The Sweetest Reasons

Hats & Hearts

My plate is full. But I have banged out a couple hats recently and thought I'd show them off.

The Felicity, made for me until I realized I looked kinda dumb in a slouch. Luckily, Beatrice looks beautiful in that style.

Ah, that mug. Eating a Valentine's chocolate heart as bribery to model my Ol' Stand-By Hat. Pretty stinking cute, eh? Chocolate wasn't enough to get her back to model the other hat I made for her. (In purple, her favorite color.) Oh, well. Some other time.

And, feeling a bit crafty, I thought I'd tackle a Martha Stewart Valentine's Day Craft only to remember that I really don't like crafting all that much, and certainly not to make something that won't stand the test of time. Many crayons lost their lives to make these, I'm sad to say. I'm happy to say, I won't be making this again.

For the Birds

I've noticed some interesting birds up our way, and being a very amatuer birder, I wanted to get some feeders out for the winter and get a better look at the local bird population. The girls were keen to help out, as they are pretty awesome at spotting birds out in nature. In our recent journeys around our new town and neighboring communities we found a wild bird store, grabbed some seed, talked backyard birding and went home to put something together.

We collected pinecones in the woods.

If you bring pinecones inside to dry, they open up. To make the close again, just stand them in a shallow dish of water. Very fun.

We inherited a birdfeeder, I bought a suet feeder, and we made our pincecone feeders by spreading peanut butter on the pinecones, rolling them in seed and hanging them with the other feeders. Winter birds benefit from extra fat in their diets this time of year.

We are watching the birds right now, my little ladies sitting in the kitchen window, a favorite spot in the house for both of them.

Jo's First Class

It is safe to say that once Josie heard she was going to have a class, which we call school, she talked about it nonstop. Did she know what kind of class? She sure did. Painting class! Or as it's known around here: Sticky Fingers. It was a hit! And look how serious our artist is.

Christmas Obsession

This year's holiday season is so exciting. Both girls really seem to get how special and magical a time of year it is, and Bea is especially caught up in it. In fact, her real obsession isn't Santa, but his reindeer and Rudolph, of course. Here is some of her art based on that red-nosed flying machine: a drawing, a map for him and some playdough reindeers (even with a red button nose). And I had to throw in how the girls decorated the Nativity as well, which is always amusing to stroll by and see who's stopped in to visit the Baby Cheese-us.

When the Going Gets Tough

The tough go painting.

Mike is away again. It was raining on and off all day. We painted. It was messy. Just look at Josie and my bathroom walls.

Oh, and here's my artwork, my first painting since high school, entitled Josie-locks is a Bear: Based on Very True Events.

Our Little, Old Lady

We made the cutest little apple doll! Bea absolutely loves her. I just caught her singing to the doll a few minutes ago, in fact. Inspired by the book The Apple Doll, we followed its directions in the back and two weeks later got us a sweet smelling, wrinkly faced little lady named: Apple Doll!

Here are the stages and phases of her creation:

In a lemon juice and salt bath.

Lots of in and out of a warm oven. And constantly rotating her.

Then, after nearly two weeks, she became a hard, wrinkled face. We added eyes and hair . . .

. . .and a pipe-cleaner body and dress. Isn't she so sweet? Bea seems to think so!

Butterfly Headpieces

I've had a lot of interest in the butterfly headpieces we made for Bea's birthday, and by "we" I mean, Jess and Kristin were my butterfly sweatshop and I oversaw the process.

What you'll need (besides two awesome friends who just happened to stop by one afternoon as you were about to start this project):

• 7" Butterflies, which I purchased here. You could make them as well, of course, from felt, paper, or whatevs. I went the quick and dirty route with this craft project.
• 1 piece of felt. We used pink. Duh.
• Hot glue gun and glue. Low temp, please.
• Goody Headbands or any elastic headband that is about half inch wide and satin finish. Don't go for anything crazy with grips, just plain and simple here.
• 15 minutes.

Trim felt into a thin oval shape, about an inch long and half inch wide. Find the seam on the headband and glue butterfly to top and then glue felt across the bottom so it cover the seam from the bottom and also touches on the butterfly as well. This step really secures the butterfly to the band.

That's it folks. Glue butterfly to headband. Done. You could use this technique to make all sorts of fun headpieces with birds, flowers . . . you see where it can go. Made for a fun afternoon all around.

Dough

Here is an awesome homemade playdough recipe from a mom named Kelly on our parenting group. Seriously, awesome.

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Mix in medium saucepan:

1 cup BREAD FLOUR (white)
1/4 cup salt
2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar

Add:

1 cup water
2 teaspoons food coloring
1 tablespoon Canola or other Vegetable oil

Combine; stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. It will look like a globby disaster until it suddenly turns into a big ball of dough.

Let it cool.
Provide kids with placemat, cookie cutters, random kitchen utensils, muffin tins, etc.
Provide self with large coffee (or holiday beverage of choice) as you enjoy a blissful 20 minutes of quiet time.

First Person

Look who Beatrice drew! Me! And in related news, anyone she draws with additional arms or legs are spiders. Just thought you should know. How totally awesome is this?!?!? I think I'm going to lose it when she starts writing letters and numbers. Her homework will probably make me cry with joy. Just warning you.

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up (and yes, I know how absolutely unfair and ridiculous that question is for a kid, but still, it is fun to ask), Bea often says an artist. She also says a princess, butterfly and tiger. So I'm guessing she'll be going to MassArt? Sounds about right.

When Life Hands You Swine Flu

Throw on some Nick Jr. and grab your knitting needles; you are going to be a single parent for awhile. Also, drink lots of fluids.

Something is up here, and before I get hysterical about what may or may not be swine flu, I'll just leave it at this: 50% of Team Gatti is sick. Mike is especially looking grim. I am so wiped from waring with mice and keeping kids mostly healthy, plus maybe a little stressed about flu overtaking us, I wouldn't call these past few days my greatest as a parent. But there was a Nor'easter and one sick kid clinging to me, so that calls for an over abundance of TV, doesn't it? Sure it does! It also means I somehow (needed to) finish some crafting and knitting after bedtimes and in between melt-downs. 

Firstly, I banged out my Ol' Standby Hat on our trip out to Northampton by modifying some simple hat patterns. Love the color and it fits like a dream. I figure I'll be in it lots this fall and winter. 

Our new Finnish friends, Lumi and Inka, showed up for a play-date recently sporting these adorable knit neck warmers their grandmother in Toronto made. I figure if the Finns and Canadians stand by these, they have to be good. Again, I worked off of the prototype, if you will, working on the pattern as I go. I should have several sizes from baby to adult up on Ravelry soon. They are beyond simple to make and so mindless, which is exactly what I am looking for at night, because, alas, my mind is nearly gone.

Lastly, the Birthday Banner, a project from The Creative Family. Many nights of cutting, pinning and sewing. The end result: A very homemade heirloom. Six yards of it, so each girl might take three yards with them when they fly the nest . . . Wait, what? They're never going to leave.