This week I was trying to come up with a spring craft project. As I looked through my kitchen to find something I could use to make flowers, it occurred to me that the bottom of a 2-liter soda bottle has five points on it, which resemble the five petals of a cherry blossom.

See the comments for this post: Cherry Blossom Art from a 2-Liter Bottle

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A month ago we turned the clocks back for the end of Daylight Savings, but I neglected to mention it to the kids. They don’t know they’ve been going to bed an hour early every night since then. (They still wake up at the crack of dawn, just like always.)

One day they will know how to tell time, but until then, the seven o’clock bedtime is so, so sweet.

Here are some fun things to do with the kids that I shared at Alphamom:

Christmas Craft: Beaded Snowflake Ornament

Create A Video Slideshow To Share Your Pictures (I can see older kids having fun doing this when school is out next week.)

Kids’ Apple Craft: Paint Embellished Apples For A Holiday Table

Tradition: Start A Christmas Ornament Collection For Your Kids

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You know that I like to keep my crafts simple, mostly made with felt or paper or pipe cleaners. When the instructions say something like, “Now get out your modge podge…” I’m probably not going to do that one.

The Pipe Cleaner Christmas Trees to make from Pure and Noble are totally my crafting style.

Spy training when you’re stuck inside because of the cold weather. (Via Tsh on Pinterest).

Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a craft. The scissor practice activity just bought me a few more minutes to finish writing this post. I drew a crazy line on the back of a piece of paper and now she’s cutting up all the fliers that come home from kindergarten. (Also via Tsh on Pinterest).

See the comments for this post: Things to Make and Do with Kids During Christmas Vacation

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The full directions to make cinnamon ornaments are at Martha Stewart.

Decorate them with white puffy paint to look like icing.

The woodland cookie cutters are from IKEA (not sure if they’re still available.)

Special thanks to Megan for sharing this idea on Pinterest.

I love to decorate with food for the holidays. More ideas:

• Dressed-up mantel with coffee and clementines.

• Advent wreath of cranberries.

• Orange slice garlands. (And popcorn too!)

• Walnut ornaments.

See the comments for this post: Craft Cinnamon Ornaments

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The time I accidently shrunk and felted Doug’s favorite sweater in the laundry was disappointing. I tried not to be too excited when I thought about what I could make from the felted wool.

First up: wool baby pants

I used the free “Katrina’s longies” pattern instead of trying to wing it. The measurements were spot on for my child. The waistband rises in the back for a good fit.

Baby pants are made from three pieces: two legs and a waistband. Choose the size based on your child’s measurements, so if your child has some extra fluff from cloth diapers, measure him with the diaper on.

First you fold each leg piece in half and sew the inseams, then you join the two legs together, and finally you sew on the waistband. (More detailed sewing instructions with photos are at this tutorial.)

I took a shortcut and used the sweater sleeves for the legs, with the cuffs already finished around the ankles.

They are so soft and cuddly!

Before I cut into the wool I made a practice pair using cheap fleece. The pattern works well with fleece, but make sure the fleece stretches horizontally so you can pull the pants over the baby’s hips. You want to make sure the waistband can stretch too.

Now my baby runs around in a bright green pair of Kermit pants.

Seriously, no sweater is safe anymore.

Around this time each year I have to do a reality check and decide how much time I can reasonably spend on sewing, because if I haven’t made a handmade gift by now, it’s probably not going to happen. But I’m not quite there yet, and I think there may be some more wool projects coming.

See the comments for this post: Wool Baby Pants from a Felted Sweater

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When we desired a new light to go over the dining table, I wasn’t thinking about making one. Then I remembered designer Jean Pelle’s instructions to make a chandelier at ReadyMade.

A chandelier would be much nicer than our old light fixture.

The original design for the chandelier used porcelain sockets and coiled string. We used galvanized pipe and IKEA.

Materials

• 18 4-inch glass bubble balls from CB2 ($2 each)
• 4 cord sets from IKEA ($4 each)
• 20 gauge floral wire ($1)
• fishing line ($1)
• galvanized electrical conduit and fittings ($12)
• 4 25-watt clear bulbs ($1 each)

Total cost: $70

Method

1. Use scissors to cut the floral wire into 1.5″ lengths, and then bend a small loop.

2. Tie fishing line through the wire loop, and push it into the hole in the glass ball. Now you can hang it.

3. The cords run through the pipe and join at the top.

Is the light off-center over your table? No problem, you can extend it as far as you need. You can also paint it. We like the industrial look.

(Don’t be confused by the change in wall color. Our lease says we can only paint one accent wall per room, so the ceiling and other walls are apartment-beige.)

4. You can see how the lamp cords come out the bottom. Start tying the glass balls to the end of the pipe.

5. Keep adding more until you think you have enough.

And that’s it! We like it, so we made a smaller, easier version for the nursery too.

