2012: The Year of the Handmade gift

I told you it was coming.  

Now that half of the year has passed and roughly half the gifts have been made and given I can share all the fun we've been having making gifts for our loved ones.

Looking at all the compiled images I'm kind of in shock.  When I started out the year casually thinking wouldn't it be great to make all our gifts this year? I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  

The year started out easy enough.  With just two birthdays (nicely spaced out birthdays) in January we were primed for success.  We made a simple embroidered bookmark for my grandpa and another for Nana.  I'd always wanted to knit something for Ruth so I knit her a hat too.

recall the start of it all?

shying away from the camera while drawing Nana's bookmark

Nana's hat

 embroidering bookmarks

Ooh the end of January felt good.  I can totally do this!  This is easy, fun even!

Then, my dad's and brother in law's birthdays in Febraruary found me a bit stumped.  We made another bookmark for Pop, but I felt he needed something more and had NO CLUE what to make for Bryan (he has kids of his own and I doubt he needed an Ainsley bookmark, when he has so many great things made by his own cuties).  

Kind of by a stroke of luck I came across an idea on pinterest for scrabble tile coasters.  Genius!  I went to our local thrift shop and bought two scrabble games for one dollar each and got to work.  Beer, wine and coffee themed coasters quickly materialized with the help of some woodglue and carboard backing.  I of course took no photos of these, but I think they turned out well!  Although next time I will glue them to heavy duty wool instead of cardboard, those little tiles don't like to stick to the cardboard.

Next up was cousin Connor.  I was excited about this gift as I'd already made it once for Ainsley's friend Gillian in the fall.  We made him a fort kit, another idea I nabbed on pinterest.  A homemade (handpainted I might add) simple drawstring bag filled with a dark sheet, clips, a book or quiet activity and a flashlight.  We also added an Uncle Ian drawn puzzle because Connor is the puzzle boy.  I hear it was a hit!  and really so easy to put together.

story cards by Eboo are one of my FAVORITE 3 year old gifts, I included them in lieu of a book

painted canvas bag, 

I lay out a big piece of canvas and let the girls at it, then I cut it up into pieces to use as wrapping and bag material, add a simple drawstring and whalla!

Another super fun kid gift idea I have yet to execute?  A puppet theather kit, with a spring rod and curtains to hang between a door and homemade sock puppets!  

And now I have to be truthful. For Uncle Joey's birthday in May I was completely stumped. He had no need for a bookmark or scrabble tile coasters, and is a tough one to shop for to boot!  With Ragnar right around the corner I cheated and bought him a pair of my favorite Smartwool running socks.  Sorry Joe!  But I hope you liked them anways!

Even with this minor setback I was determined to charge ahead with handmade gifts for all our summer birthdays.  

Wait, how many are there?  Ok, one, two, three...NINE?!?!  and that's stopping BEFORE we get to early September where we have three more and NOT including Father's Day or the girls' friend's birthdays.  Oh goodness.  What was I thinking?

Thankfully I've gotten better about compartmentalizing and planning.  I started with the most imminent birthdays and the most time consuming presents and went from there.  There were surely a few late last minute nights but hey, it all got done!

You've already heard about Father's Day, Ian's bookmark and jammie pants, but what you haven't heard is how quickly that all came together.  A baseball cap that I'd ordered for him for the occasion didn't arrive on time so we needed to punt and two days before father's day we whipped up some pants with flannel I had in the basement from the economy shop and a bookmark from the scrap bag.  Proving to me at just the right moment that homemade gifts can indeed be quick, easy and successful!

For Aida girl's first birthday I knew I HAD to make her one of the In Threes cardigans that I have now made for all the girl cousins.  It's summer appropriate but will hopefully work through the upcoming fall and winter, plus I just love to make it.  It knits up so fast and with the right yarn is kind of luxurious as far as baby apparel goes.  Accessorized with buttons from my favorite fabric button shop on etsy HeyDeyHandmade, it came together nicely.

this yarn was called Summer Sunset...it works.

Laundry Line buttons by HeyDeyHandmade

cute Aida Bean sporting her new sweater at the cabin

For my father in law I hit a bit of a roadblock again.  Boys are hard to make for!  I pushed through the temptation to put the ball in Ian's court and paged through my beloved Weekend Sewing.  I zeroed in on a dopp kit bag that I'd always wanted to make, scoured my fabric and notions pile and to my delight found the perfectly sized manly scrap of canvas weight fabric and a metal zipper.  I cut up an old linen shirt of Ian's for the lining and in one afternoon it was completed!  Everyone can use a zippered pouch for their toiletries, right?

