ABC - The Aftermath

As I stated way back at the beginning of the month, my motto for the month was ABC - Always Be Crafting. I may not have crafted every minute of every day, but man, it sure felt like I was coming close sometimes! I had so much to get done before family came to visit. Being on a very strict budget made it all the more necessary to stick with it as well. Here, in no particular order, are the projects that I can remember off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure this is almost all of them.

Pajama pants

I wanted us to all have matching pjs on Christmas morning, but it's really hard to find ones that come in both adult and infant sizes. I'm sure even if I were to come across them, they would not be cheap. I also have a problem buying things in holiday themes because then you can't wear them past the end of the holiday without looking like a total doofus. I ended up buying three pairs of men's pj pants on sale for $8 a piece at Target and making the third pair into baby pants using the directions in The Creative Family. I'm not so good with the pattern making though, so the baby's pants fit a little bit big and had to be pinned up in the back. That's okay, it just means he'll grow into them, right?

Knit washcloths

I made both my mother in law and my sister in law a half dozen each hand knit cotton dishcloths. I switched to these myself from cellulose sponges a few months ago, and we love them! They're textured just right to make them great for scrubbing, but they won't scratch anything. They're better for the environment because they're reusable. You just toss them in the wash at the end of the day so you don't have a sponge in your sink breeding bacteria. Some people think you can toss the sponge in the dishwasher and that sanitizes it, but oh, is that a yucky, yucky myth!

I forgot to take a photo of the finished ones. Duh.

Baby Non-Skid Socks.

Bubba was slipping and sliding all over the kitchen floor when it got cold enough so that he needed to wear socks. Someone told me that if you put puff paint on the bottom of them it would make them non skid. I also read it in Parents magazine, so I decided to try it. Not only did it not work very well, the paint peeled off after a couple of washings!

I like to call these his "Bad Word" socks.

Pinwheel Quilt

I don't even know if I should count this one. I bought the fabric, cut the squares, started sewing and pressing and sewing and piecing... and then ran out of time. I even managed to get about half of the actual pinwheels completed using the directions on V and Co's blog, but I was insane to think that I would be able to finish a full sized quilt in time for Christmas with all the other stuff I had going on. As a result, my sister in law and her fiance received a box with all the pieces and a promise it would be done in time for the wedding in May.

Felt Food

Now that Bubba as a play kitchen with pots and pans, I decided he needed some play food to go along with it. I know there are tons of play sets available out there with play food that are very reasonably priced, but the problem is that they're usually A) plastic and B) made in China. I'm not giving that to my baby who still feels the need to shove everything into his mouth! EW! There are some wooden ones that I liked (and plan to get in the future) as well as some really nice felt food on Etsy, but they're also kind of spendy. It's just not in the budget right now.

Fortunately, felt is super cheap! So is embroidery floss. I actually happen to have a ton of both in my stash of craft supplies already (I bet you're so surprised) so I decided to make up some things. I didn't have patterns, and just was winging it. I looked at photos of felt food on Flickr for inspiration. There was also a couple of orange wedges and a few slices of tomato for the sandwich that I didn't photograph because they were done after I took the photos. Oh, and the syrup on the waffle is detachable!!!

I sewed all these by hand while watching Bewitched on Hulu, starting with the first episode. That's also how I passed the time for a lot of my knitting!

Glitter Buckles for Ribbon

When I saw these on Jaimee Rose's blog a few months ago while going through her archives, I knew I had to make them. She said she paid $12.50 for eight of hers at a local shop called Melrose Vintage. Again, not only am I poor, but I am cheap as well, so I made some. I sketched out my own pattern before learning that Martha had one available on her site. Duh. I then traced it on scraps of chipboard leftover from other projects. Next, I took a Bic Mark-It marker that coordinated with the glitter I was using for that particular buckle and used it to color in the edges of the chipboard. Finally, I took Stickles and covered the fronts of the buckles. They had to dry overnight because I put a really thick layer, but they were worth the wait because the Stickles don't flake loose glitter everywhere like regular glitter and glue does.

My favorite ones were the ones made with the Platinum Stickles and gray Mark-It. The Black Diamond didn't turn out very well. I think it would have worked better if I had colored the chipboard base black before covering it in glitter. After they were dry all I had to do was thread some wide ribbon through them. These would be great for gifts that had to be shipped because they look pretty and you wouldn't have to worry about the bow getting crushed.

Cake Pops and Cake Truffles

I decided to stop calling them "Cake Balls" and start calling them "Cake Truffles." I think that sounds nicer. I had someone order some cake pops, and had a lot left over. Then I ran out of sticks so I had to switch from pops to truffles.

Pops are DEFINITELY easier.

Stockings

Since family was coming over, we were going to need more stockings! No way in hell was I going to pay $15 each for six new stockings (because you know they HAD to match) so I started to troll local thrift stores in search of fabric to make into stockings. I found this large lime green check for $5 and had enough to make them all with some leftover. I got the red burlap at Hobby Lobby for $3. Grand total - $8 for six new, MATCHING stockings. Not bad!

