Pretty Little Gifts #DIY

This is a sponsored post. I was given products from Simply Bridal in exchange for writing, but all opinions are my own.

It can be hard to find a way to give a special, personal gift to everyone in your life. I've never been a big fan of gift cards, but there are so many people I want to show appreciation or affection for at this time of year, it can feel like options are seriously limited.

For example, the four women who teach my children during the day. I adore them, but I certainly can't stretch my holiday budget enough to get them something really nice.

Or my neighbors. They're wonderful people, but I'm not rushing off to get them all the newest releases on Blu-Ray.

No, the best option is often to make something. Something small, but personal and friendly and lovely. But who has time? With three little kids around, I hardly have time to shower, let alone put together the lovely tins of cookies I once baked.

Enter Simply Bridal.

It might sound a little strange, but a bridal shop is a PERFECT place to pick up the tools to make ridiculously gorgeous (and easy) gifts!

To show you what I mean, Simply Bridal sells a box of a dozen mini milk jars for only $15. That works out to $1.25 per jar.

Add to that a few bags of m&ms, and a bit of ribbon- and POOF! A beautiful little holiday gift!

I like using a gold cloth ribbon with wired sides. The wires keep your bows looking fresh, and the allow you to crimp the tails with your fingers. And the gold compliments all the color schemes of Channukah, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.

The result is something that shows you care enough to put some work into it, although not so difficult to add stress to your busy holiday schedule.

Best part of m&ms- the regular, every-day colors come in Channukah (blue and yellow), Christmas (red and green), and Thanksgiving (brown and orange). It's like somebody knows me.

If you want to get fancy with your candies, you can slide a piece of card stock into the middle of the jar, to put the colors side by side rather than on top of each other. Plus, if you switch the sides of your colors halfway up, you get a lovely checker pattern!

You can use almost any small candies, of course. For a Christmas themed gift, peppermints are an excellent choice. And if you happen to know the favorite candy of the person you plan to give a jar to, it's always best to show you actually know and care about them with their favorites. If I was sticking one of these jars in my husband's stocking, for example, I'd be sure to fill it with mini peanut butter cups.

But if candies aren't your style, don't fret. What I really love to do with these jars is make single serving hot cocoas.

These are so easy. They are so unfathomably easy. And people love them.

The simple hot cocoa jar is a serving of hot cocoa powder, with mini marshmallows topping it off. This is great especially for people you might want to gift who you know spend a lot of time in the cold. Your mail woman, the garbage men, your dog walker, the lady at the crosswalk by the school. For less than two dollars a gift, it's cheaper and more personal than a card. And when they head home and out of the bitter cold, they will be truly grateful for the thoughtfulness.

But what if you're on a really tight budget? What if you only have a few dollars to spend on almost EVERYONE on your list? Times are tough, and I know the poor economy has hit just about all of us. And along with the tighter budgets, more and more of the people I know are living with dietary restrictions that would make giving them any of the above jars insensitive.

If you're in a situation like that, this is the solution you've been looking for. Gourmet, food-restriction friendly, reusable cocoa jars. Beautiful reusable jars of spectacular hot cocoa.

You can personalize your flavors with crushed peppermints or ginger hard candies or instant coffee. You can be certain to avoid dairy, gluten, or even sugar. When you invest a little bit in the ingredients, you can divvy the costs into your dozen of presents, and give a truly thoughtful gift to somebody for half the cost of a fancy Starbuck's flavored frappaccino.

And when they see the jar? My favorite moment of the holidays is when somebody sees their gift for the first time, and you know you've nailed it, and made their day and their winter a brighter, happier place.

Two teaspoons of powdered sugar. Five teaspoons of cocoa powder. Half a teaspoon of powdered vanilla extract. One and a half teaspoons of cinnamon sugar. Fill the jar the rest of the way with vegan marshmallows (I like Dandies, but there are other options!), and stick a cinnamon stick through the bow.

Thirty dollars for all your ingredients and jars, and that's gifts for absolutely everyone in your office.

Simply Bridal has a wonderful selection of other jar options for similar prices. For another $5, your jars can come with chalkboard labels (and you know how much I love those chalkboard labels).

And the best part?

