Happy (4th day of the) New Year!

I used to dream of big New Year's eve parties with confetti and gowns - very Harry Met Sally.  I'm slowly beginning to understand that just isn't where my life is now.  Now, we tuck the kids into bed, and quietly eat our party foods and talk about what we hope to do better next year.  I realized today that's such a good thing.  I'm not really in need of a big romantic finish - but I am in need of new beginnings.

I had hoped to start a new family tradition this year, but unfortunately New Year's Eve was spent driving and driving, and New Year's day was left to unpacking and succumbing to the virus that always stows away on a roadtrip.  Blech.

Whatever.  January 4th is as good a day for a fresh start as any, right?

The girls and I baked a New Year's Cake yesterday, and we hid a coin inside (okay, two). Our recipe was pretty simple, sort of like a pound cake. I saw a couple other recipes I'd like to give a shot.  Whoever gets the slice with the coin is supposed to have a very blessed year.  The cake turned out super pretty, although stuck in my bundt pan.  And yummy, although none of us felt much like eating since we're all still a little stuffy.  We ate more of the cake after breakfast today, and we still haven't found the slices with the money!  I even poked around and cheated a bit.

But that's okay.  Now I know for sure there are blessings ahead this year.

Last night, John and I snuck out to watch the meteor shower, with baby monitor in hand. It was beautiful and surreal to think of how big the world is. I feel full of hope and expectation.  I hope you do too. Happy New Year!


I'll be taking a little time off here, to finish up my book and hang with my family. I'm still available by email if you have any blog/pattern questions {wilsonlauralynn [at] gmail [dot] com} I'll see you in the spring!

Tiny Dogs #nightsewing

 Louise has been asking if she's going to get a tiny red dog like Clifford (when he was a puppy) for Christmas.  So of course, I had to make another dog for her, and one more for June.

So, I shrunk the pattern.  Really I just opened the image on my computer and zoomed out then I traced it until the whole pattern fit on half a sheet of paper.  It's like having a light box.  They sewed up really quickly, although the head gusset was tricky because the fleece is so thick and the corners are so tiny.  Still, I'm really growing to appreciate how forgiving fleece is.  Why didn't I see this before?

These little ones have stuffing in the heads, but the rest of the body is all poly-beads which I'm also totally into now.  Sorry for the yellow-y pictures - had to take them while the kids were sleeping, you know.

So, I'm totally loving these, and I think that I probably should have been making all of my patterns tiny like this.  And not just because of the storage space.  So, yes.  It's possible that I will be making tiny giraffes, turtles, and dinosaurs next year

(the year of sewing what I want).

Paper Stars

  

I think this is the beginning of what will surely be a trend of books and crafts. Last week we were reading Patricia Polacco's Uncle Vova's Tree, in which the children make paper stars to decorate the tree.  Louise immediately said, I want to make those!  And so we did. 

 

We hadn't actually put up our tree yet, so they stayed in a vase for a few days - which I think looked quite lovely. But Louise carried one to our local Christmas parade to wave at the floats as they passed. 

Two Patterns: Dog and Stegosaurus

You were warned about the Dog, but the Stegosaurus is here too!

My girls love dogs.  And dinosaurs.  Did you know there are 13 Land Before Time movies?

13!

And yes, we've seen them all. Although, I may have slept through a couple.

I fully expect June to open this Stegosaurus at Christmas and immediately say, "Now I need a Long Neck, a Cera, a Ducky, and a Flier!" And Louise will ask for several more dogs in a variety of shapes and colors. Yes, I'm prepared.

But for now, one pattern at a time.  Or, ahem, two.  

I don't expect these to replace Pink Dog, but I'm hoping they'll join the pack.  


A few notes about these patterns:
My goal was to make the cuddly, so you may notice a few differences.  They're made of fleece and furry blankets, and they're half filled with poly beads to make them more flexible - so they don't stand up perfectly for photos.  I made the dogs in two sizes, just enlarge the pattern a bit more because - of course - we need a mommy dog and a baby dog.  Also the dogs have a million variations - button/embroidery eyes, various ears, tail up or down, spots - ooh, and an easy, no sew collar.

