Tag Archive | dragon

Christmas Crafts Revealed

Now that our gifts have been received I can FINALLY share some images of the items I made and gifted! So sit back and enjoy the creations… of varying complexity!

For Trinity!

These were a lovely and relatively quick creation. I got the pattern from the Crochet Spot. You can either purchase patterns from them, or do what I did and do the monthly membership so I can come and go and take what I please. I made all of these using Red Heart yarn. You can find the actual pattern right HERE.

Also for Trinity

I have to admit to some over stuffing on this tea set but Trinity LOVED it! The pattern is available for purchase right HERE. Again Red Heart yarn.

Jimmie’s Penguin

When I asked Holly what I should get her family (my brother’s wife) she suggested this little gem. He is tiny and quick but oh so adorable. I used Red Heart yarn and a Lion Brand pattern. (I think you need to sign up with them to see it, but it is free). I am not a huge fan of button eyes… as you will notice with Echo’s pieces later, but he is adorable don’t you think?

James’ “hot chick”

This was made to go with the sock owl I made my brother the year previous (an Emo Owl)… Another Crochet Spot pattern, this little duckie is tiny and quick but oh so cute! (again Red Heart yarn)

Holly’s Cupcake

I could not resist the cupcake for my sister in law. Sadly I think I over stuffed this cutie but still, I think it looks rather yummy! Another Crochet Spot pattern, of course! I hope to make some of these to go with Trinity’s Christmas stuff… maybe in varying colours and play around with beads as sprinkles?

Echo’s bunny

Another Crochet Spot pattern, I skipped the features (I simply COULD NOT find the right buttons) and made this sweetie up in the usual yarn choice. The hat is removable and it has the cutest tail!! Mine is a little stiffer than the example but Echo is quickly squishing it into submission.

Echo’s snowman

Now I had to alter this pattern a bit, well more leaving things out, as it was for a 2 year old to snuggle. So no features and NO arms. I also made my own pattern for the scarf and played around with the hat. BUT you can find the original pattern HERE. Thanks again to my Facebook friend Keith for pointing this pattern out!

One of the soap savers

I think this one went to my brother and his family. But I tried various ones out to give away. You put the bits and pieces of soap bars you have left over in these and use them like a soap bar. Very cute! And, another Crochet Spot pattern!

Same colours as the old style large bulb outdoor lights

Ok so I favoured Crochet Spot with my gifts this year! There were two long strings of these Christmas lights for Ken’s parents. Ken researched the original colour pattern and everything. You can purchase the pattern for these HERE.

Pato inspired

My first original creation – that tiny hat on Pato’s head!!! Of course I used the same pattern for the bird as the one for my brother, I just made the beak longer.

This is a portion of Karyn’s Christmas present

This is a FREE pattern off of Crochet Spot. It is a Half Round Mini Bag. Listed as an intermediate pattern, I actually found that as long as I TRUSTED the pattern it all went rather smoothly!

Two felties!

The rest of Karyn’s gift from an Etsy purchase. There are 4 in the pattern set, so two more to make for another holiday!

And that is the bulk of my creations!

And So the Week Plays Out

Sep29

September 26-28

Wednesday was the day of the great pumpkin hunt. We started off with a group photo of the hunters… note the sweaters, fall is here and in the morning the weather is rather cool!

Dressed and ready to start the great hunt

What a great morning of schooling, we had to get to the grocery store, figure out where the produce was, check out the apples and note the varieties (plenty but not cheap enough to do a big pick up) and then head over to the pumpkin/squash display. There was a nice selection including something called a buttercup squash that had Gavin coming up with a bunch of silly reasons as to why it was named that. My favourite was that after you empty it out it would make a perfect cup to drink juice out of! They had a great price on the pie pumpkins – 2 for 4.00. So we picked the nicest two, did the rest of our minor shopping and headed back to the house.

Successful hunters!

There was a bit of a detour though, with birthday money from other sources Miss Echo finally got her Coup car! This is a favourite toy for her when she visited around but she had never had a chance to play in one in great condition. This brand spanking new model was a dream come true! It took Daddy AND Baba to put it together while the others did their book work. Though she made sure to get involved as well.