This is THE TIME OF YEAR to buy supplies from a bridal shop. Wedding season is over, and that means you can get much better deals on things like wedding favors.

Head to Simply Bridal and check out their selection of bridal favor options, and keep in mind how grateful people are when they can repurpose a present. A little jar, even empty, is useful. And a little jar filled beautifully with something sweet or meaningful?

That's a present nearly anyone would be happy to receive.

Get thee hence to Simply Bridal! Buy some beautiful jars and spend an easy hour making gifts for everyone! Save yourself some hassle, and make people think you're Martha Stewart.

That can be your gift to yourself. And to your bank account.

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

The is how every episode of The Powerpuff Girls begins.

I'm a huge fan of the show. When it came out, I was already "too old" for cartoons, but thanks to shows like South Park, cartoons were edgier, more interesting, and frankly you could get away with watching them as still see yourself as cool.

I loved the Powerpuff Girls. And I love being able to share them with my kids. Yes, they fall prey to a few of the classic problems that programming for (mostly) little girls share- no mom, for one thing- but the show is so up front with its blatantly feminist agenda, how could I help myself?

In one of my favorite episodes, "Members Only," the girls try to join the Association of World Super Men, and are told, "Shouldn't you be home, learning to be mommies?"

And then when a big, bad, macho jerk form outer space shows up and starts beating up the Super Men, the girls save the day.

I love that. And when I discovered the Powerpuff Girls were available on Netflix? Let's just say it didn't take long for my girls to get WAY more obsessed than I ever was.

So when we started talking Halloween costumes, they made up their mind pretty quick.

And thus, the Powerpuff Girls were born!

These were, without a doubt, some of the easiest costumes I've ever made in my life. I assumed it would be cold on Halloween, this is the midwest after all, so I made them out of microfleece. I added sleeves, because COLD HALLOWEEN is a thing, and I hot glued the eyes to ridiculously cheap sunglasses. I bought a pack of kids sunglasses party favors for a buck, and popped out the lenses. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

All that was left was a few accessories. A giant bow and barrette for Blossom (DD), a cheap "flapper" wig for Buttercup (SI), and pigtails for Bubbles (RH).

"So if you're the powerpuff girls, what should Mommy and Daddy be?" I asked.

"Daddy NEEDS to be Professor Utonium!" They said.

Easily done. A lab coat and a bottle of Chemical X later...

"So what about Mommy?"

At first, the girls wanted me to be Mojo Jojo. This made perfect sense to me, as he's kind of THE iconic Powerpuff Girls villain. But no, RH's favorite episode features a villain so sinister, so evil, so scary, so horribly vile that even the utterance of his name strikes fear into the hearts of men. He's known only as HIM, so that's what the kids asked for.

So... who is HIM?

Huffington Post put this best once upon a time, but I'll give you a brief explanation.

HIM is a gender queer devil character in a Santa suit, lobster claws, and kinky boots, who possesses a variety of superpowers and probably could destroy the Powerpuff Girls if he really wanted to.

When the girls asked me to dress up as this particular character, I hesitated. What WOULD the neighbors think? I'm built more like a short, hairy ape, so Mojo Jojo, while being a more complicated costume, certainly had a lot of appeal. But the girls insisted. So...

Without a doubt, that is the most makeup I've ever worn in my life. And I used to perform onstage on a regular basis. At first I was afraid that if I did the makeup, RH would freak out when she saw me. So I made sure to do all the makeup- from the black spray-on hair dye to the ridiculous eyebrows, with an audience.

They were less than helpful.

But I didn't stop there with my costuming insanity. Oh no! I was determined to out-do the Justice League this year. I only home someday I stop doing that to myself. One of these days the kids will want a costume that is just plain beyond me. But since they made it so easy this year, I used Aunt Genocide's suggestion for the trick or treat bags, and kind of one-upped by costume game.

Sugar

Spice

and Everything Nice

I'm really looking forward to using those bags for regular old grocery shopping as the years go by.

Despite having warm, snuggly costumes (and TWO pairs of stockings each, plus undershirts, plus boots instead of their Mary Janes...), the weather was more than the Powerpuff Girls could handle. Half an hour into our trick or treating, it began to hail.

