12.22.2010

Relax, Breathe, Create

So today begins the kids' school break...oh heavens...we're in for it. The countdown to Christmas is now T-3 days...really 2 and a half as the kids stated.

The neighbors gifts...FINISHED! Thank the good lord! The Christmas cards have begun being delivered by our neighborhood friendly mailman & I'm finishing up the greatest little gifts ever! Believe it or not I feel completely prepared for the Christmas whirlwind to begin.

I keep telling myself..."Kristin, don't worry...relax, breathe...you can get all this done...everyone will love everything and soon very soon you'll be able to take a break!" All I can say is my poor house. The hubs says he can't wait until I can clean up my craft stuff. It's looking like my craft closet puked all over the dining room. I must agree...but I have to say it's at least contained. So between 3 crazy boys, 1 sweet little girl & a ton of crafts I'm thinking I need a mansion to keep everything organized!

I've been really enjoying my creative processes this Christmas. Tons of projects started and here I am hoping I can get them all done. Obviously some aren't for Christmas. Like Hadleigh's crib bumper & blanket. The boys' quilts...those will just have to wait! Soon very soon...

I really hope you all are having a very relaxing and super merry holiday & hopefully I'll be able to get some more work done to this silly blog soon....make it "Me"! I'm working on it....however I suppose the holiday season wasn't the best time to start? hahaha

Merry Christmas!!!

Kristin

12.20.2010

It's Almost Christmas!!!

So it's almost Christmas and the kids are almost out for their break...it's at this time I say "Let's say thank you to your teachers and give them a little Christmas gift to show our appreciation for being 2 of the most amazing teachers ever!!" This evening...I took the time to make these amazing women a little homemade gift saying thanks...

My idea...one I've used many times...Gingerbread Cookies...IN A JAR!!

Oh yes many people do these...however they're such an awesome gift and really thoughtful...so pretty to see and exceptionally easy to make!

What You'll Need:

A quart sized ball jar
A piece of red card stock
Ribbon
A square of fabric large enough to cover the lid completely

Ingredients:

Layer 1:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Layer 2:
1 cup hard-packed brown sugar

Layer 3:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:

Mix Layer 1 ingredients. Funnel them into the jar and tap the jar on the counter to pack in the flour.

Add Layer 2 to jar. Repack the  brown sugar into the jar. I used a bottle to press it down (mainly  because I had a bottle. Whatever you have use because this needs to be a really tight layer!)

Mix Layer 3 ingredients. Funnel them into the jar while tapping jar on the counter. This is going to be completely fully and take a few seconds to do!

Put on lid. Now it's time to move to the computer. Or you can print this by hand.

You're going to want to print this or write this onto a card. You don't want the card to be too big, but however big you want. I happen to like a cute font...hence...the computer.


Gingerbread Cookies
You’ll Need:
½ cup softened butter or margarine
¾ cup molasses
1 slightly beaten egg
 
1. Empty contents of this jar into a large mixing bowl. Stir to blend together.
2. Mix in all of the above ingredients. Dough may be stiff so you may have to use your hands. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Roll dough to
¼ inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for 10- 12 minutes. Decorate as desired.
6. ENJOY!!

Now print and trim to your specifications. Cut the red card stock a bit bigger. Put a hole punch in the corner. Place the fabric over the lid and attach the recipe card to the ribbon & tie the ribbon around the lid & fabric. 

Voila and you're done! These are the cutest gifts and so easy to do!!


12.16.2010

Etch-A-Sketch (the adult version)

So Jackie (my seester in law) tells me she's got an idea. I put on my seatbelt...haha actually I walked around the corner to her house and checked out her awesomeness....She shows me this picture of a pyrex baking dish with the glass etched with a name. She goes "Kristin, there's this stuff at Joann's that you put on glass and it etches it." I say "Let's go get some..." And the ideas in my mind are endless...

My idea is...hey ,my sister in law ,who just got married. could use an awesome homemade Christmas gift...so I get a tall vase (courtesy of Jackie's wedding & an abundance of tall vases) and an idea. I'm gonna give you a run down on how to do it...because the outcome is amazing and it's really simple to do.

Items that you'll need: (at least I did!)

That includes:
Armour Etch (I got it at Michael's)
Contact paper
A Stencil
Pencil (I used a photo pencil)
Pen knife
Paint brush (nylon is best)
A Vase
Ribbon

Ok now what you're gonna do is take your stencil (I used their monogram for the vase). I arranged it in Photoshop CS5 which made placement super easy and exactly how I wanted without having to free hand it. After you have what you want...print it out.

Place your stencil underneath the contact paper and trace it on...

Now make sure your vase is clean. Don't use window cleaner on it because there are repellents in the cleaner that will keep the armour etch from working properly.

Take the backing off of the contact paper and place it on the vase the way you want it. You're gonna want a bigger piece to cover the vase...the armour etch can run and you don't want it etching things you want to stay clear...