Tamales

I'm counting these as crafting because they are a LOT of work. I had my friend (pictured above) over to help. This was only my third time making them myself, and it was SO NICE compared to last time. I had the stand mixer to make the masa instead of having to hold a hand mixer. I had the Multi Pot which held a lot more water under the steamer basket and needed less monitoring than the smaller pot I used last time. I also had better help - he didn't whine and complain the whole time and was eager to learn. That's always nice! We made about 8 dozen, which isn't a lot compared to what some people made, but we also only ever had two people at a time working on them.

I just lack a posse of tias and cousins to help, I guess.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Another thing I got from Jaimee Rose. I tell you, that woman is a bad influence on me! The recipe is from Martha, the containers are from the Dollar Tree, and the labels I made in Photoshop and punched out using my EK Success scalloped punch. I was surprised at how easy they were and am no longer a candy-making virgin. I even have the candy thermometer to prove it!

Sugar/Gingerbread Cookies

Again, technically not a craft, but still requiring a lot of time and work and some level of craftiness, so I'm counting them! I made so many of these. Some were sold, some were given as gifts, many were eaten. I hung most of the gingerbread ones on the tree in lieu of ornaments this year as I didn't want the baby knocking any of my ornaments off and breaking them.

Ornament Wreath

Yet another thing found by Jaimee Rose, this wreath was made using the directions given by Eddie Ross on his blog. I was lazy and skipped the hot gluing part, and regretted it when I lost a couple ornaments. I used shatterproof ones I got for $10 at Target. If I put this out again I'll go back and do that step. I also ran out before I completed the loop and just filled the gap with a big-ass bow.

Christmas Cards

I went super simple this year - the boy's photo with Santa photoshopped into a simple background with a short greeting. I made them 4" x 6", sent them off to Walgreens with a coupon code, and had them printed for ten cents each. They were then mounted on a rectangle of plain white cardstock to make them feel more "finished" and mailed out in envelopes that I ran through the printer.

Play Kitchen "Art"

I made this little sign in Photoshop for the baby's play kitchen. It got printed out here on photo paper and then put into a frame that my husband found at the Walmarts for $3.

So there you have it - I spent more hours making stuff than I did sleeping. Come to think of it, I didn't sleep a whole heck of a lot this month. There were more than a couple of all-nighters pulled. It's the only way I was able to work without Bubba Grabby-Fingers distracting me. I would just take a nap with him in the afternoons to try and catch up a little. I had a few moments here and there where I worked on my own December Daily album. I do still need to wrap that up though, as having family in town puts a serious halt to projects like that.

People are always asking me how I find the time, but the truth of the matter is that you find time for what is important to you - this was important to me. If you think about it, I really don't go out much, I hardly watch television, I don't go to the gym or work out at all, and I don't have a job besides caring for my child. I decided that since I wasn't very good at anything else, I was going to rock this domesticity thing as hard as I could.

Next month though - I'm taking a break! HA!

Christmas Visit, day three

We got a pretty late start on this day. Everyone came over and I made omelettes with ham, sautéed mushrooms, and caramelized onions. We also added some of this awesome Black Diamond super sharp white cheddar that my mother in law found at Whole Foods. I hear they were good! I had tamales - didn't want them to go to waste!

After brunch, we played with the baby for a while and then he went down for a nap. Everyone decided they wanted to see a movie. I don't really care to go to the movies - I still can't get over what they cost after seeing so many for free while working there, and I hate feeling trapped in my seat because you don't want to miss something important. You end up having to choose if you want to catch it all or if you want to go pee and just be SOL on a major plot point. I generally wait to see stuff on dvd for those reasons. I told everyone to go ahead and I'd stay home with the baby. I got partially caught up on my blog reader and just hung out. It was kind of nice.

It was also a good thing they all went to the movies - that baby fell asleep 15 minutes before they left and woke up 5 minutes after they returned! They had even stopped at the store to pick up some stuff for dinner after the movie too! I guess he was just worn out from all the excitement of the previous few days.

Speaking of dinner...

My mother in law (who totally encourages my love of all things kitchen related) got me the pasta roller attachments for my KitchenAid mixer!

As soon as I unwrapped them I knew I'd be making everyone some fresh pasta before they left. I am so excited to not have to use the rolling pin and pizza cutter method that I was using before. Now, my pasta will be uniform in shape and thickness. Kick butt!

Here, I am kneading the dough (I used Pastor Ryan's recipe off the Pioneer Woman's site) and getting it to the appropriate thickness.

Here it is coming through the linguine attachment.

Piles of uncooked pasta, just waiting to be put in the Multi Pot! I made so much that I ended up having to cook it in two batches, to be safe. I was also able to put my new All Clad pasta ladle, which was also a gift from my mother in law, to good use.

I'm having visions of becoming a pasta queen here in 2010, I tell ya!

After dinner, we drove over to the LDS temple in Mesa. They set up a gorgeous light display every year for Christmas.

Not too shabby for a little point and shoot with no tripod, eh?