And hail.

And HAIL.

And the wind got so bad we were all being pelted horizontally by nearly white-out hail the size of raisins. All across our neighborhood, trees were uprooted, electrical lines fell, and trick or treaters headed for shelter.

My poor kids, they'd never seen hail before. Let alone been stuck outside in the nastiest, windiest downpouring of the stuff I'd ever seen. They huddled under the cloak I'd worn instead of a coat (I thought it was more HIM's style), and we shuffled to an underpass to wait for M- um,  the Professor, to bring us the car.

Fortunately, the candy was plentiful and survived the ordeal. With bellies full of pizza and the promise they could keep on their costumes as nightgowns (yay fleece!), the children dubbed it the Best Halloween Ever.

So from my family to yours, Happy Halloween!

Personalized Dancing Clock #DIY #upcycle #tutorial

Awesome clocks? Or the MOST awesome clocks?

Hello, lovely readers!

As some of you may be aware, once upon a time I described myself as an artist. It was kind of my thing. I went to art school and I even dropped out! Like a REAL artist!

Kidding aside, I still love to pick up a paintbrush and make beautiful things. But finding the time is hard, so I prioritize. I do wedding portraits.

I like to make each portrait totally unique to the couple, and focus on things that were special about them, or their wedding, or the day in particular.

It's fun, and so far nobody has called me up and said, "Dude, this painting sucks. Can't you just get me towels off my registry like a normal person?"

Today I'll be teaching you how to make my new favorite gift every- the personalized dancing clock.

YOU WILL NEED:
Heavy duty watercolor paper
Pencil
X-acto knife
hot glue
paint (I prefer casein for this, in which case you'll also need an acrylic glaze)
Paintbrushes
Heavy duty scissors
Fine grain sandpaper
Popsicle sticks
Elvis clock, the swinging legs kind.

Believe it or not, these guys are ridiculously cheap. Seriously, go on ebay and search for them. Or better yet, go to a local thrift shop that benefits a charity that means something to you, and buy one. They're everywhere.

Choose a picture of your subject. Preferably dancing.

You're not going to end up with something that looks EXACTLY like that, but getting something where your subject's legs are apart and arms are close to the body is ideal.

Now, take apart your clock.

To do this, you will unscrew the nut in the center that holds the clock together. It sounds like an unfathomably bad idea, but the way to remove the hands from the clock is to simply pull them off. Gently, but firmly. They will push back into place when your clock is in one piece again. With the nut removed, the clock will come apart into a box with the mechanism, the Elvis body, and a fistful of tiny parts you must be careful not to lose.

The pendulum of the clock is a simply hook. It lifts easily off the loop in the back, and that's all the disassembling you'll need to do.

Now comes the fun part. Chopping off Elvis's bits.

If you're lucky, you won't need to trim Elvis down at all. but if you're making a smaller dancing person, you'll need to trim off Elvis's boxy frame.

When you've got your altered Elvis pieces, it's time to trace them onto your paper in pencil. there will be much erasing after the fact, so draw lightly.

Once you've traced his parts, you'll draw the rest of your dancer around them. Keep lining up your drawings with each other, so you can ensure the pieces fit properly.

In this case, I started with legs/skirt that were FAR too long. By the time I lined up the parts properly, Elvis's crotch came about down to the skirt's hem.

In this case, I trimmed Elvis's shoulders and arms for my female dancer, and cut off one arm at the elbow for my male dancer. It's okay if your paper extends farther than your silhouette. Remember, you're not bound to put your dancer in the same position as elvis. For my female dancer, I turned the raise of Elvis's pompadour into the back of her head, by added her bun to the side. Use Elvis for scale- the head and arms will be in approximately the right place for any figure- but that's as tied to him as you're going to be.

Now you'll need to paint your dancers. PAINT THEM BEFORE YOU CUT THEM OUT!!!! If you cut them first, you may warp the paper.

If you look at the style of the Elvis clock, you'll note this doesn't have to be very realistic. In fact, it's best to try to keep it down to four or five colors. On Elvis, that often breaks down to white/black/purple/yellow/grey, or white/black/blue/grey. The face doesn't need to be well articulated, and you don't need much detail at all.

