Pressed flowers and crocheted socks

Dorothy and I pressed flowers as a school craft. I don't think I'd pressed flowers since I was in high school. It's one of those things, I think, where I've seen supplies at crafty places and gotten suckered into the idea that it's just a craft for people who have the right gear, which is just silly. Pressing flowers requires only a stack of heavy objects. We have those. We used cardboard to lay out the petals and another piece to lay over them.

After two weeks under the heavy objects (books, in our case) we had beautiful pressed blossoms, which we adhered to cards using rubber cement. This was a pretty and satisfying craft for both of us, and it was fun to count down the days until the flowers were done.

I also finally finished my second pair of crocheted socks. I made socks from this pattern right before Worth was born and loved them so much I knew I needed more.  Then Rob got me yarn for our seventh wedding anniversary, from which I made a hat and started socks. But since I have other things to do (ahem) and have not been too inspired to make wooly socks during the warmer months it took me a long time to finish these. The recent chill has me crocheting again so I finally pulled this project out and finished it up.

I have every reason to think I'm going to love these socks as much as the first ones. This is a great pattern--the small size fits me perfectly, and they are so warm and comfortable. The other pair is my go-to comfort strategy when I come inside on cold or wet days. After we moved to this house with the fireplace I'd put on these socks and sit in front of the fire--domestic heaven! Now I'm prepared for winter weather with this cheerful new pink pair.

Gifts and summer pajamas

I put the home related sewing aside this week to make myself a pair of summer pj's. Sleeping in old t-shirts and well-worn pajamas pants is comfortable, but sometimes I just want to feel a little cuter at night, even if the only person to notice might be my still-won't-sleep-through-the-night toddler. I used a free pattern I found online for the tank, but I'm not going to link to it because I really didn't care for it. I had to make many alterations and it still is a bit big, even though the pattern involved taking my own measurements before starting. It'll work fine for sleeping though. I made bermuda-length sleep shorts to match by cutting around pants I already own and they fit perfectly. The pajamas are made from super-soft thrift store sheets in 100% cotton. I love the pretty print, and that new fabric could never be so wonderfully soft. (Aside: Wondering about that beautiful turquoise wall behind the pajamas?  That's my bedroom! It used to be covered in "tropical" wallpaper. More on that project is forthcoming!)

 

This was a Mother's Day project I'd almost forgotten to blog about. I bought some little silver charms at Joann that are intended to hold tiny photographs. Then I printed out a whole page of empty squares just the right size on cardstock and let Dorothy draw mini pictures in each one with pen and colored pencil. We chose our favorites and I glued them onto the charms, then we covered them with several coats of brush-on gloss glaze. The flower charm was a gift to my mother and the bird is now mine. We strung them on silver chains.

Dorothy had a major milestone this past week--she finished preschool! As much as I'm looking forward to having her home next year it was emotional and a little rough to watch all her treasures come home from school. It was like watching the sweet and nurturing space they'd created for her there being dismantled. She has laid her beloved resting rug on her bed here at home and has been sleeping on it, and we put together a small bag to hold her other treasures such a her photo album and name card. To honor the lovely women who have given her the treasure of such a warm and lovely year of preschool we made homemade shopping bags. Dorothy chose the fabric (from the same sheet as the pajamas) and helped me sew the seams on her little sewing machine.

Her confidence is a wee bit ahead of her ability, but the slightly off-kilter seams don't show unless you're looking, and they prove that the love and work of a five-year-old went into the construction. I made small drawstring bags so the teachers can easily stash their shopping totes into their purses or glove compartments.

Wooden Easter eggs

I bought these gorgeous eggs before my first married Easter. We were still setting up our little household and I wanted some non-hokey holiday decorations. I had previously seen Pysanky eggs at a display somewhere and I found that I could order a whole box of similar ones on eBay to be delivered right to me from some enterprising woman in the Ukraine. They were spendier than plastic ones, but they've been worth every penny. I don't think they are considered true Pysanky eggs because they are wooden and appear to be painted rather than done by wax-relief, but they're so beautiful and I love getting them out every year. I keep them in a glass bowl on my dining table.

