Friday, January 11, 2013

Some things you want to remember

Wolfie and Vladdie are our resident artists. Vladdie is constantly creating drawings, buildings, creatures, heroes, sculptures...ahem, messes. :) But today I want to talk about Wolfie. Wolfie creates with words. And words, words, words. One thing I want to remember is how he is always creating imaginary books, movies, tv shows and video games about his life, but all in his mind. There have been a few drawings, but mostly these fantastic adventures are fleetingly enjoyed as he shouts them out with every hop of his hoppy ball. Although this is sort of a lame version of his normal telling (ruined by the presence of a camera, probably) I wanted to snatch a little of it up to remember it. Here he is talking about the show of his life, Wolfie's Adventures: season 1, episopde 2. In this episode he is abducted by aliens. But don't worry, every episode in his life has a happy ending. And that little thought warms this Mama's heart.
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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Makings of Christmas!

If you know my family, then you know we are always making something. Christmas really puts this in overdrive. Here is a sample of some of what we made. I made a few pairs of fingerless gloves (knitted) but didn't snag any pics. Boo, I came up with the pattern myself,  so I will try to write it up and make another pair (maybe for me?!) and post it.
    Boy were these fun to make! I hope some of my crafty friends will share what they made this Christmas.
A knitted hat to Vlad from Mommy

A gnome home with mushroom rattle for my niece,  Mae. The gnomes are knit,  but the rest is crocheted. 


A big,  beautiful Christmas doily made by my Mom. Gorgeous! 

A dollhouse for Ollie Bean. My mom made it for me when I was little. Then I painted it for Jas. Now Matt fixed it for Ollie in the same colors as our house!  He made a little furniture for it too. There is more we want to add,  then  more pics will follow! Can you believe my Mom made this from scratch? She is a d. i. y. beast! 


Old school bomb with fuse for the bros,  knitted. 

Crocheted pincushion 

My favorite gift wrapping this Christmas,  done with upcycled packing paper from a delivery. 

Had to make Ollie a gnome home too! 


Matt took a wooden,  thrifted salad bowl and carved it into a yarn bowl. I love it! Now my yarn doesn't roll across the room while I knit. 

Some ankle socks,  knitted for myself! Claus is vacationing inside for the winter,  so I had to put him to work hauling my socks. 


Gift bags made from old t-shirts

A time bomb with removable sticks of dynamite. Matt recorded a sound button in the clock! You must check out the video of it here



A stocking made out of t-shirts. The inside is red. Of course this was for the tractor loving Brandon. 

Here are some t-shirts that Matt made by creating a stencil from freezer paper and painting the shirt. I think he outdid himself! 

Link for Wolfie

Megaman for Vlad 

A thumbdog for his Mama

And for his Dad,  Dennis Kucinich! 

I didn't take a pic of the grenade stuffie I made,  but I did take a video. (click here) Matt recorded another sound button and it has already seen a lot of action! 






Last,  but not least,  the boys did their first embroidery as a gift to their talented Grandma Kathy. Subscribers, Click for video


I hope you fit a little handmade into your Christmas! I would love to hear what some of you made too!



P. S. Must give props...

The gnomes were from this pattern:
http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-knitting-gnome.html

Gnome home was based on this pattern:
http://yarrrn.blogspot.com/2008/02/gnome-home.html

The grenade:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mills-bomb-grenade

The old school bomb :
http://shoshanaknits.blogspot.com/2012/06/happy-bomb-knitting-pattern.html

The mushroom rattle was based on :
http://tomacreations.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/amigurumi-super-mario-mushroom/

The pincushion:
http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2009/08/crocheted-pin-cushion-pattern-english.html

The time bomb was my own on-the-fly pattern.

I always use Ann Budd's sock book. Swear by it!

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Knitting-Socks/dp/1596680296/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357700431&sr=1-3&keywords=ann+budd