Think, outlines and a few blocks of color or shadow.

If you have a photo editing app, you can turn up the contrast and shadows on your original picture to give you a good idea where those colors and shadows should turn up.

I decided to use five colors- white, black, grey, brown, apricot, and yellow- plus a bit of extra for my bride's tattoos. I know, that's more colors than I generally recommend... but still not so many as to distract from the simplified art style.

Using an x-acto knife, cut out the silhouettes.

Double and triple check that your figures FIT on Elvis. When you're certain, trace the hole in Elvis's middle, and using the x-acto knife, cut the circles out of your figures.

Now, it's time to attach your painted people to Elvis's mangled body.

Begin by sanding down Elvis's body. You need a scuffed surface, or the glue will peel right off.

Wipe him down to make sure he's clean and dry- you don't want plastic and paint dust ruining your clock at the last minute!

Set your glue gun to "high" heat. Let your glue get REALLY REALLY hot. The hotter, the better.

Now, quickly and carefully, make a line of hot glue about a quarter inch from the border of Elvis, all around the perimeter, and a little in the middle for good measure. As quickly and carefully as you can, put the painted dancer on top, and press down firmly.

You'll have a split second to adjust as you lay it down, so remember to check the hole, the head, and and the corners to be certain Elvis is lined up properly as you lay down the paper.

Next, IF you have a figure who's legs don't have Elvis backing, cut down some popsicle sticks and hot glue them to the back. You'll want to make sure they're supported, to protect them from tearing.

Now, as I said before, I used casein paints. I like them for this project because casein is matte, which helps with the sort of comic-book look, and because it's the most uniform medium I know. Casein paint practically eliminates brushstrokes, the color is so consistent. I also LOVE that it dries faster than any other paint on earth. This keeps the paper from warping, and also lets you manhandle your project sooner. The only problem with it is that it's fragile, so if needs a varnish of sorts on top before you can finish the clocks.

I used an acrylic medium to "fix" the pigment to the paper. I like this particular medium because it is also matte, and because it is also very lightweight, and because it also dries quickly.

Once your clock parts are dry, it's time to put them all together again. First the body, then the washer, then the nut, and when that's screwed back down, the clock hands. These are pressed into place firmly, hour first, then minute, then second. To check if you've attached them properly, rotate the minute hand. The hour hand should follow. If not, press down harder- but still gently, You don't want to bend them.

Hook the legs back onto the loop in the back, and insert batteries.

You are now the owner of a beautifully personalized dancing clock.

Three at Two

The cheerfullest birthday girl on the block

Today, my littlest little turns two years old.

I could tell you how time has flown, how much she's grown, but I don't want to focus for one second on the past. Right now, it's all about now.

On Saturday, we had her birthday party. It was planned and essentially thrown by DD and SI. One day, about two months ago, we had this conversation:

Me: "I should figure out what kind of party to throw RH!"
DD: "I know! It should be a Care Bears party!"
Me: "You guys had a Care Bears party. This is RH's party. It should have to do with what she likes. What does RH like?"
SI: "Green!"
Me: "Yup. What else?"
SI: "Green! It should be a green party!"
Me: "That's it? Green? How do you throw a green party?"
DD: "With green food and a green cake and green decorations!"
SI: "Green ICE CREAM cake!"
Me: "...that sounds like a pretty good party, actually."
DD: "Me and SI will throw the party, Mommy. You just make sure RH's diaper isn't stinky."

I could handle that.

And plan the party they did. I tried to tell them that people would rather eat apples and grapes than broccoli, but they proved me wrong.

I taught them to make bunting, and they made enough to decorate a full half the yard. And I tended to my job- sending invitations, and making sure all the food was to SI and DD's specifications.

Honeydew, grapes, apples, mini cucumbers, celery, broccoli, guacamole, green tortilla chips, green juice
And green flowers. I was told that was important.
Plus more of SI and DD's bunting!

Of course, no matter how clean her butt, RH was a bit of a pill. I'd just come home from five days away- and she was punishing me for it.

The first day back was a dream, she lay back in her chair and just stared at me, occasionally whispering, "Kiss!" or "Hug!" Mostly just looking at me like I was an angel who had descended from heaven to rescue her from the torments of going to the aquarium daily to see jellyfish with my parents.

