It's Here!

Winter Issue

I've been waiting and waiting (a bit impatiently, I'll admit!) for the WINTER ISSUE of the Rhythm of the Home online magazine, and now it's here!

Here's just a sampling of all the goodness they've got goin' on this season:

AND, they're having a huge winter giveaway on their blog.

So, go check them out and enjoy!

'Tis (Officially) the Season

Thanksgiving is done, Black Friday is over (thankfully!), and there is snow on the ground.

It is officially the holiday season!

This year, like so many other families, we're doing a (mostly) Handmade Holiday- not only because it's a much more frugal way to celebrate, but also because now, more than ever (since Regan is getting bigger), we want to be mindful and intentional in raising our child(ren) to be grateful, giving, humble, un-materialistic, and not to feel "entitled".

We want the excitement of the season to come from the fun we have making & doing things for others, as well as from getting to spend time being with and celebrating with our family and friends, not from making pages-long wish lists of gifts for themselves, and not from expecting to receive a BUNCH of presents!

We want our kids to expect to get a few special, quality handmade gifts from us and for anything beyond that, especially from extended family or friends, to be just a nice "bonus".  Less is more.

So, the mad flurry of activity and work (because I, of course, couldn't possibly get an early start on these things!) to get gifts made is in full swing!

So, too, is the decorating of the house for the winter season.  This year the budget with which to do this is basically non-existent, so I'm doing my best to use what we already have and to borrow "extras" from family or friends (thank goodness for sister-in-laws who got married this year and for mother-in-laws who have hung onto the decorations!).

It's causing me to get creative, which- although sometimes frustrating and more labor-intensive- I maintain is good for my brain!

So far, I've come up with this (pardon the horrible cell phone pics- I'm pressed for time with gift-preparing!):

A combo of what we already had- glass hurricane, unscented pillar candle, river rocks & twig rounds, Christmas ribbon, and a placemat.

Same story here, only with a few pinecones added as well.

Red wreath from years past.

And Cinnamon Ornaments (currently drying), which I hope to hang with twine or ribbon by three's in each window.  

(I had completely forgotten about these since making them in elementary school.  And, they're so easy too- just mix plain applesauce and ground cinnamon until you have a stiff enough dough to roll out and cut cookie cutter shapes out of.  Let them air dry until they're nice and hard, then hang 'em up!  Pretty, and they make the house smell so good.)

I'm also hoping to borrow a bunch of greenery (or go to a nearby farm and cut my own) and white Christmas lights from my lovely mother-in-law to get creative with- possibly by hanging a garland and light "border" around my living and dining room, and trying my hand at re-creating these ideas: 

 Lights strung in and around pretty glass bottles (or candles).

 Lights strung around windows.

 Twine accent trees.

 Framed seasonal art made from scrapbooking papers.

Vases, jars, and "cloches" filled with pretties.

 

 Glittery string ornaments on glittery-

 or painted- branches.

 Candles decorated with glitter or...

 greenery- and placed in arrangements.

And simple, understated, indoor wreaths.

I'm also thinking about making some snowflakes from white tissue paper to decorate our windows with.

I've seen some really pretty gingerbread houses too- which would be cheap since I have all the ingredients to make them- but the really classy looking ones would be really time-consuming (at least for me!) to make, so that's one I'm definitely skipping this year.

I still need to figure out a wreath for the back door and get the table runner out and actually on the table, but I'm beginning to feel like our home is starting to become a little more season-ready!

Now, back to the gift-making.  I'm fairly certain I've, yet again, bitten off a little more than I can chew- and that I'm most likely not going to learn not to be quite so overly ambitious in setting my handmade gift goals in the future!  Oh well.  :)

Stir Crazy!!!

Sigh.......

Here I am, having disappeared from the blogging world again, with a confession to make.

I suffer from S.A.D. every year- and the toughest stretch of it for me is right now, in the depths of the winter freeze.

I usually do pretty good through fall (love that season!) and even Christmas- it's just that last leg of winter that really gets me!

Thankfully I've found that, for me, light therapy helps a lot.

So, I try to get out for a daily walk (hard to do with such little babies and kids around everyday, and temps as cold as they've been here this winter), and do my best to either sit by a sunny window (UGH! haven't even seen the sun here in a WEEK!!!) or somewhere that I can have my little HappyLite light box shine on me (hey, I'm not at all above tricking my brain into behaving!).

But, I still have days like today (and the last couple of days leading up to today)- days where I'm pretty much a crazed basket case.

The serious starch and sweets cravings are attacking, all of the unfinished and un-begun home improvement projects are starting to loom up around me, and I just pretty much feel like an out-of-control emotional mess. I try hard to "self medicate" by throwing myself into a project or two, but this year my beautiful, wonderful, miracle-baby bundle of joy is here- which has helped, I think, ward off the worst of the symptoms so far, but also makes it nearly impossible sometimes to really get into a project. (But, I am NOT complaining about her! She is my- our- greatest blessing!) :) No, not complaining, just admitting that lately it's all just a bit difficult for me.

So, that's what's turned me quiet here in "Paradise". ;)

All of this, on top of having my font stuck somehow on italic today- it's almost more than a girl can handle! So, I finally decided today, as soon as Pete got home (that sweet hubby of mine! more on him later.), that I was going to have to distract myself with a project of some kind. I've been blog-browsing over the last couple of days, and so I'm going to share some of what I've been enjoying/dreaming of doing. Hope you find some it useful too- or enjoyable at the very least! :)

This piece of canvas wall art:

It's (ah-ha! no more italics!) called "Tree of Life" by Jill McDonald. I found it here, but, ouch! $144.00 is a bit beyond my budget! Not sure how I'm going to make that one happen yet, but the wheels are a-turnin'. We shall see...

