Wee Wonderfuls

we are a go for christmas

Oscar decided this year that my "wait to decorate until after his birthday" plan was no good so Christmas is already up! This year I'm starting my career as crazy tree lady, but more on that later. Right now I have to chase down the madcrafter and see what mess he's gotten into. It's going to be hard to keep up with Oscar this year. I think I'm going to put a bunch of project ideas in a jar and each day we pick one. I used to think this sort of activity-a-day advent action was insanity but with him being so craft crazy it actually seems like a good strategy to slow. him. down. I was smart and got him a fake tree for the playroom for all his handmade ornaments. He's calling it his art tree and it's already half full.

For school he needs to bring in a handmade ornament to hang on the class tree. We're trying out this snowflake ornament from a Martha Stewart Kids magazine. It's crystalizing as we speak. Very exciting!

hey turkeys

Hope your team wins and your bird's not dry, no one loses it during scattegories and everyone is home safely tucked in bed at 4am. Happy Thanksgiving!

menu

Today's to-do list: figure out what I'm going to make for my contributions to Thanksgiving dinner. I signed up for a pie so I'd have an excuse to buy this book I've seen all over blogland, Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Shreiber and Julie Richardson. I'm deciding between apple blackberry pie, apple cranberry oat crumble, deep-dish winter fruit pie with walnut crumb. Leaning toward the crumble. I'm also doing a vegetable side dish (maybe this), cranberry relish (probably this) and some appetizers which I haven't nailed down yet but there will definitely be something wrapped in bacon. These are all new this year. Still searching for some new classics to update the core Thanksgiving fare we've been eating for, well, as long as I can remember. 

Ok, off to make more turkeys. No school all week here. We've been to the library and the art store already today. Hopefully that'll hold us til tomorrow at least.

thanksgiving crafts

Oscar went from naysayer to convert. It's like Halloween never existed. He's so gung ho crafty these days I can barely keep up. I'm actually a little scared of the Christmas season.

pinecone turkeys (via martha)

pipe cleaner turkey

paper crafted first thanksgiving (everything but the teepee is from toymaker)

and don't worry. if you're thinking "but I need to see more turkeys!" -- which I know you are -- there are more to come!

if you happen to have a lollipop in your pocket

I received my mary not martha order last week and was able to make this pretty dang cute flowery headband for Phoebe. I kept the flowers in a bunch and twisted their wire stems around a plastic headband. I clipped off the stems, bent the sharp edges up away from the head and then doused the thing in tacky glue and waited 2 days for it to completely dry. It's probably not all that secure but for the 2 seconds she'll actually keep it on her head it works fine. Of course you have to have a lollipop on hand or she won't cooperate at all. I think I'm inadvertently training her like one would a puppy. I should probably watch that. She'll go all Veruca Salt on me someday.

And I'm not done yet. Here's the rest of my order, some stretchy ruffled netting trim and another bunch of velvety flowers.

oh pig

pig, originally uploaded by Hillary Lang.

here she is, small pig to go with small duck. nothing but trouble, this pig. nbt. didn't want to go together right. didn't want to sit still for a photo shoot. but duck's happy now that he has his friend. I'm still on the fence on these two though. I feel like maybe they need to be even smaller. she's gone from 11" to 7" and she's a real cute size but I feel like I want them to be tiny. maybe it's because I want to skip over them and work on ornaments. christmas is coming my friends and I don't even have a single list made. so for now, pig and duck, they're just going to hang out and enjoy the holidays. perhaps they'll be ready for an appearance this spring with some other pals, that troublesome sheep perhaps. maybe a cow? a rooster?

Farm Folk X-Stitchettes

Now in the shop!

x x x o o

lamb ears

How about we start the week with a little something I like to call.. the cutest hat I've ever seen!!

I spied it at the counter in the Kline Creek Farm gift shop and could not pass it by. Not like Phoebe needs another hat (in fact, I think I have a few more projects to share that fall in the category of Phoebe headgear) but man oh man. It's all nubby and crocheted in organic cotton and the ears! It's made by DayLee Designs for the San Diego Hat company. Sorry, I can't find a good site online to link to. 

Phoebe says hat, schmat, what she really wants you to see are these two leaves. Here they are...

Tomorrow, or maybe later today, more farm themed fun.

shakeit like a polaroid picture

fun!, originally uploaded by Hillary Lang.

iphoners, go quick and get the shakeit app. too fun!
(via miss superfun herself, sarah.)

okay, our internet is back up and running smoothly! it just sort of fixed itself on thursday. they said it was a neighborhood wide problem. I had many many cable people emailing and calling, trying to help me out after I blogged/twittered about our troubles. so next time I guess I skip sitting on the phone for an hour with a customer service rep who doesn't know squat? interesting, and completely trasnparent, pr move they've got there, commenting on blogs and twitter that they're right there to help you out. how about just answering the 1-800 number competently? maybe spend less time trolling the blogs and talk to the people who are contacting you directly?

anyway, back up and running and will start up with blogging everyday on monday. happy rest of the weekend :)

adrienne adams

Back to my library books. As so often happens, a post over at doe-c-doe inspired a library/ebay search of a new-to-me childrens book illustrator. This time it was Adrienne Adams. Boy, do I love her work. I checked out every Adrienne Adams book the library had and there's not one disappointment in there. My very favorite though has to be The Easter Egg Artists, about a family of bunny artists whose son Orson decides he wants to follow in the family business.