do you find inspiration for decorating your home or for craft projects? I like to browse the rooms at www.bhg.com for house ideas and I like to look around MarthaStewart.com for crafts, decor, cooking, and holiday ideas. I also love browsing through the Ikea catalogue and visiting their stores whenever I can. It's so neat to see what they can fit into small spaces. Then, of course, there are so many great craft inspired blogs out there. I really have to keep my Bloglines links under control or before I know it I can be spending the whole day reading blogs!

Sew Darn Cute

Jenny over at "Sew Darn Cute" is closing her online shop. Visit her store for some adorable goodies that are both beautiful and practical. Jenny is offering free shipping until she closes the store on September 14th (US & Canada). Check out her blog for more inspiration.
I picked up one of her "Layer Cake" pouches and a little hand mirror I'd been eyeing up for ages.

One last swap project

Here is my last swap project for a long while! Swapping has been fun and it has forced me to be crafty on a more regular basis. My sewing machine and I are now quite well aquainted again and the thought of sewing something larger is not so scary anymore. However, I just don't have the time or energy to keep it up. I need to focus on keeping my house in order and doing some sewing for my family.

I took my inspiration for this little bag from one of my Japanese craft magazines.