Monarch Post

wish lists

   Whoa. Crazy busy week. Lots of elf work going on here... shopping, making, baking. But it's all good, and I'm doing my very best not to stress out and enjoy the season this year. In between everything; Mike had oral surgery yesterday, but he's doing really well today. He was a happy man yesterday--Percocet, the couch, and complete control of the remote...  We have a rule here, if you're sick, you get the remote and the tv. 

Anyhoo, this is what I'm excited to see if Santa brings this year. It's on the top of Sophey's list. Out of the Pottery Barn catalog. I LOVE that catalog. It's my very favorite. And I'm so glad there's one more year I get to order from it before my last child has outgrown it all.

 
Look at this ridiculously adorable cake and cupcake set... it may have made the email to Santa list too. We'll have to wait and see;)

Here's my  "Mom Christmas time reminder list" for you (and me)-- take care of yourself. Don't stress, it will all be okay. What gets done gets done. Relax, and enjoy the little things. Does that take care of it all?! Oh, and bundle up if you go out and play:)

What's at the top of your giving or getting list this year? xoxoKelly

sweethearts

Back from Palm Springs. We had the best time. It was a little chilly for the pool, so we spent our time eating, looking, shopping, eating... Did I mention eating already? We went to such a great restaurant Saturday for lunch, we headed right back over again for dinner. Then we went to Barnes and Noble for the rest of the evening. We had to get married; nerds need each other.

This is a shot from the Palm Springs Art Museum. Couldn't take any photos inside, but it was a wonderful place. Totally inspiring.

I think I want these in my backyard, right next to my imaginary pool:)

But cast in concrete or not, I've got all the love in the world... romantic getaway weekend planned by my sweet, sweet husband. I am the luckiest girl.

And a really lucky Mom too...

 
 
Corbyn babysit Jesse and Sophey Friday until Ainsley could get there. Before I left, I told Corbyn (the tormentor of siblings) to be nice to his brother and sister for the weekend. Apparently he got the message; he took the kids out for the evening to a brand new indoor amusement park. He said he thought that was a good present for me. Apart from that fainting spell, I thought so too;) And my girls baked up a homemade birthday cake. It was sitting on the table when I walked in the door. Ainsley said, "The frosting is from scratch Mom, and you know that means it was made with love!" I sure do. Thanks guys.

Creating a storm of homemade Christmas gifts for my kids today. Five projects down, several more to go... gotta keep spreadin' that sweet homemade LOVE! (I'll have to share the gift projects after the holidays.)

Take care! xoxoKelly

weekends, here and there

Meet my new birthday present! Isn't it gorgeous. It's been sitting in a bag since the Mothers Without Borders charity bazaar, waiting till it was officially my birthday (It's Saturday, but today is close enough, right?) When I saw it, I told Mike I'd picked out my birthday gift! It's hanging across the upstairs hall banister now, giving lots of personality to a spot that was boring.

 
Never got around to posting photos from the bazaar weekend. These are some of the women who have been taught to sew by Mothers Without Borders. They sustain themselves now with sewing skills.

Such talents. Fifty plus natives, sold out. Mothers Without Borders helps find ways for those talents to be shared, and the crafters now earn incomes from their folk art.

 


Even the children are being taught to sew and crochet to sustain themselves with a trade. Look at their beautiful art!

I have to say, buying that quilt and knowing each dollar would go back to Africa to do lots more good felt really, really, really good. Beats WalMart (where I don't go anyway) shopping all to heck...  

........ 

I'm tagging along with the husband, who has a conference in Palm Springs this weekend, for my birthday gift. Just the two of us for three days-- I won't know how to act!? But I plan on learning fast at the pool;)

Take care, hope your weekend is wonderful too! xoxoKelly 
 

   

December 1st

Today is World AIDS Day. There are so many simple ways to help fight this unparalleled humanitarian crisis now, via the internet. Here are a few places to start from... It only takes a click or two. Click on over to World Vision and make a specific donation. Or, while you're out and about holiday shopping for a certain item this year, look for the Product (RED) label on products from Apple Inc., Starbucks, Converse, Motorola, Gap, Microsoft, Dell, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, and now Nike. A portion of the sales will go to fight AIDS in the poorest of countries.

 
Half of all HIV infected children under the age of two will die. Who would they have grown up to be?

