Tip for Entertaining Children

Last week, when we still had snow on the ground, my friend's little boy spent the day at my house.  He was getting a little bored just before my kids came home from school.  Luckily, I remembered an old trick my mom used to use during the long winters of my childhood.

Snow in the Sink

I Shopped the House

Who coined that phrase?  I use it all the time now, and the Bionic Man looks at me like I am cuh-ray-zay.  Crazy like a fox!  I’m not spending any money when I shop the house.

This little winter vignette was totally free.  It took the place of our Thanksgiving Tree.  (Which, incidentally, looked so good there, we left it up well past Thanksgiving.  Gratitude is always in style, right?)

Ribbon Trimmed Canvas Curtains

Earlier this week, I showed you how I made several things to insert bright colors and a fun pattern into my otherwise neutral décor. 

Remember how that valance was originally a tablecloth?  It was a pretty big tablecloth, but after two pillows and a long valance, I was starting to run low on snowflake fabric.

Originally, I planned to make another snowflake valance to top the window in my dining room (the other end of our large great room).  I played around with a couple of ideas, but finally came up with something completely different.

Canvas Pillow Cover

I’m showing off some of my winter projects, this week.  Yesterday was all about my cheery snowflake tablecloth that found a few new things to cover.  Did you notice the pillow that was being propped up by some of those snowflakes?

This lovely canvas number was another one of my snow day sewing projects.  I’ll be forever grateful to this pretty pillow for helping me figure out how my sewing machine works. 

I started this pillow cover with one thing in mind: ruffles.  I wanted something ruffly on this pillow, but I didn’t want it to scream, “I’M A RUFFLED PILLOW!”

It Snowed Inside

I know that today is the first day of March, and I should probably be thinking of spring….but we’re still experiencing winter where I live.  Just humor me, this week, while I finally post some of my winter projects.

Yesterday, this little pillow was in all the pictures of my newly slipcovered chair.  See if you can find a couple of its relatives on the other side of my family room:

Here’s another snowflake pillow on the couch…

….with more snowflakes over the window!

Believe it or not, it cost me all of $1.98 to make both pillows and the valance.  What’s my secret to scoring such a great deal on fabric?  I didn’t buy it at a fabric store. 

All that fabric came from a tablecloth I found last year during Target’s post Christmas clearance.

My Slip is Showing, the Sequel

 Remember waaaaayyy back when I started sewing my very first slipcover? 

I actually finished it—ta da!

Decorating for the Seasons - Winter

When we purchased our current home, its decor was decidedly not neutral.  Each space had a very definite color scheme and those color schemes didn’t necessarily match with each other or our tastes.  As we’ve made changes, we have had an idea of general cohesiveness that we want to achieve, and we’ve kept a neutral color scheme in mind.  Most of what we’ve brought to the house is a palette of creamy tans, warm whites, and chocolaty browns.

Plans

I had big plans last week.  Plans that extended into this week.  After all, it was the first full week of 2011.  Not having big plans would be--well, it would practically be un-American not to start a new year with big plans.

So I had big plans.  Plans that involved organization and redecoration and revolutionary discipline tactics and radical lifestyle changes and the implementation of amazing new habits.

2011 was all set to be the year that defined my life.

Time to Take Down the Holiday Decorations

Americans have a long-standing tradition of wondering when it is time to take down their holiday decorations.  December 26th?  January 1st?  January 6th?  Easter?  The Big Box Stores and Hallmark have yet to designate an official day for this, and we just aren't used to such independence.  The lack of a designated un-decoration day leaves many Americans to worry: have we left the holiday decorations up too long or not yet long enough?

Americans, worry no longer.  I have heard your concerns, and now I will address them, with this very handy, FREE guide.   (I do not plan to seek office, but thank you for asking.)

It is Time to Take Down

the Holiday Decorations when:

You begin to feel a little deflated.

Your evergreen swags have been at the bottle,

they are obviously a little tipsy.

 The glowing nativity set has seen better days.

 The wisemen, clearly, are dead on their feet.

And their camel, unfortunately, really is dead.

 The Baby Jesus figure has sat out there in that manger so long 

he is no longer a baby

and is able to get out of the manger, unassisted.

