Why I switched to a Lego Christmas Village

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In our last house we stored our Christmas decorations in the attic, the opening to which was in the middle of the garage about 14 feet from the floor.  We used a winch system to get things into and out of it – including ourselves occasionally.  Using a ladder with a large box that high up was just terrifying.  One day, as we were getting the Christmas boxes down from the attic for the season, one of the boxes slipped from the winch harness a foot or two from the floor.  That box happened to contain my fragile glass Christmas village.

The damage really wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but I was still pretty upset.  I glued the houses back together, telling myself the cracks gave them character (like they had been through the blitz).  That year, and for several years after, I displayed the houses on a high shelf, far out of the reach of kid’s hands, and dog tails, and even me.  And then one year, after the kids asked to play with the little houses for what seemed like the 400th time, and I had said no for the 400th time, I realized that the Christmas village had become something that caused me stress rather than joy during the holiday season, and I wanted to change that.  I still wanted a Christmas village, I had fond memories of my Grandmother’s Christmas villages and tiny train sets from my own childhood, but I wanted one that I could let the kids play with and didn’t have to worry about them breaking.

The boy’s Christmas time Lego catalogue provided the answer – a Lego Christmas village.  I had seen the Lego Christmas houses previously and thought they were adorable, but it suddenly hit me what a good idea they were.  If they fell out of the attic, they could be rebuilt.  If the kids broke them they could be rebuilt.  If the dog knocked them off the table they could be rebuilt.  I could let my kids play with the Lego Christmas village, and the tiny houses, and people, and cars could become fond Christmas memories.  And it was just so cute! My Christmas village could again become part of the joy of the holiday season, rather than a source of stress.

 

Now I have several pieces from the rather small Lego Winter Village collection.  They come out with a new model every year, and every year I look forward to adding to my little village and sitting with my kids and putting the pieces together.  The only stressful part is making sure that I place my order before they all sell out.

Consumable Christmas Gifts

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On Episode 2 of Hang your Hat, Firebeard and I did a segment on consumable christmas gift ideas.  These are gifts that are meant to be used up, so they don't hang around cluttering up the house.  Since then I was asked if I might be able to do a visual version of the list perhaps with  links to some of the products we mentioned, and I am happy to oblige.  

Note:  This list contains gifts big and small.  While some would be appropiate for the year's "big" gift, there are also several that would make great stocking stuffers. 

Consumable Gift Ideas

Bath/Body/Grooming (many of these are easy to DIY):

Food (Most of these are easy to DIY):

  • Candy, Cookies, or Carmel
  • Hot Cocoa Mix (Single servings are good presents for office mates).  Add some homemade marshmallows to make it really special.
  • Flavored Sugars or Salts
  • Infused Liquors or Vinegars
  • DIY Vanilla
  • Flavored Simple Syrups (great for drinks)
  • Good Quality Olive Oil
  • Bottle of Wine
  • Meal Kit 
  • Fancy Coffee
  • Local Honey
  • Drinks Kits (ex. Cocktail kit)
  • Special Snacks (that are not normally on the menu)

Services: (Think Gift Certificates)

  • Massage
  • Facials
  •  Mani/Pedis
  • High End Barber Shops / Hair Dressers
  • Oil Change or Car servicing (especially if the person you are giving the gift to normally does these things themselves)
  • Baby Sitting
  • House Cleaning
  • Photographer

Subscriptions:

Gift Cards:

  • Any Favorite Retail Store the recipient is likely to shop at (maybe somewhere that is normally too pricy for the recipient – just make sure that the gift card could cover the cost of an item at the store)
  • Itunes
  • Grocery or Gas Cards (good for college students or recent grads)
  • Coffee Shop
  • Book Store

Entertainment/Events:

  • Burlesque Shows or Vaudeville Performances
  • Sporting Event.  Of course Football and  basketball games come to mind first- but why not a fencing or ballroom dance competition
  • Tickets to the Movies 
  • Tickets to an Amusement Park, Museum, or zoo
  • Fancy Tea Party
  • Concerts or Plays

 

Active Pursuits:

  • Pay for a Goruck Challenge
  • Gym Membership (Think outside the box and go for something like a rock climbing or cross fit gym rather than the standard gym)
  • Sporty Classes (like belly dancing class)
  • Goods that are consumed while participating in a sport (ex. Bike tubes for a cyclist, chalk for a rock climber or gymnast, and dehydrated food for campers)

Miscellaneous:  

  • Hobby or Craft Supplies (ex. Scrapbooking paper or stickers, yarn, paint)
  • Kids Craft Supplies (ex. tape, stickers, erasers, glue, pipe cleaners, pompoms, googly eyes)
  • Fireplace Supplies (ex. Wood, fire starters, matches, bundles of dried herbs, pinecones dipped in wax)
  • Personalized Photo Calendar
  • Starting a 529 College Savings Plan

Jingle Bell Run

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This Saturday the girl ran her first 5k.  She ran with Fire Beard, in the pouring rain, and loved every minute of it.