 

Here's a qick giveaway: Today until the 16th - click the links below to grab these patterns and make some last minute Christmas gifts!  I've changed file hosts, so I'm hoping not to have bandwidth issues. (fingers crossed) (Updated: Dec. 17th - the giveaway has now ended. Thanks for all your enthusiasm!) After the 16th, you can still find the patterns in shop.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

This is the first year we've celebrated St. Nicholas Day, so we're having fun learning and making new traditions. In a little bit, the girls will wake up and find their shoes filled with a few small treats, including St. Nicholas staff (candy cane) and gold coins (chocolate) to remind them of how he gave to the three girls in the story.

Yesterday, we made cookies, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite pre-Christmas traditions.  This was the first time I made shaped cookies with the kids, and they thought it was so cool (just like play dough!).

And later, we'll spend the day making gifts for family and friends (Martha has a great list of gifts kids can make). We decided to make gift making on St. Nicholas day part of our family tradition partly because we want our children to be people who see the needs of others, like St. Nicholas did. It is all too easy to be self-involved (believe me, I know), but compassion begins with looking at the people around you, instead of yourself.  And I want to be compassionate. Our gifts won't be world changing for anyone this year, but hopefully they will help my girls and I look outward. Perhaps it will grow into something more significant.

Ultimately, I want this day to become a day of compassion for our family. Which is hard sometimes during the holidays as you recount your life, your goals, your wish lists.  I want to teach my kids compassion, but I think I'm hungering for it, too.

How do you teach your kids about giving at Christmas?

St. Nicholas and the Dowries

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And be sure to check out the St. Nicholas Center!  You could easily lose an afternoon there. Which I did. So here are a few of my favorite links to help you out:

• the story of St. Nicholas and the Dowries - explains the custom of the shoes
• How St. Nicholas became Santa Claus 
• ideas on How to Celebrate.
• several online picture books for kids
• traditional recipes from various countries
• and, of course, St. Nicholas craft projects 

Pink Dog: revisited

Recently, Louise had taken Pink Dog out in public and was introducing her to some lucky passerby. 

I mentioned before my slight embarrassment and jealousy of the cheesy store bought dog that my daughter prizes*, and how I was learning to love it because she does. 

But then, I heard Louise say, "This is Pink Dog.  Mommy made it for my birthday." 

This dog was given to her on a regular day by one of John's sweet co-workers - so it had nothing to do with me or her birthday. But, perhaps in the same way I love her dog because I love her, she thinks I made it because she loves me. Maybe it's silly, but man, that made me happy. 

Anyway - I explained that Ms. Sherry gave that to her, and that it was from a store, which she seemed to take in stride.  But the game is on now - I'm embracing the totally excessive number of dogs we have to make a few more for Christmas.  Look for the pattern later this week...


*To be totally fair, there is some talk that Gray Dog is edging out Pink Dog these days. Only time will tell.

Family Portrait

We Wilsons

I don't think we've ever had an official family portrait made - something I really meant to do this summer... But here's the one Louise made for John's birthday.  I had to remember to get a picture of it when I was at the library where it hangs in his office.  Its always fun to stop and look at something like this again and see all the choices she made.

So a bit about how we made it. I've been really encouraged by the way Brooke at Inchmark gives her kids a simple starting point with their art projects. It provides a structure to keep their freedom from turning into chaos.  So I drew the oval head shapes and simple diagonal lines for shoulders, then she drew the eyes nose and mouth in pencil, and painted in the rest.  I think it turned out so amazing - those noses just make me so happy. 

Dinosaurs

The only structure I provide for the two year old is rinsing out her brush occasionally. She isn't too interested in painting yet, which gives me all kinds of unnecessary anxiety. She's just got to like painting, right? But looking back at this and seeing the different colors she chose and all the different marks she made calms me.  This is it. It's happening.

Advent Chain

Some day I'll get around to making some neat advent calender that we can reuse every year. But not this year. Still, preschoolers really benefit from counting time visually, so I decided to make an advent paper chain.

I've seen them around where you tear off a loop every day, so you can see how close you're getting, but I wanted Louise to be able to see how far we've come as well. So we made a regular paper chain to hang on the wall (we use a glue stick to secure the ends), and then attached a little star to a paper clip to move along each day.  It works as a great way to mark the time.

