the sky is pink

A few months back I thought about crocheting some hearts to make a little garland for the dining room mantle. After I started making hearts, I couldn't stop. And then I decided they'd look darling in Spenser's pink bedroom. I crocheted red, white, and pink hearts and sewed them together with fishing line. For the life of me I cannot remember which pattern I used, but it was a free one off the internet. The kids have been off from school since last week (snow, ice, end of marking term) and I sat down one day and just relaxed and crocheted. They were pretty quick and easy to whip up. I crocheted a chain and hung them from the chain on the lower half of her front bedroom window. I used two little Command clips to hang them up. I love those little clips. I have used them a lot lately . * Edited to add: I found the link to the hearts .*

Many years ago Joe bought me a pearl illusion necklace. I have loved that thing to death. I still wear it on occasion. Just last week at church a little girl told me how much she loved it. It reaffirmed my own love for it. The only teeny tiny problem was that it is made from white pearls and, well, some times I'd like to wear it, but need it in a different color ... You know how that goes. You think about something you "need," and then figure out a way to make it. And that's exactly what I did. I think it was a wardrobe essential. And I'm pretty sure I didn't actually need it, but it was simple enough to pull together. You can dress it down. You can wear it with a scarf (because rarely do the two leave my neck -- it's been so cold lately). And you can dress it up. I wore it to church yesterday with my Shabby Apple dress . [Can I just tell you how much I love their dresses? They are comfy, stylish yet classic and well-made. I wore one to Taylor's s...

Yesterday was a snow day from school. The kids were all playing peacefully and Sawyer was being entertained with all of his older siblings home. It was bliss ... at least for awhile.* I was looking through my recipes yesterday and saw one for Banana Butter. I stopped and remembered the six (!) bananas I had sitting on my kitchen island that were overripe. I usually toss the bananas to the chickens, but that's when I have one or two. Not six. I think I am over banana bread right now and I really have no room in my freezer for any more leftover bananas for smoothies. (And honestly, I can only eat bananas when they are perfectly ripe and have only a few sprinkles of brown on the peel. If I try to eat overripe bananas, I gag. I seriously gag.) Banana butter it was. Oh. My. Goodness. I did not realize just how good this stuff would be. I thought I'd share it with you in case you had some ripe bananas hanging about your kitchen, too. Sadly, I do not remember where I found this re...

Keen meet Merrell . Happy feet. (My new Christmas boots.)

After making our Christmas cards , I still had silhouettes on the brain. Can I tell you just how much I love them? Because, oh, I do. My real-life friend, Christy , reminded me that she had made silhouette ornaments one year. And I thought it would be the perfect time to make a few myself. I made several of the one on the right for grandparents and Aunt Lettie . The one on the left was one that I gave Joe for Christmas. It was a last-minute idea, but they were all well-received. And then I decided I needed one for my red-room Christmas tree . Every year I try to give the children a handmade ornament. Last year's never got made. This year they had three. The first one was from Jackson's birthday party and they each made one . I thought I was off the hook (and caught up from missing last year), when I thought of the silhouette ornaments. Each child received his/her own silhouette in a frame. I can't wait to look back at these in the many years to come. I always want to reme...

After repainting the family room this summer , I made some pillows for the new furniture. (But I think I forgot to blog them.) This Christmas season I decided I'd like some festive pillows for the family room. I went to the fabric store and found two Christmas prints that I liked. There wasn't much of a selection because it was about two weeks before Christmas. I came home and finally got around to washing the fabric. Then it sat around a little bit longer. I really told myself that if they didn't get made, I'd totally be okay with it. (I told you, I had a very stress-less holiday this time around.) One evening I had a few minutes to spare, so I sat down and made them. The top one is probably my favorite. I really like that print. Hey! How'd he get in there? The other new fabric I picked up was this candy print. I thought the kids would like it. It's okay, not my favorite, but pickin's were slim. And a fleece candy-cane striped pillow. I know you're th...

This post could almost be titled The Christmas Outfits That Almost Weren't. A year ago I found a fun, festive, handmade tablecloth on sale and I knew it would be cute for our matching Christmas outfits. The only problem was, last Christmas I didn't have time to make them. And then I had forgotten all about the tablecloth. Somehow, in the hustle and bustle of the impending Christmas holiday, I ran across the tablecloth. I wasn't sure if it would survive a washing, but I tried anyway, and it came out unscathed. As I started planning what exactly I was going to make (and if I had enough of that awesome border to go around), I realized that we were going to miss church the Sunday before Christmas . The day we always wear out matching outfits. Knowing I was going to a Christmas cookie exchange, I forged ahead. I even told myself that, as long as I made something for Spenser, that was enough. (Did I tell you how chill I was the weeks leading up to Christmas? Oh, I must. It's...

My favorite craft is making gifts. In years' past , I have cranked out multiples of the same gift to give to my sisters, friends, and teachers. This Christmas, I decided to give an embroidered linen handkerchief (with a bar of my homemade chocolate-mint soap). At first I was really excited about giving the hankies. I love little vintage hankies. I collect and use them. (I have a very small collection.) But then I started to wonder and fear if this was a weird thing to give people. After all, I'm sure not everyone shares my affinity with hankies. I still wonder what people think about them. And if they know what is is. One teacher sent home a thank-you note and thanked my son for the monogrammed "cloth." You can see years' past here . My sister, Kate, reminded me last year that I gifted a gold-gilded picture of the temple one year. But there is one year that still eludes us both. * * As I was typing this, I looked out to the chicken coop and saw an odd thing. We h...

