Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Wishing you and yours a very lovely Christmas and a wonderful new year!

Needle Felting - My new love

Meet Mr. Bunny-Wunny. With the use of a felting needle, raw wool and a kitchen sponge I was able to sculpt this little guy in just a few hours. It was a LOT of fun! My sister who is the queen of felting sold me all of the supplies I needed. This is such a fun and inexpensive craft. I think I am addicted.  While sewing will always be my first love, needle felting is now way up there too. What's great about needle felting is that it is a very 'parenting of small children friendly' craft. Unlike sewing where there is quite a bit of time in setting up your workspace before you get started (oh to have my own sewing studio!). You can easily take your supplies with you from room to room, or put it down if you need to run and say prevent your preschooler from flushing your toothbrush down the toilet etc.  You could easily  needle felt in a waiting room, as a passenger in a car etc.  It's very meditative and it really is exactly like sculpting. These would make great gifts and they are 100% eco-friendly since it's only wool. You could make beautiful Christmas ornaments, woolies for children etc. the possibilities are really endless. All of the materials plus a great deal of wool in a variety of beautiful colors only cost me $30 and will likely last me a long, long time.  What makes me especially happy is that needle felting will satisfy my desire to create until I am able to spend longer periods of time at my sewing machine. What's great is even Ian could easily needle felt a ball and he's been felting along side with me, playing with the wool etc. If you'd like to buy some needle felting supplies just email my sister Annie Bananie (there are beautiful examples of things she's made there) at anniebdr@gmail.com. She ships worldwide.

What's in the pot?

Have I mentioned I love my crock-pot? Before going out today I threw the following ingredients into the crock-pot and came home to a really nice chili. This is the first time I've made this recipe. Next time I make it I will, use milder chili powder so that Ian can eat it, I will only put a splash of the broth (I reduced it to a quarter cup but I think even less would be better since very little moisture seeps out of crock-pots making for a bit of a soupy chili). I also omitted the salt. The chocolate really gave it a neat and subtle flavor. I didn't actually put any beans in it... I sort of forgot, and it was still good! It would also have been good topped with a little blue cheese and a sprinkle of green onion and served with brown rice, quinoa, your favorite pasta, or toasted pita bread.

Crocky-Pot

Until recently this is a site I've resisted seeing in my kitchen:

I'm not exactly sure why I've resisted it so much. Perhaps because I've had SO many people tell me I should get one (even as an adult I don't like being told what to do). Also I think because I enjoy the process of cooking. But a wise friend gifted us one for Christmas, sort of as a joke, but not really. The box could have said 'Dude, would you just use it already'. So here it is... and I like it! I used it for the first time yesterday. Before going out shopping I quickly threw in some ingredients for a curry and when I got home:

A healthy meal all ready to eat. I'm REALLY going to like this. Thanks T!

Wee Wonderfuls

I just recently purchased the following patterns:

One for Ian: http://www.weewonderfuls.com/store/put-together-2.html

One for Avery: http://www.weewonderfuls.com/store/put-together-2.html

I can't wait to get started! SO CUTE!

Handmade gifts

I have been drooling over all of the gorgeous handmade things being made in the blogosphere as of late (have a stroll through the blogs listed on the left of this blog). I yearn for uninterrupted time to create. Alas, that's not in the cards for me for a little while yet. I did get around to sewing a little something the other day (a gift for a family friend)... Avery on my lap, Avery crying in her chair, Avery on my lap, Avery in the sling etc. It wasn't the meditative sewing I like -in fact it was a little bit stressful... but I did manage to create something cute which was fun.

Sooo until things settle down around here, I am happy to buy handmade gifts when possible. In addition to the baby quilt, Santa is also bringing Avery a cute banner to hang above her bed. I asked Karie over at workermade to make it for me. Her workmanship is amazing (which you can't really see in this picture unfortunately). I'm so happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait until Christmas day so that I can hang it above her crib (it's going to look awesome with that quilt). Thanks Karie!

Film in the Fridge Baby Quilt

I'm so excited for Avery. Santa's bringing her a special quilt for Christmas. The one I'm in the process of making her is a twin size... and realistically it may not be done until she moves into her big girl bed. I love this quilt! It reminds me of vintage bed sheets.

'Tis the season to be grateful.

The Christmas season is upon us. This year I am especially grateful to have our little girl celebrating the season with us. She is a sweet, precious, angel clearly gifted to us from the heavens. I am SO SO grateful that she is here and in good health. Such a happy, smiley baby and I'm so proud to be her Momma. She's only been with us four and a half months but I can't imagine our lives without her. It feels like she's always been here, part of our family. Ian loves her too. He calls her 'his baby' and gives her too tight hugs and big kisses.

I feel so blessed. Wishing you and yours the best of the holiday season. xoxo

Ian and Ave