See the comments for this post: DIY Glass Bubble Chandelier

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When we last saw the stacked wood mantel, it was covered in Christmas garlands. Here is how it looks on a regular day (with a little bit of messy pushed to the side of the camera’s view).

Different from how the room looked before, right?

The Christmas garlands have been packed away, along with the Christmas tree, but the string of buttons stayed. I miss the tree, but a clean look is nice.

It wouldn’t be so great to still have my tree up in February, now would it. Maybe.

To see more about how we made it, and by we, I mean Doug, keep on reading:  Building a Stacked Wood Fireplace Mantel.

See the comments for this post: The Stacked Wood Mantel (Before & After)

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Sometimes when you live in a plain beige apartment, you have to add your own architectural interest. We didn’t a have fireplace, and we thought a mantel would make our apartment more cozy.

What we had before was an entertainment center, but we were ready to move on.

We saw a similar mantel in an Anthropologie store display, and I suggested we try to make one. I had no idea what kind of construction would come next.

The stacked boards are nailed together. The wood is heavy, but it comes apart in five sections so that we will be able to take it with us when we move.

To avoid putting several holes in the wall, the mantel is built on two long boards that are mounted to the studs. The sections are assembled with brackets along the two supporting boards.

The center of the fireplace is chocolate brown linen.

We’ll keep it even after the holidays. The tree will come down and the blue chair will return. The garland will be stored away and we’ll add decorations for Spring. And the next time I make a suggestion about building something, I’ll remember that he might just take me seriously and do it.

(Update: Here is how it looks on a regular day, after the Christmas decorations have been put away.)

See the comments for this post: Building a Stacked Wood Fireplace Mantel

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The plans for Tom’s baby quilt had been forming in my mind for a long time. Even though it was a baby quilt, I didn’t want it to be babyish. I didn’t want it to be outgrown, I wanted it to be… manly. And so I looked to the three older generations of men in our family, and I made it with menswear fabric from clothes that they wore.

His Great-Grandpa’s Sunday ties.

His Papaw’s plaid shirts.

His Daddy’s khaki pants.

And his own newborn onesies, just now barely outgrown.

Trying to sew it during the day was ridiculous at times. It was lovely to sew the last stitches while holding a sleeping baby in my lap. I love you little guy.

The front and back. (Click to view larger.)

Details

The size is 48″ x 64″, so it’s bigger than a crib but smaller than a twin, and just right for a throw. The batting is organic cotton, and the back is light blue linen. I love the rumply look of linen. The shirts and pants for the quilt blocks have been washed a hundred times, so they’re nice and soft. I tried to include details like pockets and buttons on the shirts. I sewed it on my Grandma’s 40-year-old Nelco sewing machine, and hand-stitched the binding.

I hope it will be well-loved and well-used. I already spilled bacon on it.

See the comments for this post: Tom’s Four Generations Baby Quilt

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I do know how I’ll be wrapping those gifts once I bring them home. Last year I made a little video tutorial about how to tie a gift ribbon into a pretty bow without any knots so that it’s easy to take it off. It’s a simple way to dress up your present.

In case you missed it the first time around, I’m sharing it again. It’s less than two minutes.  Stay for the outtake at the end — I had completely forgotten about it!

(Click through to watch it at Small Notebook if you don’t see it in your email or RSS reader.)

See the comments for this post: Tie a Pretty Gift Ribbon

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Last year as I looked forward to Christmas but not so much of the preparations, I decided: “I’m not getting organized for Christmas this year.  I think I’m just going to show up for it.” (from Come As You Are: Christmas Without the Frenzy)

Christmas became something I could look forward to with anticipation, without feeling like I was putting on a one-woman show. I paid close attention to our favorite simple holiday traditions, choosing to only do those instead of what might be on someone else’s “must have” list. And I realized that when someone asks if I’m ready for Christmas, it doesn’t have to mean, “Did I finish my shopping yet?”

This year I have the same feeling of anticipation, but I realize that with a new baby, everything takes a little more planning. We’re more home-centered than ever, so we want to do a few more decorations. I decided that I would enjoy making some things, but I want to use materials I can find outdoors and around the house to make our home cheery.

When we were growing up my family had an Advent wreath made from a ring of florist foam with sprigs of ivy attached to it. Florist foam isn’t something I normally keep, so I looked around the house for something I could use instead. I found my granny’s old Bundt cake pan in the kitchen.

Four votive candles are placed in the cake pan, one for each of the four Sundays before Christmas. We’ll light the candles at dinner time each night, starting this Sunday. Cranberries between the candles hold them in place. A center candle (secured with a little hot glue) will be lit on Christmas Eve night.

There’s nothing much simpler and more beautiful than candlelight at Christmas time.

See the comments for this post: Advent Wreath from the Kitchen

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