Happy New Year! One Word Resolution

Agape

I was inspired (as always) by Sarah's post , in turn inspired by another blogger, to use one word to shape my new year, rather than a list of resolutions.  It's not that I don't believe in resolutions. I do.  I usually make and break the same ones every year:  I will lose weight, I will be a more patient mother, I will make everyone a handmade gift ....  And perhaps if I was a more diligent goal-maker I'd be more successful at achieving my goals.  I admire Lou Holtz for writing down his 100 goals in life and then achieving them, one by one. 

But the one word goal is an intriguing one.  CREATE?  Well, I have to do that because it's like breathing to me.  I like Sarah's word:  DISCIPLINE.  I could definitely use a plan to be more in CONTROL of my life...as in I control what I eat, I control how I manage my internet life, I control how to organize my day.  So I am, at least, motivated to attempt a weekly plan where I block out time for crafting, working, laundry, ...

Last night we managed to see a movie as a family (teens and all!)  We saw the Blind Side.  I loved it.  I laughed.  I cried.  I was amazed at how lives could be changed by simple actions.  There is a point in the movie where the mom questions her motives.  Why do we perform acts of charity?  Do we do it to make ourselves feel better?  I think about these things often.  I cannot express my thoughts eloquently, however.  But I have been inspired by the word "agape" after reading some works by C. S. Lewis.  (Side note:  Shadowlands is one of my favorite movies.)  It is a hard word for me to fully understand, let alone explain.  (You can google it.)  But it's a type of love that goes beyond the love that you and I commonly think of as love.  It goes beyond charity; beyond kindness.  I think the Blind Side teaches us about agape.

I hope that I can focus on living my life around this word for the new year.

Handmade Gift Roundup

A birdy for Sondra.  Thanks to the ladies at French Picnic for the inspiration.  The lace wings are made of lace belonging to Sondra's late mother.

 

 Sponge Bog pj bottoms, made by 10 year old son for his (almost) 18 year old brother.

One more grab bag from 10 yo to 16 yo sister

And a tote to carry a Shirley Temple - from 10 yo to 13 yo sister.

My 10 yo also knit this dishcloth for me (sis helped a bit.)

 My 13 yo daughter, once again, made all of her gifts.  In addition to making me the wine cork bulletin board she made me this fantastic MP3 case.

   It is lined in a fun fabric and includes a belt clip.

She made her brother and sister each a pair of flannel pjs.

 Annie made her father a knitting kit.  We have taught him to knit, but he likes things that come in discrete packages.  So we put an old "Learn to Knit" leaflet, some alpaca yarn I had bought a while back and a simple pattern for a scarf.  (With a February birthday around the corner, I did this completely unselfishly....)

She whipped up the cutest little drawstring bag to hold it all.

 

I managed to finish one more helmet liner and gave it to my husband.

It was fun to catch the handmade spirit this year.  For the younger ones, it kept the anticipation of Christmas at bay, offered an affordable alternative to buying all their presents and gave them a huge sense of accomplishment.

We share many lovely presents, too, with family and friends.  We were quite spoiled, really.  I am truly grateful.

Gifts for Wine Lovers - I Guess That's Me

Annie surprised me by making this wine cork bulletin board.  I had snagged a bunch of corks last year and kept them in our craft room.  She found a shadow box frame at JoAnns and filled it with corks.  I love it!

One day after she stole the corks, I went looking for them and was sure I'd lost my mind.  I had wanted to use them to make a gift for our neighbors.  I had to seek out more corks.  Many of the local wineries were very generous in providing me with corks so we could make this tray/trivet.

Our neighbors are involved with a wine event that is a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  We used the complimentary wine glasses to make wine glass candles.  We melted Glass Fill Wax, added dye and poured it into the glass along a pre-waxed wire wick.  This was our first adventure into candle making and we were surprised how much it shrinks.  After the first pouring had cooled overnight we did a second pour.