 

This year I decided to use my Ukrainian eggs as inspiration for an Easter project with Dorothy. I showed her the eggs and told her a bit about them, then we made our own. Like the inspiration eggs, ours are made of wood. I first painted them a solid color, some with acrylics and some with the latex paint sample jars I've been collecting during our home renovations. Then we used permanent markers and acrylic paints to put on our designs. Ours are not as intricate as the Ukrainian eggs, but maybe the Ukrainian artists weren't trying to paint just beyond the reach of an impatient toddler! Once the designs were finished and dry I sealed them with a high-gloss glaze. That made them look shiny like our Ukrainian eggs and it seems to have made them more durable, seeing as how they've hit the wooden floor any number of times thus far but don't seem worse for wear. We only painted some of the wooden eggs I bought; it's my hope to do this project for several years in a row and see how our skill progresses.

I'm also hoping this project excuses me from dying hard-boiled eggs this year because I secretly dislike that project. I think hard-boiled eggs taste and smell nasty and the project is so messy. Dying shirts is worth the mess because after the project is over you get a shirt. After you dye eggs you just have colored hard-boiled eggs which taste just as bad as the originals! Plus Dorothy already dyed some at school and at Grandma's. Now I'm just justifying, because clearly I'm a bad mom who is trying to get out of dying Easter eggs.  :)

April camping

We made our first 2011 trip in the little camper! The trip was the perfect mix of length of travel (not long), length of stay (not long), and low-key activities.  We visited General Butler State Park, which is only about an hour from home. Last fall when we started camper camping I noticed that all the big outfits had family name signs they put out in front of their campsites, kind of like campground calling cards or announcements.  I liked the friendly idea but didn't think one of the large, imposing wooden signs would go very well with our streamlined setup so I designed and ordered this little lightweight yard sign. It says "It's all right to be little bitty."  Now we've really got it all!  (wink)

We toured the historic home on the premises, we hiked, played dominoes, and checked out no fewer than three playgrounds. We ate a dinner of pasta that I'd prepared at home.  Dorothy made friends with the girl at the camper next door and created beautiful art at our picnic table.

Worth developed what I'm afraid may be an abiding love of mud puddles.  If you think this brownie-streaked face and pea-smeared hair looks bad, well, you should see his mud-stained bottom. 

At home I've been working on setting up a square-foot garden in our new yard.  I recently used colored yarn to mark off the squares.  I brought the rest of the yarn I used for the squares (it's all acrylic) to our campsite and taught Dorothy how to make God's Eye weavings. I love that she's now old enough to do some projects that are fun for Mom too. We sat cozily in our camper before bed and wound our yarn around sticks we'd found at our site. The simple weavings looked pretty on our camper wall last night (photographed), and now they look great hanging on the trellis of our garden bed.

I think one-night camping excursions are just right for where our family is at right now.  We all had a good, relaxing time, got to spend quality time without the distractions of home, were able to fully take notice of the changes spring was bringing to the outdoors, but were able to tote home dirty dishes for our dishwasher and skip the icky camp showers.  Perfect!

We went camping!

After several weeks of work we finally took our 1978 Fleetwing on the road.  We didn't go far--just over 30 miles down the road to the closest state park we could get reservations at on a few days notice.  It turned out not to even be in the woods, but on a golf course behind a state attraction less than a mile from the little downtown area.  Not exactly the hiking venue we'd had in mind, but this was, after all, just meant as a trial for our camping set up.  We had a little trouble backing in to our spot, being towing neophytes, but our camp neighbors helped guide us in and we quickly set up. Dorothy "decorated" the hitch with acorns upon arrival.

Then she decorated our table bench with fall leaves.

I got things together in the little camper kitchen.

This picture shows scale.  Our camper was by far the smallest one there, no contest, and the only one that wasn't white or offwhite.  (If you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can see it better.)  It was a real conversation starter.  "Oh, you all are the ones in the little red camper!"  That's us, all right.

We walked around the campground in lieu of hiking.  Dorothy collected nature finds in the treasure box we brought along for that purpose.

There was an old school playground with a steep metal slide (wheee!) and these creepy clown swings.

Dorothy and I broke out the camper craft supplies and made some acorn people after our dinner.