I'm also really enjoying The Copy Cat Cottage blog! I'm so glad my friend Melissa shared a link to it on her blog. Stacy is such an inspiration! She's decorating her home beautifully on a budget- my kinda gal. ;) I already have plans to be a copy cat myself and make some of her chalkboard tags for the various toy and daycare storage baskets we have around here. Because of her I've decided to go ahead and dig out my old home improvement idea/inspiration binder- and have some Pottery Barn catalogs on their way here, that I'll be ripping ideas out of to try to duplicate (on the cheap) in our home.

And, last but not least, I've been enjoying watching some of DIY Wasted Spaces on Hulu.com. It's when I find programs like these that I'm especially thankful that we don't have a t.v.- I'd become an extremely unproductive couch potato, just sitting there, watching these great home improvement shows and daydreaming. ;)

So, tonight I've busied myself by rearranging the playroom shelves (trying to see if I can get all of the toys in there with it still looking neat, not cluttered, giving us more open space in the living room), moved some baskets around to give the art storage area in the dining room a nicer look to it, thrown out a lot more of our piled up magazines, and decided that- just as soon as it's warm enough to open the house up a little for proper ventilation- I'm going to finish the painting projects I've been meaning to get to for so long now!
(I get a bit manic and frantic during these S.A.D. days at times!)

On the painting list:
-finish painting the kitchen drawers and cupboards white & apply new hardware
-paint the kitchen (this will mean figuring out how to patch the big lathe and plaster hole in the wall- hubby be ware!)
-painting the living and dining room one color to unify the two
-painting the bathroom a much lighter, airy-er color

and,

-very possibly painting the outside of our front door and applying a new (read "prettier") door knob/latch.

Plus, hubby's supposed to start the remodel (one of these days) on Regan's room.

As for the aforementioned sweetness of the hubby, he came home, saw the state I was in, and not only bought and prepared supper for us, but also came back from the store with chocolate. Just for me.

:D

Ahhhh. :)

Now, off to bed. Wish me luck getting up and continuing on with this all in the morning!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the Groundhog.

He NEVER gives me good news on when winter's going to end.

So, we're not on the best of terms- and this year doesn't look like it's going to be the year to restore my faith in him.

----------------------------------------------------

On Saturday I stopped in to our local yarn store and caught a part of the spinning demonstration going on there.

I had intended to take my camera and take pictures but, of course, I rushed out of the house without it.

So, instead, here's a video that (very briefly) sums it up.

And, here's one that was kind of like what she was doing on Saturday.

However, the wheel that was used on Saturday is smaller than this one, and is a double-footed one, not a single.

Kind of like this one:
All in all, it was a neat demonstration.

You'll probably think I'm nuts, but it would be so neat (one of these days)
to learn to spin my own yarn!

Pete wants goats, after all, on our future country acreage, so why not? :D

And, when I do, I think this looks like the most time-effective method.

Yay!!!

(My apologies on today's post- the linking is seriously messed up. Grrr.)



The first of the seed catalogs came today!

I'm like Nikki, and can't wait to get planning!

This year I want to focus on:

*Getting enough amount and variety planted that we can- for the most part- NOT have to buy it this summer.

*Do what I can to grow truly organic crops.

Call me crazy if you want to, but with all my little weird food sensitivities, allergies, and nutty little problems, I've been wondering more and more over the years if any of them could have been caused by the abundance of chemicals in our world.

Like, Genetically Modified food crops made into foods that I buy at the store and eat.

Or "stuff" that's in our soils and water due to years of pesticides, man-made fertilizers, etc., etc.

And then, of course, I watched this

and wondered even more. :D

So, this year I'm hoping to buy (at least some) organic seeds to do our edible gardening with.

Anyone know of any good organic seed companies, with relatively low prices?

(That's always the tricky part- at least for me- cost effective organics.)

Leave me a comment with your tips and tricks!

Especially on how to harvest your own seeds for next year- I can't afford to buy all organics, and I certainly can't afford to buy them every year, so I want to harvest our own organic seeds each year to use the next time.

Hopefully in the next month or so (depending on how long they take), I'll be starting my little seed pots.

My lovely mother in law also suggested this book:

when I complained that we want to grow our own but don't have much room.

I found it at the library (sorry to the others in our tiny town- I'm hoarding it until I can buy it used off Amazon!), so we'll be using it too.

I can't wait!

Holiday Daycare Highlights 2008

Since I'm aiming at a much more handmade holiday this year, I decided to make my main presents for my two daycare kids too.

I made my sweet girl a rainbow colored scarf...

And my cute boy two felted balls from wool yarn.

So far we have decorated cookies every year. This year was no exception- except that I made the cookies in advance to give us more time for a new holiday activity
(which you'll see in a minute).

While I made supper the kids watched "Jack Frost"- a classic (since 1979) holiday movie that I hadn't heard of until this year.

For supper we cut cookie cutter shapes out of bread and made french toast! (Thanks for that great idea, mom!) It was fun and so good too. We had french toast, turkey bacon (crispy, thankyouverymuch!), blueberries and blackberries, and milk for supper.

Then we opened our gifts. Always the best part, right? :D

After that was the new activity- one I'd heard of but had never done before.



We made cranberry/popcorn garlands and dried orange slice ornaments to decorate our little outdoor tree for the birds! It was so fun that I'm hoping to make it a holiday tradition.

After the decorating was done, we warmed ourselves up with some homemade hot chocolate. Yum! We each had a left over sugar cookie, and a Christmas decorated doughnut.

Then we kicked back and read stories on the couch till their daddies came to pick them up.

Such a fun night with two of my favorite kids of all time! :D