I was very proud, from the top of my head to the tips of my wet frozen toes.  Seriously though, it was miserable out there.  I stayed cold for hours after we left, and we didn’t even stay for the big Christmas parade after the race.  I was shocked and proud when she came over the finish line with a smile on her face, and told me she wanted to do it again next year.  I guess the girl is one tough cookie!

St Nicholas Day

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St Nicholas Day is a children's holiday celebrated on December 6th throughout much of northern Europe.  It is celebrated in memory of Saint Nicholas who was known for his generosity and gave treats to poor children around Christmas Time.  On the night of December 5, kids leave their shoes out for St Nick.  If they have been good, they will wake to find little presents St Nick has left in their shoes.  Often these presents are candy, or small toys.

My family has never celebrated St Nicholas Day before, (and neither has the vast majority of Americans from what I can tell), but we did this year.  On December 5th my kids left their shoes out, and the hope that I would fill their shoes with treats if they were good (they were).

 

Happy Holidays

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I hope this holiday season is going well for all of you.  So far I am feeling a little behind on my holiday to do list, but instead of letting the stress get to me, I am letting a few things slide (unfortunately the blog is one of them, sorry).  After feeling completely overwhelmed last year, to the point that I did not enjoy the holidays until after they were over, I am making a conserted effort to enjoy myself this year.

In addition to realizing that I don't have to make everything perfect, I have also realized that I don't have to stress about buying my kids expensive Christmas presents.  Christmas isn't about expensive presents, and my kid's shouldn't expect them.   Instead, I will get them something they will really want that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  The rest, I will make.  We will have a small but heartfelt Christmas.

I will leave the spoiling to the rest of my family.

My family started our simple holiday fun, by picking out our Christmas tree at a tree farm in North Carolina while we were up there for Thanksgiving.  In addition to the fun of going out in the field and picking a still growing, uncut tree, this tree farm had carriage rides driven by Santa, and an elf village with crafts for the kids.  This was all for the cost of the tree, and our (rather small) tree was only $20.  The kids loved it!

In keeping with my simple holiday fun here are a few things you can do this holiday season, if you live in or near Florida's Big Bend region;

  • Thomasville, GA's Victorian Christmas Festival in downtown Thomasville.  The festivities are December 10 and 11, 2009 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.  Admission is free.
  • Christmas on the Farm at the Tallahassee Museum.  The farm is having it's Christmas on the 19th of December, 2009, from 11:00 - 3:30 and you can participate for the cost of Museum Admission.

The Spoils of Christmas

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I realize that this post is a bit late, Christmas now being about 3 weeks past.  My excuse is that I had some misgivings about posting about those gifts I was given in the first place.  Given the current economy I didn't not want to flout the fact that my family has not been terribly affected.  

I was especially fortunate in the present department this year, especially since my expectations were low.  I asked for little this Christmas, and got more than I cound hope for.  It was wonderful.  I decided to share my good fortune at the risk of upsetting others.
These beautiful handmade sock blockers, one sized for my husband, one for myself were from the Gadaboutknitter.  Her husband cut and sanded these himself out of some beautiful ceader.  I can't wait to use them, but until then they can protect my statsh.
These wonderful crafty books were from my parents, my sister in law, and myself.  You will no doubt be seeing projects from them in the comming year.A good friend of my husband and I sent me this book from his new home town, Austin, Texas.  This book stemed out of the Rhizome Collective, a sustainable living group local to Austin.  Many of the ideas in the book go way beyond what I had even considered possible in the city.  I fully intend to implement many of the in the comming year.I finially got my very own i-pod.  I have never had an mp3 player before (For that matter, I don't remember ever having a portable CD player, althoughI did have a tape player in college to recored lectures).  My husband hd been letting me use his old i-pod shuffle - the small kind without a view screen.  It served me well, except that I like to listen to books, and it was difficult to find the right place in the story if it got out of order.  My husband responded with this cool new i-pod nano in pink (my favorite color), inscribed with a personalized message.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!

