Anybody who spends Christmas with me should not read this blog post-kidding. Etsy for Christmas shopping is almost as good as making things yourself. The handmade items are always so unique and special. Here are some of my picks for this year.

For the wee ones:

From ManiMina -Sweet Autumn Kimono

From BABYWOOD for the funny baby, a Tina Fey onesie

Sock Monkey Prints by creativethursday

For the kids


DIY Wooden Doll Family by goosegreese



Harry Potter wand from woodturner



Pirate Map and Bean Bag set from worldofwhimm

Crayon Roll with Notepad by aebaby’s



Grumpy Robot tee from happyfamily

Santa I Spy Bag from thosegreathousewomen
For everyone else



Camping Out Mousepad from mirrorgirl

Silkscreened Votives by maryink



Rainbow Produce Bags from LoveForEarth



Balloons Print from labokoff

Well, after a blogging break, I am back. It seems more complicated having two kids in school. I thought I would have more time, but actually I seem to have less. It took us all some time to get adjusted to the new schedule. Kindergarten and 4th grade are keeping us on our toes. So over the Thanksgiving holiday I thought I would try to start posting again.
Under the category of Old Toys I Love, I bought this used Lite Brite from ebay for the kids. It probably is a fire hazard. It has a single, white hot candle bulb in it. I also bought this awesome set of Star Wars refill template pages. I love this toy. Tonight we are going to try to make a snowman and a Christmas tree.

*A note on C’s shirt. It is an old swim team tshirt of mine with Tony the Tiger iron-on ironed on the back. The iron-on was originally sparkly. I can remember loving it. So she is wearing a 30-year old tshirt on backwards, with a newly added Nutella stain.

I have gone crazy for purple lately. Roses are Red Are Violets Blue? is my favorite color book from childhood.


This week I took another sewing class at the Stitch Lab with Beckybluej. I made this purple Half-Circle Wrap Skirt. The fabric is from Jo-Ann Fabrics.


I picked out some new purple glasses and matching nail polish.

I also took a quick trip to check out the glorious new fabric store, The Common Thread. I chose some embroidered, purple daisy ribbon, which I am going to use to edge denim, circle skirts for C and E.

I was looking for something to do inside with the kids. It has been over 100 degrees for more than 40 days here in Austin. My mom saved my Fashion Plates, so I got them out for E and C to play with. This was one of my all-time favorite toys! I was never much of an artist, but I loved to color. I had forgotten about all of the textures on the back of some of the plates. I got the pink set first. You can tell the fashion in the blue set is a little “funkier” and came slightly later. I still want to play with these. What a great low-tech toy. Now if I could just get my hands on the “boy” version, the Mighty Men and Monster Maker. The kids would go crazy for making monsters.

Textures

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We are glad to have papalibrarian back from his various travels last month. Staying for the last day of ALA always yields some goodies.

Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon’s Novel Gravity’s Rainbow, by Zak Smith

Water, Water Everywhere (Sluggers), by Loren Long

Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes, by Kate DiCamillo

The Great Dog Wash, by Shellie Braeuner



And for little E’s 3rd birthday, we received gifts of books from friends.
The Dumb Bunnies Go To The Zoo, by Dav Pilkey

Bee & Me: An Animotion Experience, by Elle J. Mcguinness

Not A Box, by Antoinette Portis

We had another birthday party to go to today. My friend Haikumama’s daughter is three today! We got her this Green Toys Indoor Gardening set. I love this set, because the plants really grow well. My daughter, C received it for her birthday. It was great fun for her to watch the plants grow a little bit each day.
I decided I wanted to continue the garden theme for the wrapping paper. My five-year old daughter, C and I created this easy-to-make tissue paper flower bouquet.
We started with some very roughly cut tissue circles. We used old tissue paper that had been salvaged from presents and was languishing in the bottom of the wrapping bin.

We made the flowers each with two tissue paper circles and a pom pom. The pom poms came from the Target $1 bin.

We used white glue to glue down the tissue circles in pairs. I had to use the glue gun to secure the pom pom centers. After each center was dry, we crinkled the “petals” on each flower. I also used the glue gun for the grosgrain ribbon stems. I was going to cut the stems flush with the edge of the box, but decided I like the effect of having them hang off slightly. I think this would be a good design for a wedding shower or baby shower gift too.
Happy Birthday G! You are the sweetest!