We're trying to do some bible readings or coloring pages every day. Plus, we've gotten out our little vintage nativity set and some Christmas books that we'll enjoy throughout the season.  Check out these great resources:
The St. Nicholas Center - an entire website about the real Santa Claus
Advent Calendar ideas - from the crafty crow, most of them easy to do last minute!

Fat Quarter Tea Towels

Have you see all the exciting new stuff going on at Spoonflower? Since they opened it up as a market place, there have been lots of little adjustments, making it more user friendly and fun to browse and shop.  Plus, when people buy your fabric designs, you earn money  - which you will undoubtedly spend on Spoonflower fabrics.  It feels a bit like a big idea swap.

I haven't had much time to play with designs lately (add that to my list of things to do next year...), but I wanted to take advantage of the fat quarter sale they have right now.  A linen-cotton fat quarter measures 27x18" which makes a lovely tea towel when hemmed.  I drew this little bear illustration after our recent study of Ursa Major.

 

I'm trying it in three shades of blue.  I'll let you know how they turn out.  The fat quarter sale lasts through Friday, I think - so there's still plenty of time to put together a few designs of your own, or browse tea towel designs already for sale. 

December Sale

I'm a little late on the holiday shopping madness, but I'm having a little sale in my shop, too. No need to push or shove. It's a nice, calm sale - which is about all that I can handle these days. For the whole month of December:

Free Shipping on all of my Plush Toys and Zipper Mouth Pillows.  I made a whole bunch of the crocodiles, and I have more Crocodiles and Bears cut and ready to assemble - but then I realized I don't really have the space to store them!  Oops.

Check out the SALE section for discounts when you buy two or more patterns or coloring books.

And because I love you guys so much, and I'm so genuinely grateful for your support and feedback on my designs -  I've added an extra 20% off code for anything in the shop. Plug in "WETHANKYOU" during checkout to get the discount.

Truffles

The girls and I made truffles this week to take to family on Thanksgiving.  I meant to share the recipe sooner, but I got distracted. I was surprised by how easy these are, but also how crazy messy little girls can get with a little melted chocolate.

Here's our recipe, based on this one. We divided the recipe into four parts to make four different flavors, which is obviously the fun part.  You could easily vary these - I tried to keep my additions between 1-2 TBSPs per quarter of the batter. The recipe calls for nut butter (and I used peanut) but you can't taste it much, so it doesn't affect the final flavor.

I tried to roll each in something different so that I could tell them apart, although, if I wasn't worried about the kids I probably would have tried more combinations.  I think we'll be doing this again for Christmas with some new flavors.  I'd like to try an orange marmalade, and maybe a mint?  They're so easy (especially without the help of toddlers), so I can definitely see this becoming a regular feature.

Sweet, Spicy, Espresso, and Panko Truffles

16 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup almond milk
flavorings: vanilla, sugar, red pepper, cinammon, espresso, panko
finishing: powdered sugar, crushed walnuts, cinnammon, panko

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.  Beat in peanut butter. Add almond milk.

Divide the chocolate mixture in half then in half again, putting each quarter in a bowl.

Bowl 1: Sweet vanilla
Add 1/2 TBSP vanilla and 1/2 TBSP sugar

Bowl 2: Spicy
Add 1/2 TBSP of ground red pepper and 1/2 TBSP cinammon

Bowl 3: Espresso
Add 1 1/2 TBSP espresso (or strong coffee)

Bowl 4: Panko
Add 2 TBSP panko

Mix each bowl well, then cover and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  When firm, roll each bowl into balls (about 7 balls per 1/4 cup), then roll each ball in finishing coat:

Bowl 1: Sweet Vanilla - roll in powdered sugar or Panko
Bowl 2: Spicy - roll in crushed walnuts
Bowl 3: Espresso - roll in cocoa powder
Bowl 4: Panko - roll in Panko

Serve!

working mom

working on a family portrait for John's birthday

I realized the other day that writing a book while working a part time job is kind of like having a full time job, but without the salary.  Add to that homeschooling, blogging, painting, and sleep deprivation, and I think I bit of more than I can chew this year. I keep reminding myself of all the reasons its worth it.