On to my sister Jenny.  I knew I wanted to make her a bag.  I LOVE my Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing but wanted to try a pattern from my new book Sew What You Love and am so glad I did.  This Easy Sling Bag is just that, VERY easy.  The tricky part for me came with the fabric choices.  I wanted to use the last of my favorite vintage sheet for the outside and an old flannel shirt of Ian's for the inside but was a bit stumped when it came to cutting out the pattern.  I ended up sewing the button front of the shirt closed and placing the pattern in such a way that the front pocket now serves as a small interior pocket for a cellphone or chapstick.  Finished off with an oversized wooden button the girls helped me pick out, it came together nicely!  (I also gave her a copy of my FAVORITE "parenting" book Under the Chinaberry Tree because it's always fun to have stuff IN your bag).

For Grammy's July birthday we made her a bookmark, one for Grandpa Dan too.  Now that Louise is such a little drawer herself both of the girls helped with the images on the bookmarks.  Ainsley drew letters, names, and figures and Louise drew lots of her "elephants".  We also got Grammy some local herb vinegar and a Melaleuca candle lest you think she got a bit jipped :o).

And the crowing jewel of the summer birthdays this far SURELY has to be Aida's ginormous ball.  This pattern is also from Sew What You Love and the girls and I had such fun making it.  I used fabric I'd bought at the warehouse in Minneapolis last summer and THREE BAGS of poly-fil.  The girls were quite helpful with the stuffing and testing out of that ball.  I'm glad I had room in the car to bring it with us to MN, it was a whopper!

More Gifts

Gardening Gloves for Grandma Ruth (given with a few pouches of seeds)

Bedtime Bag for Ainsley's friend Garnet

We filled the bag with matching jammie pants and two of the girls' favorite books

At the 6 month mark I'm feeling good, still a bit overwhelmed by ALL there is to do by September's end (and don't even get me started on Christmas!), but mostly I feel really really good.  I've always loved making things for people and this challenge to make everyone gifts has really stretched my creativity, time management and thriftiness.  It's incredibly exhilarating to give someone a gift that they love (I hope!), that you enjoyed making and spend SO MUCH LESS than buying alone.

When I do purchase something for a gift I've been much more mindful to buy locally, even if it means revamping my plan to be able to afford it (paperback books from the local bookstore, smaller sizes of pantry items from the farmer's market).

Making gifts has also helped so much with budgeting.  There have been quite a few times that I had NO money left in a monthly budget for gifts so I'd go down to my craft closet, scour, and come up with something (the birth of the bookmark and all those jammie pants).  Pretty cool right?

I've been so inspired that I've been scheming and dreaming of all handmade gifts for Louise's birthday and the girls' Christmas gifts.  I will of course have to find room in the budget for a few new books but save that I am confident I can make most (hopefully all!) of what they need and desire.

A sampling of ideas for Louise's birthday

Her very own toddler sized sleeping bag, made from CRAZY on sale luscious fleece, and modeled after her big sister's.

A new fall sweater (FINALLY, right?!) very much inspired by this seed stitch T style below

Some new falls clothes, including some flannel lined Quick Change Trousers and a few shirred blouses

Her very own tiny backpack for playschool in the fall, I'll use the same pattern I used to make Ainsley's, it's perfect!

And because I can't resist making her something playful I am SO EXCITED to try my hand at needlefelting again to make her a few tiny friends.

I got this book from the library and man oh man, will I have to hold back not to make it ALL.

But at the very least, of course, there will be a large family of these...

EPHANTS!!!!

Oh goodness, so much to do, but so much fun and satisfaction to be had in the end.  Rather than being defeated by the stress and exhaustion of this undertaking I find I am more excited about the challenge than ever.  The planner in me LOVES laying out the how and when of making and the crafter in me of course LOVES the making, and the artist?  I'm finding she's quite happy with all the yarn and fabric choosing, quiet mindfulness of making, and rhythm and pace of production.   I find I turn on the same playlist I made in college for my long nights in the painting studio when I'm sewing now.  This endeavor has fed every part of me and I'm really looking forward to the even greater challenge the next 6 months will bring!