On Saturday night Taylor and I traveled to go meet up with Joe at his Annual Training Conference in Lancaster, PA. It was going to be a special night. Each year they have a boring training conference and a boring awards ceremony. I stopped attending these things because, well, they are boring. There I said it and I don't feel guilty about it. I went for the first few years of our married life, but then we had too many children and then the children started school and it just wasn't as easy to pack up for a three-day weekend as it was with preschoolers. (And, I really don't like to leave my children. I have only left them when I had a baby and I left some of them when Joe took me out for my birthday one year , but we had three kids, one of which was a newborn Sawyer, so that really doensn't count as being away.) Anyway, my in-laws came and stayed with the younger five while Taylor and I went on a road trip. And, by the way, Taylor is not an enjoyable traveling compani...

Every year I make new gift tags. Even though I'm sure I have some left over from last year (and the year before, and probably the year before that) I still made more. While I have a "gift tag" punch, I love the simplicity of a round tag with a hole punched through it and strung on bakers twine . Oh, how I love bakers twine. I bought a spool a few years ago and it's still going strong. (I actually bought mine from them on eBay, but when I checked recently, they are no longer selling on eBay. They also have nice jelly roll pans.) Spenser has been fully involved in tag-making. I think I left to answer the phone and she took over. Gotta love her. Last year (?) after Christmas I found these Martha Stewart craft punches on clearance. Spenser and I found the perfect craft: gift tags ! We punched into little cards cut from scrap pieces of cardstock. I used poster tape to adhere it to packages, but I could easily punch a hole in the corner and string it on ... bakers twine ....

Last Friday the three elementary-school-aged kids in our house had early dismissal from school. (The two older boys were not happy they had a whole day of school.) Knowing that the minute my children walk in the door, they start arguing and fighting about who is getting on the computer first, I was armed with ideas. I printed some Christmas word searches and mazes for each of them. The website I found had different levels, so each child got the appropriate-aged puzzle. And that kept them quiet. For a bit. Spenser then worked on addressing her class Christmas cards. And then we decided to break out the new Cricut cartridge I had bought on clearance the week before: Paper Doll Dress Up . Now, I have to admit that this was as much for myself as it was for Spenser. I'm not going to lie about this. I felt a little giddy when I saw it. And I seriously cannot believe I waited a week to break it out. I should also admit that it was my first cartridge purchase. ( Although not the last .) An...

It was that time of year again. Remember that? If you don't, go back for a fun read and hurry back. So, it's a time of year I don't particularly look forward to. I felt like we've exhausted backyard shots. (Although I did come up with a few new ideas. Maybe next year ...) Anyway, I started to think about 2010 and how one of the biggest accomplishments of the year was Taylor completing his Eagle Scout project . It seemed only fitting that we would include one of his benches in our family Christmas card shoot. After about 200 shots, we picked this one. Sawyer looks goofy, but at the age of four, he is allowed to look goofy. He reminds me of Mason that one year . Oy . We told the children to put on their sweaters because they were not going to wear their coats. Amazingly only the four younger ones listened. We didn't even realize it until we were getting out of the car and told the kids to leave their coats in the car. Taylor and Carter were cold, but that's a con...

Yesterday was a busy day. We went to church and then attended a huge family Christmas (reunion) party . Santa was supposed to come through town on the fire engine last night , but rain kept ol' Saint Nick home. (He's rescheduling for next Monday.) I tried to console the children that they had just seen Santa (on a fire engine no less ) at our family Christmas party just two hours earlier. I think they're cool with it now. So we had some "down time" last evening. As always, I turned on my Christmas music and everyone just kind of did their own thing: playing, making, creating, etc. For Advent I had picked out a few crafty things to do throughout the month. Sadly, our busy family life has us going in different directions on most weeknights, so our Advent has mostly been drinking hot chocolate with a candy cane (or cool snowman-shaped marshmallows); drinking eggnog; family movie night (on a school night! with popcorn); and other holiday treats. Last night was the pe...

Last night our town held the MML 's Christmas dinner for our county. While our local chapter of MML meets frequently (monthly? quarterly? I'm not even sure), I rarely attend. I went one time last year, which I think was also the Christmas dinner. I don't go often, mostly, because of the cost for the town. It usually costs around $30 per person for food. Our little town of 900 people is struggling just like major cities. But, since we were hosting it, we all agreed to attend. I had planned to make a dress this past summer and never did. How typical of me. So when I heard about this dinner, I knew it was time. I used the fabric I had originally picked out this summer, which is a thrifted sheet. Or something. I thought it was a sheet, then I realized it was homemade. So maybe it was a shower curtain. I'm not sure. It's hard to tell but it's off-white with a reddish-pink floral design. I thought it could also double as a Christmas outfit with red and white. Or reddi...