I have definitely gained a new respect for working mothers.

Still, we're getting through it.  I know I'll be glad for all the hard work later, and when the book is done, and I'm no longer working nights, I'll have some much extra energy and free time to work on whatever I want. I'm already making a list:

• sew a pair of jeans, tailored for me
• okay, make pieces for a whole wardrobe (tops, skirts, pants)
• paint, paint, paint
• illustrate a new coloring book for grown ups (any ideas?)
• make a coloring book of heroic princesses

In the meantime, I'm thinking of taking another blog break.  Not until after Christmas, because there are just too many good Christmas-y things to share.   Plus, I'm sort-of-half-way-if-I-have-time planning to work up a new dinosaur pattern (Stegosaurus or Apatosaurus?) for June and maybe a dog for Louise.  She's asked for a Dalmation, a hound dog, and a dog like Lassie - so who knows what I'll end up with. 

But anyway, you can expect a little hibernation until spring coming up.  I promise to be full of energy and projects when I come back.  :)

Thanksgiving

Perhaps you know I have a special love of house plants, and hope to someday have my grandmothers' green thumbs.  I enjoy tending to them and watching them so much more than I do my vegetable garden (unfortunately for my vegetables).  I think its because they're impractical and needy, but also delicate and beautiful.

 I bought this "Christmas" Cactus last year thinking it would be nice to have blooms in the winter.  I learned that my cactus is actually a Thanksgiving cactus, however; and the name changing is just a bit of tricky marketing.  Nevertheless, I brought it indoors when the temperatures dropped, and I was delighted to find it covered in white buds a few days later.

There is certainly something hopeful about a flower that blooms in the low cold months.  It is a reminder of the joy of spring and what will be.  But it is also the presence of the joy that is.

Yesterday, a few buds opened revealing their breathtaking flowers.  These lovely blooms will last through Christmas, a blessing for which I am very thankful.

With a Flower

I hide myself within my flower,
That wearing on your breast,
You, unsuspecting, wear me too --
And angels know the rest.

I hide myself within my flower,
That, fading from your vase,
You, unsuspecting, feel for me
Almost a loneliness.
 - Emily Dickinson

What's your favorite winter houseplant?

Shoe Covers

Another last minute detail for my kid's last minute costumes: shoe covers!  If you've got fleece and elastic in your stash this is way better than buying fancy shoes.  I looked at the tutorials here and here, and then added details for my kids shoes.   

 These are supposed to be cowboy boots, although I never quite got the shape right.  You can't tell here, but I the tops are angled like boots with a little fleece tab sewn over the outside edge.  You know what I mean?  And then I top stitched a little embroidery design.  They're a little funny looking though. 

These were a little more straightforward. Pink shoe covers that I top stitched some fleece dinosaur toenails onto. These were easier, plus a much bigger hit.  I think short shoe covers work better.

Last minute Treat Bags

All right, last minute tutorial.  I've got a fast version (20 minutes), and a faster version (10 minutes).  If you need one faster than that, grab a pillow case. ;)

FAST VERSION:
1.  print template and cut out.  You may want to enlarge it if you've got bigger (or greedier) kids. You don't have to print my template, either - just eyeball it if you want.  The template is only a quarter of the bag, so either print two and tape together then place on a fold; or fold your fabric in half, then in half again, lining up both of the straight sides on a fold.  Or, like I said, eyeball it, and just fold once.  Did that make sense?

2.  Cut out two bags from the template - an inner and an outer.

3.  Open up the pieces and stack with right sides facing.  Sew the handles together, then clip slits in the curves.

 4.  Turn right side out. You may need to iron, unless you're in a hurry.  Now your handles are sewn up all nice and neat. 

5.  Fold the bag in half again the with the outside in.  sew all four layers of the outer edge together and trim with pinking shears (or cut slits in the seam allowance).  Turn it right side out, and you're finished. 

FASTER VERSION
1.  cut out one layer of fleece, felt or other non-fraying fabric, fold in half and sew around the bottom edge of the bag.  Turn right side out. 

Two bags!  I made mine in fabrics to match the costume, but the shape would make a lovely jack-o-lantern with a felt appliqued face...  If you have more time.  :)