We have so much in America, and they don't even have a chance without our help. xoxoKelly

beauty is...

 
" Beauty is..." That was the title for our kids school-wide art contest this year. We're grateful for a school that still places a strong emphasis on art education. The "Reflections" contest had categories from A-Z. All forms of visual arts-- painting, photography, 3D art. You name it. Dance, film, poetry. It was fun to see all the kids stepping on stage, grinning, and receiving their purple ribbons.

Sophey and Jesse took home three ribbons between them. And Sophey won a district level award for her 3D hand sculpted pink papier mache piggy bank. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder-- pink pigs and soccer fields, it all depends on your perspective, doesn't it?

 
Pink skirts on the dog-- that's pretty beautiful to me too. Lots of giggling here lately. The kids seem to get more creative when the weather gets cold, and there's less to do outside. And Winston doesn't seem to mind at all; he's just happy to be part of playing time.

  And my own beautiful thing last week? A fabulous local childrens'/moms' book and gift store who saw my designs, bought a whole big load of my handcrafted items--ornaments, brooches, bracelets, scarves, AND sock monkey outfits! 

 
We started talking sock monkey making, and apparently, all her store sock monkeys needed clothing. They are now stylishly dressed in my new sock monkey couture;) Clothing certainly makes the monkey:O

I'm back in my studio today-- making more goodies. I worked like crazy right till Thanksgiving. So Thanksgiving was low key and relaxing for us this year. We skipped the turkey and grilled steaks-- yep, really. No shopping yesterday either-- I avoid Black Friday like the Black Plague... Monday will be a Christmas shopping day.

Hope you're all enjoying the long holiday weekend! xoxoKelly 
 

a friendly wish

Love this photo! I don't remember where it came from, but I've been waiting all year to use it!

Wishing my sweet blog friends a wonderful Thanksgiving  Day!! xoxoKelly

snow day

Last weekend it snowed. All day long. Nothing major, just a light snowstorm through the day and evening. It was a good weekend to stay inside. And with sick people here, it was a good day to work on something I could pick up and put down as I needed to. Ainsley joined in with her own crocheted project, and we talked alot about my Mom, and her love of crocheting while we stitched. A childs' hat, scarf, and bag emerged at the end of the weekend; I was surprised at how quickly it worked up. 

I haven't crocheted at all in years. With two busy kids and then two more babies, it just wasn't on my radar screen to sit and crochet, or so I thought. I think I was probably wrong about that. I'd forgotten until last spring, how easy it is to sit and work at a piece of crocheting. Needle in and through and out, pulling yarn. Over and over and over again. A rhythm develops and a calm descends for me.

I crocheted through the spring as a way to cope while I helped take care of my Mom. I could pick it up whenever she fell asleep, and there was nothing else for me to do for a few minutes. It calmed my soul, and brought me peace through such an incredibly difficult time. The wonderful hospice lady who sat with my Mom, would bring her crocheting with her each time she came too. Instead of leaving when she arrived, I found myself staying, and we would sit and crochet together and talk about yarn and projects. I'm sure it would have looked awfully boring to anyone looking in on us, but she knew what I had just discovered: This was a way to cope, and it was healing work. 

I became awfully grateful to have come full circle in my love of this needlecraft. My Mom taught me to crochet when I was only about four. She crocheted beautifully. Pillowcases, doilies, tablerunners, baby buntings, and always a lovely baby blanket for each new grandchild. I took her lead, and crocheted all through my childhood and youth. Starting with those twirly 1970's ponytail holders, then moving onto doll clothes and blankets. Hope chest doilies as a teenager. Snowflakes for my own first Christmas tree...

And then life got so busy with kids and babies. I couldn't imagine how I had had the time to make any of those things. They seemed old fashioned, and a little silly too, as I worked for companies who wanted more "sophisticated craft projects".

I'm so glad that crocheting, and so many other needlecrafts have experienced a revival in the last decade. I'm surprised and delighted to see all the wildly cool, creative crocheted things made by Etsy artists today! It's good to see the next generation pick up the hook and run with it! Moms and Grandmas would approve, I'm sure.

Last month, as I searched Amazon for other crochet books, I ran across: Contemplative Crochet-  a hands on guide for interlocking faith and craft, by Cindy Crandall-Fazier. I was so intrigued by the title, I had to order it. I'm reading it now.