See how prepared I am?  CHRISTMAS KNITTING!!! ALMOST DONE!!!

And please oh please.  Wrap those handmades in handmade paper.  It's just kind of a must, you know?

So here's to homemade gifts!  My needles and mind are never empty and my sewing bag and joy overfloweth. Huzzah!

Me Too

And we're back! from a wonderful trip.  Each time I load up the car and buckle in those two girls and wave goodbye to my boy it gets a bit easier, less stressful, more exciting.  While I surely am 100% exhausted upon our return I also feel pretty satisfied.  We did it! and it really was so fun.

The drive up was good, just long.  It took us almost 8 hours just to get to St Paul!  I blame it on the frequent potty breaks (Ainsley!) and me allowing Louise to walk everywhere.  Those little legs needed some stretching!

We started our trip with a too quick stopover at Nana and Grandpa Dan's.  It was my first time staying with them alone with the girls (which is so bizarre seeing as I've known them for almost 9 years!)  We ate oh so well (we always do there :o) and played hard.  Ainsley particularly enjoyed co-piloting Grandpa Dan's new scooter and Louise was a huge fan of the big park right out the back door.  I was able to run, pop into my favorite kids store solo! (Peapods in St Anthony Park) and enjoy some quality time with the best in laws.  What a start to the trip.

On Sunday morning we packed up to head to Excelsior for cousin Griffin's baptism.  The girls sat so well through the long Lutheran service (they've had some practice) and we all enjoyed brunch at Jenny and Joe's afterwards.   Then it was back into the car for the 4 hour drive north to Turtle Lake.  It felt SO quick after the 8 hour drive merely two days before and once we got there it was absolute heaven.

We grilled and had our first campfire that night, the perfect way to kick off cabin festivities.  The weather simply could not have been better, chilly nights, sunny hot days, a lake temperature ABOVE 70 degrees in June...perfection.

watching Pop build the perfect bonfire from a safe distance 

(later in the week I built one with them right underfoot, amazing how quickly we acclimate up there)

If possible the activities were even more numerous and fun and EASY this year.  Ainsley was desperate to fish with Pop just about always and in just one off the dock session she caught nine!  I think next year we can graduate to a fishing boat trip.  She's pretty much a pro (even grabbing her own minnow, something I still squirm over).

Oh and the campfires.  Louise tried her first s'more this year and shockingly, disturbingly, she is NOT a fan.  Plain marshmallows for that one, but the roasting is oh so fun.

Ainsley would have toasted the whole bag of marshmallows had I let her.  She loves lighting them on fire declaring that they're wrecked, tossing them into the fire and, starting anew.  Ah, the simple joys of youth.

Towards the end of the week Louise decided that she too needed to "cach a fisssh".  Of course Pop helped lots but thanks to our lake full of hungry little sunnies Louise caught her first fish!

She was fairly elated.

Oh that dumpling.  I think back to last summer, her crawling all over the dock, reticent to get in the water, or ride the boat.  Look at her now.  What a big little girl.

Louise's favorite activity was far and away the swinging.  Clever Grammy brought up her swings from home and she and Pop added two new hook ups so three grandkids could be swinging at any given time.  I'm pretty sure each and every adult was pushing Louise and singing a Mary Poppins or Sound of Music song at one point or another this trip.  Thanks guys!

booty shaking with Auntie's Jooj and Jenny, sorry guys, too good not to mention.

Ah, and then there's the water.  I myself am a bit of a water worm, we all are up north.  It was a right of passage in our family to learn how to water ski with mom in the water with you, directing you from behind while the rest of the crew directed from the boat.  It was a matter of pride to learn how to drop a ski before the sister younger than you did (if it weren't for Julie I may never have learned, now it's all I know!)  It was a whole other deal to get thrown out of your tube while on a wild dad driven tubing ride, a deliciously terrifying deal.  We spent all day every day in the lake.  Swimming, kneeboarding (360s and all!), skiing, dropping skis, sloloming, rowing, canoeing, kayaking, floating.  That glorious glorious lake.