1st Craft of the New Year - Ribbon Garland

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When my husband and I first got married we had very few Christmas decorations, despite my inclination to decorate the house to the nines.  We also had little money to put into comercial decoriations, or hand made ones for that matter.  Our first Christmas our decorations consisted of a 1 foot tall tree, covered in small glass bulbs, and large bows I made from bargin basement ribbon.  I was appalled at the prices of the ribbon at the time, and decided I wouldn't waste any.

Fast forward several years, and nearly every scrap of Christmas ribbon that has passed under my nose has been saved in some way.  The same ribbon has been used in my family for years now, getting a bit shorter every year, as at least 8 inches of every piece has been added to my Christmas ribbon garland.


This year the garland grew to about 20 feet of recycled ribbon, each link 8 inches in circumfrence.  

How can you make your own Christmas ribbon garland?
1.  Ask your friends and family to give you the Christmas ribbon they would otherwise throw away.
2.  Cut the ribbon into 8 inch pieces.
3.  Sew the first "link" in the chain by matching the short ends of the ribbon (right sides together) and machine or hand sewing securely.
4.  The second and all subsequent links in the chain is made by inserting the 8 inch length of ribbon through the prevous link in the chain, wrapping the ribbon around the link so that the short ends of the ribbons match (right sides together), and machine or hand sew securely.
5.  Repeat step 4 until all ribbon lengths are incorrperated into the chain.
The chain lengths can be turned right side out as you work, or after all the links have been made.
The chain can be added to year after year, making a christmas timeline of sorts, showing change over time.  My chain is already showing differences over time, as well as tremendous growth.  I can only imagine what it will look like in a few more years time.

Mini Stocking Advent Calender

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The website Burda Style has recently published a free and easy stocking advent calender pattern. They even have a step by step tutorial that makes this project easy as pie for even beginners.

The stockings are small enough to use up scraps of fabric and ribbon, and they sew up quick enough that they could still be made before December. Even if you couldn't make them all in one go, you could make them one per day in December taking only a few minutes per day. Pictures of a few of mine are below.

Not interested in the stockings? You should still check out Burda Style. They have beginner to advanced sewing patterns that are mostly free, and great sewing info, and several quick holiday projects (even a few for ambitious hand sewing).I made all of my stockings thus far out of home dec weight fabric leftovers from other projects (mine, and the leftovers I have collected from other crafters), and scraps of ribbon. I really love the eclectic look.

Gift Idea 3: A Gift Your Toddler Can Make

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Recently my friend K (a former elementary school art teacher) e-mailed to tell me about Crayola's Model Magic - a kind of modeling clay that doesn't stick to anything and dries to a flexible firmness after being left out of it's bag for about 24 hours. Since we both tend to stick to basic art supplies, like crayons and glue, I took the suggestion of such a high tech medium as high praise. She suggested that Violet - my 3 year old - would be able to work with it, and unlike traditional clay the finished product wouldn't easily crack in toddler hands.

We bought some on our next trip out, and Violet set out to make a present for her Granny. While I suggested what to make and how to make it, she did nearly all of the work herself.

Granny likes butterflies, so she is using cookie cutters to cut out butterfly shapes.
I poked a hole through the tops so they can be strung on ribbon and hung as ornaments.
After the medium is dry it can be painted.
I think they turned out beautifully.

Gift Idea 1: Melt-and-Pour Soap tutorial

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I have a huge family, and as a result I am constantly trying to find or make nice gifts for lots of people at low cost. This year my mother's sisters will be receiving melt-and-pour lavender soap.

Unlike soap made from scratch, melt-and-pour soap is quick, easy, fairly safe, and can be made in small batches. The following is a quick tutorial on making melt-and-pour soap.

Tutorial
1. Buy melt and pour soap base. It can be found at Michaels, Joann's, and most other craft stores. I got mine from Brambleberry.com which has great prices for large amounts. I am using an opaque goat's milk soap.
2. Find a heat safe mold. You can buy these at craft stores, but there is no need. I used paper cups left over from a party (this was their 2nd use, and they have at least 1 more use in them if not more).
3. If you would like to add anything to the soap, like herbs, put them in the bottom of your mold. I used dried lavender grossa, a non-flowering version of lavender that grows well in my Florida garden. Other herbs or flower petals also look nice, but some discolor in heat, so you may want to test whatever you use before you make a large batch.
4. Melt your soap base in the microwave (on high checking the soap every 30 seconds) or a double broiler (being careful not to get any water in the soap). Add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice after taking the soap off the heat. I melted about 14 ounces of soap base, and added 8 drops of lavender essential oil for a mild lavender scent.

