Thursday, December 23, 2010

Ninjabreadmen...Take That!


I found these super awesome cookie cutters over HERE.

So fun.

It's apparently also a great way to get your 7 year old son to bake with you. I mean, hello?! Not gingerbread men, but Ninjabread Men!

So, off we got to rolling, cutting and baking.


( Shhh, don't tell, but I used pre-made gingerbread dough )

THEN...we got to decorate them!




These were seriously fun to make and bring a little added kick to the holiday celebration. :)

Speaking of....tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!! So, I will be signing off here for the next week to spend some much needed time with my family.

I hope those that celebrate have a fabulous Christmas, that all have a great rest of 2010 and a very Happy New Year in 2011!

See you back here in January!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Silly Emotional Gift Wrap

I just got silly emotional over wrapping a gift for my son.

It's not the gift (although I think it's awesome he wants one of those wooden drawing manikins...and it came WITH a beginners drawing kit...) I got emotional over, but the actual wrapping of it.

I know. It's sounds so odd, but the reason goes back to memories of my Gramma. Thankfully she is still with us, but she is not the younger Gramma I once knew.

It's hard. She taught me how to sew buttons, how to use a sewing machine and read a pattern. She taught me how to cook the most wonderful family recipes that I so cherish along with so, so many other wonderful things. Too many to list in one blog post. She is the woman who practically raised me.

And.....

She taught me how to wrap gifts. She was so perfect at it! I begged her to teach me, and with much love and affection...as with everything she has ever done...she taught me.

I remember....I must have been around my son's age now....I asked her HOW she was able to wrap so darn good! And she told me, one year, she worked in gift wrap when she was a younger.

She explained how it wasn't just the wrapping job, but the wrapping paper one chooses. She also told me to take my time and not rush it....in time I would get the hang of it and would be able to do it as she did.

I eventually got the hang of it, but I don't think I will ever do it quite like she could.

So, why does this make me so emotional?! I can only attribute it to her not being able to do these things like she once could.

Her hands are more frail and she cannot sew with me as she once did, because she cannot see very well now. She cannot cook, walk, bake pies or cook a whole Christmas dinner like she used to any longer.

It almost completely breaks my heart.....I miss her. I miss the Gramma that could play soccer with my son and stand and bake pies with me all day in preparation for the holidays. I know it sounds so selfish, but it's true.

This past Thanksgiving? It was the first year we were not able to bake pies together....

I chose not to bake any pies. I also got sick, so I was not necessarily able to anyway. But....

But! This Christmas? My sister, niece and I are going to get together and bake. I know my Gramms won't be able to, but she will be here with us too. She is still pretty good at directing...

I pray we have many more years together....but...I will cherish the ones we have now.

And gift wrap? It may always make me cry and little.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Uniqueness Box

My son brought this home the other Sunday from church. It's called a uniqueness box. Or at least that is what it said on the paper. It's also like his own little prayer box...you'll see why...

He was so excited to show me all the different sides of it. Especially the one he drew of Songbird:





He even included one of our dog and one of himself.


Then I opened the box and my heart melted into a puddle:




There they were. Three simple prayers of a child. In case you need translating, they say:

-Please keep them safe while they are gone
-Please keep my mom and dad safe in Russia
-Please keep my sister safe

Yeah, I know we need to work a bit on the spelling, but for right now? I do not care. It's the thought and simple plea of a child in prayer.

I am not sure my heart will ever leave it's puddled state....

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Little Gnomes

I seem to go through thread pretty quickly while making lots of fun coffee cuffs...

In one particularly busy month, I got quite the collection of empty spools. I thought to myself there must be something I can make with these! Then, I happened upon a tutorial that, for the life of me, I cannot find now! If I do, I will certainly post it here...if these look familiar and you know where in blogland it is, feel free to share in the comments so credit can be properly given.

Meanwhile...empty spools. And gnomes. Serious fun and cuteness when adding a bit of felt, wooden head-dealy's and a marker.

See!

I took my empty spool, glued the heady-ball dealy on (yes, I just called it that...let's just go with it):



Then I took some felt and glued together some cute little clothes and hat for them. Then took a marker and added a face...and voila!



Cute little gnome family. They make me happy.
And yes, that littlest one IS meant to be Songbird. :)