(He'd probably try to get back in the garage, 

but swaddling clothes are so restrictive.)

The flamingos think that LED lights are the new pink, 

because that's what they've seen everyone wearing this season.

Santa is down to just one reindeer.

And other assorted lawn ornaments, left to their own devices,

have begun to commit heinous crimes.

In this case, I suspect that the guy with the sharp stick

or the Santa carrying a blunt, heavy object

are the most likely perpetrators.

The usual suspects.

And finally, you know the holidays are officially over

when you discover Santa has left behind 

all his clothing on your lawn.....except his shoes!

Happy New Year!

All these pictures were taken in my own Midwestern neighborhood, using the very thoughtful gift Santa left in my stocking this year.  Thank you, Santa! 

Love: The Big Game

I am well aware that the Super Bowl was over more than a week ago.  Yes.

Since our team lost, sadly, perhaps I should blame the lateness of this post upon that.  Our loss.

But I won't.  The truth is that I was without my beloved laptop all week.  It took me long enough to learn how to download my photos onto said laptop, it will take me years to figure out how to get them on the Mac.  There you have it.

Warning:  Due to the fact that I am now able to publish photos again, we may be visiting several past events this week!  

Think of it as vintage, not late.  That always helps.

And the other truth is, we're not a family who follows sports of any kind religiously, especially on TV.  (Admittedly, I can really get into live hockey, but that is another story.)  When our local team goes to the Super Bowl, however, we decide to become personally invested.  Invested in that we have our own little Super Bowl party and attempt to follow the game.  (I should mention that Justone has become very adept at helping all of us follow the game.  I'm not sure where he picked up that kind of genetic material.  This year, he shocked us with some random stats and info about some of the players.)  Any excuse for a good party, around here.

This one was particularly fun.  Wanna see?

The Super Bowl Comes to Holland

Before the big game started, we baked some sugar cookies.

(Hard to tell from this pic, but lots of them were football shapes.)

One of the children got the camera.  They took some interesting pictures of me.

Windspeeds were pretty high that night, as you can tell.

We had our party in our basement rec room.  At any given time during the course of the game,

you could find something like this going on at the bottom of the stairway.

Awww!  It was Hunter the Dog's first Super Bowl, ever.  

Before the game even started, Superkid and Justone were prepared to show their spirit.

They had a parade to kick off the event, and this was one of the floats.  

Justone was really excited to watch the game.  He was particularly excited to see Austin Collie.

We had lots of yummy food at our party, but unfortunately this is the only surviving evidence.

I'm not sure why the Bionic Man looks as if he's been caught red-handed in criminal activity.

Besides chips, we had sliders made of roast beef, swiss cheese, and roasted red peppers, veggies and dips, and homemade sodas.  (Can you tell it was diet day off for me?)

The only reason for this picture is so you can see how Hunter the Dog 

sports eye color of Colt Blue.  Fascinating!

During halftime, we decorated our cookies.  Note the team spirit!

Endeavor's masterpiece.

Justone shows his support for Austin Collie (#17) with a cookie.

While the rest of us were preoccupied with the second half of the game,

Superkid decorated all of the remaining cookies.  Wow!

Strangely enough, Superkid loves decorating cookies, but won't eat cookies.

I decorated a few cookies, myself.  This was my favorite.  

Can I tell you a funny cookie decorating story?  Back in December 2008, Superkid was recovering from open heart surgery at our local children's hospital.  The Child Life department always plans fun activities for the patients and their families, and there are some especially fun events prior to Christmas.  One day when Superkid was feeling up to it, we went downstairs to one of the Christmas parties.  It was sponsored by a big grocery store chain (Kroger) and there were all kinds of things to do: make Christmas ornaments and crafts, play games, decorate Christmas cookies, etc.  I decorated a Christmas cookie.  One of the Kroger employees who was helping out with the party saw my cookie and asked, "Are you a professional cake decorator?"  I'm not, trust me, and I told him so.  "Well, if you ever need a job, please feel free to contact me," he said, handing me a business card.  "We could use you in our bakeries."  I looked at his card later--he was the Kroger regional manager.  Hahahaha!  If this blogging thing doesn't work out.....I'm sure there is a place for me somewhere on the pages of Cakewrecks!

