Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas tree ornaments and doll clothes (Handmade Holiday)

I have not been so very good at posting lately, it seems the spirit of winter, going within, slowing down has very much come over me, and while this certainly is a very busy time, I find my inspiration and crafting comes in waves. Yesterday we had snow for the first time, where we are it did not really stay, though it was enough to send the children hurrying outside to experience the flurries of snow.
Once inside again we set out to make a few christmas tree ornaments. Our tree will usually have mostly homemade decorations saved from year to year, but of course this year we are using my sisters decorations and she has a different style, just the same we wanted to add a bit of homespun ornamentals to her tree
 Kaleena, and Keenan as well, got to work felting within the cookie cutters, we made stars, and Kaleena wanted to add buttons and glass beads to them, they came out so sweet.
 On the second day of the advent bags, the children found one each of these hearts, hung on a pine branch, and that day we went out to get our tree. I had convinced my sister to get a tree with the root ball, yet once we got there, the sweet man who has been planting and selling trees most of his life, told us that due to our elevation it was unlikely that the tree would survive, a couple of years ago I had that experience and the tree died by the following summer. So we ended up getting a cut one.
I always have mixed feelings in regards to this practice, on the one hand I absolutely adore this tradition of bringing a tree inside, adorn it with home made gifts, dance around it singing
 (as we do each christmas eve) , however I also feel a bit selfish that the tree should be planted, grow and then be cut just for me and my families pleasure (in the case of our tree). Despite my conflicting feelings we always have a tree and I love it, like the good christmas tree man said, if we did not buy these trees, they would never be set or get to grow for 6-7 years before being cut.....
 I also found this at my local ~by the pound~ thrift store, and made it into 
 this cape and..
 this shirt and skirt for Kaleena's doll Daisy
(loving that sewing machine:))
 I also knitted this sweater and leg warmers and made the skirt from wool felt for Daisy.
Next I am going to up-cycle some more baby clothes for the doll I just received for Keenan, I will post pictures of his doll when I have the clothes ready. I have long been wanting to make a doll for him, but have not found the time, so I ordered one from Figandme, he just arrived today and I LOVE him.
 
 I also made this block crayon holder for Kaleena. Since starting the home schooling lessons, she has really been enjoying drawing with the block crayons and I find that we are going through them so quickly, so from my parents I got her these and made this holder made from wool felt for them.
~Hoping you are enjoying this lovely time of year, nice and warm~

7 comments:

  1. oh, your ornaments are just darling. I love all your homemade goodness. :)_

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  2. i'd say you've been a busy elf indeed christina! lovely creations as always. i want to get ezra his own waldorf doll too and will bookmark your link. bamboletta dolls was all sold out until next july. figandme's dolls look very similar. thanks for the link.
    p.s. i love kaleena's tights.

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  3. Busy girl! The hearts are lovely, and I'm with K - adding buttons and beads - the magical touches. Your advent wreath is beautiful - I love the deep shadows in the shot, and the lovely dark greens. I am impressed with your clever use of things that other people don't see potential in. And I agree with what you say about trees. I was brought up with the most awful of fake trees - but I loved that tree, unreal as it was. My family was too thrifty to pay what you had to pay for a real tree in Los Angeles. As the years went on, my parents replaced the old sad tree with more aesthetically satisfying ones - but still not real.

    On my own, I opted for real trees. Noble firs - ones that were feathery and smelled like heaven. It hurt me that they were actually dying, but I loved them. In the time those trees were in my house, I loved them with a full heart.

    But now I have gone back to a tree that doesn't smell good - but also doesn't sadly dry out and pose a threat to the well-being of my family. A live, root-ball tree here wouldn't work. And plastic or paper - our world runs with machines - and they are evil on one hand, but on the other, make it so even the poorest among us can benefit from things like toilet paper and dining room tables - things that once were terribly expensive because they were only made by hand. (toilet paper, by hand?)

    So I am caught in the dichotomy that is the constant companion of mortal life. And when you think about it - we have children - and the children wear us out - but if we didn't have children, we wouldn't be worn out - but we would be empty. Life poses complexities. We do our best.

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  4. Wow! You sure have been busy! I love the felted ornaments with a button in the middle! Very cute! My girls will love to make those!

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  5. Hello,

    Such a great idea! I did not roll my eyes as your post; Thanks for sharing.

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  6. what great ornaments and gifts. I love the chunky knitted doll sweater, gorgeous!

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  7. What great projects! The kids and I have been needle felting ornaments as well. It is so much fun :) What a great idea to turn your thrift store find into many great little outfits to! Enjoy your weekend :)

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