Making Space - WIP Wednesday, March 30th, 2016

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Creating is my passion, my sanity, my sense of being "up to something", my way of contributing a little bit. I always have a few projects going, many left to the side for months or even years before I pick up the best and carry on. Here's some of what I'm working on this week:

We are working on making space, for each other and for us together.

Taking turns so that we all have space.

As you read on Monday, making space in our bedroom,

and in our yard.

Most exciting of all, the little space between the beds.

We took the sidecar used nightly until a couple months before we moved and converted it into a sided headboard for C's big girl bed.

With the added cosiness of her nest, we separated her bed from the big bed. 

It's wonderful to give new life to a lovingly made piece of the girls' history. And it clears another spot upstairs giving more breathing room to one of our next big projects.

It feels amazingly grownup to be able to stand up from the side of the bed and walk to the foot of the bed. It's the little things sometimes. 

What are you working on? What are you excited about attempting? What are you proud to be working on? Take a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link in the comments.

Small Changes That Are Making a Big Difference

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It's Spring! Finally! Officially, and actually.

The moss behind the garage is sprouting.

Size 4 toddler shoe photobombing for size comparison.

And again. 

Beautiful, green, life is everywhere. 

Inside, I never seem to do spring cleaning intentionally, but somehow I end up doing it naturally. 

This weekend we installed a "closet" for me in the bedroom. I'm so thrilled. It's been almost six months of trial after trial for how to make our bedroom work before we move upstairs and gut the room entirely. 

I love to hang my clothes. It's easy to access each piece, I can see them all simultaneously, and there's no wrinkles. It's a room with no closet - the house listing even stated that the 1st floor bedroom closet is in the bathroom, about as far from the bedroom as it's possible to get on this level. 

Outside,  the guys felled a few of the dead trees that line one side of our property.

There's still lots of cleanup to do and a few more trees to fell, but even on a gray rainy day like today it's easy to see how much brighter our world will be. I'm already daydreaming of possible garden space with the newfound clear view of the sky. 

And who knows, we may even grow some grass.

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Hoodie Towel - Satur-DIY March 26th, 2016

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Hooded Towel

Supplies:

One bath towel

One hand towel

Ribbon

Scissors

Directions:

Step 1:) Fold hand towel in half. Cut off any pattern or selvage along the short ends. Leaving fold intact, cut off corner into a curve. This shapes the top of the hood.

Step 2.) Sew curve and top closed leaving raw front and bound edge (original edge of hand towel) open.

Step 3.) Sew ribbon, wrong sides together, off the edge, along the raw front edge of the hood. To make sure you've got it right, read through step 4.) before sewing.

Step 4.) Fold ribbon edge over to the right side (outside) of the hood and stitch down.

Step 5.) Sew base of hood to center of towel.

Step 6.) Hang in bathroom across from her sister's towel that she's been looking at longingly and patting her head and saying sadly "towel?"

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Fancy Mr. Frog - WIP Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

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Creating is my passion, my sanity, my sense of being "up to something", my way of contributing a little bit. I always have a few projects going, many left to the side for months or even years before I pick up the best and carry on. Here's some of what I'm working on this week:

Mr. Frog has eyes on the very top of his head.

This makes it mighty hard for him to see when he's wearing someone else's hat.

This was quite upsetting.

He tried wearing a fairy house for a bit.

But something wasn't quite right. Plus I wanted to work on the house some more.

He got some snazzy dark green shorts. which he definitely appreciates. He doesn't always want to be barefrog bottom. 

And yes, a hat. With eye holes. 

He seems pretty happy to me. 

What are you working on? What are you excited about attempting? What are you proud to be working on? Take a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link in the comments.

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For the Days When You Just Need to Wear Kitty Ears

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Some days everyone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. 

Someone had a nightmare that she forgot all her dresses, someone else has a tooth cutting through, someone was up intermittently all night taking care of diapers and tender babes, and someone else was so groggy in the morning they slept through their alarm.

These days we just put on our kitty ears and deal with it. 

Because we are grownups.

Cheers to those who show up, and keep showing up. 

Because sometimes just participating means you deserve a medal.

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Flowers Flower Flowers - Smith College Bulb Show

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Instead of our usual WIP Wednesday, we took a break today to step into spring for a few moments.

Every year I look forward to going to the Smith College Bulb Show. It is rooms full of blooming bulbs, forced to all bloom in time for the show.

The greenhouses themselves are impressive for the rest of the year, and we always tour them as well.

There's something so inspiring, recharging, invigorating, about it and feeds my soul on a cellular level

If you're anywhere near the area, the show extends through this coming weekend. 

Perhaps I'll sneak away to go again and just sit.