With Baba and Daddy

Proud driver

In fact, after the kids finished their book work they went right in to the sun room to create some absolutely amazing Lego creations!! Gavin made the zoo animals to share and each of the kids had a piece on the table. I love it when they go out of their way to add to a series of pieces that we can then share with everyone.

LEGO

I have found and joined the email alert for an absolutely AMAZING art for kids site. This is DEFINITELY going on my active links list for homeschooling. We started simple with the pumpkin print out – rather appropriate with our upcoming fall/Halloween season. I gave the sheet to Gavin and a piece of white paper and let him go with it. The steps were absolutely clear and he had a blast creating pumpkins.

Gavin with his Jack-o-lanterns

Of course we had to go BACK to the site and get MORE print outs… so we basically printed out all of the ones that the site had in pdf form and Gavin sat down and drew. I think he said his favourite was the ninja!

Note TWO ninjas!

Finally on Friday we ended up with the videos that had more steps and no printouts to follow. I set him up on the computer with a walkthrough on how to pause and rewind the videos and away he went. I was especially impressed by his dinosaur! I cannot wait until they add more!!!

So the proud artist!

But back to our time line… where was I… oh yes, Thursday. Well, Wednesday night Nana and Baba were out with the cousins and Ken the gaming with the guys so it was rather quiet here (did I mention EARLY BEDTIME???). But on Thursday we had a relatively sunny day and a Baba intent on backyard activity. There is still stumps to remove in the backyard. So I let the kids run in the morning. Before anyone could get out to cut down the stumps the kids put in a couple hours creating this amazing bridge/ramp for Ken’s remote control car to bridge the hole left by the tree removal. It was a tight squeeze but they actually made it work!

The ramp

And then it was time for the guys and the chainsaw (new acquisition) and all that fun stuff. The kids were a little put out as I would not let them drive the car around while the guys were using power tools but it was interesting all the same. Echo did NOT like the noise the chainsaw made AT ALL.

Stump removal

An audience

We got a package in the mail that matched an envelope we had received previously! Did I mention, Gammie sent the kids some cash to buy something small and save a little? The boys all decided to save theirs for bigger things but thanks to Target Trinity was able to deck herself out in princess style.

Workbooks!

Anyway… apparently Gammie was bored and came across some neat stuff to send us – workbooks, colouring books, a shirt for yours truly… and more letters!! We have had some slow responses but it has been great starting our pen pal program. If anyone is interested in adding themselves to our list feel free to contact me!

look a kitty shirt for ME

After all their book work was done the kids went BACK into the backyard (Baba had a nap so it was free and clear) and made ANOTHER amazing structure. What these kids do with sticks and dirt… I love the teamwork and the ability to consider different mediums to create something new. And they are so proud of it when they are finished! As are we of course.

Back in the backyard

Now Friday was a bit busier. Nana and Baba had to pack up to spend their weekend camping with the cousins and we had to get everyone dressed and motivated to do a round of shopping. There was food items for the great pumpkin pie creation, a coupon to use at Victoria’s Secret… 10.00 off a 12.00 lotion that glitters!!!

New lotion!

A check in at Burlington to see what their coat prices are like (coats and snow pants.. maybe we can get away with all 4 of the bigger kids at 120.00… Echo would go baby and used)… and then home again. Oh don’t forget Michaels! I got a bitty globe for 50 cents and some Hello Kitty stocking stuffers for 25 cents a piece when they are usually like 3.00!!!

A globe

Get everyone home, get the book work done and then disperse the kids to naps and quiet occupation… Zander and Gavin did their pen pal responses and then puttered around. I am trying to get them to realize that they have things at hand that can be fun, at least the new colouring books are sparking interest.

Keeping those kids busy

Of course we started with the scraping out and then baking of our pie pumpkins. That was about as far as we got, but the boys got their hands dirty and we have pie pumpkin seeds to plant next year! We will continue the pie making later but I have a neat idea (if we can work it out) of how to save the shell of the pumpkin! You can find the instructions we use HERE.

Cleaning pumpkins

We also did a random act of kindness and sent off rainbows to a sick little girl in Saskatchewan who wants a rainbow from everyone all over the world. The kids were quite detailed and we included their name, age and Minnesota, USA on them. I hope they help bring a smile to her face!

Early morning colouring

Still slightly sleepy

With a weekend of pie making, Novak visiting and family together time to look forward to I am so glad that Ken is willing to be hands on and present right now!