Christmas Projects #4--Brooke's Bracelets

Not to be left out, Brooke finally got her night holed up with Mom in the bedroom, making jewelry for her sisters.
She loved sorting through the beads and figuring out patterns. I thought she did a beautiful job.
Here's a sample of her creations. We still need to make earrings and necklaces, so hopefully this vertigo I've had creep up on me again will go away so I can help. Isn't it always something? Sheesh.

Going Once, Going Twice....

I can't think of a better way to commemorate my 100th post!

I'll be donating a Little Man Tie to this touching cause, so I hope you head on over to the Bloom Site starting tomorrow. Here's a little more info:

Looking for a way to provide service this holiday season? Here is a great opportunity. Starting Thursday, December 10th, there will be a charity auction at BLOOM (www.placetobloom.blogspot.com) to benefit Claire and Benson Skinner.

As explained by their parents, "Benson and Claire were born with a rare genetic disease in which their liver produces too much oxalate--called primary hyperoxaluria. Claire's condition has progressed much faster than Benson's. She has been on dialysis since she was 3 months old and is on dialysis 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. She is now on the waiting list to receive a combined kidney / liver transplant. It is expected Benson will eventually need similar transplants."

You can read more about the Skinners' experience HERE. (givehopetobensonandclaire.blogspot.com)

All proceeds from the auction at BLOOM will go directly to Claire's COTA (Children's Organ Transplant Association) account to help pay for her transplant. Please head over to BLOOM Thursday-Saturday for the auction!

I hope you will check out the auction, help little Benson & Claire, and get some great stuff (Christmas presents???) all at the same time! Happy Bidding!

Christmas Projects #3--Maggie's Skirts

This was a really big project. While I was busy making ties for Dixon, Maggie thought it would be fun to learn how to sew, so she decided she wanted to make skirts for her sisters for Christmas. I reluctantly agreed, thinking we'd just do a simple elastic banded, knee-length skirt, but after seeing this skirt on one of her friends at church, she insisted that was the project for her!

So, we borrowed the skirt to figure out how it was made, and went to the fabric store for Mags to pick out the material. (Which she did a wonderful job doing!) We sent the girls & Dad off to the Palmer's for the football game (Thanks, Tasha! Sorry about that little accident...) and Maggie went to work ironing all the fabric pieces.
She kinda got the hang of the sewing machine, but couldn't run the foot pedal and guide the material with her hands at the same time, so since she preferred the foot pedal (If that's a sign of things to come, I can't wait till she's 16...Yikes!) I let her stick with that, while I ran the material through.

And here's the final product. I think we may have a little seamstress on our hands if her mother can be patient enough to let her do another project. Time will tell.

Christmas Projects #2--Katie's Hair Clips

For those of you who know Katie, you'll know it's all about hair for her, so it's no surprise that she chose to make hair clips for everyone this year. (Everyone except Dad & Dixon. Though they would look lovely on them, we're still deciding what to do there.)

So here's the stash she began with. A sea of ribbons, bows, flowers and sparkles!

A little girl in heaven, really.

Once again, I helped with the hot glue and with tying bows, but for the most part, it was all her imagination!

We did a lot of red, white and blues so the girls could stick with their dress code at school, but she was really quite thrilled with her creations. Especially when I told her I was pretty sure her sisters would share them with her.

Christmas Projects #1--Bridget's Letters

Let the handmade festivities commence! First up: Bridget. When I asked her what she wanted to do for her Christmas presents, she immediately said she wanted to paint. Of course. At first, she wanted to paint hot chocolate mugs for everyone. I guided her toward something a little less...breakable. We picked out big wooden letters for everyone and proceeded to paint and embellish with flowers, ribbons and sparkles.



I helped her with the hot glue and tying the ribbons, but other than that it was ALL her and her glorious imagination. Unfortunately, we wrapped them before I remembered to get pictures of the finished product. Guess we'll post more after they're opened!

Hanging in There

Sorry about the lack of postings lately. That roller coaster called life has been sending a few loop-de-loops this way, leaving me feeling a bit like this:

But like this unique Christmas decoration, we're still hanging in there, and I'll try to get the photos of our various projects uploaded & posted soon.