No-sew valentines bags

Valentine's Day is this Friday!  Hubby and I don't typically celebrate, but the girls do!  Their school ensures that Valentine's Day means valentines for each member of the class, and a box or bag to carry them all home is required in advance.  I spied this adorable project a few weeks ago, but it took me until today to actually make it.  Thank goodness I did, because the girls love them…and they are due in the classroom no later than tomorrow.

The project directions are in the link.  For each bag, you will need a cereal box, felt, ribbon and copious amounts of glue.  I used a hot glue gun for speed, but a good craft glue like Aleene's would work well if you have the time.

In case you are searching for homemade valentine ideas, we shamelessly borrowed from DesignMom, making the lollipop photo cards and the animal cards.  There are quite a lot of great ideas for different kid ages and interests shown on her sidebar.  Other creative card ideas can be found on inchmark.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Milo for Mia

Our little cousin Mia turned five recently, which seemed the perfect occasion to break out the needles and knit up a Milo vest.  I have intended to return to this pattern since I made my first one a few years ago, but somehow I haven't actually worked it again until now.  It should have.  Milo is a fabulous, simple pattern and an awesome way to try cables.  These hearts were my first-ever cables, and I don't know why I feared them for so long.  They were no trouble at all!  Alas, they don't show up very well, but the love is there whether you see the hearts or not.

project raveled here

Fleece pants

This winter has been oh-so-cold, and my jersey-loving girls aren't as cozy as they could be.  I doubt they'll trade in their beloved leggings for fleece loungers, but I wanted them to have the choice, especially coming in from snow play or even a trip to the pool at the Y.  They chose the prints themselves from the massive fleece selection at Joann's.  The pattern is pattern O from Happy Homemade Vol 2, a Japanese sewing book I really enjoy (now available in English, though I find the illustrations in the Japanese version easier to use).  My big girl's pants are the largest size and fit like a glove.  A growth spurt has put my little one between sizes, so I used the next size up.  Given the fabric, I think a size down would have worked better as these fit like fleece balloons.  She doesn't mind a bit.

Kids' Clothes Week has begun.  Although I missed day one (ah, Mondays!), I finally finished up these fleece pants today.  I cut them and sewed the first seams oh, two weeks ago (!), so we'll just say that counts for yesterday and today's hour.  It's all good, no?

Frostbite

Sheila has frostbite in her comb.  Those wise in the ways of backyard chickens claim Vaseline or bag balm on the comb should prevent this and/or keep it from getting worse, so I'm going that route.  I feel so sorry for her, and I'm worried it will only get worse as this weather persists.  Sheila, however, doesn't appear to care.  The weather service tells me that the current temperature is -8°F, feels like -18°F, and those chickens came running out of the coop into the run as usual at sun-up this morning. Nutters.

So true -- with an unexpected ending

Here's a little happy for your weekend!




found via DesignMom

Welcome to Canada

Friends, friends, friends.  It's cold.  Really, really cold.  And it's just set to get worse.  Again.
That polar vortex that kept me up worrying about my chickens last week?  Apparently, that was just the starting edge of this winter storm that keeps our temperatures in the low teens (or less), and that's before the wind chill is considered.  The forecast claims that the low next Monday and Tuesday will be -11F (again, before wind-chill), and I completely object.  I looked up a list of legal objections on Wikipedia, and I believe I can legally object on the grounds of "Assumes facts not in evidence"--as in, "we do not live in Canada."


And I'm preemptively worried about my chooks again.  Poor girls.
What a year to become a chicken keeper

Passive-aggressive ticket to the Happy Train

Oh, those passive-aggressive comments.  Do they niggle you too?  I was on the receiving end of one today, and I felt myself shrivel from the me who was having a great, productive morning to someone really grumpy and defensive.  That's no way to be, but… But.  I defended myself.  I tried to smooth it over, help the person see how it wasn't quite that way…to no avail.  She kept her line as I kept mine, and my frustration grew.  It wasn't a pleasant spiral.  I wanted out of that feeling, but I couldn't quite get there.

Later, I ran into a friend who is a reliable optimist, so I asked how she responds to the passive-aggressive comment.  She admitted that they really get under her skin too…if she doesn't work fast to stop them.  If she can gather the presence of mind, she will remind herself that (truthfully) she is a happy person, her family life and fortunately even her work life is right where feels good, everyone is healthy and things are great...but this must not be true for the other person, at least not in that moment.  If she acts fast to remind herself of this core truth, passive-aggressive comments almost make her feel sorry for the person who said them.  Then she laughed and admitted that feeling pity for that person might be passive-aggressive in its own way, but she can live with that.  She just rides that passive-aggressive ticket to the Happy Train.

I love wise friends.