As soon as your EO is mixed in, pour the soap base into your prepared molds. The herbs will rise and mix on their own, but you can mix it yourself while the soap base is still very hot.
5. When the outside of the mold is cool to the touch you can squeeze the sides gently and pop the soap out. The soaps seen below are about 2 ounces each, and about half the size of the bars of soap you get at the grocery store.

Alternative method: You can also weigh the amount of soap you want in each bar, place that amount in your mold, then microwave the mold to melt the soap.

How much? I already had all of the materials I needed on hand, so I didn't spend anything. However, joann.com has 2 pounds of olive oil soap base for only $9.99. That is enough to make 16 2 ounce bars. If you gave 2 bars per person, that would be only $1.25 per gift. Not too bad!

Note: Melt-and-Pour soap does not have to cure like soap made from scratch, but it will sweat for a few days after it's made (due to it's high glycerin content), especially in high humidity. So, it is a good idea to wait a few days before wrapping it in plain paper - although wax paper does a good job.

Enjoy!

Christmas in July

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I know, it does seem a bit crazy, or cruel to bring up the idea of Christmas right after encouraging a buying ban, but I assure you, there is a method to my madness.

I have a large number of family and friends that is getting bigger every year due to marriages and pregnancies. That means that every year I have more and more people to get Christmas presents for. I currently have about 30 individuals or families I would like to give personal gifts to. Even if I spent only $10 on each of these people/families (which we can probably all agree is a fairly small amount for a nice personal gift), I would spend $300 on gifts. In reality I usually spend much more than $10 on many of the people on my list.

The Christmas season (one wish should end with happy memories of family togetherness) often ends with reminders of debt accumulated during the season. We are also left with a mountain of discarded wrapping, but that is another story.

As green crafters we have the ability to make wonderful gifts, for little or no money, but it does require some time and planning. For crafters, especially knitters, July is the perfect time to begin thinking about holiday gift giving. Check out some of my Reuse posts for ideas on material scrounging. I will be adding more ideas in during the month.

The Holidays

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It is only a few days after Halloween, but already stores are full of every Christmas gift and decoration imaginable. As a general rule I try to make as many Christmas gifts as possible, rather than buying them, but this year will be different. I have two kids, the oldest just turned two, and as a result, I have almost no time to make thoughtful Christmas presents. This year I have only two Christmas presents on the needles. I think I have a good chance of finishing both before Christmas without pulling my hair out.

I am making Debbie Bliss's "Baby Shrug" from Simply Baby and a bag for my sister that shall go unnamed on the off chance that she is reading this blog. So far I am enjoying the process of making both at a leisurely (for Christmas time) pace.

Why would I suddenly forgo attempting to make hand knits for everyone on my Christmas list? The reasons are as follows;
1) I don't have time, 2) I would like to enjoy Christmas this year, rather than feeling the weight of unfinished knits bearing down on my shoulders guilting me into knitting every spare second of the day instead of relaxing by the fire and drinking hot cocoa while reading a good book, and 3) Very few people understand the time and effort that goes into hand knits, and therefore do not fully appreciate the gift. Hand knits require weeks, sometimes months of planning and work. Store bought knits require a last minute dash to TJ Maxx. Those that give the same respect to hand knits as store bought knits do not deserve hand knits.

The look on the person's face when they open the box with my FO in it can make it or break it for me. I have at that point spent hours picking/designing a pattern, picking a yarn, and knitting the piece. Will all my work be worth it? Will they love it as much as I think they will? Perhaps not. But someone who appreciates hand knits will know that I would not have put that much time and effort into the gift if I didn't love them, and will love the effort I put into it, even if they don't love the color or pattern, or even my knitting ability. On the other hand, a person who does not appreciate hand knits will not understand the amount of effort put into the gift. They may even say the dreaded, "You didn't have to make me something. I would have liked something you bought just as much."

No more will I waste my time on the unenlightened! I will knit only for those that appreciate my craft! And those that I gave birth to, even if they will drag their hand knit sweater through the mud, or spit up on their hand knit teddy bear.