Handmade
It has been ridiculously hot this week. In the 90s and humid. Yesterday afternoon we went swimming but the other days I've been working to get life in order for the new season. Organizing for the school year and wrapping up my buying club commitments along with my usual daily tasks.
While I've been busy the kids have been busy also. Sewing.
Inspired by some etsy research they each sewed stuffed critters this week. Celine stitched little Clover, a mouse 3 inches tall. An entirely independent project.
Cheerio hangs from my diseased sunflowers
With a bit of help from me Brienne and Laurent made bats with wired wings and feet for hanging upside down. Cheerio is Laurent's creation, inspired by the Latin name for bats Chiroptera. Lavender belongs to Brienne, named of course for her purple eyes.
When life is a tad busy (slowing down though) I am very grateful for my children's creative groove. I'm always amazed at what they can do with a little inspiration, hot glue, fabric and thread.
If you need some creative inspiration the fall publication of Rhythm of the Home has some great handicraft ideas. I am especially eyeing the Making A Playscape project. This is something my kiddos would love.
How about you? Any crafty projects to share?
The last knitting project I was working on stalled at about this point:
This photo is from last Christmas when I decided, after too many mistakes to count, to frog my first pair of socks. The fact that they are "froggy" green is simply a sweet irony.
This brings the total of my completed knitting projects to... one, this little shawl I finished last fall.
I'm a flow-with-the-life-season kind of gal and have come to terms with spring and summer not being my knitting, sewing or any other handicraft season. Except for my needle felting workshop in May and the teensy sewing I did for the girls in July I haven't stitched anything with my hands this summer.
And I'm totally ok with that because I've decided why learn to knit when I know someone who can knit socks like these?
And these.
You see, I make soap. And she makes socks (& other pretties). And we exchanged.
This, I could get used to.
This past weekend we took a whirlwind trip up into New Brunswick to pick up Laurent from my parents. We were supposed to meet in Maine and be hiking Mt. Katahdin with them (and a bunch of other people) but the rain and thunderstorms thwarted those plans. So instead we were gone a mere 28 hours; spent the night at a campground visiting my folks and came back home a complete family again.
The girls are happy to once again have their brother, friend and playmate back. Although we had some good times while he was gone I'm sure our days were not as special as being the only grandchild spending two weeks with your adoring grandparents. Quite predictably, Laurent had a fabulous time and (not so predictably) honestly didn't miss me a stitch (I just made up that phrase).
He's a live-in-the-moment kind of person and had just too much fun with Nana & Papa to think twice about missing life at home. I'm happy for this time he had and the memories, handbuilt wooden boats, beach stones and thrift store clothes Nana bought him that he came home with.
But while he was away the girls and I made a few memories also. And we even made some wardrobe updates of our own.
Pretty Sewing
One project I started that I haven't yet completed was to sew simple sundresses for the girls. I hope to finish these by next week and post my progress. Even more simple than those dresses though was making flouncy skirts out of existing sundresses.
The girls both owned sundresses with bodices that were either too small, itchy or just plain uncomfortable. After a few easy measurements I cut the tops off, sewed a casing, inserted an elastic and viola... pretty skirts. The perfect project for the girly groove we had going on.
A Paper Doll Craft
The main creative project of the last couple weeks has been paper dolls. And in Celine's case magnetic dolls. What started this crafting was the store bought magnetic doll set (pictured below) the girls were given on our trip to Gaspé. Celine originally thought she'd like to buy herself a tin, so the girls would each have one, but changed her mind to making them herself. That's my girl!
Celine made magnetic paper dolls and their clothes using two methods:
- Drawing and coloring designs right on the magnet sheet (purchased at the craft store).
- Printing paper designs and glueing on the magnet.
Brienne stuck to printing paper dolls and their clothes to play with and add to her collection.
Liana's Paper Doll Blog was our go-to source for the past two weeks. The girls spent hours surfing her hand drawn designs, picking and choosing their favorites to print. Celine prefers medieval-like designs and Brienne likes anything pink or purple!
The fashions on this blog are definitely womanly and not little girl paper dolls but they were perfect my girls' interest in grown-up gowns and period costumes. It's a very cool blog with many, many dresses and dolls.
Celine's own medieval dress design
A Princess Story
Knowing that I'd have just the girls for a couple weeks I even picked up a princess read aloud for bedtime. The Ordinary Princess is the delightful tale of a princess who is given the gift of "being ordinary" by her fairy godmother, much to the dismay of the royal court. She grows up looking rather ordinary, loving nature and the outdoors, not at all interested in normal princess life. When she is threatened to be married off to anyone who will take her (she is very ordinary looking after all) she runs away to live in the forest and eventually finds employment as a kitchen maid in the castle of the neighboring kingdom. While employed there she unwittingly falls in love with the young, very nice, "man-of-all-work" king, whose real identity is hidden from her, as hers is from him.
The story ends as you might expect, with a royal marriage - but this one based on loving each other for who they are, not their royal identities or pretty complexions. I personally loved the honeymoon in the small forest cottage.
This was the perfect princess story to read to my outdoor loving girls with just the right amount of girly romance, being who you are and "finding one's true love". All three of us loved it.
And there you have it. Two weeks of pretty, dolls, pink and princesses. Now that Laurent is back the days are more rambunctious, goofy and filled with insects and fantastical creatures once again. Family life as normal. It feels wonderful.
PS. Please see FIMBY mainpage or click the button below to find my updated resource page for all our household and kiddo craftiness.
