When Life Gives You Fourteen Degrees, You Give it Felt Valentines in January

It continues to be ridiculously cold (I know, January) and it continues to be my least favorite time of year (Christmas is still over!). And so to that I say: Valentine's Crafts.



Ellie and I started working on this little ditty on Saturday afternoon while the twins napped. And here's some funny info which speaks volumes: I bought the materials for this "garland"…LAST YEAR. Along with a glue gun. Which I finally took out of its package this weekend. Hey, better late than never, right? Yes, I've long dreamed (for a whole year, apparently) of creating a little Valentine's Day garland (you can make garlands for pretty much any holiday-I'm already planning my Halloween version).



We worked furiously while they slept, in an attempt to get as much finished in the absence of the twin-nadoes precious darlings. I knew as soon as they woke it would be Game Over. We accomplished a lot, I'd say about 3/4 of the garland was complete before Lucy woke up.

When she came downstairs she was wide eyed at the craftapalooza. She announced, "I want to paint!"

Well, OK then.


Lucy, you're such a great artist, I told told her. "No I'm not!" she protested. "I'm Lucy!"

There was a time when I would have felt itchy to have so many projects going at once (shortly after Lucy started painting, she asked for lunch, so at one point I was simultaneously making a cheese sandwich, slicing berries and glue gunning burlap cord and felt hearts). The kitchen: Oh it was quite a sight. I guess I'm just much more accustomed to chaos than I used to be (Gee! I wonder why!). It still makes feel a little nuts, but I know in the back of my mind that everything is washable and everything has a place (eventually) and everything will get cleaned up.


Harry woke up a little later and joined our "salon."


He may have been a bit more interested in the paint water than the actual painting (don't worry, he took a drink when it was clean, before he'd dipped his brush).

Ellie alternated between decorating felt hearts for the garland and painting with watercolors. At one point I took a break from felt heart glue gunning and worked on some water colors too. This is so much harder than it looks, I mentioned to Ellie, who was working quietly beside me (It's been a while since I've used water colors).


"Not for me," Ellie replied. "I'm a natural."

By the way, about that working furiously? A funny thing happened. We were able to finish the garland after the twins woke up. This might sound silly, but I have to say that completing this did a lot for my confidence. I love being creative. I miss doing stuff like this. Yes, things have been pretty hectic for the last few years (Hi Harry and Lucy!). Dare I say we are seeing a glimmer of the future? A future in which creative projects can be completed at a time that doesn't involve nap time? A future in which it's not just the big kids participating, but the little ones too? I mean, don't get me wrong. There was still a toddler pulling on my leg the whole time I finished that last quarter of the garland and I'm sure at least two people were shouting MOMMY! and asking for a snack. But we finished the garland! We finished it! And I swear I didn't ignore the children. Too much.



Perhaps best viewed in darkened room, while squinting. But we had fun.




Felt, buttons, rick rack, ribbon, pom poms and sequins.

More. Is more.

A Bunch of Turkeys

Poor Lucy.


Such a shame her big sister isn't head over heels crazy for her.

Kidding, of course. That Lucy has Ellie wrapped around her finger already, this much is clear.

And since Lucy doesn't believe in naps, she was front and center for Ellie's little turkey project yesterday.

I have a hard time keeping Ellie occupied some days. A lot of days, really. She's been in daycare full-time since she was six months old. This time at home has been an adjustment for everyone. "I just want to go where you go," she says to me when I go downstairs to switch clothes from the washer to the dryer or...try to go to the bathroom. Alone.

This little turkey project came to me in a panic when I could not say no to TV again nor could I fetch another snack. "How about a Thanksgiving project!" I suggested, in my most energetic voice. "Yes!" Ellie agreed wholeheartedly.




I'd say it was a hit for all involved.

Ellie was so excited to show Leo her "project" when he got home from school. He immediately wanted to make his own turkeys.

He busted out with these, tracing his own hand all by himself, without even being told how to do it.

He's clearly a veteran of Thanksgiving crafts, having been successfully indoctrinated on the delicate ins and outs of turkey hand tracing.

Photo Evidence

Sorry if this is too graphic for the squeamish but I wanted to post a picture of Leo's mystery abrasion. Amy made a good point. Our kids' skin is so sensitive, it's possible that it was a minor little scrape that just flared into something a bit more dramatic. And she's right about another thing, I find Leo's wounds (whatever they might be) often take a l-o-n-g time to heal.


Onto happier photos, namely, cute kid art.

Get it? March comes in like a lion...

and out like a Lamb.

Leo made this (not sure how much of it he actually made but I still think it's sweet). It's a mask, with the lion on one side and the lamb on the other. I imagine he put the cotton balls on and also painted.

Oh and happy April. No foolin'. (Seriously though, how did it get to be April?)

And to continue the non sequitur photo series...
There was an unexplained request to take a shirt off during dinner last night.

They don't call her Ellie Belly for nothing!

Melty

Leo brought this art project home a few weeks ago. It was wrapped carefully in a paper bag. I'm impressed that it made the journey home in the backpack. It's made out of some kind of homemade dough. I'm not quite sure what the story is with it--was it supposed to be melty looking? Did it start out as an "upright" snow man? Anyway, it makes me laugh.

A Face. By Leo.

This weekend Leo drew, what looks to me, to be a face. Complete with all the fixins--eyes, nose, mouth. And this was done completely without suggestion. Just all by himself. I know, bad photo, and really ugly countertop, but Cool!