Love: Snow Days

Ahhh.  February.  Month of Fun Holidays: Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, President's Day, my mom's birthday.  And month of snow days, for those of us who live in the Midwest.

Know what a snow day looks like?

Well, yeah....on the outside.  But have you ever seen what a snow day looks like on the inside?

Let me show you.

At our house, you'll find a lot of this

And this.....

Explanation:  Hunter the Dog pulls things out of the garbage and shreds them if he doesn't get enough exercise.  It's hard to exercise your dog on a snow day.

During last week's snow day, there was a lot of this:

I'm often grateful for snow days.  Especially when they give us extra time to work on the 100+ Valentine's required for families having three children in the school system.

Some more of this:

That would be more things scattered on the floor.  In this case, not necessarily by the dog.

And a lot of this:

That would be blankets.  Everywhere.  Especially on the floor, which this very snuggly dog is always more than willing to snuggle up in.  

I don't have a picture of dog hair, but snow days include a lot of that, too.

Love: CSI Version

The Scene of the Crime:  A front yard, Midwestern USA.  Suburbuan cul-de-sac.  Nice home, quiet street.  Not the kind of place you would expect something like this to happen.

The Date and Time:  Valentine's Day, 2007, early in the afternoon.  All the crazy stuff seems to happen on holidays, right?  But no one around here has ever seen this kind of thing.  Not here.  Folks in these parts thought this stuff only happened on TV--not right in their front yards.  

The Crime:  Graffiti.  Obviously, a crime of passion.  

Let's take the evidence to forensics and really get a good look at this.  Right on the front lawn, too.  It's a darn shame, that we let lunatics like this run around, that we let them get away with this kind of stuff. 

What we're looking at here is a closer shot, taken from the upstairs window.  The screen's in the way.  Can we get our resident computer geek to move that screen out of the way so we can get a look at what's really going on down there?

There we go, that's better.  I think I can make out some writing, there. 

Yep, there it is.  They've written, "RUTH (heart)'s BEN".  I think that means "Ruth loves Ben."  Are you seeing it?  Uh-huh, right there.  But what could it mean?  Hey, call down to the lab and see if they've been able to get some DNA from that sample we sent 'em.  

What do you mean?  There's no DNA?  There's gotta be some DNA!  It's written in blood!  Oh, that's not blood we're looking at?  It's a mixture of food coloring and water, huh?  That explains a lot.  I'm beginning to see where we're going with this one, now.  Someone with a little too much time on her hands filled up a squirt bottle with water and red food coloring, and took aim at the snow covered front lawn.  Real class, there.  

Like I said, it's a crime of passion, heheh.  Kids messin' around, probably, pulling some kind of a prank.  Those hooligans and their shenanigans.  You know, these teenage girls showing off for some guy they like.  Case closed.  Happy Valentine's Day, and all that.  

  

Note from Ruth:  This was actual footage from Valentine's Day 2007 at our house.  And I confess: I'm the hooligan who made that shenanigan!  I also confess that I heart Valentine's Day.  I enjoy coming up with new things every year to show my family how I love them.  I especially take evil delight in finding slightly embarrassing ways to show the Bionic Man how much I love him.  Oh yes, I have stories to tell!

Join me from February 1-14 for some Valentine fun

as I blog about fun ways to celebrate the Day of Love

with your family, friends, and Special Someone.

I can't wait!  In the meantime, here's some evidence of how things worked out on Valentine's Day 2007.  I give you a picture taken on February 15, 2007:

That's Superkid, who fell asleep on the couch holding a rose she'd stolen from the lovely bouquet her dad gave me the night before.  (She justified the crime later by reminding me that her middle name is Rose, making her the obvious owner of any rose that enters our home.)  How could I do anything but take a picture of this?  

But let's not get sidetracked by the cute sleeping child.  The point is, the Bionic Man was reminded of Valentine's Day by the graffiti on our lawn before he pulled into the driveway, giving him a second chance to do things right.  Yep, that's how we roll!