Handmade Christmas Gifts

We had fun creating handmade Christmas gifts this year for several family members.

To give Will and Erik's brother, David, something to "hang around" in at college, we made them each hammocks this year for Christmas. We found a great tutorial online for an easy way to secure the fabric to the climbing rope and then used the alpine butterfly knot to secure each end to the wall.

Will and Erik set up the hammock in the loft of the McKinzie's carriage house, where he will be sleeping for the next couple of days (there's quite a full house already!). We'll find out how comfortable it is.

There are a few more photos of other items coming on a later post.... :)

Snow in North Carolina!

It began snowing on Christmas day here in North Carolina...and through the night. By Sunday morning, the 26th, this was what the outside world looked like...

Erik, Will (Jane's youngest brother) and a bunch of Will's friends had snowball fights, built forts and a snowman all day long.
It was Meredith's first experience with snow. She was pretty wide-eyed.

And...so far, she's not a fan of sledding. Yes, we did bungy-cord her into the sled...but, she only allowed that for about 5 minutes. Too cold!!

Christmas Day!

We are in North Carolina with Jane's family. We had a lovely Christmas together and the celebrating continues the rest of this week with more family arriving for the next 3 days!

Meredith got a special toy from Granna and Grandaddy - a wooden stackable snowman. She loves it! Here she is exploring it and watching Granna show her how it works.


Thanks, Granna!!

We had a yummy Christmas dinner together - a delicious spread and fun to be together again. Meredith enjoyed being apart of the dinner and sported her new "Santa" bib from Grandma Petersons. :)

festive dress!

Yesterday we dressed Meredith in her special Christmas dress that Aunt Aleksa gave Meredith - a splurge at BabyGap while she was here (it was on sale...and it was just too cute!). :) Thanks, Aunt Aleksa! We think green is MJ's color.oops...Mama forgot the bow she made to "top" off the outfit! quick...there, all set. :)

Ummm...is that a grinch face?!? ;)

and, photos with Daddy (who's sporting his new tie from his wife - homemade!)
and, Mama and MJ. :)

Colds :(

We've all been sick with bad colds this week. It's really hit us hard this time - no fun all being sick as a family! So...we've had lots of snuggling, cuddling and staying-in-bed time this week. Not much done, but lots of resting and sniffling.

Meredith is still cheerful and sweet through it all. Here she is snuggling with one of her favorite blankets (made by Heather Misula!!).

Ollie the Owl Dollie

Last week, at the Dec. 4th craft fair, Sherry and I met several other crafters who wanted to do swaps/bartering with us. It was fun to get to know other people there and to have a trade of wares. We gave one lady a wooden car in exchange of a cloth baby book...and another crafter gave me a lavendar sachet in exchange for a custom order of an owl doll I'd make her later sometime.

So, today I sat down, designed and made a wee owlie...and he became "Ollie the Owl Dollie"

Isn't he cute?!?! I'm sad I have to give him away now....so, I need to make a few more, I think. :) And, these may just start appearing on my etsy shop (beingjane.etsy.com) - if I ever get organized!

weekend activities

This weekend was our first "free weekend" in quite a while...however, it became very full before it was over.

On Friday Meredith and I picked up our tiny "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. Yup...it fit in our trunk. :)

And...by Saturday it was decorated and glowing! Wee trees are so festive.
We worked on various Christmas gift projects throughout the weekend (more to come in that area in posts after Christmas)...and Erik was even able to do a home project we've been pondering for quite some time.

A coat rack for the sun room! But, not just any coat rack....we found a cool branch on one of our walks months ago. I insisted that we bring it home - it was too great to pass up and there had to be something we could do with it! So...it had been leaning against our living room wall for several months while we discussed WHAT to do with it. After dismissing the idea of a curtain rod and other various suggestions...we decided it would become a coat rack in the sun room (on the only blank wall left!). Yet, the right hooks had to be found and this caused another serious delay. Finally, this week I found spoon hooks on Etsy for the right price...and they arrived in the mail on Saturday. Hurrah!! So...Erik had the rack up in a jiffy, and it's even better than we imagined! :)

MJ at 8 months

Our talented friend, Chandra, shot these photos of MJ this past Sunday. Thanks so much, Chandra!

Styling

So...after Meredith had wet two outfits before noon yesterday, Mama got a wee bit creative with MJ's wardrobe (upon the 3rd change of the day!) and came up with this. :) Gotta love bold colors and especially pink on this girlie!

MJ's expression matches her outfit - bold and dynamic!

Yup - that's a cloth diaper butt!

Art and Craft Fair - Dec. 2010

Jane partnered with Sherry Clippinger (life-long friend) this past weekend and had a booth at the Glenside Craft Show. They put together a colorful display that drew a steady crowd the whole day. Sales were excellent and Jane left with a few custom orders and encouragement to keep up her etsy shop!

Her cards sold like hot cakes!

Erik's teethers were also a hit...along with the cloth baby balls Jane made.