It's a beautifully written book, and Cindy is a wise woman. I'm grateful she got the guts to write a book she said many laughed off. Cindy writes:

 "Sharing crochet, teaching our craft, and giving the fruits of our labor are satisfying, joyful ways of celebrating our work. Helping to keep people and animals warm and comforted by giving bears or snuggles are compassionate ways of putting our contemplation into action. But the act of doing something for someone else can also have a healing effect on us, one fiber, one stitch at a time. Perhaps even more important than the products we create, the process of crocheting can become a spiritual practice of healing our worn or torn spirits that need mending. As we bring stitches and fabrics together, we create something whole and beautiful out of many disjointed pieces. I can think of no better image, and method, for the healing of our souls."

Hope your weekend is lovely, xoxoKelly

 

not your average cookie cutter creations;)

I suppose this is what happens after you write two posts about gingerbread-- those dog-eaten cookies, and those nummy gingerbread pancakes... It's only natural to follow up with gingerbread ornaments made from recycled wool, er, if you're me, after all. I've made some of the growing gingerbread crowd into kids' ornament kits, while other sets are ready made for my Etsy shop.

Anyhoo, sorry for the unplanned blog break. Sick kids here, falling like dominoes. I think I ran to the grocery store for Gatorade, and whatever else sounded good about every day last week. And also last week, I lost my camera. The oldest sick person, Ainsley came over here to be sick (There's no place like home to be sick, right?) for a day. In between feeling lousy, she worked on crocheting an afghan, and I wanted to blog about her creation. And how for generations, the ladies in my family have crocheted. But no camera. Hunted everywhere. I found it later that evening, when I went to my embroidery thread basket... because you know, that's just where a camera should be, right? Sheesh.

I'm trying to be more organized and useful today-- so here's that post for how to make a coat wreath pin.

I do have to tell you, it was inspired by my lovely, sweet maternal Grandma Warner. I remember the little crocheted green coat wreath pins with a red yarn bow she made for Christmas. And how as a child, I thought they were the most wonderful, clever things. My Grandma was a farm wife and a mother of nine during the Depression years.. I loved her, and how she smelled... White Shoulders perfume, Jergens lotion, coal dust, and farmy. More like cow-ey, actually. She lived next door to a cow stockyard. She was always complaining about the "cow dust" in her home, and the smell. But I always liked it. And the mixture of White shoulders perfume, and cow dust.... Well you'd just have to smell it to understand, I'm sure. Love you, Gramma.

Cut two strips of felted wool. Approx 1" wide X 9" long. Twist both pieces together like so in the photo. Just until they twist, but don't knot.

Tie a regular old knot with the red wool strips. (That is a crappy photo, I just realized. Sorry)

Cut the green wool strips into leaf shapes. Trim red bow. Sew on a few beads for berries. Sew a jewelry pin backing onto the back.

Gee, you're done. Was that worth directions? I hope I didn't insult anyones' intelligence on this one. The thing is, you never know... I'm sure some people would look at this, and know exactly how to make it, and others would be stumped. I am often stumped at something simple, so in the spirit of, um, whatever you might call it, here you go:) 

If I'm not here more than once or twice a week until Christmas is over; I'm Okay, just busier. Right now, I really want to make so many things. Some of those things are for my kids, and a couple of those kids actually read their Mom's blog (gasp!) So, I know I can't post all of what I'm working on at the moment. And I also really want to just share ideas for Christmas right now. And I want to try and have a successful Etsy shop, like, someday. Maybe like now would be good, huh?

Take care, hope all's well with you? Are you making anything fun for the holidays?

Tell me tell me, please! xoxoKelly

winner, winner, pancake dinner

 
 My new sock monkey helped draw the winning name.... Congrats to Cindy @ Yapping Cat Studio. Yay! Email me your address and I'll get the giveaway goods in the mail for you!

 
Of course, she couldn't read the winning ticket herself, since she's still needing her eyeballs sewn on:)

I think I'll take her, and her eyeballs with me to the skate park this afternoon, I'll stitch while the kids are skate. Then we'll get to designing a wardrobe with that stack of wool and cotton tomorrow.

 It's early out all week at our school for parent/teacher conferences. Yesterday, Sophey and Jesse had their conferences, and they had amazing grades-- so we're heading out for some fun at the local skate park to reward those good grades today!

