Quiet Books

As promised, here are the Quiet Books I made for the grandkids this Christmas. Many of the ideas came from others blogs, but any patterns I had seen were overwelming, so the book was done mostly freehand.  One of the blogs I checked out before I started was: http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/06/finished-quiet-book.html

This was one of the first pages I started and one of the last to be finished. All the little pieces are attached to the book with ribbon. I didn't want lost pieces wandering around everywhere. I discovered that stick-on velcro doesn't stick well to most felt, and that sewing through 'stick-on' stuff makes the sewing needle sticky and the sewing machine rebel.  So the ones that weren't sticking (particularly the red and blue felt in my case) got a slip of wide ribbon sewn on the back, to which the velcro sticks perfectly well.  Next time I would use ribbon for a backing for all of them and avoid the issues.

I went back to the web to find the blog that gave me this house idea with the child's picture inside when you open the door.  But I can't find that site!  If I find it, I will add it.  The plastic sleeve allows for the picture to be changed as the child grows.

A little girl with braids for Haley and a horse with a braid for Josiah. 

Matching shapes and colors for the snap fastener page.  This page also gave me grief because I first tried the heavy duty snap fasteners that you hammer on.  But when I couldn't open or close them without a lot of pushing, pulling and grunting, I realized the grandkids would never be able to operate those snaps.  So I revised and bought large sew-on snaps.  Much easier in the end.

I purchased these little closures, and thought I would have a page with a teddy bear and use them for a belt.  But my books are missing all the pockets than many have added to their books for pieces, because I attached all the little pieces that would have ended up in pockets.  So making the backpacks was a way of putting a pocket in the books.  They can put little treasures into these backpacks if they want to.

Since many of my supplies were from Thrift Shops, the zipper was also something that I realized needed to be kid-friendly.  Some of those nearly invisible zippers did not glide well.  Fortunately I had bought several kinds, and these seemed perfect.  I considered all kinds of secrets inside the tent, but ended up keeping it simple with just a bed and pillows. 

One of my favorites... the button page.  Flowers for Haley and a snowman for Josiah.

Shoes!  I needed a lace-up page, but had no idea how to do it without a pile of work and artistic ability that I don't have.  So I picked up a pair of second hand shoes at the Thrift Shop and cut them in a way that they would lie flat, and sewed them onto a felt sole.  It works.

The blue pages are a heavier fabric, so I didn't think they needed any backing.  The white cotton pages have iron-on interfacing, and then I've always sewn one white page to one blue page, so the weight is consistant.  I used a thin cotton quilt batting layer in each page.  I took the page pictures before adding the grommets, but every page also has three grommets.  I suspect two would have been sufficient.  This way pages can be taken out to be shared, or added as time goes on.  Originally I was making all my pages with extra space on the left side for the grommets.  It didn't occur to me until I was almost ready to put them together that half of them would have to change.  Poor planning!  So I had to add a piece to several of the pages to fix that. 

I would love to make another one.  Now that I've made every mistake in the book, and know how to fix it, I wonder how quickly I could do the next one. 

I may not be able to find my original inspiration, but this site had some great ideas, and even has a pattern to download.  http://modestmaven.blogspot.com/2009/05/sew-quiet-book.html

More good ideas: http://sewcando.blogspot.com/2009/09/quiet-time-it-can-be-done-part-1.html

Christmas at Sandlands

One of my son-in-laws asked me earlier this year, what we would do for Christmas this year.  What he meant, was, what are the rules for gift-giving.  Every year since he joined the family, they had been different. 

I admit, one of our traditions is to switch things around.  One year we might pull names, though with only 6 of us (adults), I found that one a bit difficult.  I want to wrap something (however small) for everyone.  So some years we added 'stockings' to that, with or without a monetary limit on the items.  I have found the limits helped to not go too overboard, but I regularly broke rules.  After all, I'm the mom.  I can. 

Some years we insisted that everything must be handmade.  It could be purchased at a craft fair, so you didn't have to be super-crafty.  One year when we were all tired of trying to stretch our dollars to fit the budget, we set a $20 limit per person.  The girls always insisted this was the funnest year of all - we got terribly creative, and shopped at second hand stores, etc, to get the most out of our money.  And there were no expectations... the gift opening was just fun... and when there was actually a gift someone liked a lot, that was a bonus.  Several times we have had the rule that the gifts had to be second hand, not new, unless we made them ourselves.  All in an attempt to decommercialize our Christmases and focus on the real reason for Christmas. 