There are so many lights, both in front and behind the visitor's center. Bubba was in complete awe.

They had a gorgeous life sized nativity. I did notice that the baby was missing. I wonder why?

This sign cracked me up. I mean, as opposed to the dirty ones?

Bubba approved of the outing. It was pretty cold, so we had him bundled up in several layers, including Baby Legs under his jeans and teeny baby mittens, which were in my purse when I shot this photo. I also found myself in a real coat for the first time in several years. It wasn't very comfortable!

After we got home, it was time to say our goodbyes because everyone was leaving bright and early in the morning and we wouldn't get to see them again before that. It didn't take the baby long to realize that the nice people who picked him up whenever he demanded it were gone and he was left with just his mean old parents who liked to tell him "NO!" Poor kid. He had a total meltdown after about half an hour of attempting to climb our legs later that night. My husband finally calmed him down with some Charlie Brown on his iPod.

Why on the iPod, you ask? Oh, that would be because our 42" television that we paid $1000 for less than two years ago decided to DIE two days after Christmas! We bought it at Costco because everyone said they had the best warranty and you could return whatever, whenever... um, yeah. We found out that doesn't apply to electronics. They have a special "Concierge" service that you have to go through, and we may have to SHIP the stupid thing back to them for service instead of them just replacing it.

Needless to say, I'm not happy about that. Lame, Costco, LAME.

Anyhow, that was our Christmas with the Family! Sorry to end on that downer note. :)

Christmas Visit, day two

For the second full day of our family's visit, we decided to take them on a mini-tour of Phoenix since my future brother in law had only been here on layovers. We started with a visit to the state capitol building. There's a park across the street with all of the war memorials. We took a photo in front of the cool giant bell in the Korean War memorial.

There were a lot of pigeons, and Bubba was completely fascinated by them.

In front of the capitol building itself, there were some pieces of petrified wood. We tried to get a picture of the baby on one of them, but he wouldn't look at the camera.

After we left there, we headed over to South Mountain. At the entrance to the park there are these cool old buildings, so we had to get pictures there too.

I love the self timer function on my camera!

We drove up to where we had our wedding ceremony. It's really nice and overlooks the city.

We got married right on these steps!

The baby approved - he went up and down them about a half dozen times before we dragged him away.

We made a few other stops, and then headed over to La Grande Orange for dinner. My husband's grandparents, who live at the very farthest opposite end of the city from us, were able to come join us, which was really nice. They hadn't seen the baby since he was only a few weeks old!

We ended the night (well, at least I did) with one of the fantastic Tammie Coe cupcakes that they carry in the grocery next to the pizzeria. YUM!

Christmas 2009 Photos

Since my in-laws were coming in to visit on the 26th, we technically didn't celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day. We did have my mom over to hang out with the Bub while we finished up some last minute things around the house.

I think they had fun. She stayed all afternoon and then for a spaghetti dinner. I know. Real traditional, huh?

On Saturday afternoon, my husband's family began to arrive. My mother in law got here first, and we hung out and had lunch together while waiting for my sister in law and her fiance to arrive. I had everyone over to our place where I busted a bunch of tamales out of the freezer and served them alongside some Mexican rice (Spanish rice is VERY different!!!) and black beans.

Not a bad "Welcome to Arizona" themed meal, huh? I was surprised at just how much the baby liked the beans. He had a little goatee of black bean scum on his face. Funny, yet gross.

Doesn't that describe a lot of things about babies though?

After everyone left, we got him changed into his new jammies. He had to be ready for the next morning...

...and the family photo with matching pjs!

I wanted us to all have matching pj pants (I hate the tops) but it's really hard to find sets with both adult and infant sizes in the same pattern. If you do end up finding them, they end up being very expensive. Even if we did have the budget for that sort of thing, which we totally don't, I am also pretty cheap and would refuse to pay for it. Luckily, I'm crafty and can sew a little, so I used the directions in The Creative Family to make a third pair of $8 pants from Target into teeny pjs for the baby. Since I went with non-holiday themed pants, we can wear them all year long, or at least until he grows out of them. There was even enough fabric left over that I can make another pair when that happens. Kick butt.

My boys. :)

We tried to get Bubba to wear the Santa hat, but the boy just wasn't feeling it.

He did seem to think it looked a lot better on his aunt, though!

He had a little bit of trouble getting into the unwrapping of the presents.

With a little help and encouragement though, he soon got the first package torn open!

...Only to then focus all of his attention on that toy and leaving the rest of us to open his presents for him.

I made him some felt food for his play kitchen. The waffle was a big hit.

He was very fond of the tangerines that we put in the bottoms of the stockings. He was having a bit of trouble understanding why we wouldn't just let him bite into the thing!

Later that evening, he managed to get all his visitors to gather round for a rousing game of blocks.

The friendly sorting quickly became a game of tower building and subsequent tower knocking down.

After he got tired of that (which took a really long time, actually) he settled down with his soon to be uncle and took some lessons on his Doodle Pro...

... on Morse code. It's very handy for a baby to know these days. You never know when it will come in handy!