Everyone got tucked in; Dorothy up, the rest of us down.  I was surprised that Dorothy actually slept the night through up there in the bunk.  We had a great time.  We've tent camped with Dorothy on several occasions, but she doesn't remember any of them.  She was curious about the fire ("how will we unlit it when we're done?"), was confused that all the wood had disappeared this morning ("did the fire melt it?"), roasted her own chicken sausage and marshmallow, and insisted that we take showers in the campground facilities this morning.  Traveling with a four-year-old is such a great reminder to savor every experience!  We had a great time.  We brought some things we didn't need, and failed to bring a few things that would have been nice to have.  Now that we're a little wiser we're excited to try it again soon.

Pre-Preschool

Dorothy seems to have inherited her father's enjoyment of running, as opposed to her mother's enjoyment of NOT running, which is probably a good thing. We entered her in a 5-and-under road race this past weekend and she had a blast. The event was close to our home so we just walked over with her spectating grandparents. She is incredibly proud of her participation medal, which she won't let me put in a shadow-box frame because "it might not be safe enough," (which I think means "because I wouldn't have constant access to it") and we've watched the video I took of her running approximately 1000 times.

And I'm feeling just a bit nostalgic about these last sweet days before my girl starts preschool. Although she'll probably be coming back home when it's over (we're intending to homeschool), this year will still mark a major change in her life, and loss of innocence. I'm excited about the preschool she is attending and I know it's going to be a great experience, but her wild and free time of babyhood and unselfconscious exploration at my side is coming to an end. Here is a photo of her doing her own thing, in one of these final days with nowhere to be: her teddy bear hooked to her back, her Halloween socks and ruby slippers, her hair finally growing out of the self-inflicted short cut, her hands full of one of her many independent sewing "projects," which involve snippets and scraps sewn together haphazardly but with grand intention (a backpack, a shirt for Maggie, a quilt, etc.).

Family jewels

I'd been wanting to do beading with Dorothy and had been waiting for the right day. Today seemed good, so I mentally reserved the late afternoon for some mother/daughter crafting. But then my girly, who spent the night with her Nana and Opa last night and apparently slept very little, sacked out all afternoon. After two hours of her nap I went ahead and got the beading things ready--just to have them out. After two and a half I decided to just start without her. I made myself a necklace inspired by the tag-style ones that are popular now. I put little screws in Scrabble tiles with the initials of my two kids and then strung them on a chain I already had with pendants I made from their birthstones.

Dorothy finally woke up from her over three hour nap and was very excited with the new craft. She dug right in ("I don't need help, Mom.") and went to work. I've had to practically drag her from the table to complete the day's other activities. And now it's nearly ten o'clock and as I type this she's still stringing beads, arguing with her father about the necessity of stopping for the night. I just told her we could make more jewelry tomorrow and she said, "But I just want to do it tonight; I'm not available tomorrow." Not true (she is, in fact, available), but oh so funny. And I think she's making me a new necklace. Fun!

A first sewing lesson

Last year I made some sewing cards for Dorothy, the kind where an adult punches holes all around the edges, and a child threads yarn in and out of the holes. She enjoyed doing that to a certain extent, but she definitely didn't feel like she was sewing (she knew the difference between cardboard and quilting cotton, after all!) and she never asked to do it again. Today it occurred to me that she was plenty old enough to wield a real needle, so I set her up with a beginning sewing project and she did a great job. I just cut out a red felt heart and a strip of blue felt with pinking shears, then guided her through sewing the heart to the strip, then stitching up the sides to make a little pouch. I picked out a rather blunt embroidery needle for her, but sometimes she had trouble getting it through the felt, so I think next time I'll have to set her up with a sharper one. She feels like the pouch needs a hook and loop closure, so I need to either find hook and look tape she can glue on, or I'll have to sew that on myself, because it's hard for anyone to push a needle through Velcro and I don't want her to get discouraged (or poked). In the meantime she carried the pouch very proudly (deservedly so) to Target with her very own dollar inside.

And I've been staying up late watching online tutorials for some software I recently bought but am apparently not smart enough to use, and while I've been watching I crocheted a little green soaker for Worth. I've made this pattern before and just love it. This should be a great summer diaper with a t-shirt, nice and breathable but with the amazing waterproof qualities of lanolized wool.

And finally, slippers for myself! I found a new-to-me fun website with patterns and couldn't resist trying one out.

