Holidays: Advent Calendar

I love handmade things for the holidays.  I like ornaments, garland, the lights and I love handmade stockings.  Since having a little one, I have found myself wanting to decorate more.  I prefer snowflakes and stars to Santa and stuffed snowmen however, and so I am thinking about ways to bring in tradition into our way of thinking and approaching the holidays. I love the idea of counting time, so I like the basic concept of an advent calendar, I could even get into little treats, as long as they were healthy and didn't buy into the need to go out and BUY 25 things every year to put into this calendar.  We are also trying to reduce the sugar, which is no small feat this time of year.  

My solution was much more simple.  I made a calendar, and handstitched a felt star to move through the pockets to count time.  It may look a little Americana, but I think it fills the bill of a more natural approach to the holidays quite well.  It also makes for a nice little way of marking other events, like my daughter's birthday and that of my late Grandma.  I think a handstitched item to mark the Solstice would also be good, so that it can move each year to the appropriate day.

House: Red Gets a New Room

Many parents can attest to many things that they would do if it meant getting sleep, more sleep or better sleep.  For us it came down to this: Scarlett (Red) had to move from her bright naturally lit room in the front of the house to a cozy, darker and quiet room at the back of the house.  Between early summer sun rays brightly, albiet beautifully, lighting her room and waking to the sound of vehicles on the road, I was quietly cursing to myself very morning too early to mention.

Red is getting older, and much more mobile.  While some children spend a lot of time really getting into letters and using words, she is getting into and creating puzzles.  Getting out of the crib was a puzzle quickly solved by climbing, as is getting things off the counter.  Clothes?! Well there is a fun puzzle!  Wooden puzzles are quickly solved and resolved and outside is THE jam.  She taught herself how to swing at 19 months or so.  Running around in the lower field is a fantastic adventure and hikes are something to quickly get yourself dressed for.  So how do you make a room that is safe for your climber and that is fun and creates an indoor outside? A nature themed toddler room!

The Parts:
When Scarlett was still an infant I found a fun bed by P'kolino and stored it away.  This summer I had purchased some of those Ikea leaves to try to use on her swing to shade afternoon rays and never installed them. I had found a remnant of linen fabric depicting birds and flowers in a graphic cut paper style and bright orange.  I had some left over blue wall paint (it was the wrong color the first time, but it would be a great cheery sky).

The Plan:
I have a handy husband, but he detests painting, so when he went out of town for a project, I got to work!  Stitching the curtains, building the bed, painting the walls.  Yes, Red's bedtime became a highly productive time for me!  After I got it all done, I arranged the P'kolino chairs (that are also puzzles and building blocks) and quiet time activities.

The Result:

In the morning, I often wake to hear Scarlett talking to her friends and babies, reading them books and talking about outside and her best friend Chichi (not her name, but thats what Red calls her).  Her room is a very fun and brightly colored nature room.  She loves it, and she sleeps til 6:30-7AM.  I call it 100% worth it!

Ornaments: veggies

As much as I'd like to say the reason for my absence in posting is due to having too many projects to post about, I can't.  No excuses here.  But what I can say is that it's that time of year again and I'm putting some time in.  This week I filled an order for Garden Fever! in NE Portland.  I put together a dozen selected veggies.  I don't have a huge variety of veg cookie cutters so I cut each one of these sweet ornaments by hand and stitched them up for their December 1 event.  There are still plenty there, so if you feel the need, you know where to go! ;)

Eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, cabbage and beets, oh my!  Each are hanging on a festive green cord.

Sneak Peek!

Some dear friends are expecting a little boy and I'm working on something that I'm really excited about!  Their baby shower is May 28, so after that, I will post all of the pictures!  Megan likes elephants as a theme, and James likes interesting color combinations.  Here is a sneak peek, no one tell the momma and papa!

House: Hen Mansion in progress

We have been busy with new house projects!  The chicken coop is the most complete, and now that 4 of our 6 lovely ladies are living outside, it's time to show it off!!

This is what we started with.  The grand master plan?  What you see will evolve in the next few years into a garden brewery (yes, that's right, I said brewery) that is terraced on this hillside.  The chickens will have free reign within the garden.  It has to be fenced for the elk and the deer, and the bunnies, so it will be a large space for the girls to roam.  For now, they have their mansion!  Modern with a touch of country chic.

What is next for the hen house?  A few finishing touches.  Adjusting where the sculpture hangs is the first and easiest.  I made this sculpture in college, a little bird crazy, yes.  It's feathers used to be covered with vellum, but the years were not kind to this one.  It didn't help that I left it outside after college but whatever.  It finally has a home, and with a little adjustment, it will be perfect!

After that we need to plant some berries and hops and lay some stone.  The wooden piece that is going across the roof needs to be replaced with aluminum angle that hugs the wire fencing material to the house and the egg door needs to be cut out as well as the small chicken door in the front.  Then to get our garden in.  Final Hen House pictures to come!  Thanks for reading and visiting.

SPRING: a few hairclips and a few hundred daffodils

Spring is coming, Spring is COMING!!  While there are a great many things blooming at my old house, and in Portland, my new house is waiting....  waiting for the yellow explosion from the hundreds of daffodils the former owner planted everywhere.  And while it is nice to have some blooms this year, these guys are getting moved.  Not that I don't like Narcissus.  I do, I just want them to be used as a dramatic statement in another part of the yard.  In the meantime, I'm celebrating the coming of Spring with a few hairclips for Red and her friends.  Here are a couple that will be gracing the heads of cuties soon.

New project: BIG new house

I apologize for being a bad blogger since December.  After the winter sales we traveled to New England to visit family and when we got back, well, that's when we entered the throws of buying a new house.  We made an offer and closed on a new home in 3 weeks.  Holy whirlwind.  With the help of A LOT of people, we moved in a single day.  Amazingly, all of the furniture from our 780 square foot Craftsman filled out the 2500 square feet of this updated farmhouse well.  So, besides a few orders for hairclips that I have, most future blogposts may well be home improvement or garden design related.  Here are a few before pictures.  I'm really looking forward to sharing projects!