In addition to these handmade gifts, I thought you might be inspired by some other wine-related gifts I received.  This beautiful wine stopper from our neighbors.

And bottles of wine covered with cute accessories from our friends!

 

To enjoy all that wine I was given some Martha Stewart wine glasses and adorable wine charms.

 

 

 

Finally, I received a dummy-proof (?) Houdini wine opener.

Knitting Needle Clock - and He's Mine!

I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest girl alive!  After 20 years of marriage, my husband managed to surprise me with this amazing gift he made.

 

It will be mounted on the wall in our craft room/office.  He wondered why I was so thrilled with this gift.  I told him it was the complete surprise of it all.  After all, a girl loves a surprise (even if I'm a few needles lighter.)

There was much crafty-giving this Christmas and I can't wait to share with you some of the many lovely gifts that were shared among us.  It was not all crafty and I was quite spoiled with many lovely gifts, including the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice and Earth, Wind, and Fire's Greatest Hits CD from my daughter and son, respectively.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and can enjoy some quiet, family time.

Mmm, Mmmm. Good - Cupcakes - Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmerry Christmas!

It has been a tradition in our house to make all the ladies in the family crafts for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This year we were inspired by this adorable cupcake ornament from Bake It Pretty.  Annie, my 13 year old, made these entirely herself.  Although it had to be made in steps, they were easy and quick to make.  Her grandmas, aunts, and older cousins will be thrilled!

 

 

Practical Christmas Decorations

We have limited storage space in our house, so I don't collect many holiday decorations.  When I was growing up my parents hung their Christmas cards in the dining room from a string criss-crossed from corner to corner.  With the open floor plan in my house, we don't really have a good space to do this, so in honor of my family tradition, we string our cards across our railing.

 

For stockings, I use some old work socks that were never used.  (I know my knitting friends are cringing right now!  Someday I'll knit those heirloom stockings....)

A few years ago I found a small tree at Salvation Army that I gave to my girls to decorate.  It has evolved into our yarn tree that is placed in our entrance way.

It has a garland of fuzzy white yarn and is adorned with stockings knit or crocheted by friends.  Annie and I made the purple yarn ball ornaments for members of our knitting club a couple years ago.

The star is an ornament that we made with the knitting club.  It's one in which you run the yarn through glue and place it on wax paper over a template.

Finally, I love the yarn Santa that Annie made.

A Boy's Gift to His Dad

My ten-year old son is making his presents this year.  This young man is kinetic - high energy, loves sports and playing outside (he's the one who broke his arm).  He also loves PS2 (yeah, we're a little behind the times) which is restricted to nothing during the school week.  So, anything which broadens his attention span is always good.  For his dad, we selected a fabric-wrapped bowl.  I found some cording at Wal Mart and two jumbo balls of fabric at a garage sale this past summer.

I helped him get started and anytime he needed to add a new strip of fabric, but he did a fantastic job.

 

 

More Grab Bags

Pattern:  Grab Bags from AllPeopleQuilt.com

 

Fabrics:  From Contemporary Cloth and Joann's

Inside:  Filled with fuzzy socks, hand lotion, sweet treats.

 

Bags not gifted yet.  The last day of school was actually canceled - not due to snow, just as a surprise!

A closer look at the fabrics and linings:

 

 

 

 

Another Gift Revealed - Simple Ribbon Notecards

My children are involved in all sorts of musical activities.  For a favorite music director we made a set of note cards.  This idea was inspired by one of the gazillion craft lists I'm on.  Sadly, I can't find the link.  But you start with some ribbon.

 Cut and glue.

Grab closest ribbon and present!

So simple, even a 17 year old boy and non-crafty 16 year old girl could do it!  Problem is, Christmas is to musicians as tax season is to accountants...busy!  So....mom made them.

We also threw in these adorable earrings from CuteAbility

I hope you are enjoying your Christmas preparations!