So this year, when I said 'no rules' - I added that we weren't doing a lot this year.  Our big move was costly, I'm not working outside of the home, so we couldn't afford a lot.  It was perfect.  Our youngest daughter isn't usually the crafty one, but this year, she made a hand-painted sign for Haley's room, and watched a tutorial on 'Rosemaling' - a Norwegian form of art, in order to paint a birdhouse for me.  Both are just beautiful!  The others got books, which every member of our family loves.  Our other daughter and son-in-law bought us a game.  She knew we liked "Ticket to Ride" and found the Scandinavian version for us.  Again, a perfect gift. 

My big project this year was to sew Quiet Books for the grandkids.  I read up on several blogs for inspiration: http://craftychiclyric.blogspot.com/2009/07/girls-quiet-book.html and others I didn't bookmark.  Then I decided to do it on my own.  I'm sure I would do the next one a bit different.  I was going to add a way to close the book, and forgot when I sewed the cover together.  I think I would next time, and could still add that to my grandkids books.  I will add more details and pic's of the books in a future blog.

For our kids, I used Blurb.com to put together Coffee Table Wedding Albums for them.  Acid free pens were included so they can personalize them with names and details. You can see the by going to the links.  I would love to get into creating books like this for those who do not enjoy the process of putting these books together, but would love to have the finished product with their own photos.   http://www.blurb.com/books/1836642
http://www.blurb.com/books/1836808 

Although that may have been enough, I also had a few things I had bought throughout the years... sometimes specifically for one of them, but mostly just generic gifts that I was tired of having sitting around.  It wasn't even all new.   Some tupperware that I no longer need.  Among other things.  I wondered how much of it would stay here, but not much did.

I'm grateful that our kids put up with my quirky gift-giving ideas.  Once more we had a wonderful day of relaxing, playing games, eating good food, and being grateful for the people that God has placed in our family and in our lives.

What I learned today...

I seem to be terribly forgetful these days... so I have a habit that has saved me many times.  When I'm baking or cooking, I double-check the recipe to make sure I didn't forget anything.  I forgot to do that today... Oops!  If I had been thinking clearly, I would have realized that, when making bread, the liquid with the yeast isn't enough... you do need some oil-type product, maybe eggs, maybe even vinegar???  Left that all out!!  One batch of raisen bread to the dump!  What a waste.  It's such yummy bread, too!
Note to self:  double check ALL recipes before baking!!

Oh Christmas Tree

I decided I should post a picture of my poor Christmas tree.  I love it.  But my girls laughed at it.  They helped me pick it out, so I'm not offended.  In fact, I think THEY picked it out.  We didn't see the crooked trunk until it was too late.  I think I would have taken it anyway... it does have character.  If you look very carefully at the color photo, you may get a glimpse of the pretty sunrise beginning outside...

Little Things

The great thing about moving: getting rid of all the junk you accumulate.  The bad thing about moving: getting rid of all the junk you accumulate.  I needed 1 little elastic band.  I used to have a few in every bathroom drawer and probably in my kitchen junk drawer as well.  All gone.  Do I buy a whole bag for the one I need for the Quiet Books?  I guess I'll just have to sneak one out of my granddaughters bedroom... I'll give it back.  In her Quiet Book.

Avoidance Expert

It is one of those days.  I've accomplished a lot in the kitchen.

My plan was to work on the Quiet Books today.  But I'm an 'Avoidance Expert.'  To guarantee that I will get a lot of one thing done, I just have to plan to do something else.

I made a mistake in the Quiet Books, and need to do some ripping and repairing.  Not my favorite thing to do.  So I baked.  I have three new kinds of Christmas goodies ready to go into the freezer. 

Okay, time to pick up my seam ripper...

Baking Day

I really need to get back to work on the Quiet Books, but today was designated for baking and Christmas Cards.  Since my hubby is out of town a lot these days, and finding food to eat can be a challenge when you're Celiac, I thought I'd quickly bake bread last Sunday so he could take bread and peanut butter, at least.  That was a disaster, and fortunately I did have a bit of bread for him in the freezer. 