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Great Toddler Tasks - GrandPops Juicer

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Children want to help. They want to be useful. They want to learn how to do real things. They want to be important and valuable.

It's often so much easier to just do the job oneself, it's quicker and cleaner no doubt. But it's playing the short game - it gets the immediate job done but fails in the long run.

Part of our job as parents is teaching our little ones how to do real tasks so that they can become functioning, capable adults.

Toddlers, even little toddlers, can do real tasks, from putting laundry in the basket, wiping up spills, and yes! Making juice!

Several years ago I was the proud inheritor of my grandfather's citrus juicer. And yes, that is a custom fit wood piece fit into the handle, that he put in so it wouldn't slam or pinch around at the bottom.

With the prevalence of juice and sweetened drinks it's a good reminder of how much fruit is really needed to make a glass of juice, and how much was really customary to drink at a time in "olden days".

After pressing six halves, one orange each, (about 1.5 oz of juice) we had a delicious treat to add to our breakfast.

Does any juice really taste better than fresh squeezed?

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Getting Ready for Gardening - WIP Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

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Creating is my passion, my sanity, my sense of being "up to something", my way of contributing a little bit. I always have a few projects going, many left to the side for months or even years before I pick up the best and carry on. Here's some of what I'm working on this week:

While we are all still under the weather, the outside weather is beautiful! 

Yesterday, with one of us asleep on the couch, one cozied up in the wagon, two of us raked, pulled, moved, filled, and played for almost two hours of fresh air.

Inside, we're slowly collecting potted herbs, and have started our grow kits. We got these as part of another kickstarter campaign from Homesweet Homegrown. These kits are simple, easy, and perfect for starting a garden anywhere! 

We saw sprouts from the Tom Thumb Peas in just five days. We are looking forward to transforming our gravel front "lawn" into a place to watch our food grow.

Even with cooler weather predicted before Spring hits its stride, we have plans and dreams and plants.

What are you working on? What are you excited about attempting? What are you proud to be working on? Take a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link in the comments.

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Calling in on account of boogers

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Today I'm calling in sick on account of being up to my ears in boogers,

and crankiness, and tender girls.

So I'm signing off to go make tea and soup, read lots of books, try to pretend I'm feeling well so that I can care for some lovely ladies.

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Happy March Satur-DIY - Healthy Peppermint Patties

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As I threatened last Satur-DIY, here's a healthy way to make peppermint patties.

Ingredients:

Coconut Oil

Mint Oil

Powdered sweetener

Chocolate

Using parchment or wax paper, make thin chocolate circles, and put into refrigerator or freezer to harden.

While the chocolate discs are hardening, mix solid coconut oil (chill until solid if necessary) with mint oil and (optional) sweetener.

 I used about 10 drops of mint oil for 1/3 cup of coconut oil.

If you use mint flavor you may need more and it may act differently as mint flavor is usually mint oil in some kind of carrier such as alcohol. 

Sweeten to taste using a dry sweetener. I used about one tablespoon of powdered sugar for the entire batch. 

Powdered maple or powdered stevia would work as well. 

Spoon a small bit of the mint oil mix onto the center of the chocolate disk and chill again. 

Once fully chilled, drizzle chocolate over the top. Wait until solid (or, don't) and enjoy!

I admit I don't have any pictures of the finished mint-chocolate melted snowmen, I mean patties, because, ehem, we may have eaten them before I got a good picture.

It's possible to dip chilled balls of the mint coconut oil mix into chocolate but it adds mint flavor to the entire container of chocolate. As I often make more than one kind of treat at a time I rarely want to add mint to other treats.

It's also easy to use the same method as the peanut butter cups which yields a much larger patty.

Older version.

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Fairy House Night Light - WIP Wednesday March 2nd, 2016

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Creating is my passion, my sanity, my sense of being "up to something", my way of contributing a little bit. I always have a few projects going, many left to the side for months or even years before I pick up the best and carry on. Here's some of what I'm working on this week:

Sometime's when I'm browsing pinterest for inspiration, I just can't take it any more. There's something I have to make.

This one has been on the horizon of my crafting-to-do list for a while, fondly remembering ceramic house night-lights of my childhood, and daydreaming about making our yard magical again has fairy houses on my mind.

One thing I absolutely love about needle-felting (and part of why I can do any of it at all) is that you can do it in a few moments at a time. Each handful of moments adds up to the finished piece. 

Many of the crafting and art-making that my soul requires, also requires sustained attention over a chunk of time - something not possible with toddlers underfoot. 

I have a corded nightlight, an LED bulb, and small square of wood to use as a base. 

The roof will come soon, but for now C and I are enjoying imagining who will move in, once the house is complete.

What are you working on? What are you excited about attempting? What are you proud to be working on? Take a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link in the comments.

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