After being pregnant and having newborns for the past few years I'd stagnated a bit with my zeal for watersports.  Suddenly the tubes felt a bit too wild and the wind in my face cutting the wake on my ski a bit too breathtaking.  But this summer I regained all that joy and confidence that I once felt.  I skiied nearly every day, even giving the thumbs up the go faster towards the end.  I had the wildest best tube runs of my life holding tight to my little Ainsley squealing with glee "faster Pop, more bumps Pop!  THIS IS SO FUN MAMA!!!!" over and over.  We tubed 5 times, my girl and I.  Sometimes in life you can have it all.

Some photos from our second pontoon lunch.  We make a lunch, pack it up, take the boat out to our favorite spot, a calm bay across the lake, anchor, eat, jump and enjoy.  Oh we enjoyed.

Oh my Ainsley girl.  You are so independent and carefree in that water.  I love seeing you swim.

Louise was full on in the action this year, kicking her little legs and giggling with delight.  

30 feet deep ain't nothin' to us.

I wasn't too sure how the boats were going to go over this year.  Ainsley is our little daredevil and she's always loved the speed and wind, happily accomodating her bulky life jacket if it means adventure, but my sweet Louise is a different story.  She's can be more cautious and weary at times (wonder where she gets that from? :o).  Once she got used to her life jacket my little one LOVED the boats.  She'd toddle around the pontoon with glee and happily wave at me continuously while perched on Grammy's lap as I skied behind the boat.  I'm quite thankful to have another happy water girl on my hands!

I found myself feeling thankful a lot on this trip, sometimes selfishly for the girls napping and sleeping SO well, others for the gorgeous weather and full happy days, but mostly for this beautiful place that we get to enjoy and the new ways in which I get to enjoy it with my girls.

At first I'll admit it was hard to get used to vacationing with my little ones.  Feeding schedules and naps kind of took over and I really missed the carefree ways that vacations used to unfold.  But this year?  It's suddenly easy, better even, than ever.  Because now I get to see this place with them, through them, do things I wouldn't do if it were just me up here, move slower, savor more.  I'm really thankful for all of that.

One of my favorite "new" things to do with my girls is take nature "hikes".  We meander 20 feet into the Great Unknown of the woods, searching for wild strawberries and pinecones, or stroll up and down the winding driveway to the main dirt road, spotting wildlife, picking flowers, and breathing in that piny air.  My sisters and I used to go for hikes like these.  One summer we even found an abandoned swing that coasted you right over the edge of a steep hill.  We'd put on our hiking shoes, bring a backpack with snacks and water and a notebook just in case.  But then we grew up and sort of forgot about how magical the woods are.  This year I remembered, and I kind of wanted to build a treehouse and stay forever.

birch trees lining the gravel drive

long lane, little lady

grammy caught frog + 2 curious preschoolers = the best find EVER!

identifying tracks

wild buttercups, oh and those pretty yellow flowers too

I found myself taking lots of photos of the Place this trip.  The calm reflective waters just before sunset, the reedy, rocky shore, the trees that grow out of nowhere and go forever.  It's all so magical to me.  Especially now that I live in a place that is so far from there, in many many ways.

Almost as soon as we waved our goodbyes to Turtle Lake Ainlsey has been desperate to go back.  "But I love it there mom.  It's the best.  I want to see Grammy and Pop and Connor and babies and I want to fish and tube and JUMP in the lake and swim and swim and swim."  I hear you girl.  Me too.

Me too.

Revamp

This summer, thus far, has proved to be uniquely challenging.  Earlier this season I was sifting through old blog posts from this time of year last year and the year before, recalling the EXCITEMENT! and EAGERNESS! for this hot season and all it brings.  This year I've found my mind swamped with the "what ifs and hows" that the next few months hold for our family, coupled with the weird cabin fever of our super hot weather, it's been a bit tricky.

Then we had our trip, our AMAZING trip, but wow did I miss Ian.  When I saw his grin yesterday afternoon as the girls bombarded their daddy with kisses and happy squeals I waited patiently for my turn and then I had it and we squeezed one of those ohmygoodnesshowdidisurviveninedayswithoutyou squeezes and suddenly all was right in the world.  My worries mostly abated and my main man's 28th birthday today pushed the last room for unnecessary strife right out the window.  That and this great comic Ian showed me this morning.

And just like that.  Revamp.  The heat WILL break at some point, all the little stuff will work itself out, and the big stuff?  well that's the stuff life is made of right?  Let's get it on summer.  I'm ready.