What you're gonna do now is the hardest part...take the pen knife and cut out the stencil. This is really hard. Especially if there are lots of curves...I had an awesome time with it...please catch the sarcasm...finally I sat down and said I'm gonna do this and you're gonna work. After we had that talk...it worked beautifully...you might wanna lead with that! :)

Now this part is optional...I used a hair dryer to warm the contact paper...then made sure all the bubbles were out and the contact paper was snug against the vase so the armour etch wouldn't get underneath it. Let it cool off.

Now take your armour etch and your paint brush and brush on a THICK layer of the goop. Make sure everything is covered completely. It says leave it on for 10 minutes...I say minimum 30 minutes...I like the result of 30 minutes...I left mine on for an hour. It's a good look.

Once the time is up...I scrape the excess off and put it back in my jar. Take the vase and rinse with water. Then take some windex and clean it up really good. Dry.

Now all you have left to do is tie your bow or decorate it any other way you'd like!





My finished project. After everything was cleaned up I added a dark green candle and the little Merry Xmas card!

12.13.2010

11 days until Christmas!

This year has just flown by...I don't think I'd have made it through this year without my seatbelt...but in looking back it has been the greatest year ever! I've been completely and utterly blessed. Life is beautiful!!

 As far as crafts have been going...I think I've been in the middle of 9382479237592384 different projects. My sister in law's gift have taken front runner though since they've gotta be shipped to Hawaii...yes I'm running behind, but they are being shipped on Wednesday morning at the latest. My Christmas cards are going out then as well...I'm so excited...

Tomorrow I'll be starting Hadleigh's crib bumper...she's starting to scoot herself around in bed so I figure it's time. I thought if I made one it'd be way cuter than buying one...so here's to being adventurous. I'm also making a blanket which I'm TOTALLY psyched about. I'm going to put up pictures as I go and if all goes as planned a tutorial.

 I feel miserably about not having any up so far. Even though it's not an excuse I've been ridiculously busy. Go figure having 4 kids and a hubby...and trying to squeeze out a life ha!

11.22.2010

Sweet, Cuddly and My Newest Inspiration

I always said...boys are great...being a tomboy growing up I knew how to "do" boys...I said I don't need a girl (even though secretly thinking a girl would be fabulous) My boys...Nathanael, Thomas & Brien are fantastic..all of them are brilliant and creative and I'm pretty sure are going to be engineers with as much time as they spend playing Legos. However, back in August I was blessed with 7lbs 10oz of pure pink fabulousness...Hadleigh was born and I didn't think that I would go crazy, but my husband has watched me knit, crochet, cut, glue, staple & sew just about everything I can think of as long as it has to do with my sweet baby girl! She has been such an inspiration as to things I can make for her.

It started with her baby shower, my sister in law helped in big ways (she's an avid stamper) and we created these beautiful invitations for the shower & then the favor boxes were made...
I then became hooked...I made matching Thank You cards and just started puttin' together some great cards. It's been wonderful finally having an excuse to play with pink & fabric.

When each of the boys was born I crocheted them a blanket...all of them are shades of blue and dark greens...rather funny when you look back. Now everything they like is black, greys, blues and orange and generally everything has some sort of skull on it. I find that the things you can make for a boy, especially an 8 and 7 year old very limited. They love their blankets, but past that they don't care if mom made them a cute hat because it's not cute. It's gotta be cool and awesome and somehow look like something Daddy would wear.
But then I have my sweet Hadleigh...dresses and leggings and tutus...oh the possibilities. First thing I did while I was pregnant was make these darling little hats. I've started selling them because everyone just thought they were the greatest thing! Needless to say...Hadleigh has a million of them. Dark pink, baby pink, cream and white...she has one for every outfit!




Then it happened. I started running out of yarn...I had all these remnents left but nothing I could do anything else with...then it happened. It dawned on me. Hadleigh needed booties! Of course they had to be Mary Janes. How could she live without matching Mary Janes? So I took a scrap piece...literally it's a TINY ball of yarn...and made possibly the cutest little booties.
What's great about both the hats and the booties are they're sooooo universal. They can have bows, flowers, buttons. I have one that has a button in the center of the flower...I mean the possibilities are endless! The scrap pieces were also used for headbands. I have become completely wrapped up with headbands!!! So I decided to make a customizable headband for her out of the remnants of yarn also...and I ended up with this.
You can put in ribbons, bows and flowers. Just so many different options. And with that it just opened the door into so many different ideas for her. Currently I'm facinated with ruffles and flowers. I'm using new fabrics and different ideas I've got for her. She's just such an ispiration for all things girly and it seems there is no end to which my ideas are flowing...my poor husband. I am super lucky to say he's so supportive...even with all the crazy.

Currently I'm toying with the idea of putting up a tutorial for some of this stuff...so we'll see how that goes! Now it's off to play...

11.21.2010

Always a First!

Alright, as my first blog I suppose I'd just like to say...hi, and welcome to my craziness! I live fast (which I have to with my crazy kids) and it's always fun...and I must say I can't wait to share my crafts and projects with you.
As a mom, I'm always busy, but I find being creative gives me a fabulous break and the outcome is always happy! Having a baby girl now gives me some new inspiration and I'm loving it!

So welcome to the fun!