She spent the next four days attached to me at the hip, screaming for no reason and demanding amounts of my attention she hasn't commanded since she weaned. She spent a lot of her party crying, as despite DD and SI's planning, I was still essentially on hostess duty.

But like I said, I want to focus on now.

I want to remember what she's like right now.

I want to remember the way she says, "I yike a hair! I yike a face! I yike a pwetty dwess!" every morning when I change her diaper, regardless of what I'm wearing or how I look. I want to remember the way she flails her legs while she's running, but keeps her head steady.

I want to remember how fearless she is. How she crawls under bushes or through the mud without blinking an eye. How she tries every new food. How she jumps into the water without hesitating, much to my terror, or how she leaps off chairs, or stairs, now that she's finally mastered the art of getting both feet off the ground at once.



I want to remember how she puckers her lips into a full on fish face whenever she wants to give a kiss, and how sweet and soft her little kisses are. I want to remember how despite being a monster truck, rolling over everything in her path, she is still gentle with animals, other children, and her toys. Most of the time.

I want to remember how she participates in conversations without having a clue what's happening. How she shouts, "Me too!" about anything and everything, and will not be distracted from being included. How she insists on what she wants, when she wants it, and I find myself acquiescing because I have no real reason not to in the face of her determination.

I want to remember how until two weeks ago, whenever she said, "I lub you!" she followed it immediately by saying, "Good night!"

I want to remember the way she sings, "Shoo fly, don't bother me," or the alphabet song, or "Ring Around the Rosie," with better pitch and timing than her older sisters, even if half the words are incoherent.

I want to remember how sassy she is. How much attitude she's got. How sure of herself, and determined to do whatever her sisters do, and to be part of any joke the adults are enjoying. I want to remember the way she laughs a sound like clinking china and announces, "I laughing!" as though it weren't impossible to notice.

I want to remember the unbearable softness of her skin, and the way her hair smells, and the way that her curls flatten against the top of her head when she's filthy. I want to remember how tidy she is, and how she refuses to eat with her hands if they might get messy. I want to remember being perplexed by how she could get scrambled eggs in her nose, and at the same time how she can finish a bowl of ice cream without spilling a drop.

I want to remember how she asks for something indirectly, like, "Mommy, ponies?" And you try to fill in the blanks, "You want to watch ponies?" And she acts like it was your idea. "Okay!"

I want to remember the way she counts. "One, two, fee, four, five, six, seben, eight, nine, tan, eleben, twelf, fourteen, fourteen, fourteen, fourteen, eighteen, twenny fee!"

I want to remember how if you sing, "Na na na na na," she yells, "Batman!"

I want to remember how serious she often is, focusing on on a task until it is complete to her satisfaction. I want to remember how she seems to study the world with fierceness and determination, cataloging causes and effects and storing them away. I want to remember how much she cares.

I want to remember how unfathomably cheerful she can be.

I want to remember how she sings the theme song to "My Little Ponies," how she dances happily, distracting herself from all else in the world for ages, spinning in circles and hopping, gesturing wildly. I want to remember how she sings, "Tomorrow." I want to remember that she'll go around the room, approaching everybody one at a time, saying, "I gonna eat choo!" until they say, "Oh no! Please don't eat me!" and moves on to the next person.

I want to remember that her favorite movie is "Wreck It Ralph," and I love that sometimes she tells me, "Mommy, I a bad guy!" with an angelic grin and dimples for miles.

I want to remember how her smile lights up like sun when she's happy, even if she's covered head to toe in green frosting and ice cream. Even if five minutes earlier she was sobbing her eyes out.

I want to remember how she curls up on my lap, how she pulls me to the floor to sit on me for no reason. How she calls out, "I lub you, Mommy!" from the back seat of the car, for no reason. How she wants to help me brush my hair, and my teeth, and god help me, how she wants to tear off toilet paper for me in the bathroom.

I want to remember the way her little hand feels in mine.

But I know I'm going to forget.

I look at her big sisters, not that much bigger, and no matter how I wrack my brain it feels as though their nearly-two-ness is already gone. I can't remember them. I've forgotten my own children.

