she and whim

I could watch this ALL DAY! Everything about this is all that I love.

Last year we made Valentine garland that took minutes to make.

Using needle and thread, alternate pom-poms and paper heart doilies (threading through the large holes in the doily). There’s no need to glue them in place, and they’re easily spaced after hung. I loved it so much last year I didn’t want to take it down. I’m so glad it’s February and we have it back up! :)

We love to celebrate advent. And part of that includes the shorts opening a treat each day until Christmas. I used to go the store bought open-a-window-and-get-a-chocolate route, but little guy can’t eat chocolate so that got scrapped, which is good because it made me think about making the daily content more than candy.

Last year I made cards with verses from creation to Christ’s birth and put them in little envelopes for each day. I made four sets, one for each short. The envelopes were too small for a treat so I handed them out – kinda bummed about that part, but joy to the world, life goes on. This year Spark and I made bags for the four of them and we’re hanging them on the back of their kitchen stools! So I’ll fill them each day with a treat and daily card with envelope I made last year. Spark is very excited about that part, so helping was fun. :)

And if you’re interested in making a super simple asymmetrical drawstring bag the steps are below:

1. Cut two 8″ squares of fabric.

2. With fronts facing, sew one side and bottom of the bag.

3. Double fold the top of one piece of fabric (approx. 1/4″ wide and a 3″ long) to make a hem for the ribbon; finger press; sew close to the first folded edge, running your stitches towards the raw edge of the fabric (you can also see this in Step 7). Repeat on the opposite facing fabric.

4. Press the start of a hem along the top of the entire bag (approx. 1/4″)…

5. Fold and press the rest of the hem (approx. 3/4″) making sure you’ve left enough room for your ribbon. (My ribbon was 1/4″.)

6. Sew the bag’s top hem close to the first fold.

7. With fronts facing, sew the remaining side of the bag closed from the bottom of the ribbon hole hem to the bottom of the bag, making sure to sew inside the Step 3 hem and straight down the side.

8. Put a safety pin through one end of a 24″ ribbon.

9. Feed through the top hem of the bag. Tie a knot where the ribbons meet and trim.

10. Fill with goodies!

Merry Christmas! :D

The turkey’s been gobbled! Hope you’re stuffed from Thanksgiving, too.

We made a Thanksgiving wall this year. I cut leaves from varying shades of reds, yellows, and oranges, and we all wrote what we’re thankful for on each one. One of our favorites was Spark’s: I’m thankful for candy. And I wish for a candy sandwich. :D It was super easy to make and I like how they’re swirled up the wall for fall. We’re saving them and adding to it next year.

Sweet girl and I ran our local Turkey Trot this year too. I love that she loves to run! It was her first race, and we had such a great time running it together. It’s one of those moments with the shorts I’ve been looking forward to. So thankful!

And have you read One Thousand Gifts? My BFF gave it to me and it’s an excellent book about imitating Christ’s thankfulness. It’s an any-time-of-year book, but I kept thinking of it through Thanksgiving.

And on one of my paper leaves I wrote that I’m thankful for this Little Indian, the silly turkey. ;)

We’ve enjoyed coordinating costumes for Halloween as a family for years. We also dress up in themes that the shorts are loving at the moment, and this year the youngest is all about Disney’s Prep and Landing. Have you seen this cleverness? It’s the only show he requests and watches it all year long, so it was the obvious choice for Halloween – and what’s more fun that Christmas in October?! (Did you guess it from my previous post? My little coal elf was a big helper making his costume.) When we trick-or-treated the shorts yelled MERRY CHRISTMAS! to each surprised neighbor. ha!

We also did: pumpkin carving, church carnival funnel cake, hay ride (with some crazy guy pretending to eat the goat feed – best dad ever!), Spookly pumpkin for school, and put up our annual bat decorations we made. We love those bats and are sad when we have to take them down. They scared the UPS guy which made them even more enduring. :) And at the end of the evening, I was turning off the lights and found Collee’s sign on our matt  – Happy Halloween! Sorry no candy. Closed.” Love.

And here’s a glimpse of the elf magic :) Jingle BAM!

You’re so super, you get a gold star.

Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

It’s Halloween costume extravaganza in the living room. Spark and I have had lots of fun working on everyone’s getups while they’re at school. We dyed his costume today – with black. Lots washed off, and lots didn’t. I’m not a glove wearing kind of gal, so it’s all good. :)

The red fabric is part of Spark’s disguise… any guesses on what the little guy will be??

My Collee was invited to a Bible Study with girls her age. They’re learning verses each time and this week she’s learning:

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Isn’t this excellent? My sweet oldest said, “Oh, we need this!” Love sibling love. :)

Last week she was supposed to memorize Prov 3:5-6. And her mom (ahem, that’s me) scrambled to make a printed version to help her “remeberize” it. It’s not cute, and barely designed, but it got the job done and we all learned it. It may be vain to not post here, but if I ever get around to redoing it I’ll post … but really,

“ain’t nobody got time for that!”  (I ♥ Sweet Brown!)

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

I have one little critter that likes to pull pranks (like throwing her fake cockroach into my shower – ack!), two that love their plastic animals, and another that is getting into the pre-teen years and I don’t want her to forget the little kid inside…

and inspired by my cousin’s prank on his kids,

I added a little friend to the short’s school lunches today :)

I picked them up from school and they were talking all over each other about finding their man-eating snake – and my prankster congratulated me on a job well done. Means a lot coming from the pro.

This just in: a snake wrangling short dropped a whole roll of toliet paper in the can – which was thankfully flushed prior to the mishap. Not a prank, just felt like it. Zing!

Fall is here! And with the new season and holidays approaching, I am again trying to think of new, easy, kid-friendly treats we can make and ALL eat. (Remember that Spark has loads of food allergies, and dear dad has Celiac.) My little gal also had a friend coming to play today, and I was racking my brain on something fun to make for snack time! And then the heavens parted, and I remembered a childhood favorite that my mom would make – fried flour tortilla quarters covered in cinnamon and sugar… and thankfully Spark and Sam can eat corn tortillas! I threw in some cookie cutters and now we have a fun new treat we all can enjoy.

To make, all you need is:

> flour tortillas (I love how the flour tortillas puff into 3D when fried), or corn if you’re allergic/intolorant (they’re flatter and crisper, like a chip – but still yummy!)

> oil for frying

> cinnamon and sugar

> cookie cutters

Use the cookie cutters to cut out tortilla shapes (the younger ones needed a little help cutting all the way through).

In a pot or dutch oven, fry the shapes on both sides. (I fried the corn tortillas before the flour, just to be allergy safe.)

Using tongs, remove and place on a paper towel covered plate, then immediately coat with cinnamon and sugar.

And devour!!! (bwah-ha-ha!)

And if you’re a grown up, brew some magic bean with these tasties and your already fantastic fall day just got even better ;)