Pesto from scratch, part 1

A few weeks ago I started some basil seeds in a little windowsill terrarium I have. I'm not really gardening this year--not even tomatoes--because I still hold out hope we'll move this summer, so I've decided just to do a few short-term and portable container projects instead. The little basil plants were outgrowing the terrarium and their pots, so Dorothy and I fixed them up with a new home on the front porch. We repurposed some half-gallon yogurt containers as pots by poking some drainage holes in the bottom. We brushed all-purpose glue on sections, then stuck on colorful squares of tissue. The pots are cute and Dorothy enjoyed the project. Today we transplanted the little plants to our pots and gave them a new home on the front porch. I used soil pellets (expensive but unmessy) that Dorothy loved watching expand in my mop bucket, and Dorothy declared that basil is stinky. Now I hope the little plants enjoy life on the front porch for a few weeks, and then I'll enlist my small one's help again to make some pesto.

Drinking vessels

Dorothy and I had so much fun with the porcelain pens we decided to try our hand at glass paints. Rob and I have been breaking our way through all the drinking glasses we got for our wedding seven years ago, and I thought maybe it was time to stop replacing them with the same old models from Bed, Bath and Beyond and introduce a little handmade charm to our glassware situation. So I bought some basic, sturdy glasses from the Dollar Tree, then let Dorothy have at it with the glass paints. I applied electrical tape to the area around the rim, because you're not supposed to use the paints on the areas with food contact. I think these turned out quite lovely (she decided to go abstract rather than paint figures like she usually does) and I'll probably buy another four to round out our collection. I got in on the fun a bit too, painting the recyled glass lemonade jugs we use to store cold water in the fridge (not pictured). The paint is supposed to dry for ten days, so we're looking forward to a lovely day in May when we can sip iced tea from our new creations.

Speaking of glasses and other drinking vessels, this is what I encountered at my computer desk last night when I was straightening up at the end of the day. It made me laugh becuase it was a history of my day in drinks--the morning coffee, which got booted off the coaster to make room for the jar of water (with lovely glass straw from this website), which then got booted to make way for the evening's beer. A good day indeed, although the photo does leave out the afternoon caffeine fix from the Java Company.

Luge, and booties in two sizes

First, here is the finished version of the baby quilt. I love it, but then I'm just kind of digging baby things lately. I intentionally left the internal layer of flannel unwashed, so after I laundered the final quilt it puckered up a bit like a soft, old vintage quilt.

Next, Dorothy and I met a new refugee family being sponsored by our church at the airport yesterday. When no one speaks a common language (and the translator is tied up with airport personnel trying to locate lost luggage...ugh), there is nothing like the ice-breaking power of a preschooler to help everyone come together! She was holding hands and dancing around with the teenagers in no time, and in a situation where the (well-meaning) American volunteers seem to hold a little too much of the power, it is so nice to have an international symbol of "I trust you back," to give, in allowing the newcomers access to interact with and touch my own child.

When we came back home (unrelated, but see photo), I helped Dorothy fashion a luge track out of a paper towel tube, and her little dolls competed for gold medals for over an hour. We're normally tv-free at our house, but we've pulled the little 13-incher and the rabbit ears (now with digital box attachment after last summer's switch) up from the basement for the winter games and are enjoying some family time in the evenings watching the athletes.
Finally, a couple nights ago I was having the really annoying kind of contractions--the kind that don't seem to go anywhere, but can't quite be slept through either. So I got out of bed and started another pair of booties for the baby, on the grounds that although he is well stocked, he didn't have a newborn-sized pair that matches his hospital outfit. (We have matching blue and white jammies for our first day together.) So I made the navy booties, above. But then I finished them and thought maybe they were a wee bit big, but by then had grown attached to the idea of booties for the hospital, so I made another smaller pair, out of a not-so-matchy but lovely soft alpaca, and have both pairs packed. So I am ready for his feet, whether they happen to be on the larger or the smaller side for a newborn. The navy are more matchy, but the alpaca ones look more like my own hospital footwear (see crocheted socks, below). Both pair are variations on this pattern, which I have made many times. I think I'm officially a crazy pregnant lady, churning out superfluous booties here in the latter days, but what else am I to do? A mama can only judge baby-doll luge events for so long.