Of course, I know if the two year old version of DD or SI ran up to me, I would know them. But it's not the same.

It wasn't intentional. I was just so busy, and so tired. When DD and SI had their second birthday party, I was already pregnant with RH. When they were two years old I was finishing my degree and running through the day with M gone from before dawn until late an night.

I can watch a video and go, "Oh, yeah, that's how it was." But it's still just not the same.

I didn't have the energy to really hold onto all the moments with my twins. And knowing that, running through milestones and chubby legs and baby curls a second time... it makes it so much harder to know how soon it's gone. And so much sweeter to see it happening.

I truly am enjoying things more this time around.

I don't ever want to forget this little girl.

Happy Birthday, my littlest favorite person.

Let's not get to the next one too fast.

Merry Auld Aquaintence

The lights of my life

Hello, lovely readers! It's been a long time.

You may think I've been sitting around licking my Blogger Idol wounds. I'm happy to say, you'd be wrong.

The last few weeks have seen my little family travel up to Minnesota, spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa, come back again, and watch "My Neighbor Totoro" five thousand times as we recover from a cold virus that might actually be a terrorist chemical agent. I'm not sure. So far no casualties, so I'll assume it was actually just a bout of run-of-the-mill Black Death.

Something magical happened over Christmas. (Never thought you'd hear this Jewish girl say that, didja?) I was too ill to take pictures.

I don't have pictures of my children playing with our friends' kids. That amazing thing that happens- despite never seeing these people you love, YOUR children and THEIR children... they play together. And it's incredible.

I don't have pictures of SI begging Aunt Engineer to take her down the water slide over and over and over again. (Yes, there were water slides this Christmas.) And I don't have video of my humiliatingly public screaming as *I* went down the big water slide.

Reading "Rosie Revere, Engineer"

I don't have pictures of RH at church, laying on the floor with her feet against mine, giggling happily, oblivious to the full congregation or the organist three feet from her head.

I don't have pictures of my children hugging their great-grandmother and telling her thank you for their presents. I don't have pictures of RH hamming it up in the middle of the room with an old toy train and a Care Bear.

I don't have pictures of her sitting like a perfect angel in a tiny chair at the coffee table on Christmas Eve, eating her broccoli off her plate without a care in the world, or a picture of my big girls sitting with their big kid cousins at the big table, participating in their games like children do.

I don't have pictures of them playing Uncle Engineer's drums, riding his tractor tricycle, or trimming Aunt Engineer's Christmas tree. I don't have pictures of them coloring at brunch. I don't have pictures of them making their first Gingerbread Houses.

I do have pictures of the finished products
Aunt Engineer, SI, DD, and me

I only took a few dozen pictures of my children all week. And partially, I'm embarrassed. And I'm sorry. I would have treasured those pictures.

And partly I'm glad, because part of me is tired of always being behind the lens. Of observing and not participating. I feel I do it too much. I'm doing it now.

I did manage to take a few pictures. Of DD and SI playing their new harmonicas (SI is a natural). Of M and Grandpa putting the angel on the tree. Of my children continuing the only Christmas tradition I've ever started- actually eating the apples in their stockings on Christmas morning.

This year is was DD and RH. I'm very proud.

2013 was a long, exciting year. It was a year when I didn't get pregnant or have a baby, it was a year when we assured that I never would again. My children grew, and grew, and grew, and now here we are. Still a family. Still growing.

I've had a lot of chaotic, terrifying, or simply bad years in my life. More than my share, that is for certain. But 2013 was not one of them. For all its frustrations and irritations, this year has done more for me than many. It has done more than most. It has offered me a promise- the next year will only be better.

I wish that promise to all of you. For every year.

Tonight I'm going to mash some potatoes, drink some champagne, and hug my children tightly when I say goodnight.

Tonight I'm going to welcome the new year with old friends, with favorite pastimes, with laughter and promise.

And of course with more Batman stuff than you can shake a stick at.

Thank you for everything, 2013. I will not miss you, I have no doubt 2014 will keep me too busy for that. But I am grateful. And I will always look back to 2013 as a good year, when everyone was happy, and everyone was loved, and the world was full of magic and joy.

Happy New Year.