On the fourth day of Christmas four little monkeys came to play. I made a batch of these last year to give as gifts, and these little guys stayed to live with us. There are four of us and four monkeys so they kids play family with them. Because I made them all a little different they fight over who has stripes and who has dots.
Here is the full post with instructions to make your own.
This is one of my favourite things that I have made for the kids. I made these 3 years ago when my oldest was 3. Surprisingly they are still all intact. On the third day of Christmas we went fishing. Link to felt fish.
On the second day of Christmas my true love made for me two types of reindeer treats, and a veggie tree.
I started this blog years ago under the title Crafting Through the Holidays and each day during the 12 days of Christmas I would post a new craft. The last few years I have continued the tradition and this is the 4th anniversary of the 12 days of Christmas crafting. It also happens to be smack in the middle of my graduate school exams. So I am going to share some of my past favourites and a few new crafts over the next 12 days. Enjoy!
On the first day of Christmas…it’s not a partridge in a pear tree but a veggie tree.
On the first day of Christmas…my true love made me a Veggie Tree
It’s been 4 months since I had a craniotomy and it’s time to have a peek inside my brain. I feel like this is the moment of truth. Although my neurosurgeon claims that he got every last bit of Timmy the tumour, I still have a little fear that he missed a piece. When he told me about the surgery and how he had to slice and dice the tumour to get it out of the hole they drilled in my skull, I worry that maybe one of those little bits went rogue and is floating around in my head just waiting to create havoc.
Today I am going for a tube ride also known as an MRI to see the inner workings of my brain. The MRI creates images with magnets so of course another small worry of mine is what if the metal plate or the screws that are affixed to my skull aren’t titanium. What if by accident they used steel and that sucker is going to get ripped out of my head. I told my husband who is an aerospace engineer and he said that it’s not possible to pull screws out of bone with a magnet, but he builds planes so the jury is still out on that one. Maybe I will get an earth magnet and try see if it sticks to my head.
The last time I had an MRI I was nervous about the process and having my head clamped in the helmet device. It was a piece of cake except for the pain I felt in my tooth with the metal post and cap. Today I am hoping for no pain, no tumour and some good music!
Are you ready for the holiday? I have been slowly preparing for the holiday season for a while now because I have 4 exams to write between December 11 and the 21st. It’s crunch time for me so I have attempted to get some of my holiday shopping and preparations done ahead of time.
One of our holiday traditions each year is a little holiday photo shoot in my house with my kids, and sometimes other families as well. This year I opened it up to my friends and had a large 6 family photo event. Here are some of the shots that I took of my own kids when I had a break between other families.
Woo hoo, I made it to level 38. For the past number of years I didn’t celebrate my birthday. I was aging and apparently that was a problem. Since my run in with Timmy the brain tumour I am overjoyed to be a little older than I was yesterday. So today and everyday I am celebrating life.
On the aging front the little old lady that lives in my hairline will still be having her 6 week visit with my hair dresser. Even though I maybe 38 I don’t want the flowing grey locks of someone twice my age.
Last year after I blew out my candles my oldest said “I know what your wish was.” He told me that he though I wished that my husband and I didn’t get a divorce. It broke my heart and surprised me too. I am not sure where he came up with that one as there were no signs that it was going to happen. I didn’t wish for a happy marriage, I actually wished for good health. Isn’t that a kick in the you now what. I did get finally get my wish but only after some trauma in the health department.
So this year I learned my lesson and I am not wishing for health. This year I am wishing to win the lottery, we will see how I make out with that one ;).
There is a chill in the air and all of the trees have lost their leaves. Fall is here. My youngest has begun to point out nests in the naked trees. He tells me that the birds are snuggled in their nests making candies. If only that was true. He has been making nests around the house and snuggling in with his stuffies. I am taking my cues from him these days and fluffing up my own nest.
I spend too much time browsing on Pinterest! I saw a picture of chunky knit blanket that I had to make. The problem was that I couldn’t find knitting needles long and thick enough. I wanted to make a king size chunky knit blanket and I wasn’t about to start knitting with 3′ long needles. Although come to think of it I probably could have tried knitting with the kids light sabers!
I wasn’t going to let something as trivial as not having the right size needles stop me, so I made a pair. Using a pair of purchased 50mm short knitting needles (pictured) I cut them down drilled holes in the ends, tapered the cut ends, inserted and glued a rope, taped the rope to the needles and voila circular needles long enough to knit a king size blanket.
This was the biggest knit project that I have ever attempted. I learned a few things in the process. First off this project worked my arm muscles! I was sore after knitting because the blanket and yarn are so heavy. It was next to impossible to knit sitting in a chair because the blanket was so big it would spill over onto the floor and then it was really hard to get the tension right. Sitting in bed was the perfect place to work on this blanket so that the weight could be spread out over an even surface. It is only a little luxurious to knit and be warm and cozy under your project at the same time.
Pattern to follow
Halloween is one of my favourite days of the year. With little ones it’s easy to get caught up in all of the excitement. Here are a couple of projects that we made for the holiday.
Mummy Cupcakes
We went to a Halloween party and brought these mummy cupcakes as dessert. They are chocolate cupcakes with white icing, and red M&M’s for eyes.
Pumpkin Rice Crispies
These treats went to one of my boys classes for a Halloween party. I found the instructions here. I took some liberties with the recipe and added pretzels for stems and green frosting leaves.
Halloween Wreath
I copied my own idea from last years Christmas wreath and made a similar wreath for Halloween with orange and black washi tape.
As a pretty passionate maker you might think that I would be making the kids halloween costumes but I don’t. The reason why is that it’s just too expensive. I do however make my own costume every year. This year I was little red riding hood. I didn’t make it into any of the photos this year 😦
Yesterday marked our fifth wedding anniversary. We were married on the beach in Mexico which is where I would like to be right now. It’s grey and rainy and it will be for the next few months. An escape to some where hot and sunny would be very welcome.
This was a rather tough year for us. I became unemployed, went back to school as a graduate student, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had a craniotomy. That is a lot of changes for a marriage to endure in a short period of time. Throw two little kids into the mix and it could have been a recipe for marriage disaster. BUT it wasn’t. Thankfully we figured out how to hold it all together and end up in a better spot than we were a year ago.
The “in sickness and in health” part of our marriage vows were really tested this year. A test that I ignorantly thought wouldn’t happen until we were much older. My husband was amazing throughout the brain tumour process. He remained calm and when I though my world was going to crumble. He held it all together, he never wavered, and most importantly he never lost faith that everything would be OK. I asked him often if he was scared and all he would ever say was “not yet”. His strength gave me tremendous strength which I am very grateful for. I understand now when someone makes reference to another person “as their rock”. I get it, I have one. This year was a big test and I am proud to report that we passed.
To celebrate five years of marriage we managed to escape overnight without the kids. We have the most amazing babysitter/friend on the planet who came and stayed with the kids. We spent the day at the spa and then ate the most amazing dinner, and enjoyed the quiet of the oceanview suite. The fifth anniversary is wood, and we were staying in a log cabin, sleeping in a bed carved from tree branches. If that isn’t enough wood I made this Christmas tree decoration as a present for my husband. Confused he asked if he was supposed to wear it around his neck and I was like “who do you think you are Mr.Tee?” It is made from a tree branch from our yard with string that was used on our wedding invitations. It isn’t the most glamorous gift I have ever given but it’s the thought that counts.
Making A Life 