Handmade Holiday, Keenan's doll, his clothes and carrier

I have been wanting to make Keenan a doll for a while now, but have simply not found the time, especially due to the fact that I have never yet completed a doll, something I plan to rectify in the future.  So instead of making one myself I ordered from a sweet mama up in Canada who makes lovely dolls. Do check her dolls here, although I know she is taking a break until after Christmas. 

Isn't he precious,  I just love him, and really hope that Keenan will feel the same.

 I wanted to make a bed/carrier for him, as we will be moving around in the near future, and I know Keenan will like to have a place where he belongs. I used, of course:), a felted sweater, cut three pieces and sewed the sides onto the the bottom piece. 

The sides are a bit wobbly but hold up nicely when he is inside.

 With a leftover piece of the felt which I used for Kaleena's crayon holder, I sewed up a little mattress to go inside, and stuffed it with lama wool. I used a piece of another sweater to make a little pillow, also stuffed with lovely lama wool gifted by the sweet Jenny.. Thanks Jenny!

 Then made a matching blanket to which I added a little heart to tie in with the mattress. 

All in all the effect is lovely, and I am really happy with how it turned out

 I used an old onesie, and turned it into this jumpsuit for the doll as well. It fits him really well.

 Finally I finished knitting this sweater and scarf for him as well,  must make sure he will stay warm during the cold winter, wool baby, just like Keenan used to be...

 Nice and cozy...

~with so much love~

Christmas projects

We have not been doing nearly as many christmas project as I usually would. Living at my sisters house I am limited to none messy projects, at the same time there are so many other joys of sharing this special time together, lots of cozy chats by the fire, and a bonding time we have not had in many years. 

Soon our lives will once again bring us far apart (geographically), and it is so nice to have shared this past year.

So instead of the crafting I would usually do with the children all this month I have come up with a few simple  projects, that they can do without too much mess.

Next week we will mess up the kitchen in a big way though and bake cookies:)

 We have been making presents for grandparents, my parents are coming to spend Christmas, so the children have been very busy making cards and gifts for them. They each painted a cup for them and then made a special gift bag to set them in ( I got the idea for the bag here ), cutting felt pieces and gluing them to a plain bag.

 One for Mormor and one for Morfar.

 Kaleena made this for Mormor

 and Keenan made this for Morfar

I saw these on The Crafty Crow, a simple tree ornament, made with cardboard and string. Both children adored making these. They are so simple and very pretty on the tree.

 We also made woolen hearts. Keenan loves sewing, he is always asking if he can please sew, and he is getting very confident with the needle.

We cut the wool from felted sweaters sewed it up and stuffed it with wool batting. Lovely for the tree and also for a vase with pine branches on the table ( how I would usually have them)

~sweet blessing~

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama

A single photo, no words

A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

This is a moment from the past, last year in the tropics, our nativity scene, 

which is packed up for this year.

~Have a wonderful weekend~

Yarn Along

Inspired by Ginny over on Small Things, I am joining in a little yarn along;

sharing what I have on my knitting needles presently, and also what book I am reading.

Now I must admit that while I love reading, these day most of my reading has to do with preparations for the lessons I do with Kaleena, we are stopping lessons now for christmas break, and perhaps that will give me time to pick up on some personal reading. One book that I have been leafing through, which I saw over on The parenting passageway, is;  Hold on To your Kids, and though I have not really gotten into it, I have enjoyed the bits that I have read so far, and very much see the importance of what it speaks about.

On my knitting needles right now, is the sleeve of a sweater I am making for the doll I will give Keenan for Christmas. 

Do hop over to Small Things, and see what other mama's are working on and reading, and also do share what you are creating these days.

~sweet blessings~

Snowflakes on a winter day

Every christmas time we make paper cutting snowflakes, and whenever possible we make it coincide with a snowfall, last year in the tropics that was obviously not possible. We have had snow for the past three days, yet no accumulation to speak of. This morning the children put on their snow suits and went hunting for ice cycles,  something that always fascinates them...

 Once back inside we made hot chocolate, that is Kaleena made hot chocolate and Keenan made whipped cream while I started the fire

 And then we set about making our snowflakes. Kaleena absolutely loves to make these, from the folding to the cutting and the excitement of unfolding them to find each time a completely unique design.

Throughout winter we will make many of these which we then stick to our windows with sugar water.

(some sugar and a bit of boiling water to dissolve it)

 

 Even Keenan gets involved, although the thickness of the paper is difficult for him to cut through, so he ends up simply cutting into it without cutting out pieces.

~wishing you a wonderful day~

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~

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama

A single photo, no words

A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

~A lovely weekend to all~