Last night to celebrate, I made the kids something sweet and new: Gingerbread pancakes and apple compote. Sounds fancy, but it was really simple. I found the recipe at messycook. It was sooo good! We all loved it. Jesse's friend ate over last night with us and said, "Everything your Mom makes is so good." Jesse replied, "Well, you haven't eaten everything she makes-- you shoulda been here when she made potato barf soup last month!" That's my kids-- always keeping it real, and me humble.  xoxoKelly

tales and a giveaway

Okay, here we go... I've been making more ornaments, and duplicates of these are here for you. Yes, that over-hyped giveaway is finally here folks...

So four handmade recylced, upcycled, sweet, sweater ornies could be yours-- for a comment:) How about your favorite or worst holiday story if you've got one too-- please do tell. Inquiring minds want to know;) Or just stop and say "hi!"

*****

So here's my Christmas tree decorating horror story: Christmas 1992. We had just moved back to Utah from a three-year Air Force stint in England. Mike had decided to take the Air Force early out option available at this time, and so we were able to settle down and buy our first home that October. We were excited to celebrate the holidays in our hew home as civilians. We had also promised the kids a dog after the move and house-buying. And so we did. We found a darling, young, spotted black and white shitzu mix at the pound. Ainsley instantly named her Spotley: in honor of herself-- Ains-ley, Spot-ley. (Because we are narcissistic like that sometimes.) Cute dog, cute house, cute kids. Christmas time. Life was sweet.

There was only one problem in the happy holiday homecoming story... I needed to have a painful, heel/bone spur removed before our military benefits ran out. Two days before Thanksgiving, I went in for the surgery. Two hours later, I woke up with a full cast (just below the knee) on my right leg. No one had told me any casts would be involved. No one?!! I was then told I would be in that cast for six weeks. I was an angry woman when I left the hospital... It was Christmas time, I had a seven-year old and an eighteen-month old baby, a new dog, and shopping to do. I couldn't drive. I couldn't walk. I had crutches. (There was no Amazon computer shopping back then.) It was icy outside. I had two pairs of sweat pants to wear for six weeks; jeans wouldn't go over my cast. I became an angrier woman in a hot pink sweatsuit. I looked ridiculous. Poor Mike.

Three weeks into cast wearing, it was time to get a new cast. The orthopedic tech asked if I wanted a colored cast this time. I somewhat sarcastically replied: ya, why don't you alternate the red and white cloth strips and make it look like a candy cane for Christmas... He did. Now I was an angry woman in a hot pink sweat suit with a candy cane cast on my right leg. And crutches. And Christmas fast approaching...

I think I'm making a long story longer here... Okay, onto tree decorating... Before my surgery, I made sure to bake dozens of our traditional gingerbread ornaments for the Christmas tree.  Four weeks in a cast had also made me a determined woman on crutches. I hobbled and hopped around the tree decorating the night away. I meticulously hung all those tucked-away gingerbread ornaments too. The tree was beautiful, and it was midnight. I hobbled to bed.

In the morning, I did my skip/hop/hobble downstairs to find a COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED Christmas tree. Almost every single ribbon hanger was empty of gingerbread ornaments. THE DOG HAD EATEN THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!! I learned that the cute new dog was apparantly part kangaroo, and could jump really high; while simultaneously eating gingerbread cookies. It never crossed my mind that I had made a tree bakery for the dog! (I grew up without a dog in the house.) I sat on the stairs and cried. After a really good feel-sorry-for-myself cry, I pulled everything off the tree and started over, minus gingerbread ornaments. I have never baked gingerbread cookies for a tree since, and I probably never will. As long as we have a dog in the house, anyways. Sheesh.

******* 

So tell us your stories-- good or bad about the holidays! And since you've stayed with me to the end of a post that was preeetty long, here's a little something extra.

 I've been making wreath brooches for my charity boutique this week.

They remind me of my grandmothers' and great aunts' pretty Christmas brooches. 

 
  

They're super simple to make. I'll post how-to's for sure next time:) 

And I'll leave this post up till Tuesday, Nov. 10th. Then we'll do a random draw. So pretty please... leave a comment or a story, I'd love to hear the tales!! xoxoKelly

P.S. If you are a local-- the MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS charity bazaar is this Friday and Saturday In Layton and Lehi, Utah. See above for details, and come if you can!