I seem to be under-baking the bread, and that batch fell, and was not edible.  So today I tried once more.  This bread is yummy! It even has a decent shape and looks like real bread.  I'll be freezing it in small batches, so that he can grab a few slices at a time.  This recipe is from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog.  http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2009/11/whole-wheat-bread-gluten-free.html

I also tried buns - something I've been afraid to try.  But both the above blog, and Baking Beauties, have been fail-proof in my experience thus far.  These buns were not difficult to make (I used muffin tins) and look like a cross between a bun and a biscuit.  http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2008/05/mrs-ps-yeast-rolls-gluten-free.html

I'd better get those cards done now.

Confused Blogging

I have another Blog called 'Deb's Journal'.  I sort of abandoned that one in favor of this one which was more focused on my photography.  Recently I wanted to rant, and so I went back to that one.  Now I want to ramble, and I don't know where I should be.
That's rather typical of my life.  I'm not working outside the home and considered selling a 'home parties' product.  My daughter suggested I should focus on photography, since that was my passion.  The longer I think about that, the less sure I am of myself.  I'm really not that focused.
Yes, I do love photography.  And lots of other crafts. And baking.  And being around people.  (That is the part of me that would love to do home parties again.)  I could also blog about food - we're just getting into 'gluten-free' in this household, and I enjoy so many of the blogs that I have found about that, I've considered adding my two-cents-worth. 
And did I mention crafts?  I love crafting.  I haven't done nearly as much of that in the last years as I did when my kids were little.  My daughter has a wonderful blog about upcycling and she inspires me.  See: http://penguinkisses.wordpress.com/
I've tried many crafts.  I cross-stitched the 23rd Psalm for my folks, and ended up getting it back when they moved to a smaller place, so that is hanging in my dining room.  One Christmas, everything was hand made: dolls and stuffed animals for the kids, cross-stitch and needlepoint.  I knitted sweaters for my girls, though I wouldn't claim to know how to knit.  I spent many hours at the local knit-shop while the owner coached me through the tough spots.  When the lacy barrettes came out about 20 years ago, I made a huge batch of them and sold them to a shop in my folks hometown.
I haven't found a job here in my new hometown (admittedly, the grandchildren are an excuse for not looking too hard), and so I'm back to crafting.  The grandchildren are getting Quiet Books for Christmas.  I've had far more fun making them than I thought I would.  I will take pictures and post them, but not until after Christmas.  I can't have my kids seeing them before-hand.  (The grandkids are too little to count, so someone has to be surprised!)
And when they are done, I will have to dig through my craft box and find my other half-done crafts...  Focus!

Getting the Christmas Tree

My daughters decided to come with me today to cut down our Christmas tree.  It was a beautiful crisp, sunny day.  So with Haley in the backpack, and Josiah in his carseat on the sled, we set off to find our perfect tree.

When my daughter's camera didn't work, I told her (rather smugly, I'm afraid) that I wasn't surprised.  Batteries don't last long in the cold.  Unfortunately, I did not have fresh batteries either, and so I don't have nearly as many pictures as I would have liked. 

We were thankful for the sleigh for Josiah... at least until he got dumped off into the snow.  Fortunately, he landed face first on his blanket, and wasn't at all concerned about the added adventure.  Car seats aren't meant to be on sleds!

I have never cut my own tree before.  Years ago, when we did this, my husband did the work.  Since then, we've either had artificial trees or bought them off of a lot in the city.  So I was a bit apprehensive about my skills in this area.  We had no idea how long it would take us to cut it, but we found a tree that we agreed on, and I started cutting.  Both of the girls had left their snow pants in the vehicle, so they went back to put them on (the better to kneel in the snow) and to put Josiah into his snuggly so we would have the sleigh for the tree.  They left Haley watching me sawing away at the tree trunk.

It went much faster than any of us anticipated.  I debated just waiting for them at the tree, then thought it would be fun to walk back and see their reaction.

Rachel had my camera, so she took this one.

The farm dog and kitten were both very friendly, and this may have been the closest encounters with animals thus far for the grandkids.  They loved it.  There was also a small petting zoo with miniature horses, cows, and goats.

After an afternoon outside in the winter, a cup of hot chocolate in the chalet is just perfect...

The folks at http://www.timbertrails.ca/ make this a memorable experience.  Next year I just have to make sure I charge my battery before we go so I don't miss the best shots!!